A Question of Texture?

[tsores]

Hello: I am new to this hat forum and to better hats. I am writing because I have searched the forum, and other sources, finding nothing on this topic.

I am tired of baseball caps so I decided to buy something a little different. I am partial to the Stetson Gun Club line to give you an idea of where I am starting. My issue is about felt texture. The hats I have tried on are rather stiff as if they were made from sheet metal. I had the pleasure of watching a couple of my favorite old western movies recently and noticed the hats. Any movie fans here? In My Darling Clementine, Henry Fonda frequently adjusts his hat and it is noticeably flexible, both the brim and the crown. In the original Stagecoach, the John Wayne character hat is a soft felt which bends in the breeze during several scenes including the scene where the Indians are chasing the stagecoach. So, my questions are:

1. What the pros and cons of having soft or stiff felt?

2. Is there much difference for the wearer?

3. Where does one find soft felt hats - Brand or models?

If there is a thread on this topic please forgive the oversight and direct me to it.

Thanks for any help provided.

 

[scottyrocks]

Hello and welcome to the world of hat wearers.

Your questions have certainly been covered at TFL, but they are all over the place so it would be tough to find answers to everything you asked unless you've got the time (and inclination) to read most of the Hat section.

Two threads that come to mind, though, are Ask A Question, Get An Answer, and New Member To The Hat Forum. Of course, you will get a bunch of responses right here in short order, as well.

 

[jlee562]

In my experience, modern hats are stiffer in general. We've postulated here that this may be due to both the perception that 'stiffer = more durable' as well as relatively more stiffener being used in modern hats to compensate for decreased felt density.

Stiff felts will take longer to "break in" and conform to one's head shape. This may be more problematic for some individuals depending on the shape of one's skull. You/your local hat shop can help the process along with steam.

If you want a hat like the ones you see in old westerns, you'll need an old hat. Alternatively, you might seek out a custom and ask for minimal stiffener.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hello: I am new to this hat forum and to better hats. I am writing because I have searched the forum, and other sources, finding nothing on this topic.

I am tired of baseball caps so I decided to buy something a little different. I am partial to the Stetson Gun Club line to give you an idea of where I am starting. My issue is about felt texture. The hats I have tried on are rather stiff as if they were made from sheet metal. I had the pleasure of watching a couple of my favorite old western movies recently and noticed the hats. Any movie fans here? In My Darling Clementine, Henry Fonda frequently adjusts his hat and it is noticeably flexible, both the brim and the crown. In the original Stagecoach, the John Wayne character hat is a soft felt which bends in the breeze during several scenes including the scene where the Indians are chasing the stagecoach. So, my questions are:

1. What the pros and cons of having soft or stiff felt?

2. Is there much difference for the wearer?

3. Where does one find soft felt hats - Brand or models?

If there is a thread on this topic please forgive the oversight and direct me to it.

Thanks for any help provided.

Welcome! This is a great community and as a fairly new guy myself I can tell you that there is a scary amount of knowledge here that freely shared.

PRIMER:
Felt was sooo much better 60+ years ago. By the late 1950s felt quality for most brands and lines was in decline (there are some exceptions).
The decline in the numbers of people wearing hats led to a decreased appreciation for them. Stiff hats, particularly western hats, became the standard and most just except that that’s the way they have to be.

The Gun Club hats are part of the outdoor line and they are made using western hat bodies: lots of stiffeners added to the felt.

ANSWERS:
1: pros: soft hats are more comfortable and readily reshaped by the owner. Cons: not usually available in a modern hat, but otherwise there aren’t any cons to having a softer felt...maybe if you bucking brush on horseback etc., but that’s not my life.

2: Yes, the less stiff hats are much more comfortable and take less time to conform to your head.

3. Vintage is the way to go, but they aren’t always easy to find and they aren’t often cheap (unless you get lucky). If you don’t want a hat that is too large in dimensions you can have a custom made using a dress weight hat body. I have a large head and I like a tall crown and sometimes 3” of brim is all I can get out of a dress weight beaver hat body.

It’s hard to say that you can even commission a new custom hat that will compare to the vintage as the felt available today often just doesn’t cut it. 100% beaver fur felt hats of today, while nice, are not in the same league as hats from back in the day. Still, a custom hat from the right hatter will be leaps and bounds better than what is available from a factory hat, and the prices (if you find the right hatter) aren’t all that scary. Of course you can also search the vintage market, but that has its own pitfalls.

One economical compromise is to get an Akubra Campdraft with an open crown. These are rugged hats that are much softer than your Gun Club but not in the same league as the hats you saw in the movies. If you can live with the 2 7/8(ish) inch wide brim, that is probably a less than the Gun Club, you can get the Akubra Campdraft and be way ahead of the game. Akubra also makes open crown western hats but I don’t have any experience with them so maybe someone else can assist if you want to pursue that...a Woomera is on my radar.

Lastly, I’ve also come to appreciate some of the stiffer hats. I wouldn’t want them to be that stiff if I could choose, but I’ve come to enjoy some of them after accepting them for what they are.

Good luck and stay away from vintage 7 5/8 to 7 3/4 hats; they’re nasty horrible things.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Dm101]

I love my stiffer hats.
Mostly because I wear WIDE brim hats that are +3" on the brim and they catch the wind like you wouldn't believe. My Amish fits like a socket on my head now that I've figured out how to pad the underside of the leather sweatband. That hat is stiff, but still soft enough to bend and flex.

Now, the Bolero...that hat has been made with crazy glue or epoxy or something in it. The brim is so stiff you can almost throw it like that hat in the James Bond movies with the razor-edge.

Lol...
I once went to kiss my wife goodbye in the morning when I had my stiff Bolero on and dinged her in the forehead as I moved in for the kiss.
The hat didn't bend at all...but her neck did.
Apologized for days over that one...but I should have been better with my hat etiquette.
When addressing a female...the hat comes off.
*smack forehead*