Custom hat Finishing "levels" ?

[jhl1963]

I see some custom makers offer different levels of finishing at substantially different prices for the same material (100x etc). Is this a BS marketing thing or are there really substantially different levels of finishing, and are they 2x/3x/5x more work? Thanks in advance for the info.

 

[carouselvic]

finishing is everything to a hat, but you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

 

[-30-]

"finishing is everything to a hat, but you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"
carouselvic

True, but if you are Borsalino, you will change a Silk Purse hood into a Sow's Ear hat with substandard stitching and glued-in liners.


Regards,
J T

 

[jhl1963]

Thanks guys - I guess my question is does a maker not necessarily turn out the best hat he can and stop half way?
Agree that's a good quote lol

 

[barrowjh]

different finishing generally refers (I think) to different pouncing or sanding of the felt. A smooth sanded finish is probably the 'standard' and it can get a lot more complicated for velours and related longer-knap finishes. In some cases this is a general reference to differences both in the way the felt is dealt with during felting coupled with differences in the way the hatter handles the hoods (pouncing). Of course there can be simple differences in how smooth and even a regular smooth finish is done, but the long-knap finishes introduce substantially greater levels of effort.

If you look into the last page of the thread 'Borsalino Marque Grand Luxe Beaver . . .' there is a vintage ad showing Borsalino velour felt hats for 12 Lire; the next most expensive hat was their best grade of beaver at 10 Lire (if I remember correctly). Thanks to the substantial competition at that time we can reasonably conclude that there was at least a 20% premium for finishing of velour felts as compared to regular smooth finish felts. Maybe a real hatter will step in here and provide greater clarification than I can.

Look for post #26 in this thread - http://www.thefedoralounge.com/show...&highlight=Borsalino+Marque+Grand+Luxe+Beaver

 

[jhl1963]

Thanks Barrow