vintage hats

[BigDog]

Where is a good place to look for vintage hat? would love to find an old fedora size 7 7/8 or 63. Are there any old hats that big?

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Very, VERY few and far between - if at all! The largest, vintage, I've ever come across was 7 3/4. Good luck!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I remember Dinerman selling a 1920s Size 8 hat some time ago. But yes, these sizes are awfully rare …

bk

 

[carldelo]

Large hats show up for sale here on the lounge occasionally - I've bought a couple. Look for listings from FRussell, he offers nice lids from time to time, generally 7-3/4 (my size) or 7-7/8. As you monitor the classifieds, you'll get to know which loungers share your hat size.

 

[zetwal]

It will take patience and a little luck to find a great vintage hat that big. And though you could, in theory, stumble on one here (or anywhere), I think ebay is your single best resource.

 

[Dinerman]

I remember Dinerman selling a 1920s Size 8 hat some time ago. But yes, these sizes are awfully rare …
bk

Aah, I remember that '20s Mallory. It was a whopping 8-1/2. Never seen anything that big since- and '20s hats are hard enough to come by in small sizes. Threw in an early lowball bid, no one else bit, got it for cheap. One of my worst fedora lounge experiences, Bud-n-Texas hounding me for pages, sending threatening PMs. Ended up selling it for pretty cheap just so the guy would stop harassing (at the time 16 year old) me. But it went to a good home. Big Kahuna had the sweatband reattached and had it "reblocked into a homburg". I'm still convinced it was a fedora, and that the "reblocking" just consisted of dipping the front and back of the brim, but hey, it looks good.

I'll have a size 8 Stetson that I'll be posting on ebay in roughly a week. After that rotten experience with the Mallory and the FL classifieds, I strictly go through ebay and let the market name the price, so keep an eye out.
A preview- pics taken after cleaning, steaming, spritzing, brushing and shaping, so it's shinier than normal.

The trick with size 8 hats is that most of them are actually 7-1/8 or 7-1/4. Some sellers who don't know hats think that the hat sizing system goes up by 1/2 sizes (i.e. 6-1/2, 7, 7-1/2, 8) or whole sizes, (i.e. 6, 7, 8, 9). If they have a size 7 hat marked with a tag and another hat which is larger, they sometimes try to assign a size using these incorrect sizing systems. This results in a hat being billed as much larger than it actually is.
So the trick is getting a hat from a reputable dealer who seems to have experience with hats and/or good pictures showing the size tag/reorder tag/chalk sweatband sizing markings, or be willing to take the chance on ebay mystery hats. Some will turn out, some will not.

 

[danofarlington]

Where is a good place to look for vintage hat? would love to find an old fedora size 7 7/8 or 63. Are there any old hats that big?

Today I saw a hat on E Bay that is called a size 8. That's probably close enough, if you liked the hat--there are ways to size down without much trouble.

I found the link, here. It is a straw hat, but it looks nice. If for some reason you can't pick up the link, you could go to EBay and type in "fedora size 8," and slog through the 130 different items. This was on the first page of that.

ebay.com/HIGH-QUALITY-FEDORA-HAT-MILLER-HATS-Mens-Sz-8-NEW-/370462761624?pt=US_Hats&hash=item56414d2298

 

[carldelo]

Today I saw a hat on E Bay that is called a size 8. That's probably close enough, if you liked the hat--there are ways to size down without much trouble.

And some hats shrink with time - an original size 8 vintage hat may be 1-3 sizes smaller in actuality. Ideally you find out the internal circumference of the sweatband, but most vendors won't be able to provide this info.

 

[frussell]

You have to be patient. I've got a vintage Resistol fedora that was a real 7 7/8, that I bought as part of a pair on eBay sold as both being 7 3/4. Both turned out to be big enough, and had not shrunk a bit, which is unusual. I'm much more a 7 7/8 than a 7 3/4, but if I like it enough, I'll buy it and send it to Optimo for upsizing/blocking. I've bought several hats that were big enough from Hatsdirect, they don't always list their selection, but if you email them, they sometimes have a 63 in something not listed, like the black Fed IV Deluxe I scored two weeks ago. I like dealing with them because there's no three month wait. Nice to know I'll have someone else driving up the already astronomical bighead prices on the lounge and eBay. Good hunting. Frank

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

After that rotten experience with the Mallory and the FL classifieds...

I have bought some great lids from the classifieds. But for me to sell something there is a big problem for me.

I just don't know enough about the actual worth of the hats to set a price. On ebay I've never paid more than like $50 for a hat and usually I've paid more like $20 to $30 bucks. On the other hand, I've bought a few lids on the FL Classifieds for well over $60.

So, if I were to put a piece on the FL Classifieds that I bought for $20 and sell it for $30, I have no idea if I could have actually gotten $50 or more. And because I have no basis of knowledge to set a price, I would either be asking too much or getting ripped off by offering it for too little.

That's my dilemma.

So, all I can do is throw it up on ebay and hope for the best.

 

[zetwal]

Some sellers who don't know hats think that the hat sizing system goes up by 1/2 sizes (i.e. 6-1/2, 7, 7-1/2, 8) or whole sizes, (i.e. 6, 7, 8, 9).

Another thing, some sellers who don't know hats think that hats are sized in inches. They may, for example, measure a hat 8 inches front to back at the sweatband and conclude that they have a size 8.

Also, I once saw a clearly marked size 8 on ebay that turned out to be punti 8. That indicates one size smaller than the US equivalent (but still close enough for someone that big to buy). Interestingly, size 8 is the only size where the French and American sizes come close to convergence.

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

I'm a 7-3/4 and I find that size very rare to come across on E-bay, especially older ones. You can try posting a WTB classified ad and you might get lucky. At any rate, if the 7-3/4 is a bit snug for you, just get yourself a cheap hat strecher and open the lid up to your size. You'll need to occasionally re-strech but it is worth it if you find a hat that is right for you. Good luck.

Where is a good place to look for vintage hat? would love to find an old fedora size 7 7/8 or 63. Are there any old hats that big?