Open Crown Stetsons: A Call (Plea) to Retailers!!

[Rick Blaine]

NO

So long as $70 7 3/8 vintage strats are to be had, I cannot foresee rolling the dice on another NEW hat to the tune of $240, ain't g'wine do it.
I tried 'em, found them wanting and do not think I will allow myself to be burned a third time. I give up. [huh]

 

[VetPsychWars]

So long as $70 7 3/8 vintage strats are to be had, I cannot foresee rolling the dice on another NEW hat to the tune of $240, ain't g'wine do it.
I tried 'em, found them wanting and do not think I will allow myself to be burned a third time. I give up. [huh]

Me, on the other hand, I've been burned too many times by vintage hats that didn't look like they did at the auction, or looked completely different after a cleaning.

The new hats I've bought have been perfectly acceptable, look good, feel good on the head, and if it was open crown, I can crease it well and it holds that crease.

No reason for me to have vintage; there's no color made then that I can't find somewhere today.

Not going to pay hundreds of dollars for someone else's old wreck any more.

Tom

 

[Lotsahats]

So long as $70 7 3/8 vintage strats are to be had, I cannot foresee rolling the dice on another NEW hat to the tune of $240, ain't g'wine do it.
I tried 'em, found them wanting and do not think I will allow myself to be burned a third time. I give up. [huh]

:clap: My story, too. And if I do buy a new hat, I'll save a little extra for a custom job.

 

[mayserwegener]

No reason for me to have vintage; there's no color made then that I can't find somewhere today.

Tom

Please tell me where you will find a hat (felt, finish, color, liner, sweat) made like this today?

http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6-johann-hueckel%c2%b4s-soehne-hueckel-hutfabrik-weilheim/page__st__20#entry273

 

[Joshbru3]

Please tell where you will find a hat (felt, finish, color, liner, sweat) made like this today?

http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6-johann-hueckel%c2%b4s-soehne-hueckel-hutfabrik-weilheim/page__st__20#entry273

The answer is......you can't. Period. ANY of us who have held numerous prewar hats will tell you that currently there is NOTHING made that can even hold a candle to them. Custom or not. Especially velours!! I'm with you, Steve.

 

[Lotsahats]

Or Josh, how about that unbelievable long-hair you sold a few months back!

A

 

[Joshbru3]

I will say though, the amount of effort and work that Matt has done at Stetson trying to get the company back to their roots and make the products that we all know and love is simply OUTSTANDING. No other big hat company besides Stetson has taken the steps recently to improve their felts and designs in order to make a "vintage" style hat. If you want Stetson to "get it right" and keep getting better and better, you SHOULD buy their hats. With each passing day, month, year, they are getting better and better.

 

[mayserwegener]

The answer is......you can't. Period. ANY of us who have held numerous prewar hats will tell you that currently there is NOTHING made that can even hold a candle to them. Custom or not. Especially velours!! I'm with you, Steve.

Exactly! Nobody is reproducing the hat I posted (and many others we have examples of).


Side note: There are misconceptions on this forum regarding old felts and finishes (especially old Velours).

 

[mayserwegener]

I will say though, the amount of effort and work that Matt has done at Stetson trying to get the company back to their roots and make the products that we all know and love is simply OUTSTANDING. No other big hat company besides Stetson has taken the steps recently to improve their felts and designs in order to make a "vintage" style hat. If you want Stetson to "get it right" and keep getting better and better, you SHOULD buy their hats. With each passing day, month, year, they are getting better and better.

Totally agree with this too.

 

[VetPsychWars]

Not sure of which one you meant, but anyways, I should have said "that I want", because I think the new hats are perfectly fine. It's not the fault of the hat-maker that the felt they have can't be gotten any more, which is what I keep hearing. I've also standardized on a thin ribbon, most of which didn't have an unusual/exotic finish.

I don't know what you guys have in mind for your hats, but I do exactly one thing with them: I set them on my head and walk out the door. I don't sit around feeling them up, I don't complain that the Borsalino I bought a couple years ago isn't as thin or as finely finished as the 50s Borsalino I have... I wear the damned hat!

All it has to do is hold a crease, look good, feel good on my head, and be durable to last me some years. I suppose stand up to a cleaning, as well, though I keep mine well brushed. As for colors, I could get by perfectly well with my wardrobe and two hats, a grey and the Stetson version of silver belly. I have more because I enjoy wearing more colors, silver grey, tan, burgundy, green, navy, and a couple of others hard to describe, for example the Cornhill from Stetson.

I understand the collector perspective (no, I don't) but the thing was intended to be sat on your head, not sat upon an altar.

That is my perspective.

Tom

 

[Lotsahats]

And Tom, I should also say that you're right--these modern hats are definitely perfect for some folks for a variety of perfectly good reasons, so fans should enjoy them and wear them in good health.

A

 

[VetPsychWars]

And Tom, I should also say that you're right--these modern hats are definitely perfect for some folks for a variety of perfectly good reasons, so fans should enjoy them and wear them in good health.

A

Indeed, and I get really upset and angry when collectors tell people like me, who appreciate the old stuff but don't feel the same way about it, that the new stuff is crap. It's not crap. May not be what you like, but it's completely wearable, which is the damned point... wearing a hat and feeling good about it.

Tom

 

[mayserwegener]

Not sure of which one you meant, but anyways, I should have said "that I want", because I think the new hats are perfectly fine. It's not the fault of the hat-maker that the felt they have can't be gotten any more, which is what I keep hearing. I've also standardized on a thin ribbon, most of which didn't have an unusual/exotic finish.

I don't know what you guys have in mind for your hats, but I do exactly one thing with them: I set them on my head and walk out the door. I don't sit around feeling them up, I don't complain that the Borsalino I bought a couple years ago isn't as thin or as finely finished as the 50s Borsalino I have... I wear the damned hat!

All it has to do is hold a crease, look good, feel good on my head, and be durable to last me some years. I suppose stand up to a cleaning, as well, though I keep mine well brushed. As for colors, I could get by perfectly well with my wardrobe and two hats, a grey and the Stetson version of silver belly. I have more because I enjoy wearing more colors, silver grey, tan, burgundy, green, navy, and a couple of others hard to describe, for example the Cornhill from Stetson.

I understand the collector perspective (no, I don't) but the thing was intended to be sat on your head, not sat upon an altar.

That is my perspective.

Tom

I wear all my hats but I am also a collector. I also take good care of the old ones that can't be made today.

 

[mayserwegener]

Indeed, and I get really upset and angry when collectors tell people like me, who appreciate the old stuff but don't feel the same way about it, that the new stuff is crap. It's not crap. May not be what you like, but it's completely wearable, which is the damned point... wearing a hat and feeling good about it.

Tom

I certainly didn't say they were crap. I am actually a proponent of modern day hat manufactures. Actually the custom crowd here is the most vocal against them.

 

[alanfgag]

Hi Tom,

I'm not aware of posts by anyone knowledgable in vintage hats calling new stuff 'crap.' This only appears in your posts.

There is a lot to discover about our world through collecting old hats beyond keeping one's head warm and dry. This is why I enjoy them.

cheers,
Alan

 

[Joshbru3]

Indeed, and I get really upset and angry when collectors tell people like me, who appreciate the old stuff but don't feel the same way about it, that the new stuff is crap. It's not crap. May not be what you like, but it's completely wearable, which is the damned point... wearing a hat and feeling good about it.

Tom

I never said they were crap either. I often take modern hats, redo them, and make my own to wear. So no, I am not just a collector. Actually, I literally just wrote that people SHOULD buy the new Stetsons. I really love what Matt and Stetson are doing. What Steve and I were simply saying is that there are vintage aspects that can not or will not be replicated today. On the flip side, I have heard many people on the lounge say, "whats the big deal with vintage, they are old, used, and dirty." Those people have obviously never held a good vintage hat. If that's your perspective, that's fine, but I believe modern hats are just fine as well. If you want something to wear, beat up, and not worry about, a modern hat is perfect for that.

 

[fedoracentric]

Maybe the new-made hats might be thought of as "crap" compared to the finest from the 30s and 40s. But that doesn't mean modern-made hats are crap in the scheme of things. After all, it is a completely unfair comparison to compare today's factory hats to those of the golden age of hats.

I agree with the others that Stetson has really upped its game in the last two years or so. In fact, Stetson began to up its game starting back in the late 1990s when it first put out the Nostalgia. So, the company has slowly but surely been looking to make its offerings better for years, now.

So, go buy a new hat, too, along with your vintage ones. I have!

 

[gtdean48]

I collect hats that are my size that I will wear, vintage & modern.
Those that don't fit are classified as projects that I will get around to working on to make them fit so that I can wear them.
I like finding pristine, vintage examples that I will wear for years to come as well as buying a new hat with the same future.

 

[mayserwegener]

Also people carried umbrellas back in the day. If you spent big bucks on a city dress hat or fancy Western you probably wouldn't want it to be drenched by rain. Not all hats were worn threadbare.

 

[Rick Blaine]

I don't sit around feeling them up

Tom

:rofl: