German & Austrian Hutmachers

[mayserwegener]

Hut Förster Chemnitz Video

[video=vimeo;36081008]http://vimeo.com/36081008[/video]

 

[mayserwegener]

J. Hückel´s Söhne Zephyr Seal Velour, size 7 3/8, color black, very good condition, made for the American market, probably late 1930s. This beautiful hat was graciously offered to me by M_Jones (Hollis), a long time FL poster and collector of fine hats. In my opinion JHS produced the finest Velour finishes.

Vent (similar to Borsalino)

 

[Chepstow]

Steve, gorgeous Hat, fantastic felt finish and wonderful shape! That is a real beauty. Congrats to that splendid hat!

 

[mayserwegener]

Manfred, Thanks! I am very happy with this one.

 

[mayserwegener]

Habig Hüte, Berlin at Night (1928)

Recent postcard pickup.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Steve great velour hat and you where able to get a vimeo video to embed here you must tell be the way. Haven't been able to do that yet on this forum.

 

[Rabbit]

Steve great velour hat and you where able to get a vimeo video to embed here you must tell be the way. Haven't been able to do that yet on this forum.

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[mayserwegener]

Ed, Thanks!

Ed & Nik, I used the Insert Video feature plus URL. Here is the HTML (add left and right brackets):

video=vimeo;36081008]http://vimeo.com/36081008[/video

 

[mayserwegener]

I took additional photos of the J. Hückel´s Söhne Zephyr Seal Velour with side dents.

 

[Chepstow]

Steve, looks sharp with the side dents, wonderful velour!

 

[Rabbit]

Steve, this Velour is simply amazing. The images show so well how pliable the felt must be. Thank you for posting these wonderful pics.

 

[mayserwegener]

Manfred, I just thought I take some photos with the traditional look. It also looks nice with the brim snapped plus tighter pinch.

Nik, The felt is super pliable and has a fantastic feel in hand.

 

[Erich Johann]

So I visited my town's Hutladen. They said I was lucky since they had just gotten winter season stock. When I asked for the old timey style, i.e. higher crown etc., they said it was not fashionable at the moment and so they do not have any hats in that direction (albeit the owner said she had had some a couple of years back; no "old" old stock, though). I could compare a Borsalino Homburg and one from Mayser. Even if the modern-day Borsalinos are not like those many years ago, the one I held seemd a league of its own in comparison with the Mayser. The latter's felt was really coarse in comparison to the Borsalino's; the stitching seemed not as intricate; and the bow work was also not as nice. She also showed me other Homburgs (one Stetson, I think) but they also did not measure up to the Borsalino.

The owner told me that they were mostly catering to the outdoor crowd these days. Their dress hats were only a small section in comparison with loads of different styles of caps, outback-type hats, and straw hats from the summer season. There was just not a market in a middle-sized town for more dressy hats and especially not for ones with a vintage appeal--if at all, people would be going for low profile, small-brimmed hats. They only had a few Borsalinos (I guess they are too expensive for the average customer), a lot of Stetsons, some Mayser, though I did not examine every shelf. I asked if they could, for example, order other Borsalino models, but she said they can only do bulk orders. It seems they are quite dependent on seasonal styles.

By the way, asking for a "Fedora"-type hat did not help ... Only after I specified high(er) crown and wide(r) brim, she said, "Oh, so you are looking for Bogart-style hats."

 

[Chepstow]

Erich, there is no market for Vintage Hats in Germany! Most dress Hats are wool. The few felt hats, are most trekking and outdoor hats.
If you search for good old Vintage Hats look at Ebay germany, USA, Italy for borsalino, barbisio etc.. or etsy! You will find a lot nice hats!

 

[Rabbit]

I asked if they could, for example, order other Borsalino models, but she said they can only do bulk orders. It seems they are quite dependent on seasonal styles.

By the way, asking for a "Fedora"-type hat did not help ... Only after I specified high(er) crown and wide(r) brim, she said, "Oh, so you are looking for Bogart-style hats."

Unfortunately, that's no surprise. Targeting at the fashion-oriented crowd makes them dependent on the quirks of fashion. A swing of the pendulum back towards full, high crowns is not to be expected any time soon here in Germany.

 

[mayserwegener]

So I visited my town's Hutladen. They said I was lucky since they had just gotten winter season stock. When I asked for the old timey style, i.e. higher crown etc., they said it was not fashionable at the moment and so they do not have any hats in that direction (albeit the owner said she had had some a couple of years back; no "old" old stock, though). I could compare a Borsalino Homburg and one from Mayser. Even if the modern-day Borsalinos are not like those many years ago, the one I held seemd a league of its own in comparison with the Mayser. The latter's felt was really coarse in comparison to the Borsalino's; the stitching seemed not as intricate; and the bow work was also not as nice. She also showed me other Homburgs (one Stetson, I think) but they also did not measure up to the Borsalino.

The owner told me that they were mostly catering to the outdoor crowd these days. Their dress hats were only a small section in comparison with loads of different styles of caps, outback-type hats, and straw hats from the summer season. There was just not a market in a middle-sized town for more dressy hats and especially not for ones with a vintage appeal--if at all, people would be going for low profile, small-brimmed hats. They only had a few Borsalinos (I guess they are too expensive for the average customer), a lot of Stetsons, some Mayser, though I did not examine every shelf. I asked if they could, for example, order other Borsalino models, but she said they can only do bulk orders. It seems they are quite dependent on seasonal styles.

By the way, asking for a "Fedora"-type hat did not help ... Only after I specified high(er) crown and wide(r) brim, she said, "Oh, so you are looking for Bogart-style hats."

Mayser still has a few hat models that are fairly nice. The City Finale being one of them which I posted on this thread. The Homburg models look to be more hippster oriented. Borsalino is the only production hat company (excluding Western styles) that can still sell at the higher end (doesn't matter the country). There are some very nice hat stores in Germany but they will be limitted (compared to vintage or custom) just like the better ones here in America.

 

[Joshbru3]

I took additional photos of the J. Hückel´s Söhne Zephyr Seal Velour with side dents.

SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!!!! That hat is so incredibly black, it looks like it just sucks up any bit of light that hits it. :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[mayserwegener]

Josh, Thanks! I had a hard time with the photographs.

 

[alanfgag]

Yes, a black hole of hat. Tremendous gravity there, Steve... love it. :eusa_clap

 

[rlk]

Mayser hat holder