Dobbs/Stetson comparison??

[introspekt408]

Hi all Im new to the hat world and this forum however, have always been into the style and look of them. I have a couple $20-30 hats from miscellaneous places. I recently purchased a stetson "mercer" with the stingy brim and a dobbs parker. What I noticed that I didn't notice before was that the ribbons on both of them are the same and also the sweat bands inside were also similar however, stamped differently. I've come to learn that I think these are made from the same company, so is that why they would be like this. Is the Dobbs and Stetson the same company? Also, they both had the florentine milan stamp inside which I learned is the type of straw. Oh, and one last thing is that I can't seem to find a Dobbs parker online in a blue color even though place had a lot of them. I'm just curious and was a little worried that I bought some imitation lids!!! thanks all.

link: Dobbs parker on the left, stetson mercer on the right

 

[Lefty]

They're made by the same company, RHE Hatco, and they're both made of either plastic or plastic coated paper "straw".

 

[introspekt408]

So the Florentine milan stamp is not legit? I assumed it meant the straw from italy. Thanks for reply.

 

[Lefty]

Nope. The plastic might be processed in some town called Florence, and the term milan hasn't had any specific meaning in quite a while. Here's an early fight over the term. Today, as far as I know, no one sells true milan - the wheat straw braid, with the straw sourced from Italy. There are other straw hats made in Italy that aren't made of wheat straw and/or aren't of the milan braid. Then, there are hats made of wheat straw, in a milan braid, but the straw is source from China, as sold by Optimo. For me, this geographical distinction is, by far, the lesser evil. I'd rather have the real material from a different place, than a plastic hat from the original source.

 

[introspekt408]

Thanks so much for th info! Now I understand what I will be looking for on my next piece!

 

[fmw]

The only way to to get a real milan is to buy a vintage hat since, as Lefty says, wheat straw isn't braided any longer except in China. You can find them on Ebay in fairly copious quantities. Here's my milan Stetson. It was filthy when I got it but I've restored to wearable condition. I bought it on Ebay for $20 some dollars and then spent another $8 for a new pugaree (hat band.) Incidentally, some of the new synthetic milan braids can quite nice. They don't look like plastic at all.