The Open Road Guild

[Snowman]

Ahh...the vintage black unicorn Open Road would be just dandy i believe.
Welcome to the lounge, enjoy.
B

Here's a pic of me from the 90s putting an Open Road to good use.

Now, a question: I have always felt that the proper color for an Open Road is Silverbelly. But lately, with the gloomy weather here in Portland, I've been hankering for a black 6x Open Road. However, I don't want to make the same mistake I made in 1983 when at the age of 29 I thought the best color for my first Burberry was navy blue. (It wasn't, a mistake I corrected, eventually.)

So: where do y'all come down on color for an Open Road? Is anything but Silverberry another Navy Burberry?
View attachment 297381

Cool pic! Welcome to the lounge.

I have not met a color of Open Road that I didn't like. A Silver Belly is a "must have", but I would love to have other colors as well.

I am also thinking that a darker color would be nice to have in addition to the classic Silverbelly.

Ahh...the vintage black unicorn Open Road would be just dandy i believe.
Welcome to the lounge, enjoy.
B

It must be a unicorn, but I am still keeping my eyes open...

 

[jlee562]

Generally we're in favor of any excuse to get another hat!

Silverbelly is a classic for a reason. I'd also jump at a chance for a vintage black. Silverbelly is probably the more versatile of the two colors, though your mileage may vary on that one.

If you are going for the current versions, I would recommend the dress weight Royal Deluxe over the western weight 6x version.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Ahh...the vintage black unicorn Open Road would be just dandy i believe.
Welcome to the lounge, enjoy.
B

Reminded me of this scene fro Jojo Rabbit:

 

[Rmccamey]

Black would be a great find.

Here's a pic of me from the 90s putting an Open Road to good use.

Now, a question: I have always felt that the proper color for an Open Road is Silverbelly. But lately, with the gloomy weather here in Portland, I've been hankering for a black 6x Open Road. However, I don't want to make the same mistake I made in 1983 when at the age of 29 I thought the best color for my first Burberry was navy blue. (It wasn't, a mistake I corrected, eventually.)

So: where do y'all come down on color for an Open Road? Is anything but Silverberry another Navy Burberry?
View attachment 297381

Ahh...the vintage black unicorn Open Road would be just dandy i believe.
Welcome to the lounge, enjoy.
B

 

[RossRYoung]

15

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Snowy and rainy today. Took the Open Road out for a spin to Lowes. Had a guy stop me, point to his head and say "Great hat."

It's amazing how many guys admire a hatted man, but don't wear one.

 

[Desert dog]

Snowy and rainy today. Took the Open Road out for a spin to Lowes. Had a guy stop me, point to his head and say "Great hat."

It's amazing how many guys admire a hatted man, but don't wear one.

What's more amazing is how many women admire a hatted man! The unhatted just don't get it!

 

[PDXHAT]

Haven't had a new OR since the 90s. Love the Deluxe--thanks for suggesting it!

 

[glider]

It really is true and when guys compliment my hat I always say thanks and you should get one. They always say , no I couldn't pull it off . Well sure they could, there's nothing to pull off. Ya buy it and put it on your head. I know of at least one lady that started buying her husband hats after she saw me in one and now he loves wearing one also.

 

[carter]

Vintage OR came out to see the sun yesterday.

 

[dh66]

Here's a 4X I picked up pretty recently. My old one is getting hard in need of a good rebuild and when I came across this practically unused one for less than it would've cost to repair the other one I jumped on it. I can't begin to estimate the age of this one, but I'm guessing it's at least from the last century. It still has the Open Road designation stamped onto the forehead part of the sweat, a plastic tip liner, and the skinny black tag only has the SAE size listed...not the metric. Any tags that may have been under the sweat have been removed by the previous owner. This one has the 2 3/4" brim and even still has the JBS branding iron pin still on it.

 

[PDXHAT]

These are the same markings on an Open Road I bought at Nudie's in LA in the late 80s, early 90s. My hat band is brown, I'm assuming yours is too and the photo is dark? Also, I don't have the JBS pin and don't recall ever having it, so that might be the key to really narrowing down date. It's a beauty!

 

[dh66]

These are the same markings on an Open Road I bought at Nudie's in LA in the late 80s, early 90s. My hat band is brown, I'm assuming yours is too and the photo is dark? Also, I don't have the JBS pin and don't recall ever having it, so that might be the key to really narrowing down date. It's a beauty!

Yeah...it's a really dark brown. My other Open Road has a much lighter brown sweat band, almost the color of a baseball glove, maybe. I'm pretty sure that one's from the 80s.

 

[VetPsychWars]

I customized mine a bit.

 

[RAH]

I picked up a used Open Road the other day online. Well, I am calling it an Open Road. It could in fact be a clone. You see, it didn't come with a sweatband or a liner. It was too small for me, which I knew coming into the sale. But since it didn't have a sweatband I knew I could stretch the heck out of it. A can of light hat cleaner costs more than half the cost of the hat.

It now fits as snug as a bug as a rug and feels like an extension of my head. Stretching the hat this much, from a 22-inch inside diameter to the 7 3/8 size for me came with a cost. The brim is a tad bit smaller than it originally was, the ribbon shifted up and my noggin touches the crown. But I can live with this.

Keeping with my cheap attitude toward the hat I'm using a sweat liner we had laying around for baseball hats. If some of you are aghast by this I understand.

In the attached photos my genuine Open Road Sovereign 20 is on the left for comparison. And that's me and my dog this weekend trying the hat out in an Idaho breeze.

 

[Rogera]

It really is true and when guys compliment my hat I always say thanks and you should get one. They always say , no I couldn't pull it off . Well sure they could, there's nothing to pull off. Ya buy it and put it on your head. I know of at least one lady that started buying her husband hats after she saw me in one and now he loves wearing one also.

I hear that all the time. "Nah, I couldn't wear one." They don't realize that there was a time when every man had a hat on his head and everyone looked good. There's a hat for everyone if they will just look. I think they just don't want to admit that the thought of the attention a hat draws scares them. I can say that because that was my problem once upon a time.

 

[Rogera]

View attachment 302765 View attachment 302766
Here's a 4X I picked up pretty recently. My old one is getting hard in need of a good rebuild and when I came across this practically unused one for less than it would've cost to repair the other one I jumped on it. I can't begin to estimate the age of this one, but I'm guessing it's at least from the last century. It still has the Open Road designation stamped onto the forehead part of the sweat, a plastic tip liner, and the skinny black tag only has the SAE size listed...not the metric. Any tags that may have been under the sweat have been removed by the previous owner. This one has the 2 3/4" brim and even still has the JBS branding iron pin still on it.

These are the same markings on an Open Road I bought at Nudie's in LA in the late 80s, early 90s. My hat band is brown, I'm assuming yours is too and the photo is dark? Also, I don't have the JBS pin and don't recall ever having it, so that might be the key to really narrowing down date. It's a beauty!

Does anyone know when they stopped with the 4X and went to the 6X ORs?

 

[Willis&GeigerFan]

Open Roadsters - I have a question. Do any of you live up North or in the Northeast US and wear the OR when out and about? What is the reaction? I fear hearing the dreaded “ Where’s your horse?”

 

[rclark]

Open Roadsters - I have a question. Do any of you live up North or in the Northeast US and wear the OR when out and about? What is the reaction? I fear hearing the dreaded “ Where’s your horse?”

I hear that and I live in Texas!

 

[GP Henry]

I do not have an OR in CT, but I would not worry about others. I hear the "Indy" comments all the time when I am wearing my Orvis hat on weather days, but it doesn't stop me from wearing it proudly.

An OR or OR type hat is on my list, short list.