Post Your Modern, Inexpensive, and Common, Yet Classy, Hats

[Swing Motorman]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to start this thread as a companion to "Post Your New Hats Here," but make this more of a thread for "the rest of us." Not everyone can afford the expense of modern high-quality fedoras, or we may be luckless at finding vintage ones. Or, you're like me and hats are too personal to wear someone else's old lid. So no secondhand or vintage, no custom-ordered, and keep the price tag reasonable, under or not far above the $100 mark.

Let's see what great deals are out there, mass-produced and available in everyday stores, that are truly bringing the Golden Era look back! I'll add a few after my evening stroll... what do you all have?


-Steven

 

[HatsEnough]

Is it wrong of me to expect this thread to be short? I can't think of any modern lids that are worth the price, even cheap ones. Then again, I am an "antiques dude," so I think I am predisposed to like a lid if it's vintage just because its old. So, maybe its just me, but I have handled a lot of new-made hats and I just find them inferior to vintage (except for the Optimo/VS types in the $300 range and higher... which is outta my league, so I exclude customs here).

 

[Jedwbpm]

Bought both for $5.00 each at the Orvis Factory Clearance sale it the mother ship in VT.
The Safari is Orvis brand not sure who make it.
The Fedora is a Royal Stetson.

Jeff

 

[gtdean48]

Every Akubra I've owned...

Cutdown Squatter...

Thin ribboned Fed4

Campdrafts, except for the Heritage CD...

 

[Swing Motorman]

Is it wrong of me to expect this thread to be short? I can't think of any modern lids that are worth the price, even cheap ones.

A valid statement, though one I beg to disagree with. My hope is that this thread can demonstrate to the hat-collecting elite that there are people who wear great hats for little money. I also hope no one will use this as a thread to complain about their least favorite hatmakers. Please keep everything civil and interpret "cheap" by the price tag, not your opinions of quality.


Not sure where to begin with my hat collection, as they all fit the standards for this thread... well, we'll start with the newest addition.

Dorfman Pacific Scala, from Boscov's for less than $40.

Another favorite: The Belfry Gangster, for less than $50. Wool felt, very comfortable and surprisingly resistant to rain.

I suppose I'll conclude with just a trio for now. Henschel Indy Outback. Stiff fur felt for a bargain-basement under-$50 price.

Those are my favorites, but I have plenty more to fit this theme. Hope to see more of everyone else's best-value vintage-inspired headwear!


-Steven

 

[bowlerman]

I like where you're going with this-- non vintage, non custom, non pricey. I was on your side of the fence a few years ago, and have a few handfuls of hats that you all may be surprised to hear have actually gotten a lot of wear on my head, though not so much recently. You've probably even seen some of them in your local gas station or Target!

The problem I encountered rather quickly was how tough we long ovals have it in the contemporary production world, and so out of necessity expanded my horizons and the hat-collecting obsession was born.

So do second hand "never worn" or "worn once" hats qualify here? If so, all my Beaver Brands can enter, and I think they're all classy hats.

In the meantime I'll start with these:

A green fabric-braid soft and frumpy fedora I got from Target a few years back and reworked into what you see in this photo (all hats in this photo are wet, as they take rather constant reworking to maintain some integrity);

A "Pugs Gear" blue canvas hat I grabbed at a gas station around the same time and reworked the brim from a cup and snap to the side roll you see here (incidentally I've always been looking for a finer felt version of this in another color that has about the same shape and dimensions, and have never seen anything-- it's not something I'd be interested in having custom made at this point);

and a rather nice black wool velour finish from Hats In The Belfry that my wife got for me as a present. I forget the model name, but frankly it is so soft and shiny, and I adore the brown ribbon sewn underneath the black ribbon on both the crown and brim.

More to come!

(By the way, Steven, you've got some nice looking ones there. Wear 'em proudly!)

 

[jlee562]

Christy's rightly takes a lot of flack for their durability (or rather, lack thereof). And although the bow work could be nicer, I happen to think the Adventurer is a sharp looking hat.

 

[fmw]

I'm also not a fan of used hats. Here are some that I bought new at very good prices both on Ebay and from on line dealers.

Stetson Avenue braid. $50.

Stetson Andover braid. $65

Dobbs Beechwood. $99

Stetson Bentree. $25

Akubra Flinders. $35

Panama Bob Optimo. $40

Stetson Panama. $35

Stetson Sturgis. $65

 

[mayserwegener]

I still buy modern production hats so don't fall into the vintage or custom only crowd. This is a modern one made by a small hat company out of Vienna named Collins. This hat is very well made (under $100.00) and I had a hatter friend replace the ribbon although the original was nice too. Unfortunately Collins just recently stopped production. I was told the head hat maker had previously worked at P. & C. Habig. They also acquired blocks and other equipment when P. & C. Habig went out of business in the 1980s.

 

[DJH]

I think there are still plenty of low cost, easy to find hats around.

For me, my favorite is the Campdraft. Costs about $100, tough as heck and looks good, with its classic Open Road looks. I wear mine a lot.

 

[monbla256]

Just about ANY Akubra would qualify though most are a little over $100.00 now. Still they are probably the BEST "deal" for a quality fur felt ( rabbit) made anywhere in the world today whether ordered from Oz or here in the US. Here's a few of mine:

Acorn Fawn Stylemaster

Mid-Brown Stylemaster

Fawn Squatter

Black Squatter

Bushman

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Its always great to purchase new hats. Stetson and especially Akubra make great new hats. An with them listening to and reading the forum to see what users are wanting we are starting to see them working bring out new models that will meet our needs. Vintage hats are great but it is hard to find larger sizes for those large headed of us. An we need to get hats in stores so that the average guy can see it and want to purchase. Not everyone wants to go thru the trouble of purchasing from eBay or the crapshoot of vintage stores having a hat you like an in your size.

 

[Sam Craig]

I'm not all that sure what you are looking for, because economical to one of us would NOT be to another.

In this part of the world, the best hat you can hope to get economically is a little used Resistol western. They do turn up, but you have to watch. You can find them in a variety of colors ... I recently added a navy one ... and they are great material, especially the older ones.

They are terrific to cut down into "super-fedoras" With the right shaping and a wide, dressy Petersham ribbon, they make just about the best every day hat ... and I wear a hat to work every day. This time of year, they are a little warm, but I only put mine up a couple of weeks ago.

The rest of the year, they can't be beat. They look great, even with a sports coat and tie and you can't destroy them.

To me, they fit all of your categories and it sure beats watching them just sit on a shelf ... unless you're in to cowboy dressing, of course.

Sam

 

[bowlerman]

This is thread is further indication from all of you that I'm just going to have to get an Akubra and/or Resistol one of these days...

Also-- I own a few customs that weren't more than 100 before shipping, but sticking with Steven's guidelines--

non vintage non custom $100 or below:
The parentheses indicate about what I think I paid for it.

Bailey soft wool derby (40)

Bailey Panama derby (80)

Beaver Brand Silverbelly teardrop (60) and Classic sand (30), both 5X

Beaver Brand 5X stoney river (25)

Black Adam "100% fur felt" (20)

Bailey wool stampede (40?)

Scala wool derby (40)-- never wear this; it's a poor fit and I can never even out the blocking.

Burgess wool John Bull (65)-- I don't wear this because the brim is floppy and prone to wrinkling, and the sweat is scratchy.

Atwood palm (45?)

Cuenca subfino received unblocked, no band or sweat (35 plus the few bucks I spent on a strip of 1/4" leather to tie around the crown)

 

[Swing Motorman]

Nice hats, guys! I knew we could find some swell hats without spending a bundle.

I guess I'll share two more of mine that don't get as much wear, but I still like them a lot. They're a little much on the attitude scale for daily wear, so I break these out in moderation.

Unknown wool-felt widebrim fedora of unknown price (it was a gift). Was my go-to rain hat until it started getting soft and rough-looking.

Now, converted into the "Big Bad Voodoo Hat" in the spirit of my favorite band.

Finally another Belfry hat. They call it a Belfry Tuva, it's just under $70 and comes in several bright colors and a few neutral ones. I love the shape of it, but the yellow is just a tad bright for my taste. But, a great hat to wear and stand out in!

After I re-ribboned it for Easter. I'm thinking of putting the black back on...

That's all from me, except for shorter brims that seem to also be getting phased out of use. Keep up the great hats, everyone!


-Steven

 

[fmw]

So, Bowler, tell me where you get those Beaver Brand hats. I'm always drawn to them when you post them. This posting I fell for the Stony River. Very cool hat.

 

[hatophile]

So, Bowler, tell me where you get those Beaver Brand hats. I'm always drawn to them when you post them. This posting I fell for the Stony River. Very cool hat.

I agree, I love the 2 Beaver Brands, you can't touch new ones now for those prices. I also like the Palm leaf planter style hat, the way you wear it makes me think of those 19th century adventurers.

 

[bowlerman]

Thanks-- I'm rather fond of the BBs as well. It's possible that I may have bent the rules a bit by including them here, as the stoney river and sand ones were obtained through Ebay as "vintage," (obviously not) and neither of them could have been worn more than once or twice, if at all. In fact, the sand one was advertised as a derby and arrived with a seemingly untouched open crown.

The silverbelly teardrop came from the outlet store for thefedorastore.com, located in Custer, SD. I think I gave him a hundred for that and the wool Bailey derby together.

 

[TheTallWhiteGuy]

Another favorite: The Belfry Gangster, for less than $50. Wool felt, very comfortable and surprisingly resistant to rain.

-Steven

I've been having a spot of trouble shaping my own Belfry Gangster (I have a thread on this here) and I was wondering if you could tell me what you did to yours to get it like that.

 

[KarlCrow]

he last logged in to the forum in october 2015.

maybe his came snapped down, or he put a linen handkerchief over the hat and ironed it.