Newbie Needs Advice

[Lawman]

Greetings, gents. I am 44 years old, and have always been a huge fan of the 1930s-1940s look. I very much want to get myself a fedora. I want one that looks as close to possible as the one Bogey wore. Any recommendations under $250?

Thanks!

 

[Lieutenant]

Lawman, welcome aboard. The first place you should check should be ebay but make sure you ask the seller the correct questions. Like - is there signs of moth damage, odor, how wide is the brim, how high is the crown, etc. Most sellers don't know anything about a hat. Also check any vintage clothes shops in your area. There are some very fine hatters here at the FL also.

 

[funneman]

Welcome to the lounge Lawman!

At your price range, you should be able to find more than one wonderful vintage lid on ebay. I don't know your size, but it seems the larger the size, the more expensive and harder to find the hat will be.

I wear a size 7 or 7-1/8 and I'm happy to report that I have purchased five fedoras on ebay and never spent more than $30.00 for any of them, including shipping. I only gotten one with silverfish bites, but thanks to the guys here on the lounge I was able to repair them to the point they are hardly noticable and THAT hat has become my favorite!

I agree with the Lieutenant, its important when buying on Ebay to make sure you find out if there are any "rips, tears, holes, stains or odors" associated with the hat. I also ask if it is "fur felt and not wool."

I happen to enjoy the buying process on ebay. Weeks of searching, the bidding process (which is in itself an art) the waiting for the box to arrive, the opening, then the wearing. That's a lot of hours of fun for a small price to pay. I've often compared buying a fedora on ebay to having a baby: No matter how much information you have received, you never really know exactly what you've got until it's arrived.

Or if your not married to the idea of buying used, how about a custom job from our friend and fellow lounger Art Fawcett. I believe his website is VintageSilhouettes.com, all of his beautiful custom lids are within your range.

I'm not expert when it comes to Bogart, but judging from discussions here in the lounge, I would guess a nice fur felt fedora, with a brim of 2" to 2-1/2" and a crown of around 4-1/2" would be the "bogey" style you are looking for.

Good luck!

 

[johnnycanuck]

If you are looking for a Bogart style fedora I would personally recommend getting a Black Akubra Federation from http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi/products.cgi?group=Fedora+Hats and just shape it yourself. That will allow you to get that vertical "stove pipe" look Bogart had in most of his films. It is under your $250 price mark and it is built for daily wear. So you con wear it rain or shine.
Johnny.

 

[Lawman]

Guys, great tips! What do you all think of the current Dobbs hats?

 

[TommySalieri]

Modern Dobbs?

I'll just sum it up with one sentence: I'll take a vintage Dobbs, over a modern Dobbs anyday.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Greetings, gents. I am 44 years old, and have always been a huge fan of the 1930s-1940s look. I very much want to get myself a fedora. I want one that looks as close to possible as the one Bogey wore. Any recommendations under $250?

Thanks!

I am sure Art can hook you up with exactly what you want, for close to that price. You can hand pick exactly what you want, color, brim width, crown height etc... I have had Art do some work for me and have nothing but high praise for his workmanship, not to mention his customer service.:cheers1:

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Welcome

Welcome to the lounge. I've acquired all four of my Open Roads for under $250 and only the straw was purchased new. Contact the vendors here in the Lounge, look at local vintage shops and of course there's eBay. Good luck and again, welcome.

 

[epic610]

I would...

go to one of the retailers who frequent this site....i.e. Bencraft or FedoraStore ...and take a look at their selection online. you can buy a decent new hat for much less than $250 and have it in your hands in a few days at the most.

one thing i know is that your taste will change. you would want to own a few inexpensive hats in various styles to get a feel for what you really like before buying something expensive.

i think it takes time, patience, knowledge and most especially luck to buy vintage on ebay, things which as a newcomer you may not now have, nor have the time to develop. also, at this initial stage i doubt you would want to get into things like getting a hat re-bashed, cleaned or re-blocked . . . which will take more money and more time.

you can have a decent new hat on your head in 48 hours!

 

[Lawman]

Who are the vendors here?

 

[ufguy11]

There is always www.thefedorastore.com and I've heard of Art Fawcett. If it was me though, I would check out a Stetson Temple. $105 at certain places and is a great looking hat in my mind. But that's just me.

 

[TommySalieri]

Here you go, Lawman.

http://www.bencrafthats.com/list.ph...er=12&next_group=11&back_group=-9&next_page=1

http://www.panamas.biz/

http://www.getahaton.com/

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

http://www.villagehatshop.com/

http://www.adventurebilthats.com/

and here is the infamous Art Fawcett's website

http://www.vintagesilhouettes.com/

Also, whatever you do, avoid The Gladhatter.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

The Best Way to Go...

I've seen plenty of Bogart hats all over the net, and I've seen plenty of pictures of Mr. B on this sight. I haven't seen a single off-the-shelf hat that does the real thing justice.

That said, since your willing to pay $250 for a hat, I recommend custom all the way. Either Art Fawcett (I have one of his and it's a beauty) and Steve "Fedora" Delk (Adventurebilt). Neither of them will limit you to what you see on their webpages, and both are a pleasure to work with. And I believe that both have replicated Bogart styles.
NB

 

[DanielJones]

NB13 is right, Art & Steve are the way to go for custom lids. Nice folks and good work.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Cruiser]

What size are you?

That info posted here can get you some additional help, as people run across deals you might be interested in.

 

[Fedora]

I have made a few Bogey-esque fedoras, but I specialize in the Raiders fedora. Really, to get the Bogey hat right, it needs a welted brim, which I do not do. But here are a couple of reblocks/refurbs that I did on some vintage hats this year in the Bogey style. Personally, I recommend my buddy Art Fawcett. This is his forte. Here are a couple of pics of what mine look like.


This one here was a vintage Borsalino, great felt, but in fairly bad shape prior to the cleaning and a change in block shape to yield the Bogey fedora.

This is the last one that I made, using a vintage pure beaver body, and I have some different angles on it to show what it looks like.

Ok, one more. This is one made from my felt, but I discovered later on, I used the wrong number block to make it. The Bogey hat needs a particular block shape that I have not seen on off the shelf hats. I am sure Art has the right block shape to use, to replicate it. I have the correct block shape, but not in all sizes as I usually refer anything other than an Indy fedora to Art.

Fedora

 

[Lawman]

What do Art's hats run?

 

[WEEGEE]

PURE BEAVER

Pure Beaver is $275.00...worth every penny!!!

I own hats by Art and they are second to none.


Best of luck with your search...regards,

WeeGee

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Give Art a call....

Art, also makes a nice rabbitt fur felt... $185.00

http://www.vintagesilhouettes.com/ Art Fawcett

1-888-270-3984

 

[Lawman]

For those who asked, I am a size 7 1/2