Stetson Stratoliner Milan {modern}

[Tukwila]

View attachment 110280
... Besides the size issues for me was the brim. With it snapped down it had a wave on each side of the brim that I just didn’t like.

Steam can take that front brim down to where you like it. It can take 2 or 3 times before it stays where you want it... and it won't have that odd smell of the PB hemp that some have posted about here.

 

[1967Cougar390]

Well I just figured I’d post an update on my experience with the Milan Stratoliner and Mike at one2miniranch. Despite the issues on my end (ordering the wrong size and brim) Mike was a top notch from start to finish. He is a pleasure to deal with and his customer service is wonderful. The return process was smooth and easy. I will definitely do business with him again.
Steven

 

[Tukwila]

Well I just figured I’d post an update on my experience with the Milan Stratoliner and Mike at one2miniranch. Despite the issues on my end (ordering the wrong size and brim) Mike was a top notch from start to finish. He is a pleasure to deal with and his customer service is wonderful. The return process was smooth and easy. I will definitely do business with him again.
Steven

My experience was the same.

 

[mojoboy31]

Just picked up my first Stratoliner. It's the Navy and grey hemp one: I know nothing about the different straw materials and was hesitant to go for hemp, because I'd only ever seen Millan, or shantung most the time. But I loved the color and the grey accents

Very comfortable to wear. I ordered a 7 1/2 like my Stetson Temples, but this feels like maybe I should have ordered a size down. I'll get an insert, not a big deal.

Only thing is, the brim is not stiff at all. I haven't been able to shape it at all, which is probably why all the pics on the website had the brim turned up. It looks alright, but it droops a tad too far on the left. Which is a problem because I crook my hats slightly to the right. But all things considered, I am very pleased with the purchase and am excited for some sunshiny days to wear it out with some new outfits.

 

[mojoboy31]

Bout a week into owning it and I'm loving my hemp strat more and more. I've taken steam to it a few more times since my original post. And I'm a bit more happy with the brim now, managed to raise the left side slightly, and managed to increase and raise the pinch slightly. Still a bit too big, but once I get an insert, it's gonna be great.

I actually came here to see if anyone had experience with the Milan ones, and it sounds like everyone had very much the same issues as I've had with my hemp one so far. Much as I love the strat, I think I'll be looking for another straw fedora in a different color. I want a grey one and there's a beautiful strat in grey Milan, but if it's going to have a brim that can't be molded, and a crown that's almost equally unruly, then I might keep looking.

 

[belfastboy]

Be cautious if you buy a milan. Most of the modern production hats that are called Milan are actually a Shantung (plasticized paper straw). They are inexpensive. There are vintage genuine milan straws to be found on Ebay and they are a much nicer material than the shantung. True Milan is heavier than Panama straws so a bit more robust/rugged but also warmer on the head.

I have just one shantung 'milan'....it is an ok hat but cannot hold a candle to the hand sewn true straw milan hats.

Bout a week into owning it and I'm loving my hemp strat more and more. I've taken steam to it a few more times since my original post. And I'm a bit more happy with the brim now, managed to raise the left side slightly, and managed to increase and raise the pinch slightly. Still a bit too big, but once I get an insert, it's gonna be great.

I actually came here to see if anyone had experience with the Milan ones, and it sounds like everyone had very much the same issues as I've had with my hemp one so far. Much as I love the strat, I think I'll be looking for another straw fedora in a different color. I want a grey one and there's a beautiful strat in grey Milan, but if it's going to have a brim that can't be molded, and a crown that's almost equally unruly, then I might keep looking.

 

[Edward]

Bout a week into owning it and I'm loving my hemp strat more and more. I've taken steam to it a few more times since my original post. And I'm a bit more happy with the brim now, managed to raise the left side slightly, and managed to increase and raise the pinch slightly. Still a bit too big, but once I get an insert, it's gonna be great.

I actually came here to see if anyone had experience with the Milan ones, and it sounds like everyone had very much the same issues as I've had with my hemp one so far. Much as I love the strat, I think I'll be looking for another straw fedora in a different color. I want a grey one and there's a beautiful strat in grey Milan, but if it's going to have a brim that can't be molded, and a crown that's almost equally unruly, then I might keep looking.

Love the look of the blue. I have my eye on one of those - and a black in the Florentine. I did also see a spectacular looking turquoise on the web, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere that will ship to the UK has it left in my size.

I realised last Summer my beloved grey Akubra Capricorn is somewhat past its best (not bad after fifteen odd years of heavy wear), and I've been keeping an eye out on new straw hats. I have picked up a grey Stratoliner in the Florentine, and an olive with brown trim in the hemp. As I've noted elsewhere, they both feel about equivalent in terms of durability (time will, I'm sure tell). The Florentine has just a tiny bit of sheen; the hemp is more matte. I like both very much. Given there's not a huge price difference (about thirty or forty bucks), it might be colour options that are the bigger difference in terms of my choices going forward. The brims on mine snap down well enough for the look, though they'll always be less controllable that way than a furfelt. Nature of the beast, I suppose. They are a little looser in feel than most of my well-settled furfelts, but not enough I feel the need to downsize. Might use a spacer depending how they go when worn in anger.

I'm also looking at some of the other options Stetson currently do. The Latte looks nice. The Uni Hemp Traveller and the Kendrick look to be almost identical; minor differences in crown height and brim aside (one is about half an inch shorter than the other, and has a brim about 3/8" wider), the only difference apparent in photos is he Traveller has a brim turned down at the back, the Kendrick up. The Kendrick looks very much like the photos I've seen online of the (seemingly discontinued) hemp Temple.

The real killer app for me for a straw would be if Akubra picked up the ball and ran with a Milano weave hemp straw version of the Federation. Now, that would be something of the 'one in every colour, please!' variety. Short of that, I'm not sure the Stratoliner can be bettered. Very please with both the hemp and the florentine.

 

[The Hatted Professor]

I ordered a 7 1/2 like my Stetson Temples, but this feels like maybe I should have ordered a size down. I'll get an insert, not a big deal.

I had the same experience. I have a Strat in pure beaver that fits well, but the Milan Strat fits like a size larger. All of the recent Stetsons I have in 7 ⅜ vary slightly from block to block, but still fall within a reasonable range. But that Milan is a huge exception.