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Recently attended a big Western wear trade show, at which I handled a good number of cowboy hats, some of which carried brand names you might recognize, and some of which you likely never heard of. But none of the truly big names were in attendance, so no Stetsons, Resistols, etc.
The good news is that the quality on the "real" fur felts now offered by those lesser-known makers ranged from very good to excellent. Every one of 'em had a model with some ridiculous number of Xes on its sweatband, but the quality of the hat very nearly matched its hype. And here's why: They're all using Fepsa bodies, the more expensive of which are very, very nice indeed. Smooth, even, luxurious hand. And even the lesser models, built on rabbit/hare blends, are certainly the equal of the mid-range hats of 60 or 70 years ago.
The bad news, if there is any, is that about the only thing separating one vendor's offerings from another's is the leather, the liner, and the trim. These makers -- too big, I think, to be considered cottage industry but still fairly small-time players in the game -- are getting their bodies already pounced and ready to block and trim. So, bing, bang, boom -- you got a hat, and a nice one, too. Some are trimmed out better than others, and the price points reflect that (in some cases, anyway), but the styles don't vary all that much from maker to maker. In other words, one company's hat is about as good as the other's, and that's very good or better in both cases.
We're talking hats that retail in the $500 range, so not cheap. But even the ones retailing for half that and less are still very nice hats.
If other players in the business have had their eyes examined lately, they would see this development as a game changer. The bar has been raised. Me, I think that's great. It doesn't have to be a threat so much as an incentive for all those other players to up their games.
The good news is that the quality on the "real" fur felts now offered by those lesser-known makers ranged from very good to excellent. Every one of 'em had a model with some ridiculous number of Xes on its sweatband, but the quality of the hat very nearly matched its hype. And here's why: They're all using Fepsa bodies, the more expensive of which are very, very nice indeed. Smooth, even, luxurious hand. And even the lesser models, built on rabbit/hare blends, are certainly the equal of the mid-range hats of 60 or 70 years ago.
The bad news, if there is any, is that about the only thing separating one vendor's offerings from another's is the leather, the liner, and the trim. These makers -- too big, I think, to be considered cottage industry but still fairly small-time players in the game -- are getting their bodies already pounced and ready to block and trim. So, bing, bang, boom -- you got a hat, and a nice one, too. Some are trimmed out better than others, and the price points reflect that (in some cases, anyway), but the styles don't vary all that much from maker to maker. In other words, one company's hat is about as good as the other's, and that's very good or better in both cases.
We're talking hats that retail in the $500 range, so not cheap. But even the ones retailing for half that and less are still very nice hats.
If other players in the business have had their eyes examined lately, they would see this development as a game changer. The bar has been raised. Me, I think that's great. It doesn't have to be a threat so much as an incentive for all those other players to up their games.
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