Major Moores straw luck

[RBH]

While at the Majors this weekend he showed me some vintage [around 60 years old] straw bodies that he has come across.
Around 2 dozen straw bodies if all are in as good as shape as I got to see.

Here is a shot of one that is 'finished.' Optimo style.
A couple of the bodies even look as if a western hat could be made from them.

Here are a couple of the other bodies.

So I would say look forward to a few high end straws from The Major!

 

[MarkD]

I want one!

 

[majormoore]

These few hat bodies are lite as a feather, unreal hat was made from the first one.

Mike

 

[RBH]

Here is another shot of the optimo straw.
Pretty nice 'pug' on it, but I am really not a fan of feathers though.

 

[Mr. Paladin]

That is beautiful work Major. I like the optimo crease!

 

[theinterchange]

The Luck of the Straw

Great looking hat, and super cool bodies there! :eusa_clap

Randy

 

[carouselvic]

Very nice!

 

[memphislawyer]

I was in his shop and tried on my first Optimo crease. The straw was super lite, and not like the straw in my entry level Cuenca from Panama Bob. Straw was more a brown color whereas the Panama Bob is more white. Can anyone tell me if this is a Monticristi, and some benefits or characteristics of this type of hat? I want to learn more before I pop down $225 for one, but then again, I thought it was great and the only other high priced panama/straw I tried on was a Borsalino.

I ask because now I have two Panama hats to which I can compare others to. I know how my Panama Bob feels, how airy or nonairy it is, know that the brim is not likely to hold a shape like a fur felt. Major's was very, very light, the straw was not as shellacy (if that is a word) and it seemed more quality just in holding it. I know that there are some straw hats made from paper (like a $80 Bailey one I am eyeing at delmonicohatters). Id probably prefer to get this one because I have held it and worn it, but don't know where it is on the continuum of cuenca, monticristi, weaves or grades, and while I think the Optimo look was a good one for me, dont know why it is shaped like it is and the only thing I know is that Robert Redford wore one in a movie

 

[alanfgag]

I think the Major is the guy to ask.

 

[RBH]

I believe these are Parabuntal Straws.
But Alan is right, ask Mike.
He will be more than glad to help.

 

[RBH]

This may help a little.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?7881-parbuntal-straw-hats&

 

[mayserwegener]

Great find!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

I am sure it is a picked one up at FedoraFest. I an Art put a vintage ribbon on it from Mike's vintage ribbon

 

[RBH]

Yes Ed... that is the one you got at FFIV.
Super looking hat and the ribbon set it off!!!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

 

[memphislawyer]

This may help a little.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?7881-parbuntal-straw-hats&

interesting. but is the Major Mike hat the same stuff as was in that thread?

I reread and this is a 60 year old woven body that he already creased up? cool beans. From the thread you referenced, seems as those the 60 year old hat body would be valuable, thus the price.

 

[memphislawyer]

Wise, got a picture of y ou in that hat with say a suit? Just trying to picture it. PM me if you can to tell me how that hat compares to other Panamas. I go back to Major Mike later this month and he set aside this hat in my size and I feel that bringing a fistful of dollars might be in order.

 

[majormoore]

Once these old hat bodies are gone, they are gone for good, they are fine nice weave and very very lite. Only have some 7 1/8's and 7 1/4's left. Had 26 when I started and down to only 10 now.

Major Moore

 

[memphislawyer]

Now, when I went to pick out a custom fedora, a week or two before Thanksgiving, I had looked at some parbuntal straw hats that Mike had found that were 60 year old hat bodies. The hat body was super, super light, and not all that hard shellac that some hats are. I was worried about durability, and even then, some hats made from shantaung straw (which I read were paper) can feel hard shellacy and sometimes floppy. However, these things are so light and airy and one man that was there to visit Mike had one and he said he weighed it and it was like 3 ounces and maybe half of it was the ribbon:

interior shot of the weave:

I was worried about that optimo style, but the longer I had it on, the more I got over any objections. Besides, that man visiting said you wear the hat and not the other way around. Besides, he had like 25 hats, or maybe he said 35, that Mike had made for him and while I was there, he got another!

Now, there were several hats in my size there, maybe 6 or 7, and various treatments. One had a thicker black ribbon, b ut I have a panama hat with Black ribbon. There was a brown ribbon I liked. But I had an idea. Well, Mike did. He has a green ribbon with a design in it that looks great for a summer hat. But I dont do green much and I wanted something versatile. Mike had some felt fedora hats that had a contast in color with the keeper, and I asked him if he could do up a khaki color ribbon with the brown keeper. He did! I was thinking brown ribbon with khaki keeper, but Rocky and Mike thought the ribbon I have pictured would work better. Then Mike had an idea. What if I watned to come back and have him do up a new ribbon in other colors I changed my mind this summer. I wanted a blue and so he picked out a khaki keeper and a grey and I chose grey. He made it so that the ribbon treatments would not be tacked down, and I can change them out. Here is the other treatment, the khaki one:

Mike is so easy going and, I was there for two hours and it seemed like five minutes. He really is an artisan, and what I liked is that he did not view other hatmakers so much as competition, but as keeping an artistry alive, which was a refreshing air.

I dont think Ill have 35 hats, but I can see me getting another one to two hats. I wish everyone could go to a hat maker, not just a hat shop, as it is neat to see the tools of the trade, and also ask questions. Having someone who can suggest and guide is nice, because Mike was able to tell me what did and did not work. I can see where having custom color combinations can be addicting, and it can be like a kid in a candy store experience. I tried on a few western hats, and because I was in a suit after church today, remarked that I felt like I had on a JR Ewing hat in one black hat. They thought it looked fine, but Im not a western guy. Mike even turned the brim up on the Optimo panama hat into like a homburg and said it looked good that way. Me in the Optimo:

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Good ribbon changes.