ScottyBlues
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 83
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
I went on vacation last week to visit my parents in Michigan. Typically, we fly into Chicago and drive the rest of the way. This time, I wanted to stop into a hat store, since there aren't any in my area. I chose Hats Plus from their website (http://www.hats-plus.com/), looking for a large selection in many brands.
Hats Plus is fairly large, with two main sections. The one section has a lot of hats that are more geared for the average person rather than the hat aficionado. The other section has several glass cases with the good stuff, as well as some of the lower-end brands on racks.
The top brands include Borsalino, Stetson, Biltmore, Guerra, Dobbs, and Christy's. Of these, I was most interested in checking out the Biltmore hats, based on some of the posts I read on this forum. Indeed, the Eleganza line impressed me as the best hats in the store. The felt is very soft and pliable, and the finishing is top-notch. I bought a Rosselini in Black Olive, which is a great color! It's a center-dent and comes with the wind string. This is probably the best production hat I've seen, barring the 100% beaver offerings from some companies.
I tried on a lot of hats and was amazed at the variation in the sizes, even within the same manufacturer. I typically wear a 7 3/8, but I tried on some Stetsons in 7 1/4 that were WAY too large. The sizing was more consistent from Biltmore, but I wound up buying a 7 1/4 because it fit best. If I had ordered over the internet I would have ordered the 7 3/8, which would have been too big. Yes, you can send it back, but there's the hassle and the expense.
Nothing replaces the ability to walk into the store an try on dozens and dozens of hats. You can really see the color and how well the shape and brim work with your face. I recently bought a vintage pork pie by Bond, which looks great on me, but every traditional pork pie I tried on in the store looked silly. I think it's because the Bond has a much higher crown than normal.
I also bought a couple of Stetsons. They're the lower grade Royal Stetsons, but they're great for every day wear. One is a model called the Bangor, which is a pork pie, but it's a C-crown with a pinch. It's a very unusual profile that looks more like a traditional fedora from the side but with the very nice pork pie crown! I'll post pictures later when I have a chance.
The final hat I bought is a Stetson Grenadier. It's a C-crown with a thin, bound edge. It has the same kind of sweat band that is common with the western hats, which is a softer, suede-like band rather than the smooth, black band that is typical in the Royal Stetsons. It's not the best hat I own, but I like the color and it's good for when I don't want to worry too much about my hat.
I was thinking about buying a staw hat. They did have a pretty good selection, but I was out of time and had exhausted the hat budget for a while. The people were very helpful. I highly recommend them to anyone in or visiting Chicago.
Hats Plus is fairly large, with two main sections. The one section has a lot of hats that are more geared for the average person rather than the hat aficionado. The other section has several glass cases with the good stuff, as well as some of the lower-end brands on racks.
The top brands include Borsalino, Stetson, Biltmore, Guerra, Dobbs, and Christy's. Of these, I was most interested in checking out the Biltmore hats, based on some of the posts I read on this forum. Indeed, the Eleganza line impressed me as the best hats in the store. The felt is very soft and pliable, and the finishing is top-notch. I bought a Rosselini in Black Olive, which is a great color! It's a center-dent and comes with the wind string. This is probably the best production hat I've seen, barring the 100% beaver offerings from some companies.
I tried on a lot of hats and was amazed at the variation in the sizes, even within the same manufacturer. I typically wear a 7 3/8, but I tried on some Stetsons in 7 1/4 that were WAY too large. The sizing was more consistent from Biltmore, but I wound up buying a 7 1/4 because it fit best. If I had ordered over the internet I would have ordered the 7 3/8, which would have been too big. Yes, you can send it back, but there's the hassle and the expense.
Nothing replaces the ability to walk into the store an try on dozens and dozens of hats. You can really see the color and how well the shape and brim work with your face. I recently bought a vintage pork pie by Bond, which looks great on me, but every traditional pork pie I tried on in the store looked silly. I think it's because the Bond has a much higher crown than normal.
I also bought a couple of Stetsons. They're the lower grade Royal Stetsons, but they're great for every day wear. One is a model called the Bangor, which is a pork pie, but it's a C-crown with a pinch. It's a very unusual profile that looks more like a traditional fedora from the side but with the very nice pork pie crown! I'll post pictures later when I have a chance.
The final hat I bought is a Stetson Grenadier. It's a C-crown with a thin, bound edge. It has the same kind of sweat band that is common with the western hats, which is a softer, suede-like band rather than the smooth, black band that is typical in the Royal Stetsons. It's not the best hat I own, but I like the color and it's good for when I don't want to worry too much about my hat.
I was thinking about buying a staw hat. They did have a pretty good selection, but I was out of time and had exhausted the hat budget for a while. The people were very helpful. I highly recommend them to anyone in or visiting Chicago.
