Novice in Rhode Island looking for a haberdasher & Akubra advice

[wenestvedt]

Thanks, everyone, for all the good advice.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off, and I plan to head over to a local "western wear" place to try on a few hats -- both to confirm my size, and to see how various crown heights and brim widths [did I get that right?] look on me.

Unless I learn somethign very surprising, I'll probably order an Akubra Cattleman from David Morgan because I like the 90 day return window and cheap shipping should I wish to exchange it for a different style or shape.

I will also report, for the benefit of the archives, my experiences at the Snake Hill Trading Post in Smithfield, RI, if I manage to get there.

Can anyone see any major problems with that plan? :7)

Gratefully,

- Will

 

[MissHuff]

wenestvedt, if/when you do find a good hat store in RI please let me know.. I've been searching for so long and have yet to come up with anything.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Once you get your sizing and style needs together, if you still want a Cattleman, you might want to consider ordering it direct from one of the Australian vendors rather than the US distributor.

As it happens, I have a Cattleman in transit right at the moment from Aussie Bush Hats and Oilskins - and even including the (5-10 biz day) shipping, my credit card charge only came to $89. Other Australian vendors like Everything Australian and HatsDirect are also nearly as reasonable.

Sure, it would be a bit of a pain to if I needed to return it, but I know that the size is right: this Cattleman is to be the hot-weather companion to the same-sized Akubra Stockman I'm wearing in my avatar!

 

[deanglen]

Rhode Island Hat Club

You RI Loungers might have seen these folks now and then:

dean

 

[MissHuff]

You RI Loungers might have seen these folks now and then:

I think I've come across a little too many of those hats and folks... :rage: ooo the sound of those boots on pavement..

 

[deanglen]

I think I've come across a little too many of those hats and folks... :rage: ooo the sound of those boots on pavement..

The boots are as cool as the hats!

dean

 

[Aaron Hats]

There was a hat store in Providence called Noggins Nest but I just checked her web site and it's no longer there.

I too, recommend Hats Direct over David Morgan for Akubra.

Aaron

 

[wenestvedt]

I too, recommend Hats Direct over David Morgan for Akubra.

Really? Im kind of picky, so I like to have a more local vendor either to beat up on or brag about (depending on how things go). Hmmm.... Doc Strange, $89 is quite a bargain! Have you dealt with this Aussie Bush Hats before, or is the hat pretty much a commodity item?

As for Noggin's Nest, I saw it mentioned online as about the only RI hat place but something else seem to be at that address now. (I haven't bothered to go over yet.) I wish I knew the proprietor's (preprietress's?) name so I could find their new business, if indeed they're still in the area.

And those Staties are something else. As a non-local, I use my blinkers and drive sanely so I only see those guys in my peripheral vision as they tear down the road, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Why, just this morning it warmed me to the cockles of my heart when I saw some tool zooming up the shoulder of the highway and then lurching fearfully back into traffic when he noticed the two gray patrol cars and two motorcyles just up ahead on the shoulder. All four Troopers stood there staring at him, hands on their hips. (I think they were actually laughing!)

On the way home at 4:30 four others were there at he same spot [146 just heading into Providence], writing more tickets. Go, Staties, go!

*ahem*

- Will

 

[besdor]

Aaron , I will never recommend David Morgan for anything. I have a "beef" with then as they are a distributor and a retaior. They called us two weeks ago as we havent ordered anything in a while. We told them the reason and they weren't very happy with it.



Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[wenestvedt]

Steven, that's good enough for me, I guess. I loathe crummy customer service, and prefer to suffocate it in loneliness. Thanks for the warning.

- Will

 

[MissHuff]

Those silly staties.. gotta love Rhode Island. and HEY I'm ri-born&bred and I definitely use my signals.

but ANYWAY back to what I was posting about. My friend used to live above the Noggin's Nest when it was at the far end of Wickenden Street. Never really went in there because the fru-fru silly looking hats were always in the window and didn't really have any interest. I remember it moving back up the street to a busier section but never really saw it open. It's since become some clothing store or something.

It's a shame there are no hat stores to be found. I do find quite a few older gentleman about town in East Greenwich with some great looking hats. One day I'll have to stop one of them and see where they get their hats, but they probably obtained them before the state decided to not supply hats to people. [huh]

 

[Doctor Strange]

Doc Strange, $89 is quite a bargain! Have you dealt with this Aussie Bush Hats before, or is the hat pretty much a commodity item?

================

I've now dealt with them twice.

Earlier this year for the Stockman - which took almost three months, because I ordered it in a non-stock color. (Akubra cycles through making all their styles and colors about every twelve weeks, so you can order almost any style in any color at no extra charge, but it does take longer.) It arrived in about a week once they got it in stock.

I placed my current order for the Cattleman (in a standard stock color this time) around two weeks ago, and it shipped sometime last week. I found out this morning that its sitting waiting for me at my post office (there's no street delivery where I live, we all get free PO boxes), but alas, I won't be able to get over there during window hours until Saturday. Argh!

So, both my experiences were positive, with no hassles, fast and friendly email correspondences as needed, and pretty quick delivery once they had the hat in stock. Each hat was priced at a rock-bottom $90AU ($73.89US as of today) plus $20AU for shipping (around $15). Their pages on "currently available" Akubras:

http://aussiebushhats.com.au/catalog/default.php?cPath=21_22

I also bought an Akubra Federation from HatsDirect a few years back, which was an equally painless transaction with even faster shipping (but their prices run several dollars higher):

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

 

[Aaron Hats]

I have a "beef" with then as they are a distributor and a retaior. They called us two weeks ago as we havent ordered anything in a while. We told them the reason and they weren't very happy with it.
www.bencrafthats.com

That's the same reason I won't buy from them until they stop undercutting their retailers.

Aaron

 

[wenestvedt]

Some limited success today.

I went to the Snake Hill Trading Post today (at 375 Putnam Pike in Smithfield, just past the big Smithfield Crossing Mall, in the strip mall across from the Shell station) and tried on a pile of Stetsons: mostly stiff, and goodness knows what they're made of. Their phone number is (401) 232-7338 if anyone needs a local place. I promised the owner I would mention her honesty and helpfulness since I didn't actaully buy a hat from her. :7)

Anyway, she was very gracious and patient, though she was curious why I would want an Australian hat when there's plenty of good ones made in the U.S. (Which I can't fault her on.). She admitted that the Australians made good stuff -- witnessed by a big rack of Driz-A-Bone coats & hats -- but said she really carried mostly western-style hats due to demand around here.

So I discovered that I fit somewhere in between a 7-1/2 and maybe a 7-5/8 in those Stetsons. They felt tighter fore-and-aft and looser on the sides, which was confirmed when the owner volunteered that my head looked like an "oval" (not a "round") shape. I have a fedora that fits me quite comfortably, but regrettably there's no size or manufacturer information inside, just the name "Banana Republic," so I can't use that as a guide. Or could I, if I know the interior measurements?

Anyway, just as I was about to order the Cattleman, I saw the Lawson. However, I fear that its small brim will make the hat body look bigger. And the fedora I have now has a 2-1/2" brim, which is smaller than the Cattleman's 3-1/4" brim. So all this leads up to one final question:

Will a big brimmed-hat on a tall, thin guy make me look like a patio umbrella?

Thanks again.

- Will
P.S. Edited for additional details & spelling.

 

[Davidson]

Will. sounds like you're a 7 1/2 Long Oval (LO). So am I. Kinda hard to find. Some makes, like Stetson, I seem to be better off buying 7 5/8 and letting shrink a bit, some others like Resistol seem to be cut a little bigger, so 7 1/2 is fine. I can't really say about Akubra, but you might think about trying a 61 cm (7 /5/8) with DM, even if you have the intention of possibly returning it once you know the fit.

PS I still encourage you to check out the variety of styles at the Burlington Coat Factories in your area, just for the fun of it if nothing else.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Re the Lawson vs. the Cattleman, both will probably look smashing on you. (Lots of Akubras would - *deciding* on one is the tough part!)

However, if you're going specifically for active summertime use, consider that the Lawson is lined, whereas the Cattleman is unlined and has six ventilation holes. (That's why I got two: the Stockman for cooler weather when you want to keep the warmth in, and the Cattleman for hotter weather when your head needs to "breathe".)

 

[mingoslim]

Providence is an old mob town?

wenestvedt, if/when you do find a good hat store in RI please let me know.. I've been searching for so long and have yet to come up with anything.

Can't you find out where the wise guys get their fedoras?

 

[wenestvedt]

Can't you find out where the wise guys get their fedoras?

Well, you know what they say: them that know won't say and them that say don't know. :7)

But I have found it odd that I can't find a store up in Federal Hill (Providence's "Litle Italy" neighborhood) selling Proroaso shaving cream, so the absence of a good hat store no longer surprises me.

- Will

 

[MissHuff]

But I have found it odd that I can't find a store up in Federal Hill (Providence's "Litle Italy" neighborhood) selling Proroaso shaving cream, so the absence of a good hat store no longer surprises me.

I grew up on "the Hill" and it definitely ain't what it used to be. sigh