Sizing Question?

[marcstck]

I've been buying my hats size 7 3/8, but they've always seemed just a smidgen loose. I decided to try a 7 1/4, and found a vintage chocolate brown Resistol 990 on eBay in that size. Won the auction, and received the hat today. It's a very nice hat, the felt much higher quality than I was expecting, but it's actually a 7 1/4 long oval.

The hat seems a little tight. I'm wondering if the long oval might have something to do with that? Or would all 7 1/4 size hats be a little tight, long oval or not?

This hat is nice enough that the tightness is not a dealbreaker, it will still definitely get worn, but I'd like to know my correct size for future purchases.

Also, anybody have any comments on the quality of Resistol hats? This is the first I've owned. I'm guessing the 990 dates from the 60s. Would that be correct?

 

[Justdog]

Size

I thought I was a 7 1/4 but am finding that hat fit is becoming dependent on the hat not my head, smile. I have several vintage that I have aquired recently. All the newer old hats are tight the best one,that seems to have been worn the most, fits like a glove. I recently got a 7 3/8 thinking that shrinkage made them 1/8 smaller. I had a hatter measure all the hats, they varied but were in the 7 1/4 range.

The river will probably lead me to having one made one day and having it be constructed using a conformer. If I wear the adam I have on now long enough I hope I can break it in. My head was measured at 22 1/2. The more I wear the newer old ones the better they fit.

The 3/8 is just a tad larger and that is enough to eliminate the snuggness. On the Adams there was also a thread that secured the liner in. At the front right under the band they had put a knot. After several hours of wearing it hurt. The hatter cut it off for me and the hat is way more comfortable.
Definately needs breaking in to form the oval to the shape of my head, just like new shoes. Try to get a good measurement of your head, ask for front to back inside oval measurements and side to side. Try to get the circumference as well.

I am hoping wearing them all will conform them and stretch them to the shape of my head naturally.

Just my meager experience so far.

 

[cooncatbob]

I've been buying my hats size 7 3/8, but they've always seemed just a smidgen loose. I decided to try a 7 1/4, and found a vintage chocolate brown Resistol 990 on eBay in that size. Won the auction, and received the hat today. It's a very nice hat, the felt much higher quality than I was expecting, but it's actually a 7 1/4 long oval.

The hat seems a little tight. I'm wondering if the long oval might have something to do with that? Or would all 7 1/4 size hats be a little tight, long oval or not?

This hat is nice enough that the tightness is not a dealbreaker, it will still definitely get worn, but I'd like to know my correct size for future purchases.

Also, anybody have any comments on the quality of Resistol hats? This is the first I've owned. I'm guessing the 990 dates from the 60s. Would that be correct?

The leather sweatbands in hats shrink over time.
Get a hat stretcher, fold out the sweatband and apply leather conditioner like Lexol to both sides of the leather. Fold the sweat back in they use the stretcher on it, easy does it a little bit at a time over several days.
I have a few e-bay hats that need to be stretched occasionally.

 

[bolthead]

You have one of 2 options here, either keep wearing & buying the 3/8 and just put a piece of felt or something behind the sweat....you say it's only a smidgen. Your other option is to just stretch the 1/4 out a bit. You have one of each now, why not try and do both to see which is more comfortable and easier to do.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

I've been buying my hats size 7 3/8, but they've always seemed just a smidgen loose. I decided to try a 7 1/4, and found a vintage chocolate brown Resistol 990 on eBay in that size. Won the auction, and received the hat today. It's a very nice hat, the felt much higher quality than I was expecting, but it's actually a 7 1/4 long oval.

The hat seems a little tight. I'm wondering if the long oval might have something to do with that? Or would all 7 1/4 size hats be a little tight, long oval or not?

This hat is nice enough that the tightness is not a dealbreaker, it will still definitely get worn, but I'd like to know my correct size for future purchases.

Also, anybody have any comments on the quality of Resistol hats? This is the first I've owned. I'm guessing the 990 dates from the 60s. Would that be correct?

Most of those Resistols had "Self Conforming" sweatbands. This was a floating sweatband, designed to stretch to the shape of your head, as you wore it. Put a little Lexol or baby oil on the sweatband. Then after a day or so, wear it for a few days. It should get more comfortable.

 

[marcstck]

Thanks for the advice, folks. The sweatband actually does say "self conforming" on it, but I figured it was just some old marketing ploy.

I was really just wondering if a 7 1/4 long oval would fit "smaller" than a regular 7 1/4 hat.

Seems like my head falls right in between the two sizes, so I'll see if the 7 1/4 long oval stretches out at all. It's really not that tight, it's just not a "perfect" fit...

 

[AdmiralTofu]

I was really just wondering if a 7 1/4 long oval would fit "smaller" than a regular 7 1/4 hat.

Technically, it's the same size (if you were to measure the circumference around the sweatband, it would be the same figure) -- it's the shape that's different. A long oval is exactly that -- proportionally longer front-to-back than a "regular" oval. So a 7 1/4 LO would fit looser front-to-back and tighter side-to-side than a regular 7 1/4.



I see you're new(ish)... welcome to the Lounge!

-Tofu

 

[skyvue]

So a 7 1/4 LO would fit looser front-to-back and tighter side-to-side than a regular 7 1/4.

My only hat is a 7 7/8 model, but there's a little room on each side -- doesn't really bother me, but I guess it's not ideal.

I stopped in Optimo Custom Hatworks a couple of days back. I found out their hats were a bit out of my price range, but he was nice enough to measure me.

He said I'm 24 inches/7 5/8, but an extra-long oval.

So am I stuck buying custom-made hats, or can a 7 5/8, oval or regular shape, be somehow reformed to fit my extra-long oval melon?

 

[Justdog]

My only hat is a 7 7/8 model, but there's a little room on each side -- doesn't really bother me, but I guess it's not ideal.

I stopped in Optimo Custom Hatworks a couple of days back. I found out their hats were a bit out of my price range, but he was nice enough to measure me.

He said I'm 24 inches/7 5/8, but an extra-long oval.

So am I stuck buying custom-made hats, or can a 7 5/8, oval or regular shape, be somehow reformed to fit my extra-long oval melon?

24” = size 7-5/8 = 61 cm
24-3/8” = size 7-3/4 = 62 cm
24-7/8” = size 7-7/8 = 63 cm

Just one basic size chart but I wonder if you moved into a 7 3/4 and had a hatter block it as a long oval this might fit better. Just a suggestion. I find the natural oval of my size has a bit of space in the sides but just a bit snug in the front. I am going to take one in and see if it can be elongated. Also most of the vintage are very likely to have shrank a size if not worn.

 

[skyvue]

So it's in the blocking, then, that a hat gain its shape -- oval, long oval, extra-long oval (sigh)?

And re-blocking does no harm to a hat?

 

[NonEntity]

I don't think we're ever going to resolve the hat size issue. There are just too many factors that affect fit--the original size of the particular model, the initial softness/stiffness of the felt, the malleability of the leather sweat band, the effect of moisture and sweat on the sweat band and felt, the unique effect the chemistry of your perspiration and body oils has on the sweat band, and, of course, the shape of your head and exactly where on it you like the hat to sit.

In my nearly 40 years of experience with hats, I've found the better the lid, the more likely it will conform to your head and be comfortable. In fact, in my opinion, this conformability is a prime component of what constitutes a fine hat.

For example, I used to be a 7 (56). Now, I'm every bit of a 7 1/8 (57). Some say all my education and business success has given me a "big head," but that's another issue entirely! My head is physically one full size larger than it was 20 to 25 years ago. However, hats I had then that fit me perfectly still fit me just as well.

How can that be? Simple, I just wore them. They were good hats with reeded roan leather sweat bands. As my head expanded, so did they. Of course, every hat has limits, and that's but one element that makes buying a previously owned lid a crap-shoot. How much more it will stretch or shrink can only be determined by wearing it, and wearing it quite a bit when you sweat and walk through rain.

My advice would be to purchase a hat a bit too big than too small, and use felt pads to make it fit. And rather than use a mechanical stretcher for a hat too small, just wear it. If it's a good hat, it will probably not only stretch, but also conform to the subtle nuances of the shape of your head.

 

[Justdog]

Shape

So it's in the blocking, then, that a hat gain its shape -- oval, long oval, extra-long oval (sigh)?

And re-blocking does no harm to a hat?

Advice here is that if it is tight get a size bigger, I agree with that, if it is vintage I would agree more with that, that is if you cannot try it on. An oval is an oval if it is new it needs to conform to your head which is not a perfect oval of the constructed hat. I am using a rudimentary hat stretcher on a shrunken hat 1/8 trying to get it to the org 1/4 bit by bit in addition to wearing it as much as possible. It is fitting beter and better all the time. Would not stretch it grossly but just enough to get some size. Even with the stretching certain areas of the oval are tighter and those areas will break in as long as I wear the hat. Also, even if you had your head measurerd, not with a conformer, but just regular measuring there is no gurantee that the hat will be worn exactly where you measured.

 

[skyvue]

I appreciate the input but I'm still confused. I'm talking shape, primarily, not size, though they're related.

To illustrate what I'm getting at, if I squeeze in the sides of my 7 7/8 hat to approximate my extra-long-oval head, it doesn't fit -- it's not quite snug enough all the way around. If I leave it as is, it fits just fine, except on the sides.

I'd like a hat that fits all the way around. Based on the info I got at Optima in Bisbee, a 7 5/8 extra-long oval would fit me, but those are hard to find outside the made-to-order world.

So if I were to buy ready-made oval hat of that size, would a good hat store -- say, JJ Hat Center here in NYC -- be able to reblock it to the shape I need? Or would doing that distort the brim and crown too much?

Am I doomed to loose fits on the sides with felt jimmied under the band or, when I can afford them, springing for made-to-order hats?

 

[skyvue]

(And let me acknowledge that I am surely revealing my ignorance on this subject, so please excuse my cluelessness.)

 

[Justdog]

Conforming

In all logic you would think you could reblock an existing hat to conform to your head but it would then be custom, I think we need some experienced guys to chime in for you. I am currently elongating my Courtney Homburg with a pine hat stretcher I got for 12 dollars. It feels way better than the 7 1/8 it started at, But it only has to go one size, the sides are accomodating the forward stretch but only this small size. If it stretches to far it oblongs the sides of the crown so I only have a small tolerance here. If it is snug on the front it should be able to slowly conform to you wearing it if you have space in the sides. I can squish a couple I have on the sides that are a bit snug in the front and get just the right amount of fit back to front. I am confident if I wear the hat it will shape to my head. I already said this before but the hat I have that was worn the most has the most natural shape and fits great.

 

[arehs08]

The Long Oval could deffinatly have something to do with it....does it squeeze you on the sides now? I know of a hatmaker that fit me over the phone and did an excellent job, maybe you could contact him and get him to adjust it for you. Its Butch Dorer and here's the link to his contact information: http://www.ButchDorerHats.com/Contact.html