My Grave Consequence of Buying a Scala Fedora

[Detective_Noir]

i have had a Dorfman Pacific Scala New Yorker Model as my first hat for a year and its suprising how its held in its current state. the crown has finally tapered inward looking as if it was sat on and has shrank a little bit from the excess heat, the brim has gone flat and the curve in the back has one part curving higher than the other and causing a horrible balance on the brim to curve at all.... te grosgrain ribbon and roan leather sweat band (if it even is leather) and boung edge are the only things i like. plus the ribbon pin on its side. i had originally bought this because i love tear drop or c-crown bashes rather than the center crease. the problem that struck me the most is the tag where i the curious cat decided to look on the other side of it to find it is made in china.... are all dorfman pacifics chinese manufactured hats now? which should explain why the wool felt is so poor in quality...

 

[metropd]

It's a wool hat. I am sory for your loss. Please know that's what happens to wool hats. You should buy a nice fur-felt. In the long term it is less expensive. Dorfman has been making their hats in China for a few years now. I have heard they want to restart making their fur-felts in the USA due to quality control problems. I see no reason why they would make wool fedoras in the USA. Before their venture to China, Scala made decent fur felts for the price. Beware of the large hat monopolies. Dorfman now owns Biltmore and Hartford York and Coca Cola Corporation owns Stetson and Hatco Brands. Winchester has a monopoly on just about all felt production inside of the USA.

 

[TomS]

I'm sorry for that trouble. Perhaps you can take some comfort in knowing that your thread might save someone else from a similar fate!!

 

[gtdean48]

DP has non-China production facilities. Moving Biltmore activities from Canada to Texas, I've read.

 

[jbucklin]

You should see some of my first hats. Then I discovered TFL. This is the only place to go to learn about hats and how to amass a decent collection.

 

[jbucklin]

And yes, I live about 3 miles from DP where Biltmores are now made. Sure hope they open an outlet store!

 

[scottyrocks]

Don't feel too bad, Noir. The outcome of owning and wearing a woolie is something that happens to a lot of hat newbies. As was said above, use it as a learning experience. An inexpensive fur felt is generally miles better than even an expensive woolie.

 

[Detective_Noir]

Now I have only vintage hats 2 stetsons one a stetsonian and the other is an unknown model I think it was a no. 7 or something when I got it and a dobbs 1950s model

 

[tonyb]

Dorfman acquired Milano as well, and the Milano hats I've seen are a cut above what you get from most large manufacturers these days. Last I heard, Milanos are made in Texas, with at least some of the raw bodies coming from Fepsa in Portugal.

I can see a real benefit to the hat-buying public in a company other than Hatco vying to be a major player in the business. If that's the often-maligned (for good reason, perhaps) Dorfman Pacific, that's fine by me. Just because they've made mostly cheap woolies to date doesn't mean they can't expand their offerings. Those of us of a certain age can recall when "Made in Japan" was synonymous with "junk." My crystal ball is on the blink this morning, so I can't say with any certainty how the quality of Chinese made products will or not improve in the coming years, but ...

 

[bowlerman]

You should see some of my first hats. Then I discovered TFL. This is the only place to go to learn about hats and how to amass a decent collection.

+1!
I've had similar "luck" with Scala derbies, Bailey hats, and Hats in the Belfry brand hats, all before joining TFL! not only did they lose their shape, but they looked awkward and would never remotely get comfortable to wear.
As always, my one exception to the general wool rule is my western weight wool bowler from Knudsen Hats. I want to set my sights on a fur felt version eventually, but the woolie has held up remarkably well.

 

[suitedcboy]

Sheep hairs apparently just don't have the interlocking properties of beaver, rabbit, and nutria.

Metropd, glad to see you here again. Your most excellent photos are missed.

 

[Andykev]

Why would you put a sweater (wool) on your head in the shape of a hat? When the Lounge started some years ago, the quest was to find sources of "real" hats, and hat makers. Today, you can find a ton of info here. I agree, a cheap hat of wool is a disappointment, unless you simply want that "travel - rain-camping-hiking" hat. Any quality hat is rabbit/beaver or beaver fir. Optimo makes one of the best, as does Art Fawcett. Art is much better priced. I have at least half a dozen felt from Art since he began his business. They are every bit as close to "Vintage" you can find today. Please, donate that wool sock to charity, and buy a custom hat from Art. See the "hall of fame" thread and the hundreds of photos. I can't think of a better "word of mouth" about a "Work of Art".

 

[Mystic]

Dorfman acquired Milano as well, and the Milano hats I've seen are a cut above what you get from most large manufacturers these days. Last I heard, Milanos are made in Texas, with at least some of the raw bodies coming from Fepsa in Portugal.

I can see a real benefit to the hat-buying public in a company other than Hatco vying to be a major player in the business. If that's the often-maligned (for good reason, perhaps) Dorfman Pacific, that's fine by me. Just because they've made mostly cheap woolies to date doesn't mean they can't expand their offerings. Those of us of a certain age can recall when "Made in Japan" was synonymous with "junk." My crystal ball is on the blink this morning, so I can't say with any certainty how the quality of Chinese made products will or not improve in the coming years, but ...

Exactly.....Whether a product in made in Japan, China, Canada, Texas, the USA, an independent hatter or any other place doesn't define the quality of the product.
The company that makes the product defines the quality they want their product to be.

Starting with slightly inferior products and upgrading to better quality products is nothing new in business. Neither is starting with better quality products and downgrading to an inferior product.
It is finding the maket in which the business wants to place themselves. However, sticking with an inferior product for too long will create a company reputation for inferior products.

That being said....tin is not steel.....plastic is not wood....synthetic straw is not real straw....and wool is not fur. Each of these materials has their own particular attributes. A very well made wool hat will not compare with the attributes of a fur hat......wool is not fur.

You have to compare "apples to apples" but, even then it's the company that defines which grade of apples it wants to market.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

I had to get a new hiking hat because my wool British Bush hat (WW2 type) shrunk in the rain. It went from being my favorite hat, to being blehhhh. Wool is realistic for the WW2 hats, and they did look like crap after a month in the bush.

Later

 

[Detective_Noir]

the material in it feels like a cheap card board you could buy at a costume store... its rough and doesnt feel smooth compared to my stetson stetsonian, the wool is very uncomfortable now and is warped...

 

[W4ASZ]

It's a wool hat. I am sory for your loss. Please know that's what happens to wool hats. You should buy a nice fur-felt. In the long term it is less expensive. Dorfman has been making their hats in China for a few years now. I have heard they want to restart making their fur-felts in the USA due to quality control problems. I see no reason why they would make wool fedoras in the USA. Before their venture to China, Scala made decent fur felts for the price. Beware of the large hat monopolies. Dorfman now owns Biltmore and Hartford York and Coca Cola Corporation owns Stetson and Hatco Brands. Winchester has a monopoly on just about all felt production inside of the USA.

I think RHE Hatco is still a subsidiary of Pro Equine, Inc.

 

[RBH]

...... Winchester has a monopoly on just about all felt production inside of the USA.

It Gets 'Curiouser and Curiouser'.

 

[Doomstein]

+1!
I've had similar "luck" with Scala derbies, Bailey hats, and Hats in the Belfry brand hats, all before joining TFL! not only did they lose their shape, but they looked awkward and would never remotely get comfortable to wear.
As always, my one exception to the general wool rule is my western weight wool bowler from Knudsen Hats. I want to set my sights on a fur felt version eventually, but the woolie has held up remarkably well.

I always try and stick with fur-felts myself. Preferably vintage ones. But I've had two Belfry hats over the past few years, and I've had no complaints myself. No comparison to a fur felt of course, but they're great for what they are. One is the Belfry wool "Gangster" model (Which I bought on a whim in Philidelphia because I took the train from Florida to 30th St. Station and found myself in 28 degree weather with no lid), and the other is the "Belfry Smith" C-Crown panama (For my Florida summer lids). The Gangster is a great, cheap, water repellant beater, and it doesn't look too shabby at all. It's been sat on, knocked off, stepped on, rained and snowed on, and it's still holding it's shape : D Maybe I just got lucky.

 

[W4ASZ]

Remember, in 1930s and 1940s Georgia the supporters of Eugene Talmadge were known as the "wool hat boys."

And, the name of the character nicknamed "Flounder" in Animal House was Kent Dorfman.



Ever so strange, and becoming murkier. :eeek:

 

[gtdean48]

I think RHE Hatco is still a subsidiary of Pro Equine, Inc.

+1