THE SATIN FINISH/LONG HAIR CLUB

[Mean Eyed Matt]

C. G. Wilke (Guben) "Blitz" velour in a grey called "Feldgrau" = field grey.
Height open crown at 15.0 cm; centre dent at 10.0 cm; brim at 5.5 cm
The velour felt is great, incredibly soft and flexible - but not to be compared
with my Hückel "Prima" or the "Superior" or a "Sigma - Seal Velour",
but this is rather due to the fact that the velour hair of the Wilke is shorter
(different "quality") and therefore feels different anyway.

 

[Redfokker]

Dalton

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[steur]

I'll play.
Wilke velour in "Flieder", which means lilac. Well, it's not lilac now, so this one does need some work done. Wilke velour backbow in a size 6, but it seems to have shrunk three sizes over the decades, because it fits me perfectly. Raw edge brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Couldn't find anything on the retailer Peter Groll of Köln am Rhein, whose name is both on the liner and on the sweatband. Likely twenties.

 

[steur]

FGM Bayerland "Solid" velour in black. Fedora in a size 56 with the raw edge brim at 7cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Great felt and a nice velour, just like the first one, but this one has a wonderful looking liner as a bonus. Same shark gill bow as the other one. Weighs 134 grams.

 

[steur]

Hückel Platin velour in grey. Size 57 with the raw edge brim at 5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. The felt is nothing short of incredible; supersoft and shapes with no effort at all. The sheen makes it hard to take good pictures of it. The sweatband is very thin, but still supple for such an old hat. I was a bit cautious at first because the liner logo is one that was used by Tonak as well for their later hats, which don't come even close. The "platin" wasn't a designation they used as far as I know.

 

[PanosChris]

I'll play.
Wilke velour in "Flieder", which means lilac. Well, it's not lilac now, so this one does need some work done. Wilke velour backbow in a size 6, but it seems to have shrunk three sizes over the decades, because it fits me perfectly. Raw edge brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Couldn't find anything on the retailer Peter Groll of Köln am Rhein, whose name is both on the liner and on the sweatband. Likely twenties.

Stefan, fantastic velours! Excellent examples of different colors, velour finishes, styles and ribbon treatments!! I love them all. The Wilke sizing is quite odd, I think. I am wondering what did they use for size 61 for example (1 should have been 51 in that case?)

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

I'll play.
Wilke velour in "Flieder", which means lilac. Well, it's not lilac now, so this one does need some work done. Wilke velour backbow in a size 6, but it seems to have shrunk three sizes over the decades, because it fits me perfectly. Raw edge brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Couldn't find anything on the retailer Peter Groll of Köln am Rhein, whose name is both on the liner and on the sweatband. Likely twenties.

FGM Bayerland "Solid" velour in black. Fedora in a size 56 with the raw edge brim at 7cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Great felt and a nice velour, just like the first one, but this one has a wonderful looking liner as a bonus. Same shark gill bow as the other one. Weighs 134 grams.

Hückel Platin velour in grey. Size 57 with the raw edge brim at 5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. The felt is nothing short of incredible; supersoft and shapes with no effort at all. The sheen makes it hard to take good pictures of it. The sweatband is very thin, but still supple for such an old hat. I was a bit cautious at first because the liner logo is one that was used by Tonak as well for their later hats, which don't come even close. The "platin" wasn't a designation they used as far as I know.

You really have to go one better, don't you!?
Fantastic - each of them in their own way!

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

Stefan, fantastic velours! Excellent examples of different colors, velour finishes, styles and ribbon treatments!! I love them all. The Wilke sizing is quite odd, I think. I am wondering what did they use for size 61 for example (1 should have been 51 in that case?)

Funny, because I asked myself the same question, but I don't have an answer for Wilke.
But I thought about it in connection with the Habig from the other day, because the "5"
of the size "5X" is already pre-printed on their paper label.
The solution: simply print the "60" next to it and cross out the "5" by hand...

 

[PanosChris]

Funny, because I asked myself the same question, but I don't have an answer for Wilke.
But I thought about it in connection with the Habig from the other day, because the "5"
of the size "5X" is already pre-printed on their paper label.
The solution: simply print the "60" next to it and cross out the "5" by hand...

Ha, sometimes the answer is dead simple I guess! Even to more complicated matters

 

[steur]

Stefan, fantastic velours! Excellent examples of different colors, velour finishes, styles and ribbon treatments!! I love them all. The Wilke sizing is quite odd, I think. I am wondering what did they use for size 61 for example (1 should have been 51 in that case?)

You really have to go one better, don't you!?
Fantastic - each of them in their own way!

Thanks, gentlemen.

 

[Just Daniel]

I was going to throw this over in the side by side hat comparison thread, but I thought it would be more at home here. I asked my girlfriend to order my longhair/velour hats in the order from softest to least soft. She knows very little about hats, but I still did not let her look at the brands. She just felt the hats and ordered them by her perceived softness and overall quality.

We had eight hats: Stetsons from the 10s, 20s, and 30s; a pre war French; a pre war Huckel; an early (probably) fu Lazzaro; and a 60/70s Borsa. These included various types lumped together.

Of interest, she had a fairly tough time ordering them in the middle, but once she started grouping them by impressions she got moving. She generally favored the longer hair finish. I thought there was one very interesting point: she immediately, without a single doubt, on her first round picked the one she thought was best. Let’s see if I can post them in reverse order.

Eighth place: Stetson 1900s shorter longhair. She just thought it was rough, right off the bat.

Next, she dropped off the fu Lazzaro. She walked it up and down the others and it kept moving down the line…

Sixth place: a really sweet, pre-war French hat. I was a bit hurt, but she really gave it some time before deciding.

Now the surprises.

Midway through she placed another Stetson 1900s medallion.

Fourth Place: the more modern Borsalino. It is a longer hair felt.

 

[Just Daniel]

Third place: 1920s Stetson 3X Beaver

Second Place: 1930s Stetson 3X Beaver.

And First Place, without a doubt in her mind, pre-war Huckel.

 

[Just Daniel]

There it is, admittedly unscientific on multiple levels, but we gave it a good try. Special thanks to the Lounge members who sold me several of the hats.

General conclusion: if you don’t have a high end Huckel in your collection, hey, get one

 

[PanosChris]

There it is, admittedly unscientific on multiple levels, but we gave it a good try. Special thanks to the Lounge members who sold me several of the hats.

General conclusion: if you don’t have a high end Huckel in your collection, hey, get one

Very much enjoyed this comparison Daniel, thanks for posting! It also helps somewhat what that itch of not having a prewar Stetson velour myself

 

[steur]

There it is, admittedly unscientific on multiple levels, but we gave it a good try. Special thanks to the Lounge members who sold me several of the hats.

General conclusion: if you don’t have a high end Huckel in your collection, hey, get one

Thanks for posting this, Daniel. Great fun to do; spend half a day petting hats . Don't just get a pre-war Hückel, but get a bunch of velour hats, so you can make your own comparison.

 

[PanosChris]

Third place: 1920s Stetson 3X Beaver

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Second Place: 1930s Stetson 3X Beaver.

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And First Place, without a doubt in her mind, pre-war Huckel.

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Very much enjoyed this comparison Daniel, thanks for posting! It also helps somewhat what that itch of not having a prewar Stetson velour myself

On second thought, it reminded me the other itch: prewar Italian velour... which are even more rare than the US and Stetsons, let aside being an actual GB Fu Lazzaro! Can't recall that one Daniel, I might have to go through the GB<'36 thread again

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

That is one great idea: I have to ask my girlfriend the same. Thanks for the effort and inspiration - to both of you!

 

[Just Daniel]

Give it a go, it was really a lot of fun!

That is one great idea: I have to ask my girlfriend the same. Thanks for the effort and inspiration - to both of you!

 

[mayserwegener]

There it is, admittedly unscientific on multiple levels, but we gave it a good try. Special thanks to the Lounge members who sold me several of the hats.

General conclusion: if you don’t have a high end Huckel in your collection, hey, get one

Great idea! I really enjoyed seeing all this fantastic hats together.

 

[mayserwegener]

On second thought, it reminded me the other itch: prewar Italian velour... which are even more rare than the US and Stetsons, let aside being an actual GB Fu Lazzaro! Can't recall that one Daniel, I might have to go through the GB<'36 thread again

I don't remember this one either.