The Black Hat Brigade

[Katt in Hat]

Utter rubbish...

Black seems serious or sinister somehow.

I truncated the quote by one sentence.

Can't you see the twinkle in my Avatar's eyes? :drum:

 

[jamespowers]

From a Stetson Playboy to western type hats, I don't mind black at all. I have many of them and will keep adding to them if the opportunity presents itself. Of course Marc knows that.

Regards,

J

 

[matei]

I don't have a black hat as of yet... I am considering it though! I have a dark blue (navy) one, and it doesn't look too bad.

I am considering picking up a black homburg, rather than a fedora. MK brought a really nice black homburg to the London FL event and it was something else.

That being said, I recently saw "Dial M for Murder", and the inspector was sporting a black homberg as well.

 

[Aerol]

Flechet

I recently bought a black Flechet to go with a black and yellow mountaineering jacket by Marmot. Just something to knock around in.

I bought it off the internet here: http://www.commerce2.franchap.com/acatalog/FRANCHAP__CATALOGUE_CHAPEAUX_FLECHET_CLASSIQUES__121.html

The service was excellent, but the mail delivery took twice as long as expected: two weeks instead of one.

The hat looks great, nice French styling and all that, but is trash. Felt (100% rabbit) that feels like old shirt cardboards, a sweat band that doesn't lie flat and, to top it off, a glued in maker's label that fell off after a month.
But I like the look, and there's something to say for looking good, even if it will only be for a short time (until the hat falls apart).

If you go this route, note that the prices posted include VAT at around 20%. Check the right box and save!

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Love 'em

I have a lovely black fedora, handcrafted by our own Art Fawcett. When I went to his shop the first time, he was wearing a 1940s black Borsalino. I asked Art to duplicate it for me.

I think a black fedora makes a nice dress hat, as opposed to a brown one..KC

 

[Absinthe_1900]

You can spot a few in the first Thin Man film.

 

[Jack Scorpion]

I fear the color black in every piece of my attire. Hell, I even hesitate to wear my gray fedoras at times because the rest of my wardrobe consists only of earth tones and solid colors.

Not that it matters, since I never wear it, but my one and only suit is true navy, so a dark hat probably will have to be in my future. However, I don't foresee myself ever buying a black fedora.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

From a Stetson Playboy to western type hats, I don't mind black at all. I have many of them and will keep adding to them if the opportunity presents itself. Of course Marc knows that.

It was your most recent vintage fedora that led to this thread!

 

[jamespowers]

It was your most recent vintage fedora that led to this thread!

The turn of last century Stetson or the 1920s job?
Don't buy black fedoras. They will look awful on you. Just leave them right there. Leave the sellers wanting for a buyer.
Did I mention I love black?

Regards to all,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The 1920s job.

Okay, we'll only buy fedoras that are :fedora:, or perhaps :cool2:.

 

[stylin]

It's a freakin' fedora what's not to like?????

Seriously, black is a classy, refined, casual, simple, "one-size-fits-all-go-with-anything-colour. You just can't go wrong with anything in black (ties, suits, jackets, shoes, cars, motorcycles, pistols, rings, wallets, shirts, belts, socks, etc. etc. etc. and Yes all hats.)



Wear black and wear it well. No worries.

 

[Craig Robertson]

Black Resistol.

 

[jamespowers]

The 1920s job.

Okay, we'll only buy fedoras that are :fedora:, or perhaps :cool2:.

Oh, you mean this one:

fuzzy hat.

Sweatband

Liner logos

I'll keep it short since some people don't want my opinion on hats.
A 7 5/8 in a hat this old is like finding a frock coat, pants, vest and shoes for a giant. I think they actually charged extra for the large size back then! lol The 1900 International Exposition in France gives me an idea that this hat is OLD. I have a Stetson bowler with the 1915 Exposition date on the liner and that is slightly different. So does a date between 1900 and 1915 sound feasible? I would say it falls somewhere in there. Stetson didn't have to rest on its laurels for more than 15 years.

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

It's possible, I guess. I just looked back at photos of the "Al Capone-style" Stetson fedora I sold back in February. It has the same 1900 exposition date on the liner.

http://www.thefedoralounge.net/showthread.php?t=6413

I sold it as a late 1920s hat, mostly because it looked so much like Capone's in his 1928 mug shot picture. But who knows?


.

 

[RyFranzese24]

It depends on the size and the ribbon, but my favorite of my hats is my black fedora, so I am for them.

 

[jamespowers]

Black Resistol.

Nice a pre 1968 Resistol dress hat. I have one nearly the same. Is yours a Kitten Finish?

Regards,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

If I had only one hat color, it would be black. I have a fedora I bought at Village Hat Shop, a black Bogart fedora.I recently scored off Ebay a black Stetson Open Road, styled as a fedora. And I have a black Stetson cowboy hat, only a 3x, but it fits and looks good and I have a rhinestone hat band on it.

Black goes with everything and is are elegant and classy.

karol

 

[zeus36]

I made my own black fedora out of a Resistol XXXX cowboy hat I found in the thrift store for six bucks. I cut the brim down (dimensionally) and had Steve Delk (Fedora) put on a nice fat ribbon and reblock it. I was going for a "Toht" hat from Raiders.

I had it on with an olive London Fog trench when I met Art Fawcet in Santa Monica and he started looking around his booth to be sure I hadn't picked up his black lid.

I wore it once with the German leather trench coat and got some strange looks in town. When I went to work wearing it with a black Navy bridge coat, coworkers said I looked like a Hasidic Jew with an Abe Lincoln hat.

So, I'm still trying to find the proper combination........

Check out "Ed Wood" and you'll see Martin Landau wearing a black fedora as Bela Lugosi.

 

[jamespowers]

It's possible, I guess. I just looked back at photos of the "Al Capone-style" Stetson fedora I sold back in February. It has the same 1900 exposition date on the liner.

http://www.thefedoralounge.net/showthread.php?t=6413

I sold it as a late 1920s hat, mostly because it looked so much like Capone's in his 1928 mug shot picture. But who knows?

How wide was the brim on yours? It definitely looks like more than 2 1/4" but I could be wrong. Mine is just at 2 1/4." The ribbon has the frayed edge at the back of it and the cinch at the center of the bow is different.
I didn't notice the liner in your hat back then. I suppose we just assumed it was from the same era because it looked like the hat in the picture. [huh] :eusa_doh: Then again, look how long hats last. Yours was still around and mine is still around. :eusa_clap The picture could have been from 1928 but the hat could have easily been from the teens. Al was probably as big a clothes horse as any of us. I would like to see his hat collection. I imagine people in those days had lucky hats just as we have other lucky things now. That hat didn't save him from tax evasion though.

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Mine had the following measurements ...



Width of brim: 2 1/2 inches.

Height of hatband (black ribbon): 2 inches.

Height of crown: 5 5/8 inches.