Post New Hats Here!

[Pellie]

A very nice hat with a proper homburg curl!

Thanks Randy!

 

[steur]

Some new hats to post, so let's start with this one.
No name panama I picked up because it seemed to have a decent weave. It looked neglected (and was) but for 10 euro not much could go wrong. I cleaned it, ironed the brim and added the pug.

Before:

After:

 

[jeffgarf]

We don't know the name now, but with a weave like that, you couldn't go wrong. Very nice.

 

[steur]

Second one.
Morreton Softline chamois fedora in brown. No label underneath the sweatband. Bound brim at 6,5cm and the crown fairly low at 9,5cm at the center dent. Very nice felt. I got this one thanks to Marcel @Pellie who bought it only to find out it wasn't his size.

 

[Pellie]

Second one.
Morreton Softline chamois fedora in brown. No label underneath the sweatband. Bound brim at 6,5cm and the crown fairly low at 9,5cm at the center dent. Very nice felt. I got this one thanks to Marcel @Pellie who bought it only to find out it wasn't his size.

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Very nice Morreton. I'm glad it fits you!

 

[steur]

It took me ages to find one of these at a decent price and in my size. Finally.

GB Borsalino fu Lazzaro bowler in black. The model is called Ascoli. Bound brim at 5,3cm and the crown at 12cm. Very nice shape for its age and the felt is gorgeous.

 

[steur]

And the last one.

Hückel Jota Seal Velour in black. Size 57 with the raw edge brim at 5,5cm and the crown at 11,5cm at the center dent. As expected the felt is incredible on this hat. Only n i g g le I have is that the liner is sagging. Have to figure out a way to remedy that.

 

[Steve1857]

It took me ages to find one of these at a decent price and in my size. Finally.

GB Borsalino fu Lazzaro bowler in black. The model is called Ascoli. Bound brim at 5,3cm and the crown at 12cm. Very nice shape for its age and the felt is gorgeous.

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I'm so happy for you, Stefan. I know you've been searching for a while.

It's a beauty, too.

 

[steur]

Very nice Morreton. I'm glad it fits you!

It is. Thanks again, Marcel.

 

[steur]

I'm so happy for you, Stefan. I know you've been searching for a while.

It's a beauty, too.

Thank you, Steve. It is a very attractive bowler too. A favourite bowler right away.

 

[RickP]

Some new hats to post, so let's start with this one.
No name panama I picked up because it seemed to have a decent weave. It looked neglected (and was) but for 10 euro not much could go wrong. I cleaned it, ironed the brim and added the pug.

Before:
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After:
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Whats your favorite methods for cleaning straws?

 

[blewnote]

Whats your favorite methods for cleaning straws?

Was going to ask that myself!

 

[RickP]

Ive had SOME limited success using denatured alcohol and scrubbing, but some more modern straws have so much what I assume is a poly/ stiffener sprayed on that its hard to get all the discoloration off properly. Straight laquer is no big deal, but polyuethanes just dont dissolve the same way. Solvents that eat poly also eat synthetic stitching. My curiosity is mainly geared towards decent quality older woven hats. I know in the old days there was talk of actually bleaching. Straw cleaning is just not an arena that ive been involved with to date.

 

[blewnote]

Ive had SOME limited success using denatured alcohol and scrubbing, but some more modern straws have so much what I assume is a poly/ stiffener sprayed on that its hard to get all the discoloration off properly. Straight laquer is no big deal, but polyuethanes just dont dissolve the same way. Solvents that eat poly also eat synthetic stitching. My curiosity is mainly geared towards decent quality older woven hats. I know in the old days there was talk of actually bleaching. Straw cleaning is just not an arena that ive been involved with to date.

Same, I had asked it in the ask a question thread and didn't really get any answers. But Stefan did a bang up job on that old panama, which is exactly the type of hat I'm looking to clean.

And yeah, in the old days they recommended Oxalic acid or actually bleaching in a box filled with sulphur smoke, but I was curious if there was something less involved anyone had had success with, at least just to get the dirt off.

 

[RickP]

Same, I had asked it in the ask a question thread and didn't really get any answers. But Stefan did a bang up job on that old panama, which is exactly the type of hat I'm looking to clean.

And yeah, in the old days they recommended Oxalic acid or actually bleaching in a box filled with sulphur smoke, but I was curious if there was something less involved anyone had had success with, at least just to get the dirt off.

My fear has always been that anything that can clean grungy straw will likely damage sweatbands and ribbons... prob going to require partial dissassembly before cleaning. I do it with felts regularly so if thats what needs to be done Im fine with that

 

[steur]

Whats your favorite methods for cleaning straws?

Was going to ask that myself!

Well, it's not that I clean panama hats on a regular basis, but I can tell you what I did with this one.
First step was getting the surface dust off as much as possible.
Second step was making a mix of soda, vinegar and some detergent (I use that for cleaning the collars of my white dress shirts as well) and use a sponge or a soft brush to give the hat a first cleaning. I don't have a set recipe for it; I just eyeball it. Go easy on the detergent though or you'll end up with a foam bath.
Rinse with cold or lukewarm water. Let it dry.
Third step after the hat was dry and still somewhat dirty was to mix a hydrogen peroxide solution (here a 3% solution is readily available) with a little bit of ammonia (just a spoonful) and again a little bit of mild detergent. Again use the sponge or soft brush. And rinse again.
This worked quite well on this hat. I did not remove the sweatband on this hat and it did shrink on me. But in this case I did not mind, because the hat started out a bit too big for me. So I would advise to take out the sweatband if you're going to tackle one of your panama's.

 

[RickP]

Well, it's not that I clean panama hats on a regular basis, but I can tell you what I did with this one.
First step was getting the surface dust off as much as possible.
Second step was making a mix of soda, vinegar and some detergent (I use that for cleaning the collars of my white dress shirts as well) and use a sponge or a soft brush to give the hat a first cleaning. I don't have a set recipe for it; I just eyeball it. Go easy on the detergent though or you'll end up with a foam bath.
Rinse with cold or lukewarm water. Let it dry.
Third step after the hat was dry and still somewhat dirty was to mix a hydrogen peroxide solution (here a 3% solution is readily available) with a little bit of ammonia (just a spoonful) and again a little bit of mild detergent. Again use the sponge or soft brush. And rinse again.
This worked quite well on this hat. I did not remove the sweatband on this hat and it did shrink on me. But in this case I did not mind, because the hat started out a bit too big for me. So I would advise to take out the sweatband if you're going to tackle one of your panama's.

excellent... Ill write this one down for someday!

 

[Judgmentalist]

Stetson Twenty Five.

This one can use a little clean up, and it has more moth damage - partially obscured by the ribbon - than I realized. Ah well - such is life. Caveat emptor.

Still, a fun hat to wear, and as of this moment my only Stetson Twenty Five. Cool hat. My wife likes it. Apparently moth damage doesn't bother her that much.

I’m thinking mid-to-late 1950s on this one. It has the plastic-covered Stetson crest liner, the manila keyhole MID 3/8 OVAL size tag, and the Twenty Five sweatband imprint. Nothing of interest hiding under the sweatband, unfortunately.

Stetson Twenty Five

 

[Judgmentalist]

Got a new one in today. Nothing under the sweatband so far as I’ve been able to determine, though I’ve been very careful about manipulating it. Based on the size tag, I’m guessing this one is from sometime in the ’60s, but I’m happy to be corrected if necessary.

There was a Henry Forrest in the right era who trained some Kentucky Derby winners, but without more data it’s impossible to narrow it down. I also found a picture of this Henry Forrest wearing a very-much-not Stetson One Hundred type hat for what that is worth.

There are several other plausible candidates with a paper trail, and no way to know how many Henry Forrests with deep pockets simply didn’t leave a 60-ish-year mark on history.

Stetson One Hundred
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good news/bad news; it's my wife's size, not mine - she looks better than me in my hats anyway - probably for the best
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[Judgmentalist]

Not exactly new, but new enough.

This is the second hat I asked @HatsBySam to restore for me. The sweatband needed to be replaced and while we were at it I asked him to bump it up to my size - among other things - Sam can share if he feels so inclined. I love it. I love the new shape as well. Thanks, Sam!