Dropping by to say hello. I have been lurking on this forum for a few months, after finding myself becoming interested in hats, especially nice fedora's, etc. After trying on a cheapie J Crew hat and not liking it, I started to search this forum for a local hat retailer in the Philadelphia area, wanting to try on and buy one first before treading the dark and sometime murky waters of the internet, ebay and Craigslist.
I ended up stopping by South Street hats in Philadelphia and came home with a pork pie hat (a style I like since I am a guitarist born and raised on the blues)...
After I got it home, I liked it, but haven't had an opportunity to wear it out, as it has been 90 plus degrees every day that I would have had a chance to wear it. I then started to read more about the various hat brands out there and while the pork pie is nice, it is from a relatively unknown company, and probably not the greatest deal out there, but I was able to try some on and figure out my hat size, 7 3/8.
More reading of the forums allowed me to see that with few exceptions (Optimo, etc) current offerings are not of the same quality as vintage hats, especially the Stetson hats that I was drawn to for various reasons. This lead me to start trolling eBay, and winning a nice brown Royal Stetson...
Of course I bid on several, including a few straw Stetson cowboy hats that I plan on wearing when out in the yard or going to the Philadelphia Union Soccer team homegames, etc. Right now I think I have five additional hats inbound, with one being another stingy Fedora, two straw Steston cowboy hats and two Resistol 4X felt cowboy hats. Good thing my wife will be wearing some, as with all of her hair ties back, makes her fit into my size hats as well.
I started thinking about why I just started to get into hats, and it dawned on me that as I get a bit older I am starting to dress a bit nicer when leaving the house, and realized that my father, to this day always wears nice slacks, suit pants, and a button down shirt regardless if he is digging a ditch in the backyard or going out. I do remember my father wearing Fedora's when I was younger, but never thought anything further about it, or to inquire if he still had any.
As luck would have it, my parents started to clear out their attic of 30 plus years of items. My wife happened to be picking up my daughter there from an overnight visit when she caught eye of a Steston hat box. My wife asked my mother about it, who declared that they have tons of them, and were ready to give them away to a neighbor, who had showed interest. My wife looked in one and saw a nice vintage Stetson straw hat at 7 1/8 and decided to let me know.
Today we went to pick up my daughter after another sleep over at my parents and there was four or five vintage Stetson boxes. Upon stating my interest, my father told me that he purchased most, if not all of them in the late 60's, early 70's from the Steston store located on 2nd street in Philadelphia. He said that he over the course of a few years bought several of them, and had worn a handful, but had several that were still in the box all these years later, including a beautiful Homburg. There is a Knox or two in there and some other various brands.
Unfortunately they are all 7 1/8 or 7 1/4 while I wear a 7 3/8 which is just about perfect, if not a little loose. My question before I show all these hats is a few things.
1. Will I or could I have them reblocked or stretched to fit my head.
2. If so, would anyone know of any places that would do so in the Philadelphia area. I think it would be worth it to have these hats adjusted to fit me, as I think the history of the hats being my fathers would be an amazing thing to have to wear for years to come myself.
3. If it isn't possible, could anyone shed some light on the various hats pictured. I have taken a few pictures and could always post more. I am hopping that I can have them readjusted, but if not, I would hope to be able to sell them to be able to buy similar vintage Stetson's Knox's etc in my size.
Here are some pictures, hope you enjoy!
I ended up stopping by South Street hats in Philadelphia and came home with a pork pie hat (a style I like since I am a guitarist born and raised on the blues)...
After I got it home, I liked it, but haven't had an opportunity to wear it out, as it has been 90 plus degrees every day that I would have had a chance to wear it. I then started to read more about the various hat brands out there and while the pork pie is nice, it is from a relatively unknown company, and probably not the greatest deal out there, but I was able to try some on and figure out my hat size, 7 3/8.
More reading of the forums allowed me to see that with few exceptions (Optimo, etc) current offerings are not of the same quality as vintage hats, especially the Stetson hats that I was drawn to for various reasons. This lead me to start trolling eBay, and winning a nice brown Royal Stetson...
Of course I bid on several, including a few straw Stetson cowboy hats that I plan on wearing when out in the yard or going to the Philadelphia Union Soccer team homegames, etc. Right now I think I have five additional hats inbound, with one being another stingy Fedora, two straw Steston cowboy hats and two Resistol 4X felt cowboy hats. Good thing my wife will be wearing some, as with all of her hair ties back, makes her fit into my size hats as well.
I started thinking about why I just started to get into hats, and it dawned on me that as I get a bit older I am starting to dress a bit nicer when leaving the house, and realized that my father, to this day always wears nice slacks, suit pants, and a button down shirt regardless if he is digging a ditch in the backyard or going out. I do remember my father wearing Fedora's when I was younger, but never thought anything further about it, or to inquire if he still had any.
As luck would have it, my parents started to clear out their attic of 30 plus years of items. My wife happened to be picking up my daughter there from an overnight visit when she caught eye of a Steston hat box. My wife asked my mother about it, who declared that they have tons of them, and were ready to give them away to a neighbor, who had showed interest. My wife looked in one and saw a nice vintage Stetson straw hat at 7 1/8 and decided to let me know.
Today we went to pick up my daughter after another sleep over at my parents and there was four or five vintage Stetson boxes. Upon stating my interest, my father told me that he purchased most, if not all of them in the late 60's, early 70's from the Steston store located on 2nd street in Philadelphia. He said that he over the course of a few years bought several of them, and had worn a handful, but had several that were still in the box all these years later, including a beautiful Homburg. There is a Knox or two in there and some other various brands.
Unfortunately they are all 7 1/8 or 7 1/4 while I wear a 7 3/8 which is just about perfect, if not a little loose. My question before I show all these hats is a few things.
1. Will I or could I have them reblocked or stretched to fit my head.
2. If so, would anyone know of any places that would do so in the Philadelphia area. I think it would be worth it to have these hats adjusted to fit me, as I think the history of the hats being my fathers would be an amazing thing to have to wear for years to come myself.
3. If it isn't possible, could anyone shed some light on the various hats pictured. I have taken a few pictures and could always post more. I am hopping that I can have them readjusted, but if not, I would hope to be able to sell them to be able to buy similar vintage Stetson's Knox's etc in my size.
Here are some pictures, hope you enjoy!
