tonyb.....hatter and a gentleman

[LuvMyMan]

That hat is fantastic. Nice colors.

Thank you. It took a long time to think of what would be exactly what my Husband would want. This hat was more or less made for wearing with all the different suits and sportjackets that are sharkskin, silver, grey, and maybe one or two black suits.

Next hat I think will be another thin ribbon, with some contrast color on the edge and the crown ribbon....

You know this one is just so well made, lots of love from us to Tony for it.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a hat from Tony. I like his approach to hats. Tall crown hats reminiscent of the hats in the era I grew up in. Art is another maker I admire as well. Yes I'm that old!! Best of luck.

You can sure have a super great hat made, I am sure if you order one you will be a really happy camper!

 

[DOGMAN]

LuvMyMan,I love that hat.Now I want one of Tony's hats.

 

[RJR]

I'm about to jump in line also.

 

[LuvMyMan]

LuvMyMan,I love that hat.Now I want one of Tony's hats.

You do some awesome conversions. Yes, if you view what "new hats" Stetson is making and look at the cost, it is a "not one minute" thinking process to decide to have a custom from Tony made for you. One of the nicer hats in our home is a dobbs 20, and an older Knox and Mallory hat. When feeliing the felt on this hat Tony made, it is on Par with those vintage hats and not at all like anything "modern made" from a factory. You can see and feel the effort put into this hat, same as the last one Tony made for us. So if it is not a new hat from the vintage bin, then it is going to be a Tonyb hat. It needed to be a 7 1/2 LO and impressively it fits perfectly. All I had to do it make mention to please put some LO into the hat, you know bump a bit of long oval into the hat and Tony said he will do, and it was perfect fit. Amazing. Head shots coming later on....

 

[Frunobulax]

I really must ask this question, and maybe only Tony or one of the other hatters can answer. In pretty much every thread that compares custom hatters, such as Mr. B, or Mr. Fawcwtt, or Northwest Hats, there is always the comparison of current felt quality to vintage felt quality, with the obvious conclusion that the vintage felts are far superior, denser, better color saturation, more easily moldable (better, stronger, faster!). This, along with quality of workmanship, seems to be the differences in those older hats and newer, production models.

Then along comes somebody singing the praises of a custom hatter and statements like, "When feeling the felt on this hat Tony made, it is on Par with those vintage hats and not at all like anything "modern made" from a factory." Now, from what I understand, Tony, as well as many other custom hatters, use Winchester bodies, so they are coming from a modern factory. Stetson produces their own felts, and seems to have stepped up their quality over the past few years. Some use the FEPSA bodies (like D'Acquino). I'm not certain where Mr. Fawcett sources his bodies, but from all reports, he is using some high quality stuff, too.

So is the difference in the finishing of the felt (pouncing, etc?) Certainly a custom hatter is going to spend more time hand-crafting and finishing the product. This is obvious in things like stitching, ribbon/bow work, and the like. I can't see how the felt quality can be any better - I can see how the finishing of that product can make a world of difference, though, I guess. But the starting point for everybody is on the same level.

But the actual felt can't be any better than any other out there, right? They're all factory produced felt bodies, right? What production hats does (brands) Winchester supply the bodies for?

 

[triple-d]

Good point................

 

[Bob Roberts]

Yes, please continue the discussion. Was wondering who produced the Canadian Biltmore hat bodys? Who else is using FEPSA as well as what production hat company's use Winchester hat bodys? I personally don't have the patience or knowledge to seek out vintage NOR the $$$ to buy custom. I just recieved a Guerra GQ from Hats Plus and I'm assuming it's a FEPSA body and its just as nice as my Stetson Dexter Imperial. If not nicer...

 

[JoeyC]

Speaking for myself. I have several vintage Stetsons purchased as new, never worn, and some hardly worn like new. I also have some lesser known vintage I like every bit as much as the Stetsons. I also have a couple of duds. Yes the early Stetsons and others are fine hats. To me it's about aesthetics as well as quality. Personally I really don't care where a hatter procures the bodies from as long as they are quality. The difference for me is that an artist whose aesthetics agree with mine, that will produce a hat that mirrors what my minds eye sees and does it that it is easily distinguishable from a factory produced product, I am drawn to. Absolutely nothing wrong with some of the new Stetsons being offered, as well as other makers, I'm glad to see that they are at least trying to emulate their hats of the past. I have two (Stetsons ) on order. Each custom hatter builds into their hats an aesthetic that's his/her own that is not found in a mass produced hat. While I have several customs ( fedoras, many western )made by an equal number of makers, and though I do not need any more hats, I will nonetheless commission more, from TonyB and probably Art Fawcet, I like their approach and style of hat making, they are continuing a small niche art at probably very little reward. I hope I have kept the thread alive.

Joe

 

[NewJack]

Beautiful!!! Well worth the wait!! :arated::eusa_clap

 

[LuvMyMan]

Beautiful!!! Well worth the wait!! :arated::eusa_clap

Yes it was....it is a real sweet hat!

 

[LuvMyMan]

Speaking for myself. I have several vintage Stetsons purchased as new, never worn, and some hardly worn like new. I also have some lesser known vintage I like every bit as much as the Stetsons. I also have a couple of duds. Yes the early Stetsons and others are fine hats. To me it's about aesthetics as well as quality. Personally I really don't care where a hatter procures the bodies from as long as they are quality. The difference for me is that an artist whose aesthetics agree with mine, that will produce a hat that mirrors what my minds eye sees and does it that it is easily distinguishable from a factory produced product, I am drawn to. Absolutely nothing wrong with some of the new Stetsons being offered, as well as other makers, I'm glad to see that they are at least trying to emulate their hats of the past. I have two (Stetsons ) on order. Each custom hatter builds into their hats an aesthetic that's his/her own that is not found in a mass produced hat. While I have several customs ( fedoras, many western )made by an equal number of makers, and though I do not need any more hats, I will nonetheless commission more, from TonyB and probably Art Fawcet, I like their approach and style of hat making, they are continuing a small niche art at probably very little reward. I hope I have kept the thread alive.

Joe

I do not have the expert background regarding the process of a hat. I can tell you that I am sure some of the hat bodies Art or Tony would work with, can be pounced to make the hat a "light weight" unless they have a source that makes them be on the thin side to begin with. But they do more to the hat body then a factory made. My Husband has one hat made by Biltmore, it is an Open Road clone, sold a few years ago when Biltmore was ending the model line of the hats, nice tall 6 inch crowns, and the felt is not so bad as other "modern" made hats we have handled. But as nice a hat as the Biltmore is, there is no comparison to the two hats we have from Tony. Comparing it to a dobbs 20 Open Road style hat, the felt is about the same texture and smoothness. Now the dobbs is a thin body lighter weight hat, but not by much. As some love the never worn hats, the dobbs 20 was a new never worn hat from the 1950's one of my Husband's nice vintage hats. But in the bigger picture I myself own a vintage Mallory hat that is a "dallas" model, and the feel and hand of the felt is as by far, nicer than any other hat we have owned. Thin light weight, will crease with no effort and hold the crease, and has a color all of it's own in a silverbelly with a touch of blue/grey to it. That hat was also a never worn hat, it sat in a window inside a leather case from mallory the same as a Stetson 100 came with a case.

You can find really sweet vintage hats if you hunt for them, no doubt. BUT to find something exactly what you are looking for may take years. You know the drill...you want a prestine Stratoliner but can't find one in your exact size....we have had three and it tooks years and we sold two of them off. This hat from Tony has a nicer felt to it than the 1950's Stratoliner. I think my Husband likes the hats from Tony much better then any of his vintage hats. But he does often tell me he wishes the mallory hat I own was a 7 1/2 instead of a 6 3/4. He would be wearing it 24/7 LOL! It is not easy to beat a hat you have made for you.

Now we have no hats from Art Fawcett to compare the feel but from what I see everyone state he makes a fine hat as well. I will still seek out nice vintage hats, but then I am also going to do more business with Tony. We are working on another idea now for another hat to be ordered.....got to love Tony for his work and for how he is, period.

 

[JoeyC]

I do not have the expert background regarding the process of a hat. I can tell you that I am sure some of the hat bodies Art or Tony would work with, can be pounced to make the hat a "light weight" unless they have a source that makes them be on the thin side to begin with. But they do more to the hat body then a factory made. My Husband has one hat made by Biltmore, it is an Open Road clone, sold a few years ago when Biltmore was ending the model line of the hats, nice tall 6 inch crowns, and the felt is not so bad as other "modern" made hats we have handled. But as nice a hat as the Biltmore is, there is no comparison to the two hats we have from Tony. Comparing it to a dobbs 20 Open Road style hat, the felt is about the same texture and smoothness. Now the dobbs is a thin body lighter weight hat, but not by much. As some love the never worn hats, the dobbs 20 was a new never worn hat from the 1950's one of my Husband's nice vintage hats. But in the bigger picture I myself own a vintage Mallory hat that is a "dallas" model, and the feel and hand of the felt is as by far, nicer than any other hat we have owned. Thin light weight, will crease with no effort and hold the crease, and has a color all of it's own in a silverbelly with a touch of blue/grey to it. That hat was also a never worn hat, it sat in a window inside a leather case from mallory the same as a Stetson 100 came with a case.

You can find really sweet vintage hats if you hunt for them, no doubt. BUT to find something exactly what you are looking for may take years. You know the drill...you want a prestine Stratoliner but can't find one in your exact size....we have had three and it tooks years and we sold two of them off. This hat from Tony has a nicer felt to it than the 1950's Stratoliner. I think my Husband likes the hats from Tony much better then any of his vintage hats. But he does often tell me he wishes the mallory hat I own was a 7 1/2 instead of a 6 3/4. He would be wearing it 24/7 LOL! It is not easy to beat a hat you have made for you.

Now we have no hats from Art Fawcett to compare the feel but from what I see everyone state he makes a fine hat as well. I will still seek out nice vintage hats, but then I am also going to do more business with Tony. We are working on another idea now for another hat to be ordered.....got to love Tony for his work and for how he is, period.

Kindred Spirits we hat lovers.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Kindred Spirits we hat lovers.

Yes indeed. My Husband and I think back when he "found" his first real Fedora, it was a silk finish dunlap, super nice. He sold it maybe four years ago to another lounger. Now he wishes he had that hat. That hat was found in New York inside a old warehouse that had clothing items for the stage. It looked as if it had never been worn. But we think back even before then...when he owned NO fedora hats.....how could life be without one fedora at least? LOL!

 

[LuvMyMan]

I am tending to think a blue open crown fedora, similar to a Open Road hat, with a super light thin ribbon contrast on the brim and edge binding may well be the next sweet hat I have Tony make........or maybe a bone colored hat with a dark red edge binding and thin ribbon? Have to toss the ideas around and see how it comes out.

 

[LuvMyMan]

http:/[URL=http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/LoveMyHats2/media/IMAG1964_zps7fgp9kib.jpg.html] [/URL]
Head shot of my Husband wearing this Gem of a hat from Tony!

 

[DJH]

Fantastic. Reminds me of a hat Tony made for me a few years back

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=1236430

A Tumwater hat is something to treasure.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Wow David, that is a handsome hat for a handsome guy!

 

[NewJack]

Fantastic. Reminds me of a hat Tony made for me a few years back

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=1236430

A Tumwater hat is something to treasure.

Very nice indeed! :eusa_clap

 

[NewJack]

LuvMyMan, that is a sweet lid!! Tumwater definitely has unique styling!