Too Small?? Too big? Just right? or How to wear a hat!

[Belegnole]

You know ... part of this is also how you wish to appear. You know, what type of style your going for. If you look at various styles from historical pictures or movies you can see hats worn in many ways. Low down reflects one image while up high another...

 

[Dewhurst]

You know ... part of this is also how you wish to appear. You know, what type of style your going for. If you look at various styles from historical pictures or movies you can see hats worn in many ways. Low down reflects one image while up high another...

The original poster (Visigoth) was merely wondering if there is a certain "accepted" place for a hat to sit on the head.

 

[Visigoth]

Yes...

This is in fact very helpful -- knowing the various possible responses. I've always wondered, for instance, why many of my hats with a center crease simply *can't* be worn low, or my head pushes up the top of the hat: I suspect that these hats were made to be worn high.

My sense is that I feel happiest with one finger's width (finger measured side to side) above the top of each ear. Which means that I shouldn't go up a size.

You have me wondering about Sinatra: with his cocked hat, worn high, did he wear a smaller size than if he wore it low?

 

[Belegnole]

The original poster (Visigoth) was merely wondering if there is a certain "accepted" place for a hat to sit on the head.

True, but now we are expanding on that and debating what has come before. Etiquette is something that evolves over time and in fact one may argue that it evolves for the worse. Many here would probably fall into the category of people that believe that the time where our vintage pieces come from had better moral, etiquette etc. We however are at a point where we can decide if we continue certain behaviors concerning fedoras or if they are misconceptions to begin with. If nothing else it is entertaining banter and if the Visigoth wishes to join in all the better.

You have me wondering about Sinatra: with his cocked hat, worn high, did he wear a smaller size than if he wore it low?

Got me....With my head it would be so but for someone with a different shape who knows. My head is sort of an upside down egg shape where the maximum circumference is somewhere just above the ears and right above the eyebrows. The perfect size of which I haven't found yet would be able to sit up but with only slight pressure be able to be pulled right down to my ears. For this I am starting to believe that I would need a pretty high...say 6" open crown. But I'm just beginning to figure out what I want and like....

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Hmmm, yes, just as there are the people around here and elsewhere who will obsessively stand in front of the mirror angling their hats just so, and will argue that a hat should and must be worn cocked to one side, there will be those who tell you there is a correct height at which to wear a hat.

My opinions stated inprevious post are relating to the actual size of hat men wear: Big enough to get blown off very easily.

I feel that, in terms of vintage at least, you have to put up with a variety of fits. Perfection is simply not conceivable in a vintage hat - or not very often. If you want to find and wear the rarer ones, you just need to put up with bad fit sometimes. Just accept the red line across your forehead. It goes away in a few minutes, anyway.

bk

 

[PADDY]

I like it tight.

I like to feel it *gripping* my noggin. Not like a metal belt that's tightening around my cranium, but feel that leather *bite* slightly into the skin and *know* that it will take a gust of wind and laugh at it.

 

[DOUGLAS]

I tend to wear my hats lower. I have better luck with the vintage hats fitting better, maybe the felt is more pliable or the sweat is better. I like that vacuum seal that a soft sweat band can give without feeling like I am wearing a skull crusher. I rarely ever have a problem with hats blowing off my head even in strong winds. Stiffer hats will also fly away easier because the brim has less give.

 

[scottyrocks]

I've always wondered, for instance, why many of my hats with a center crease simply *can't* be worn low, or my head pushes up the top of the hat: I suspect that these hats were made to be worn high.

I suspect that this one of the reasons for different creases and crease variations.

I, like most here, have a number of hats. Most of them are cut differently. I wear all my hats the same way most of the time - the same spot on my forehead, the back, and above the ears.

The lower crowned hats cannot be creased in all the same ways as the higher crowned ones. Either the crease isnt deep enough to stay, or theres not enough room for my head and the crease gets pushed up. Center dents require more crown height, so my higher crowned hats, such as my Fed IV, can be creased that way. A couple of my lower crowned hats wont take a center dent, and require a shallow C or teardrop.

Generally, I like to buy hats with high crowns, but occasionally one comes along with a crown low enough that it wont take a certain type of crease.

 

[Mr. Paladin]

I find I like my fedoras to ride lower on my head and straight on, near my ears. My western ORs are much better with a higher ride on my head and a bit of a tilt to the left, closer to the left ear and higher from the right. Don't know why; it just is.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Fashion has always dictated some of it. Crofut & Knapp noted in 1924 that the range of hat sizes ordered from them had gone up two sizes, in general, because men were wearing their hats lower on their heads.

Of course, that’s earlier than most of our hats and most of the styles we try to emulate, but I’m sure it holds true from 1924 to today. Wear your hat where it’s most comfortable for you.


Brad

 

[Dewhurst]

You have me wondering about Sinatra: with his cocked hat, worn high, did he wear a smaller size than if he wore it low?

Yes. If men wanted dramatic tilts or a high and casual "knock off the block" kind of look they would very frequently buy a size smaller in order to create the effect.

If you get a size that sits low and loosey (kinda like the Indiana Jones crowd), you really won't be able to tilt it very much, if at all. You could bop it back on your head and then tilt it, but it will be begging to fall off. You would buy a smaller size, and then use the resultant space created on the sides of your head in order to accomplish the tilt.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I like my fedoras to not leave my hair looking ridiculous. Unfortunately, they never listen.

.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

interesting reading here...

I'm following this as I'm the one who has been hunting down vintage fedora hats (primarily on evilBay) these days for our 12-3/4yo son- who wants to have vintage hats to wear too like Dad... As he is a 6-3/4 or 6-7/8 hat size right now I can find them pretty reasonably priced.

 

[djgo-cat-go]

hat stretching primer

I have two hats that run a tad small, they fit but could be more comfortable. Both are 7 3/8 but should be 7 1/2.. I was wondering if a hat stretcher could be of help, and more importantly, how does one use one? Is the goal to stretch the sweatband? cause that is wat really makes the hats a bit too tight for me.. First put in the stretcher and then apply water or steam? And what if I don't own a hatstretcher yet (which is the case ), alternatives? I read something about using a knee.. and then what.. i'm worried that yanking the hat over the knee will ruin the sweat..

Thanks all,
Diego

 

[gtdean48]

I have two hats that run a tad small, they fit but could be more comfortable. Both are 7 3/8 but should be 7 1/2.. I was wondering if a hat stretcher could be of help, and more importantly, how does one use one? Is the goal to stretch the sweatband? cause that is wat really makes the hats a bit too tight for me.. First put in the stretcher and then apply water or steam? And what if I don't own a hatstretcher yet (which is the case ), alternatives? I read something about using a knee.. and then what.. i'm worried that yanking the hat over the knee will ruin the sweat..

Thanks all,
Diego

Diego,
I have a XLO head shape that a 7 1/2 XLO or a 7 5/8 LO will fit. I have successfully used stretchers to coax vintage & new hats to my shape. The key is to steam the felt on the outside & then apply the stretcher to just a touch past where it needs to be. The leather sweatbands tend to draw back some. I really like the vintage stretchers since they are broader than just the sweatband, but did use a Hat Jack stretcher before I acquired a couple of vintage ones.
Remember, leather will draw when it dries, so if you can't let a wet sweatband dry on your head, put the stretcher in so the sweatband dries at the right size. With older stretchers watch out that the finish doesn't get sticky against the wet leather! Use a thin handkerchief in between to prevent the sweatband from sticking to the stretcher as it dries.
Going up 1 size is no big thing. Jumping up more is a "stretch"...sorry about that... HTH

 

[Dewhurst]

I was wondering if a hat stretcher could be of help, and more importantly, how does one use one?

 

[djgo-cat-go]

gtDean, Dewhurst, thanks a lot for the information. Very educational.. I'm afraid one hat has shrunk after a downpour, or at least the sweatband did.. so I have to stretch it cause It's really not comfy anymore. Your info helps in getting the hat restored..

 

[gtdean48]

Diego,
I wear hats a lot outside working around the ranch & sweat a great deal. I also wear hats during rainy weather cause I have never liked umbrellas. Wet sweatbands are a constant thing for all my hats which means sweatbands drawing up as they dry. Hat Jacks & vintage stretchers are in use all the time to maintain wearable shapes....just a part of hat wearing for me. Best of luck.

 

[djgo-cat-go]

I have to get me a stretcher / hat jack.. I also sweat alot, even when not working at all..

Diego,
I wear hats a lot outside working around the ranch & sweat a great deal. I also wear hats during rainy weather cause I have never liked umbrellas. Wet sweatbands are a constant thing for all my hats which means sweatbands drawing up as they dry. Hat Jacks & vintage stretchers are in use all the time to maintain wearable shapes....just a part of hat wearing for me. Best of luck.

 

[andyfitz]

Felt Hat Sizing Question

Hi everyone. Great thread! If anyone feels up to humoring a guy who's probably deliberating way too much about a hat, I've got a question or two to pose. My quandary is this: I have a ginormous head and, like most everyone else (it seems) am somewhere between two hat sizes. I've finally found a felt porkpie that I'm convinced is the hat and ordered it in an XL and in a XXL. I know that fit is a matter of taste, but I'm wondering what sort of changes I might expect in a felt hat over time (due to humidity, most of all--I live in Seattle; it sometimes rains here). The XL is comfortable to wear, but when I put it on I have to gently push it down to where I like to to sit. Is this the case for most of you? The XXL I can just set on my head and it rides where I like it, but if I were to turn quickly (which, granted, I generally don't do) it shifts a bit. On top of it all, I have curly hair, and I like that the XXL doesn't molest it quite as much as the XL, but I can't help but wonder if I'll eventually regret this concession (feel free to mock me about the hair--I know I deserve it). Anyway, I know that I can "jack out" the XL if need be--or "fedora felt in" the XXL, but I'm having a hard time deciding which way to start off. Is a felt hat likely to stretch or shrink appreciably? Is having to tap down (but not screw on) a hat par for course? You all, of much wider hat wearing experience than I? Any thoughts?
Many thanks, A.