Help with first Hat! Aka dear god what am I getting myself into!

[llamaegg]

Hello! After seems to be a many, many years, I've finally decided to say screw it and finally bite the bullet and look into snagging my first nice hat. The biggest problem has always been fore me is the lack of any good nearby hat(eries? ), from from anything in the town I'm living in, and even driving 3 hours into the city seems to only provide places that seem more interested in selling you 'caps with the stickers still on them. Terrible!

So, last two-ish week's have been bunches of fun research time, brands, terminology, figuring out what the heck is a stingy brim, how to figure sizing, and so on and so on. Even so, I still feel uncomfortable in my knowledge!

I do hope to snag a couple hats down the road, I refuse to live life without have owned at least 1 nice derby, but none the less the first hat I'm looking to snag is a fedora. I've been eyeing the Federation Deluxe IV, Akubra Bogart (though I don't really want a black fedora, they grey looks pretty nice but pretty much seems impossible to find!), absolutely loving what I see from Black Sheep Hat Work, and while his work is something I could afford, I don't exactly feel comfortable getting something done up with my lack of hat knowledge. Is there any other brands I maybe should keep an eye out for to start with?

I guess my biggest worry is that I'll snag one and find out it just doesn't work for my build.

 

[TAutry]

Welcome aboard! I can't offer any help. I'm brand new myself and still knee deep in learning about hats. My only nice hat is a Panama I bought a few weeks ago for the Spring and Summer.

Good luck in your quest!

 

[Lotsahats]

The only thing to do is jump in to buying hats, especially If you don't live in a place with vintage clothing shops or modern hat shops. You'll learn a lot by procuring hats--what styles you like, what looks good on you, how different vintage versus modern hats feel to your hand, and so on. Certainly you'll make mistakes, but that's part of the fun.

A

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Hello. You will do just fine here, you already realize that you are being overtaken by this invisible force....feed your wallet well, you will need it. lol!

 

[JAVIER]

The first thing would be to stay away from wool felts. Best advice is to check the classified section on this forum get your feet wet here versus the E-bay auctions, do that once your know-how has been enhanced.
Welcome to the herd. Wear your lid with pride, and ask questions / research there's plenty of knowledge on this site. You struck gold.
Regards,
JAVIER

 

[John T. Sarto]

If you are a smaller size you may want to look for a vintage hat. They can be found at reasonable prices. I have been wearing hats for a short while now and have found out how much nicer they are. For example, my first hat was a modern Stetson Whippet. Then I found a vintage Whippet in my size, there is no comparison. The vintage is soooo much nicer.

 

[Nyah]

If the first one doesn't work in your eyes, just get one that's different. You could start off with an open-crown fedora, especially one with easily pliable felt, such as the Akubra Sydney. Then you could at least change the crown to your liking. That's exactly what I bought.

 

[tuco1963]

The first thing would be to stay away from wool felts. Best advice is to check the classified section on this forum get your feet wet here versus the E-bay auctions, do that once your know-how has been enhanced.
Welcome to the herd. Wear your lid with pride, and ask questions / research there's plenty of knowledge on this site. You struck gold.
Regards,
JAVIER

really dont fear wool on your first fedora
it lets you know what looks good on you without paying big bucks
i will admit fur felt rules but until you learn what works best for you wool is a cheap alternative,
also stingy brims mean a shorter brim less than 2 inches i have a stetson with a 1 3/4 brim i like alot but i prefer 2 inches to 2 3/4
in the end its about enjoying yourself theyre some great people here who will be more than knowledgable on hat history and remember you dont have to please everyone just gotta please yourself

 

[llamaegg]

Hah, I'm not surprised, but was definitely hoping sweet, sweet money drops wasn't the solution! Aaaah, whatever, it's not like this will be the first time I've dropped money on something I'm interested in and it get's out of hand (considering I got roughly $2,000 worth of equipment on my coffee table, sure I can justify a few hats, hah).

Another question though, reading up about open crowns, this means you have to shape it yourself right? How easy is it really? God knows I'm going to be paranoid as crap doing it myself (not to mention I'm sure some level of OCD will kick in during the process), but I'm hoping it's not as bad as it looks.

 

[ManofKent]

Crown shaping isn't that difficult on reasonable quality felt - do it dry to get it roughly how you want it, then use steam to set it. If you don't like the results you can re-steam and re-shape.

 

[tuco1963]

Hah, I'm not surprised, but was definitely hoping sweet, sweet money drops wasn't the solution! Aaaah, whatever, it's not like this will be the first time I've dropped money on something I'm interested in and it get's out of hand (considering I got roughly $2,000 worth of equipment on my coffee table, sure I can justify a few hats, hah).

Another question though, reading up about open crowns, this means you have to shape it yourself right? How easy is it really? God knows I'm going to be paranoid as crap doing it myself (not to mention I'm sure some level of OCD will kick in during the process), but I'm hoping it's not as bad as it looks.

dude do you need a hug
relax and enjoy yourself