I need some HAT help!!!!

[RJR]

The suggestion about travelling to a brick & mortar store is the best imo.You will be amazed how your tastes change as the addiction sets in.

 

[Eisenpforte]

I'd go try on some cheap hats most anywhere and see what proportions work for you. Then, I'd go buy a nice hat with those proportions elsewhere.

Trying to dress up as a character from a movie for the sake of doing so makes it seem like you are wearing a costume. I think people pick on that.

Find your own look and then own it. If you're lucky, the hat you see in that film will work for you. I'm rarely that lucky.

 

[hatsRme]

RIGHT ON, Eisenpforte! Excellent insight, and spectacular first post. Welcome on in, my friend!

 

[Fulton632]

Thanks for all the great advice guys! I currently wear a goorin brothers red ricci. More of a 60s style id say. But I'd like to add some thing a bit more "relaxed" or "worn" in look. Maybe Roy's hat may not be for me just kicking around ideas.

 

[JackieMatra]

Roy's first hat is certainly "worn" and "relaxed".

Not all that difficult to get that sort of a "look" in a new hat.
It just takes a little dirt and effort. There are many custom hatters that will do the same for you, for a price, to compensate them for their knowledge, skill, effort, and highest quality dirt, in doing so.
It reminds me of a section on another forum dedicated to "distressing" apparel, which was subtitled something to the effect of:
"We take new clothing here and make it look old and beat up. (Pretty smart, eh?)"

 

[JackieMatra]

Trying to dress up as a character from a movie for the sake of doing so makes it seem like you are wearing a costume. I think people pick on that.

Just don't wear the rest of the outfit with a Robert Redford mask.
Besides, it's from such an old movie that no one under the age of 50 is likely to have ever heard of it, much less seen it, or remember much of anything about it.

 

[alanfgag]

The Natural was filmed in Buffalo. The headwear might well have seen some of Gary White's handiwork. A phone call might kill two birds with one stone:

The Custom Hatter

Welcome to the Lounge... and have fun!

 

[tropicalbob]

Ah, if we all only looked like a young Robert Redford.

 

[JackieMatra]

That would be horrible.
I never particularly cared for those bumps or warts or whatever, on the right side of his face.
It would be much better if half of us looked like Paul Newman.

Redford turned 48 the year that "The Natural" was released. Hardly what most people would call "young".

 

[hatsRme]

Compared to the current version, 48 IS young.

 

[JackieMatra]

"Brick and mortar" hat stores in Maryland that I'm familiar with.

Hippodrome Hatters in downtown Baltimore.
"Hipster" hats, and not much else, even of that, there, the only time that I visited. Nothing seen on their website was in stock.

The Hat Box in Reistertown, just across the Baltimore city line.
"Orthodox Jewish" hats. When I was there, they had one gray hat and one dark navy hat, and a whole lot of black Borsalinos, ("Comos" in every size and color imaginable, as long as it was black) and Polish-made "Milano" brand hats, which were probably the tallest and widest fedoras that you are likely find anywhere, by far. Pretty good prices from a shopper's standpoint, and you get a "The Hat Box" Borsalino hat box no matter what hat you buy.

Andrea's Fine Hats in Silver Spring, right on the D.C. city line.
A bit of everything, from Borsalinos and Biltmores to Scalas. A neighborhood hang-out. Also mostly, but not always, somewhat higher priced than elsewhere.

Hats by Haber in Silver Spring.
She sells out of her house in a residential neighborhood. Her "store" bears almost no resemblance to her website in terms of stock.
What and how much she has in stock depends on the time of year. Right now you're likely to find mostly straws, of course.
All sorts of price hats are stocked. Borsalinos and Stetsons are her "high-end" hats. Don't expect to find any lighter colored fur felt hats, as most of her customers won't buy fur felts in any colors except black and gray, (not even navy blue), because she's located right in the middle of a very Jewish neighborhood.
Lowest prices on new Borsalinos that you're likely to find anywhere.
Near the "end of the season", prices are likely to either be negotiable or already, (sometimes severely), reduced. (Except on the "high-end" Borsalinos and Stetsons, which her customer base just loves. Nevertheless, I picked up a couple of rabbit fur ushankas for $30 each and a linen Dobbs cap for $5 there.)

 

[JackieMatra]

Deleted - Accidental double post

 

[theoldnorthwest]

I doubt you will find a new hat with those dimensions, look for a vintage hat on eBay, perhaps a variation of the Dobbs 20 or 15. Look through the Dobbs Diner thread here and you will see several hats that look similar to the Redford hat.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

The closest options that I can think of would be at Miller:

http://www.millerhatstore.com/store/Felt_Dress_Hats%20/Fedoras-Classic%20Collection/1155_The_Sinatra_(Frank)

http://www.millerhatstore.com/store/Felt_Dress_Hats%20/015_The_Adventurer

Fed

 

[JackieMatra]

Both have raw edges rather than overwelt brim edges, and both have too low a crown. (Just look at the photographs that I posted earlier in this thread, from "The Natural", where Redford's hats can be seen from the front, both sides, and from the top.)

 

[jlee562]

Well, no "off the rack" hat is going to match it, period. "Closest options" seems an apt descriptor in this case.

 

[JackieMatra]

I'd have said a new Stetsonian, except for the bound brim and the color.
Two big buts, and it's priced at over $200.
I think that's it pretty much a custom-made, (if it's possible for the hatter to obtain a hat body in a "non-western" weight that's tall enough), or an old pre-post-WW2 hat, for that one.

 

[RJR]

I'd guess that any of the Lounge hatters can/would accomplish exactly what you want.

 

[JackieMatra]

Not necessarily.
I've contacted a couple of well-regarded ones who assured me that they could not get either "dress weight" or "light weight" fur felt hat bodies with open crown heights taller than 5.5".

 

[Bob Roberts]

The original pic #840012 shows Redford wearing a hat that Fulton is looking for or one close to it. I believe Mike at Northwest Hats could do pretty much the exact hat. I imagine he has or can get the hat bodys and he has a 6in fairly straight sided block and does a 6in open crown with very little taper. He can bash to your specs and do a over/under welt brim too. I don't believe the original poster, Fulton specified hat weight.