Oval size problem

[delphi]

hello all @ fedora lounge...
i'm new here as i have just gotten to the age where wearing a ball-cap year-round has become a bit boreing. so, i decided to order a pork pie for my first "nice" hat. i understand that a hat shop would be the place to go to make sure it fits, but beings there is no hat shop anywhere near me, i have had to resort to ordering "on line". so, of course there was a problem that i was hopeing to get some help with.
i measured my head 3 times just to make sure i was ordering the right size. the hat arrived, a nice bailey of hollywood wool felt jett finished 7 1/2. problem is, the hat fit o.k. front to back, but it was WAY too big side to side. i could fit my fingers between my temples and the hat.
i've done a little reading on this and there appears to be what they call an "oval" measurement that can be used to avoid this problem. but unless you have a hat custom made, i've not seen this "oval" measurement mentioned as a sizeing option.
so, my question is this - would a "softer" hat with a little "give" to it fit my odd shaped head better than the very "stiff" hat i ordered? or does anyone have any other ideas?
thank you so much for any help.

 

[Rodkins]

hello all @ fedora lounge...
i'm new here as i have just gotten to the age where wearing a ball-cap year-round has become a bit boreing. so, i decided to order a pork pie for my first "nice" hat. i understand that a hat shop would be the place to go to make sure it fits, but beings there is no hat shop anywhere near me, i have had to resort to ordering "on line". so, of course there was a problem that i was hopeing to get some help with.
i measured my head 3 times just to make sure i was ordering the right size. the hat arrived, a nice bailey of hollywood wool felt jett finished 7 1/2. problem is, the hat fit o.k. front to back, but it was WAY too big side to side. i could fit my fingers between my temples and the hat.
i've done a little reading on this and there appears to be what they call an "oval" measurement that can be used to avoid this problem. but unless you have a hat custom made, i've not seen this "oval" measurement mentioned as a sizeing option.
so, my question is this - would a "softer" hat with a little "give" to it fit my odd shaped head better than the very "stiff" hat i ordered? or does anyone have any other ideas?
thank you so much for any help.

I too am a "long oval" and finding that perfect fit is sometimes difficult. I have several long oval hats that fit me like a glove. Obviously my custom hats fit me very well. I also have several regular oval hats that I have re-shaped to fit my head with either a hat stretcher or a cedar block a custom hatter shaped to my head. At a size 7 1/2, if you buy a medium hat-jack type hat stretcher, you can actually stretch a regular oval hat to a long oval with the stretcher. It usually works well for me as a size 7 3/8. Most hats work but any hat with a non-reeded sweatband will even conform better.
Mike