Flechet

[Achille]

Hello,
Does somebody has an idea about the quality of these french brand? Here it's really not expensive.
http://www.chapellerie-traclet.com/hat/product_info.php?products_id=474

J.M

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Their vintage hats were of great quality. Not close to Mossant, who i rate above Borsalino, but very good by the standard of mass market hats.

I don't know about their modern offerings.

bk

 

[besdor]

The Flechet of today is nothing like the hats of the past. Todays hats are made in Eastern Europe and China. I would love to have a vintage Flechet from the 1930's. I have only two left from when our store sold them in the 1960's with a 1 3/4" brim.




Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Here's Tony in Tarzana's incredible 1937 Flechet fedora: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=11984&highlight=Flechet

.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I still have to get the sweatband replaced on that one.

 

[Aerol]

I own one

I bought a Flechet from this site http://commerce2.franchap.com/acatalog/FRANCHAP__CATALOGUE_CHAPEAUX_FLECHET_CLASSIQUES__121.html
about a year ago.

The price was great and the service adequate. The hat is a different story. The felt is stiff and feels cheap. The maker's label, which was glued into the liner, fell off in about a month. You get what you pay for.

I wear the hat with a yellow and black Gore-Tex jacket and it really looks great.

I was at the CES in Las Vegas in January. In one week three people just came up to me to compliment me on the hat. In fact, one girl, obviously "over-served" and celebrating her 21st birthday with her girl-friends, wanted me to give her the hat as a birthday present. She finally shouted "Mister, your hat rocks!"

Not bad, considering my daughter is only one-year younger.

 

[RobFedoraField]

just got one off the Bay

This was auction pic:

This was "out of the box"

This was after I had my way with it

It has the Made in U.S.A. tag in it, the felt is stiff and definitely lower end, but it fits good and I like it, and for for $18 shipped, I am a happy camper!

 

[besdor]

Your hat was made by Bollman in the late 1980's -early 1990's. They had the license for Flechet, Barbisio and Borsalino back then.

Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[countryclubjoe]

FLECHET Hat

purchased a pair off etsy. A gray cheap price $17.00
The brim feel very stiff, how can I soften her up.
I am waitin on a brown model from the 40th, I will post some pics.

Anyone have an knowledge of the "Flechet " hat? terms of quality, durability, etc.

Any info will be most helpful.

Best regards
CCJOE

 

[danofarlington]

I think rlk is the largest TFL purchaser of Flechets. Hopefully he answers the query.

 

[Dinerman]

Depending on the era, they can be excellent hats. Some of the more modern production Flechets I've handled have been not so great.

 

[alanfgag]

Here you go.

 

[mayserwegener]

Flechet went out of business a long while ago. Whoever is making them today is just using the brand name.

 

[guillaumeb]

I just got one made of linen yesterday from a local hat store. it looks a lot like this one.
Inside, they say it was made in Italy.

I believe the quality is as good as a standard Stetson (about the same price as well)

 

[besdor]

There is a distributor in France who owns the rights to the name there. The hat is made by Tonak.

 

[new2hats]

I have 2 fletchets from ebay. They say from Canada, but don't know the age. Love them, they are awesome.

 

[madamejane]

Hello,

I've been given a European Flechet hat to resize and re-block for a friend. And it got me thinking about from what period it is from. I would love some advice on dating hats.

Here's what I know:

The sweatband is made from cardboard
The lining is machine sewn
I assume it is rabbit fur felt (Did Flechet do beaver?)
Brim: 6.5 cm
Crown Height: 12cm

Looking forward to hear from you guy.

Cheers

 

[Frunobulax]

The sweatband is made from cardboard?

Or it's just leather in really bad shape?


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[madamejane]

The sweatband is made from cardboard?

Or it's just leather in really bad shape?

It is definitely made from paper to look like leather.

I found this on the Vintage Fashion Guild website.

''Nineteenth century sweatbands were typically of leather, though some were oiled silk and some were made of a paper-based leatherette. Plastic-based imitation leather sweatbands first appeared in the late 1930s but weren’t widely used for another two decades. The foam sweatbands of the 1960s were designed to be more comfortable and absorbent than leather and, at first, were more expensive.''' (http://vintagefashionguild.org/hat-resource/sweatband)


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[KarlCrow]

i've seen foam in other unhat-related products decompose into a cardboard like or buscuit like substance. /2c