Questions Concerning Biltmore Hats

[deadlyhandsome]

There is difficulty in describing hats with subjective terms such as good and bad. As a collector I think that the Biltmore brand is not highly sought after and if you track the pricing you will discover they are not highly valued. They don't command much on the secondary market. That being said, it doesn't make them 'bad' hats. If you bought the hat because you like it and you thought the price reasonable then I think that makes it a 'good' hat. Is it a collectible that will accrue value with age? No it won't as that is not how it is viewed in the collector's market. I owned a few Biltmore hats that I purchased many many years ago when I first started this collection journey. They were OK hats and I liked them well enough at the time but eventually I moved them on as I upgraded the collection.
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I completely agree with your assessment with the Canadian made Biltmore hats. The few US made Biltmores I’ve seen were of much lower quality in every metric I care about. I now avails them no matter the price.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Does anyone else have experience with USA Biltmore hats? They can't be all that bad... I feel it would be like saying Kiton has become the same quality as Canali and that now it is "low quality" despite Canali is a decent quality brand. Maybe Biltmore was definitely up there with high-up brands, but now it is a bit lower quality, but still good quality.

Biltmore was never known for top tier hats. They were decent and priced right, but they were not comparable to Kiton in the world of suits. The Canadian Biltmores were more like Stafford suits and the US made Biltmores are more like Target’s house brand.

I’m not trying to tear down Biltmore, but they were not among the best hats at any time. I don’t know why you have a hard time believing that the quality went way down after years of financial problems in Canada, including a change of ownership, and then Dorfman buying their name. We see this all over the hat world. Even top brands such as Borsalino went through it. There was a time when some Borsalinos were made in the US and they were horrible hats.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Does anyone else have experience with USA Biltmore hats? They can't be all that bad...

You stated in an earlier post that you paid 100 bucks for the hat. If that was the price of a new hat, (supposedly 6X fur felt,) then that should tell you all you need to know about the quality & if it is indeed it is 100% fur felt..
Dorfman imports a lot of their hats, so though the company may be based in the US, it doesn't always follow that all their hats are US made. I have no idea if your Biltmore falls into that category but if you 'only' paid $100 for a *new hat*, even for a wool felt or fur blend, then that does suggest it may not have been made in the US.

 

[RBH]

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stetson-licensed-to-dorfman-pacific.47038/

 

[TheTopHatGuy]

You stated in an earlier post that you paid 100 bucks for the hat. If that was the price of a new hat, (supposedly 6X fur felt,) then that should tell you all you need to know about the quality & if it is indeed it is 100% fur felt..
Dorfman imports a lot of their hats, so though the company may be based in the US, it doesn't always follow that all their hats are US made. I have no idea if your Biltmore falls into that category but if you 'only' paid $100 for a *new hat*, even for a wool felt or fur blend, then that does suggest it may not have been made in the US.

lol well new its $250, but I bought it used on etsy. I was lucky I guess

 

[deadlyhandsome]

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stetson-licensed-to-dorfman-pacific.47038/

So none of the felt hats. That’s a relief.