New to hats, no hat stores, need help picking a style

[Brandon Rinebold]

I'm 27, wear glasses, and have some cowardly hair that is rapidly fleeing the frontlines. I'd like to get something to block sun glare since I can't really wear sunglasses and help cover my retreating hairline (and keep my head warm/shaded if I decide to take out the survivors at a later date).

More pictures

I was interested in what type of lid you thought would match that head. Unfortunately, I live in an area where the nearest store that would carry anything except a beanie or ball cap is a 2-hour drive one way. I think ballcaps look terrible for for anything except yardwork and sports plus their tight fit ensures you can't take them off without looking like... well... you just took off a ball cap. Beanies are even worse + hit none of my practical goals for a hat. So I'm looking for some help in picking out a relatively inexpensive hat because I can't just try on a store full of them and decide what works for me. I'm not expecting anything incredibly cheap in the $20-30 range but I'd like to keep under $75 until I really know if I'll like them and move into better quality once I've figured out if I like the style. If it matters for hat selection, I'm slightly short at 5'6.

I was looking at:
Belfry Gangster
Belfry Bogart

I think I'd prefer the Gangster but am not sure I would be quite tall enough for it. I also think gray as a color on either hat would be easier to match than black since I think a black felt hat would definitely seem out of place (too formal) with my usual polos and khakis. I also want a hat I don't need to take off before entering a business (I will take it off while greeting/working so something at least reasonably professional.

On brand, I've heard that for low-end hats, Belfry actually has relatively good ones but I'm definitely open to other suggestions.

 

[moehawk]

I like the shape of the Gangster better than the other. However, I think either would look great on you.

Welcome to the world of hats!

 

[LuvMyMan]

Do you know what your hat size is? Tape measure your head at about a finger or two higher than your ears. It will give you a starting point for the actual hat size you will need. Nothing wrong with starting out with a hat from some of the mass hat sellers online. BUT maybe you should cruise eBay or the classifieds here, as at times you can find a deal. I think an "Indy" hat would look great on you. I do not think your height should make much difference in how well you will look sporting a fedora. Best of luck to you and welcome to being "here".

 

[T Jones]

You should probably hang out on the Lounge a while before you decide to buy anything. $75 is too much money to shell out for a cheapie wool felt. They're absolute junk. If you're one of the lucky ones whose hat size is at least a 7 1/8 and under you'll have a real good chance at finding a very nice vintage fur felt on ebay at a price that's closer to what you can afford. Look for Stetsons, Resistols, Knox, Borsalino, Mallory, and there's many more high end vintage brands to choose from. Hang out in the "What Hat Are You Wearing Today" thread and get an idea of what the guys are wearing. Ask a lot of questions. You definitely came to the right place.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Welcome to the Lounge! Standard advice:

The best buys today in new production hats (vs. used on eBay) are made by Akubra in Australia. Poke around the Lounge and you'll see lots of evidence of this. They are very tough and well-made, but have loads of style and cost significantly less than new Stetsons, Borsolinos, etc. If you do a good job measuring your head to accurately determine size, Internet ordering isn't anything to fear.

HatsDirect has everything in stock, and is the only dealer to carry to the Lounge-favorite Federation IV - a great classic thirties-style fedora. But their prices and shipping run high:

http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?group=Fedora+Hats

Everything Australian mostly carries "country" hats and doesn't keep all models/colors/sizes in stock... but prices and shipping are less:

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/displayproduct.asp?id=2&cat=Akubra

There are other good dealers too, even ones based here in the US, though choices can be more limited and prices may be even higher. For example:

http://www.davidmorgan.com/index.php?cPath=2_22&page=all

Anyway, do not make the mistake of getting a wool hat because they're less expensive. They don't stand up the weather at all: they will lose shape and ultimately fall apart. Whereas a good fur felt hat like an Akubra just shrugs off rain and snow and will look great for years.

 

[H Weinstein]

You should probably hang out on the Lounge a while before you decide to buy anything. $75 is too much money to shell out for a cheapie wool felt. They're absolute junk. If you're one of the lucky ones whose hat size is at least a 7 1/8 and under you'll have a real good chance at finding a very nice vintage fur felt on ebay at a price that's closer to what you can afford. Look for Stetsons, Resistols, Knox, Borsalino, Mallory, and there's many more high end vintage brands to choose from. Hang out in the "What Hat Are You Wearing Today" thread and get an idea of what the guys are wearing. Ask a lot of questions. You definitely came to the right place.

I agree with T Jones. My first 3 hats were cheapos -- I ended up getting rid of all 3 and regretted having bought them. I'd have done better -- and ultimately saved money -- by buying a decent fur-felt hat as my first.

I suppose the trick with looking on eBay is finding something that's in good enough shape to not need cleaning or re-blocking. But if you're careful and ask questions of sellers, you can.

You can also look here in the classifieds and see what available.

First step, though, is getting an accurate size measurement of your head.

If you're already leaning enough toward getting a hat that you're hanging out here on the Lounge, and asking smart questions, chance are good you're going to enjoy becoming a hat guy. So it might be worth the extra money to buy a new quality fur-felt hat like an Akubra as your first one. If you order from an online Aussie hat seller like http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/, you can get one for about $125 (including shipping).

Among Loungers Akubras are generally regarded as an excellent hat for the money, and maybe the best choice for a first hat. I liked my first Akubra so much, I ended with ten! But you can stop at one.

I'm about 5' 8" and I love my Indy-style David Morgan Akubra Adventurer (which I purchased for less than Morgan's price at culturedcowboy.com).

You might want to consider a popular "outback" style hat, with a brim of 3" rather than narrower fedora brims -- they offer better sun protection yet still look enough like fedoras that you can wear one almost anywhere.

This is a great place for all kinds of hat info and advice -- I know it helped me make better purchases!

 

[RJR]

Second the "Adventurer"recommendation.

 

[Bad Co]

What look are you after ?
If it were me for the money that you want to spend right now
I recommend buying a couple of flat caps for the winter in some colors that accent the colors you most often wear
Then lurk around the lounge for a while and get something in a Spring / Summer fedora style like an Akubra Capricorn or so
After that you will be well on your way with the knowledge and confidence you need

 

[tropicalbob]

All of the above is good advice. IMHO, a Stylemaster by Akubra might be just the thing for you.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Yes everyone has chimed in with fantastic information. Geez, it should help out a new hat owner so very much to have the help as offered here. Even though we here at the lounge can help with such matters as hats and shoes and attire, just think if we had to handle the world's problems what we collectively could do?

As my Husband would say, you just HAVE to love the Lounge, as this IS the place to be!

 

[LuvMyMan]

What look are you after ?
If it were me for the money that you want to spend right now
I recommend buying a couple of flat caps for the winter in some colors that accent the colors you most often wear
Then lurk around the lounge for a while and get something in a Spring / Summer fedora style like an Akubra Capricorn or so
After that you will be well on your way with the knowledge and confidence you need

I was just checking out your avatar....wow...my Husband's family had a 1959 Caddy same colors from the Factory and sold it for next to nothing in the early 1970's......bummer!

 

[Bad Co]

I was just checking out your avatar....wow...my Husband's family had a 1959 Caddy same colors from the Factory and sold it for next to nothing in the early 1970's......bummer!

No doubt the world would be a better place if we loungers collectively had the opportunity to solve it's problems
As for the Car that's been the story of my life also ........ BUMMER for sure

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

About Bad Co's Caddy - there was one identical to that one in Florence, SC. The story goes that the local madam bought it and had great trouble with it. The dealer did not help her at all, so she parked it in front of her establishment and painted a large lemon on it which embarrassed everyone. Complaints were made, but for some odd reason nobody would do anything about it. She did not care. When I was there last, it was still parked right there on a now-prominent corner in town where everyone sees it on a daily basis - with chickens all around it and a rabbit cage on top of it. All these decades later, this is one of the favorite tales of Florence among the locals.

Back to Brandon's hat - I think that you have chosen what will look pretty good on you as a starter hat, but I suspect that you will find it will not last long. You might regard this as dipping your toe in the water to see if you like this hat wearing business. Or you might save a bit more money for what will be a pretty large part of your public image. Being in a very similar place years ago, I took a bigger plunge partly to have a better hat, but also to commit myself to this choice.

Based upon your choices in look, I would second Bob's recommendation of an Akubra Stylemaster as a quality entry into the realm of hats.

Fed

 

[Bushman]

You should probably hang out on the Lounge a while before you decide to buy anything. $75 is too much money to shell out for a cheapie wool felt. They're absolute junk. If you're one of the lucky ones whose hat size is at least a 7 1/8 and under you'll have a real good chance at finding a very nice vintage fur felt on ebay at a price that's closer to what you can afford. Look for Stetsons, Resistols, Knox, Borsalino, Mallory, and there's many more high end vintage brands to choose from. Hang out in the "What Hat Are You Wearing Today" thread and get an idea of what the guys are wearing. Ask a lot of questions. You definitely came to the right place.

Excellent advice. I agree. I learned a lot about wearing hats from this place, as well as the different types of hats. I would also say that while looking at hats, look for certain things, like how the crown fits on your head. Look for how tall it is, how wide the brim is, how the hat sits on a persons head and the different head shapes that different hats look good on. As a personal example, I always did find that I looked decent in a safari type hat, except when the brim curled up on the sides like a cowboy hat - then I just looked too country. I thought an Indy hat would look decent, even despite the curl on the sides, and I was a tad disappointed with my Coyle's Downtowner when I tried it on, to find that it looked too much like, well, to quote a passage from my 1st grade selves' description of Indiana Jones "a cowboy". lol I went back to wearing my Dorfman Pacific wool hat almost the next day. It was a Christmas gift, so I feel kinda bad talking bad about it, but it is the truth. I just didn't look as good as I thought I would in that kind of hat. So, I went back to the drawing board. I started looking for people with my head shape, and the kind of hats they looked good in, and went off that. Now my Stetson Chatham with a snap brim is my favorite hat in my collection, and I get compliments on it all the time.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

I'm 27, wear glasses, and have some cowardly hair that is rapidly fleeing the frontlines. I'd like to get something to block sun glare since I can't really wear sunglasses and help cover my retreating hairline (and keep my head warm/shaded if I decide to take out the survivors at a later date).

More pictures

I was interested in what type of lid you thought would match that head. Unfortunately, I live in an area where the nearest store that would carry anything except a beanie or ball cap is a 2-hour drive one way. I think ballcaps look terrible for for anything except yardwork and sports plus their tight fit ensures you can't take them off without looking like... well... you just took off a ball cap. Beanies are even worse + hit none of my practical goals for a hat. So I'm looking for some help in picking out a relatively inexpensive hat because I can't just try on a store full of them and decide what works for me. I'm not expecting anything incredibly cheap in the $20-30 range but I'd like to keep under $75 until I really know if I'll like them and move into better quality once I've figured out if I like the style. If it matters for hat selection, I'm slightly short at 5'6.

I was looking at:
Belfry Gangster
Belfry Bogart

I think I'd prefer the Gangster but am not sure I would be quite tall enough for it. I also think gray as a color on either hat would be easier to match than black since I think a black felt hat would definitely seem out of place (too formal) with my usual polos and khakis. I also want a hat I don't need to take off before entering a business (I will take it off while greeting/working so something at least reasonably professional.

On brand, I've heard that for low-end hats, Belfry actually has relatively good ones but I'm definitely open to other suggestions.

What is your hat size?

 

[Brandon Rinebold]

What is your hat size?

22.5"

 

[tuco1963]

get an idea in your head of what kind of hat you want and then go to ebay sounds like your a 7 1/8 - 7 1/4 at that size theyre giveing quality fur felt fedoras away

 

[KingAndrew]

I have to agree with the others that you won't regret getting an Akubra. It combines quality, style, and very reasonable price. If you order from David Morgan, you could have it very quickly.

If you're willing to wait and search, Ebay is the place for vintage. The Fedora Lounge classifieds are also a great source.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

22.5"

Ouch - my size. Was hoping that you were a tad smaller.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Akubra Campdraft from Everything Australian for abt $100 + $25 shipping. 3 mos wait. Sovereign quality Stetson Windham from Hats.Com for $107 an INCREDIBLE price. I believe they have your size also. Cant go wrong with either.