Brims - How do you like them

[howardeye]

Hat brims are always worn up on me 99% of the time and caps if possible. If the brim is down it is for a picture or to please my wife. The 2 3/4 brim Open Road is left in the box. It is too wide for my head to be worn brim up. It does look great on everyone else and is one of the greatest looking hats ever made. I am thinking of having the brim cut down so I can wear it up.

Brim worn semi up the other day

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

A & A
Very Cool Look & a Real Nice Milan !

All I need is a cool pair of sunglasses, and I'll have my Che look down pat!

 

[gtdean48]

Brim up.
Brim Down.

I do think the broader front of the cattleman/alpine crease goes better with a brim up than a pinch. JMHO...

 

[Landman]

I prefer the brim down on my hats. A hat doesn't feel right to me if I can't see the brim

Here is one of my old Open Roads with a cattleman's crease.

 

[Chepstow]

Looks good Mike! For a wide brim is this the better look.
Shorter brims could look better, so!

 

[g.durand]

howardeye--I think both looks work for you. I do like the brim up look in th first photo--it suits you.

Manfred--For you, I think you're right. Your wide brim hats look better brim down in front. Your shorter brims look better turned up.

Landman--My dad started in the oil field in West Texas after WWII, then moved down to Louisiana. He always wore his brims up.

I wear most of mine down, but I'm trying out the Optimo today (2 1/2" brim) to see which works better. I think they both work. I gues it depends on the impression you want tio make.

 

[Chepstow]

g-durand, thanks! The Optimo goes for both, brim up looks casual, both suits you well!

 

[howardeye]

Brims look great on everyone.
Manfred--I have been wearing a hat just like the one you are wearing to work every day for the last couple of months!

 

[Chepstow]

Bert, the stingys are great, no fight with the wind! haha

 

[Dan Allen]

though Art Carney wore many fine hats in his day his iconic hat hat was not one of them

 

[Chepstow]

Right Dan, a great actor!

 

[g.durand]

Brim down.

And to quote Che, "Brim up?"

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

I have to decide whether to get a raw or bound edge on a melusine hat. I am told that welted edges are not viable on melusine hats because they make the hat's hair look messy at the edge.

I think I like raw edges better so I am probably going to go with one.

My reasons are to follow.

So far I only have one bound edged hat, from VS.

On a purely aesthetic note, and this is just a matter of my personal taste, I think the stripes of a ribbon make putting ribbon around the edge of non-striped felt look odd.

I also do not like how bound edges are "split" in the middle of the back of the brim. That too looks odd, in my opinion.

Moving on to what I perceive to be both structural and aesthetic problems with bound edges, on my VS, I notice that there is some slack between the line of stitches where the ribbon is sewn onto the brim, and edge of the ribbon itself (that is, the edge of the ribbon that is above the line of stitches). Granted, the slacked area is only about 2 millimeters wide, spanning the circumference of the brim.

Anyway, the slacked area results in the edge of the ribbon not "sticking" to the felt perfectly. That bugs me. Moreover, when I snap the brim down, my fingers naturally pressure the slacked area of the ribbon to move away from the felt, at the spot where my fingers touch the ribbon: that seems to encourage the ribbon edge in the slacked area to curl up (further away from the brim than it already is), which looks unattractive.

In addition, I suspect that the motion of my fingers against the slacked area might be putting "wear" on the ribbon, and after hundreds or thousands of times snapping the brim down, maybe the ribbon material will break down in the most-stressed spot. That thought scares me, since bound edges cannot be fixed except by cutting the brim down to a smaller size. If the ribbon on my bound edge were to tear in one spot, I'd hate to have to make the brim smaller, or else have to stop using the hat.

To be sure, I am probably nitpicking far more than another fedora love might do. I am a perfectionist to the extreme.

I also want my hats to last as long as they possibly can, in as-perfect of a condition as they can possibly stay. Longevity is my main concern.

I am not criticizing Art's workmanship. I am sure the edge of my hat is bound as well as any bound edge, done by anybody, could be. I believe that the inability for the entirety of an edge-bound ribbon to "stick" perfectly to hat felt is probably just "the nature of the beast."

I am curious, however, if you gentlemen have ever noticed and thought about what I am talking about here, or alternatively, if you find my comments here to be completely off-the-wall. I feel like a rebel for throwing dissension onto what seems to be the universal admiration for bound edges among people who really know their fedoras.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

I think I like raw edges better so I am probably going to go with one.

I feel like a rebel for throwing dissension onto what seems to be the universal admiration for bound edges among people who really know their fedoras.

Sir; Good for you for knowing what you like and staying with it. I look forward to your posting of your new hat with raw edge.

As to universal admiration for bound edges; I do not imagine that is true, as their are as many opinions as hat wearers. I believe that each edge treatment has it's moment and utility. The raw edge can be viewed as allowing a hat to appear more "dressy," while a bound edge more country/town casual. Either choice works for me. I have a raw edge grey fedora that coordinates great with a formal grey cashmere top coat. I find that a VS bound ribbon works well, but does not give it the "uptown evening look that I sometimes desire.

More than just the edge treatment gives a hat a look. Dimensions, felt and ribbon work together produce the "look." I see a lot of the German hats, often posted by Steve, that are very a classy dressy dwntown look while the components taken individually would not lead me to cthat conclusion. The gestalt produces the look or appeal that I stereoptypically think of. It is the look my minds eye enjoys that drives the choice of hat.

As to wear of the bound edge; I wear my VS hats hard and often. I have found no noticable wear on the bound edge do to "snapping the brim." If the thread was pulled "tight," the snapping of the brim may have the durable thread cutting or wearing into the felt. Whatever the case for the tension of the thread, my hats show no negative effects. My VS's have gone for swims (entirely dunked), dropped in the horse yard dirt, crushed on airplanes, had coke spilled on one, dirt finger marks and recieved grease from the TSA process. All have recovered excellently and are still sharp to wear.

We, fedora folks, are distinctively different. Different needs, eye appeals, lifestyles and sizes. No hat style can work for all of us. I particularily like wearing a variety of hats.

Certainly this just my opinion. I am reminded typing that my wife and the gymnasts that I coach each day remind me that I am no fashion model or styling hip dude.

Best, Eric -

 

[Lotsahats]

Perfectly stated, Eric! And, sir, you have plenty of style; it might not be the young and hip look, but you have a definite sense of style and class.

A

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

Thanks for the good feedback, Eric.

Since making my previous post, I've read a post on the lounge which says that the ribbon on bound edges can become frayed.

I think fraying is a good word for my concern.

When I look at my bound edged hat, the edge of the bound ribbon that is above the line of stitches on the top side of the brim is extremely thin (and my fingers tug on that edge every time I snap the brim down). Equally thin is the edge of the bound ribbon that is below the lines of stitches on the underside of the brim.

To my eye, the thinness of those edges, in conjunction with them not being "stuck" to the felt, make them appear to be susceptible to fraying.

In regards to what I said about getting a raw edge on my new hat, I think I have changed my mind. The reason is because I was examining the melusine swatch pieces that I have, and I do not like the appearance of their edges.

On those pieces, the top and and bottom sides both feature long beaver hair which I love. However, between the long hair on the top and bottom is a piece of felt that has a completely different texture. That felt piece in the middle is flat, and no hair comes out of it.

When I look at the swatch piece horizontally, the top and bottom parts which feature the long hair appear to be grafted onto the piece of flat felt in the middle. In my opinion, the contrast between those textures looks bad.

To illustrate what I mean, I tried to take some photos before making this post, but I could not get my camera to focus on the middle section of a swatch piece, because that area is too small for my camera to detect.

I tried to ask Optimo what is going on with those differences in textures, but I was told "I don't know" because the answer to that question would require special technical knowledge about how the felt was made.

So, even though I do not like bound edges all that much, I think I would still prefer a bound edge over a raw edge when dealing specifically with Optimo's melusine felts.

My plan now is to increase higher than my original specification the width of the brim size of my new hat, and get the edge bound. If that edge gets messed up, I'll have it cut off and then go with the raw edge afterwards.

When I examined the melusine/long hair beaver thread, some of the melusine hats in that thread appeared to have raw edges with a uniform, hairy texture throughout. That type of appearance looks much more organic and better than does the contrasting texture appearance, I think. Although, I could be wrong: maybe the raw edges of those hats do have a contrasting texture, but I just cannot determine that from the pictures.

Does anyone know if different methods exist to put melusine felts together, and if so, where I could read about those different methods? I read the Cavanagh Edge Primer (http://thehattedprofessor.bowershats.com/p/cavanagh-edge-primer.html). Did someone write an equivalent sort of primer for melusine hats?

Speaking of Cavanagh Edges, that brings me back to the original question of this thread title. How do I like my brims: Cavanaghed! I lament that I cannot buy any new hats that are Cavanaghed. :eusa_doh: After reading that primer, Cavanagh Edges seem to be the best edge option by a long shot.

 

[HeyMoe]

I am just the opposite of the OP. All of my lids up to a month or so ago were bound. I couldn't see myself in a raw edge. I had a beat up Penny's Marathon that had a wide brim with some damage so I cut off 1/4" and had my first unbound brim (it has become of working outside hat). Since then I have converted two Homburgs and really dig the raw brim look - so much so that few of my bound brims are getting much wear right now.

 

[gtdean48]

Bound brims are more formal than raw edge.
Even a country hat like a Stratoliner/Open Road sports a bound edge.
The only difference in a Playboy & a Wanderer is a bound edge. I like them both but favor the Wanderer.
Back in the heyday, replacing the edge binding was the same as replacing the sweatbands.
Local hatters did the work but that skill set is about gone with the equipment.
Few hatters can do a 4 ligne edge binding.

 

[Smoking_Cowboy]

What do you prefer and why?

 

[Wesslyn]

I like a nice flange. It's a versatile look and when the front of the brim is snapped down it keeps my glasses dry in the rain and keeps the sun out of my eyes.