trouble finding 6 3/4 with the color and right price.

[cypresser]

1. I am a 6 3/4 size.
2. I am looking for the following colors: a neutral grey, navy, cobalt blue, cognac (to match oxfords), and fire truck red.
3. i don't care what the hat is made of as long as its not straw/papper.
4. my price range is 50$ and under per hat.
5. i live in the twin cities mn.
6. i am willing to buy online. yes i checked google and amazon, bad luck.

thanks in advance for help

 

[jlee562]

Buy vintage or spend more per hat.

 

[cypresser]

I have hats that I have spent no more than 20 bucks on that have lasted years now. Unless its felt, there is no reason to buy a hat (which is not a lot of material...) for more than 50$

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Just keep looking on eBay. You have a real small head so you should be able to pick up some real nice hats that way. As 6 3/4 is not the standard hats size these days. A new hat is going to cost more than you want to spend.

 

[Socially Distorted]

I have to agree with the above comments. I'm a 6 3/4 (55) and even in the UK there's plenty of nice hats on Ebay or in the ever increasing number of 'vintage' shops around. I find half the enjoyment is tracking 'em down! good luck!

 

[jlee562]

I have hats that I have spent no more than 20 bucks on that have lasted years now. Unless its felt, there is no reason to buy a hat (which is not a lot of material...) for more than 50$

If youre looking for a new, off the rack hat, I assure you there is a substantial difference in quality between your $20 hat and my custom fedoras.

The members here generally advise to stay away from wool, for good reason. Vintage hats should be relatively easy to find for a decent price, bit it takes more leg work and patience.

 

[cypresser]

If youre looking for a new, off the rack hat, I assure you there is a substantial difference in quality between your $20 hat and my custom fedoras.

The members here generally advise to stay away from wool, for good reason. Vintage hats should be relatively easy to find for a decent price, bit it takes more leg work and patience.

can you clarify the reason please. I do have a 4x custom felt that is nice, but its just harder rather than soft. I don't see the big deal.

 

[hatsRme]

Without explaining all the varying properties of felt, suffice it to say you will find lots of really sweet vintage hats on Our Favorite Auction Site, due to your size and the larger proportion of people with your size back then. Moreover, buy a roll of shimming material (cork, or cheaper yet is the open cell foam for window and door sealing) or even use the old method, a piece of folded up newspaper, and you will be able to safely wear a 6-7/8, or even maybe even a 7. It works by placing the material inside, behind the sweatband; first in the back, then in the front. This technique will open up a whole new range of lovely little lids to like. Good luck, have fun!

 

[frussell]

Try contacting Johnnyphi, I bought some smaller hats like that when my first son was born three years ago. I didn't spend much more than your budget, but you need to be flexible and patient. Frank

 

[tonyb]

Without explaining all the varying properties of felt, suffice it to say you will find lots of really sweet vintage hats on Our Favorite Auction Site, due to your size and the larger proportion of people with your size back then. Moreover, buy a roll of shimming material (cork, or cheaper yet is the open cell foam for window and door sealing) or even use the old method, a piece of folded up newspaper, and you will be able to safely wear a 6-7/8, or even maybe even a 7. It works by placing the material inside, behind the sweatband; first in the back, then in the front. This technique will open up a whole new range of lovely little lids to like. Good luck, have fun!

Took the words out of my mouth.

Smaller sizes were not only more common in those days of yore (people were smaller in general back then), but so few people wear such sizes these days that the forces competing for vintage hats in those sizes are much smaller than those hunting for the larger sizes.

And yes, as hatsRme noted, shimming material is your friend. Hats a size or two larger can almost always be made to fit comfortably. It's not all that unusual to find folded newspaper and magazine pages tucked under the sweatbands of vintage hats. Kinda fun to read the news of April 7, 1946.

 

[jlee562]

can you clarify the reason please. I do have a 4x custom felt that is nice, but its just harder rather than soft. I don't see the big deal.

The reason to stay away from wool?

Well, let me put it another way, there's a reason most of the surviving vintage hats are fur felt and not wool.

Aside from the bias here towards vintage hats in general, wool felt is simply less durable than fur felt. If we are comparing a modern made wool hat which you might buy to a vintage fur felt hat that you might have to scour ebay for, there are some significant differences. In general, wool felt hats are not good hats for rain. Even treated hats can shrink up. The quality of the components on a vintage hat is, on balance, going to be better. Not withstanding the possibility of a dried up leather sweatband, having real leather (as opposed to bonded, or a cotton sweat) is definitely nice. The quality of vintage ribbon will be much higher, and the general attention to detail was more precise back then(tacking stitches, etc). There really is much more than meets the eye.

Most members here also have a preference for open crown hats that can be shaped to the wearer's liking, and those are the vintage lids.


And to reiterate the above, you can get armfuls of 6 7/8 vintage hats for under $50 on ebay with patience. Since I'm a size 7 I can squeeze into 6 7/8ths or have them rebuilt to my size and have gotten some really good deals. Even with rarer hats like a Stetson Playboy or a Dobbs Gay Prince, at 6 7/8, I don't think I paid more than $75 for either of those very desired hats. This is a STEAL compared to spending $50 or more on a modern wool hat.

 

[RJR]

Agree with jlee562.

 

[hatsRme]

It's not all that unusual to find folded newspaper and magazine pages tucked under the sweatbands of vintage hats. Kinda fun to read the news of April 7, 1946.

Here are a couple of old hat "shims."