Big Head Bash

[Oil Tanned]

A question for the group and particularly those w/ generously proportioned noggins.

I'm 5'10", roughly 220# and wear a 7-3/4 hat on a shaven head. With a few wears my hats shrink but never noticeably so to anyone but me. I have 9 hats and each have a roughly 2.25-2.5" brim which took a little getting used to early on but now seems normal. I recently bought an Akubra Banjo and though the brim is only 2.75 it seems to make my head appear to be a new planet with Saturn's ring.

Is this something that others have encountered and adjusted out by modifying the bash or do I just need to either get over it or maybe decide I've found my size limit?

 

[GHT]

Like the rings of Saturn that you mentioned, a wide brim creates a captivating orbit around the wearer. Your Akubra, with it's wider brim, is a cosmic canopy that shifts with the light.

That brim casts sharp, cinematic shadows, that are reminisce of the golden age of Hollywood. Wear it with pride, but if you really do feel self conscious, remain with what you are comfortable with.

Gamble & G-unn has a similar size wide brim https://gambleandgunn.com/discover-...ton-wide-brim-diamond-top-pinch-front-fedora/ and very popular it is too. I love it!

 

[Oil Tanned]

Like the rings of Saturn that you mentioned, a wide brim creates a captivating orbit around the wearer. Your Akubra, with it's wider brim, is a cosmic canopy that shifts with the light.

Haha... Couldn't help but laugh out loud. Thanks for that! I guess it is nothing more than being self conscious in a new and not-that-much bigger hat.

...and I hope your lovely wife is doing better all the time.

 

[GHT]

My lady and I thank you sincerely, her recovery continues. On Saturday 6th we are off to The Bridport Hat Festival: https://www.bridporthatfest.org/ There's a couple of shirts coming together, that Tina is making for me. One being a colourful, Aloha style, open neck with small lapels. The other is a Swing Era, period style, spearpoint collar, formal affair.
The Aloha shirt for day wear and the other for the evening. Check out last year's gig on that link. Just look up: Photos 2025.

 

[jlee562]

I'm shorter and skinnier and don't leave the house most days with a brim less than 3". IMHO the outback brim, snapped down front and back, is also a contributing factor here. A brim up Campdraft or Open Road is going to have a different profile.

 

[MaaikeVanDerVelde]

I wonder whether the issue is not simply the extra quarter-inch of brim, but the way the whole hat is sitting and reading as a silhouette.

On the Banjo, the teardrop crown and the brim turned down at both the front and back create one strong horizontal line. On a 7¾ hat, that line is physically quite broad, so the difference may look much greater than the measurement suggests.

Before changing the bash, I would check whether it sits as low as your other hats and whether the oval really matches your head. A new, fairly stiff hat that rides even slightly high can make the brim look much more prominent.

After that, I would try raising the back of the brim, adding a little curl at the sides, or making the crown dent slightly shallower to retain more height. I would change one thing at a time and take a photograph from several feet away — a close mirror is a rather unforgiving and unreliable judge of hat proportions.

If it still feels like Saturn after a few outings, perhaps 2½ inches is simply your personal sweet spot. That does not mean a larger head cannot carry a wider brim; only that you have found the silhouette in which you feel most like yourself.

 

[Oil Tanned]

On the Banjo, the teardrop crown and the brim turned down at both the front and back create one strong horizontal line. On a 7¾ hat, that line is physically quite broad, so the difference may look much greater than the measurement suggests.

IMHO the outback brim, snapped down front and back, is also a contributing factor here.

Interesting. Thank you both.

I'll wait a month and see if the Saturn factor backs down a bit. If It does that'll just mean I've quit being self conscious about a hat larger than anything I've worn prior.

If it doesn't I'll start pondering that strong horizontal contributing factor. It is surprising how such small aspects as a brim turned down at the back might make such a dramatic change in overall profile... and now that I think of it my other fedoras might either be dimensional or have a little curl at the sides that calm the interstellar shock.

 

[belfastboy]

Haha... Couldn't help but laugh out loud. Thanks for that! I guess it is nothing more than being self conscious in a new and not-that-much bigger hat.

...and I hope your lovely wife is doing better all the time.

Your experience is common to new hat wearers and it applies to all head sizes and shapes. The other side of your perceived dilemna is a narrower brim will tend to look like a child's hat perched atop your head. The best fix for your dilemna is to wear the hats....and realize that folks ain't really paying much attention to you at all.

 

[GHT]

What a statement this three inch brim makes.
Perfect with the wide lapel, double brea-sted
overcoat.