Akubra Sydney: A Review

[The Good]

Not so much the Sydney or Fedora (my cousin might get a black one though), but I'm also, perhaps, considering the Stylemaster in the moonstone color. At this point I'm torn between that, a moonstone Federation, or a Campdraft in silverbelly, although I'm leaning towards the Campdraft a bit more. I'm a college student like yourself, but I don't think I've really considered the thought of my next hat being all that "low profile." With my bit of experience so far wearing the Federation IV, a rather big hat in the eyes of some, I think I might be ready to go for the Campdraft, although I still like the look of the Stylemaster. Hmm...


Can someone show me a picture of a moonstone Stylemaster? I may have seen a few in the thread shown above, although colors weren't specified very often there.

 

[Neophyte]

I was looking at the campdraft, but the color selection put me off. I have dark, dark brown hair and somewhat pale skin, so the brigher taupe fawn and silverbelly have the danger of what I've heard calling "washing out". The glen grey is an attractive color, though...could be a little more dark. The 2.88" all-around brim has me put off a bit as well, being used to the Fed's dimensional. I do like the looks, I just worry about it being "too much hat."

 

[Dewhurst]

I had an Akubra Sydney in the color described on David Morgan dot com as Regency Fawn.

The felt is very supple and while it accepts dry bashes willingly it doesn't hold them with the same gusto. Many times I could get it to hold a bash just fine, but you can't do anything aside from hanging the hat on a hook or something because if you set it on the crown that will ruin everything! (I am very frequently somewhere that does not have a place to hang a hat, and I either have to place it crown down (which I prefer) or brim down on the edge of something (which I despise))

The sweatband was not sewn in to my hat properly though, so I sent the hat back anyway.[huh]

I'd like to try another Sydney some day, but after I got a bad apple I haven't had the guts to order another Akubra yet.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I have no experience with the Fedora/Sydney, but I love my Stylemaster. It is only a "modest-sized hat" compared to out-and-out large hats like the Campdraft and Federation, and as others have said, its dimensions are "right" and it looks good on a wide range of people. Mine is Steel/Carbon/Mid-Grey, which is VERY dark, and looks black in anything less than bright light. (I think the Moonstone is actually a much more useful color, but I didn't get it because I have a Stetson Temple that does the light-gray-with-dark-ribbon thing very well.) A shot you've probably seen in the other threads:

I haven't jumped on the Campdraft bandwagon because my Federation III has nearly the same dimensions (2.88" by 2.75")... and frankly, it's just too much hat for me:

The Stylemaster's 2.5" brim is about right for me. The biggest brim I can do is 2.75" - although I do have a Cattleman that I wear for sun protection when I hike in the summer:

But I only wear it in the woods, not in civilization: it's just too big for this part of the world, where big western hats are very uncommon.

Anyway, I like the Stylemaster a lot. It looks great and doesn't feel at all "costumey".

 

[Blackthorn]

I was looking at the campdraft, but the color selection put me off.

That's my pet peeve about Akubra, their surprisingly limited color selection. Their rep posted here last year to answer questions and although he admitted it would be easy to offer any hat in any of the colors they make, he said they had no intentions of doing so. So I switched to other brands that offer more variety. I haven't been sorry.

 

[Spats McGee]

The Stylemaster is a good, safe hat. The crown is at least in proportion with a fairly narrow brim. Good hat that isn't a ballcap. Crown isn't ginormous on a brim that small. Doesn't say much, doesn't call much attention. But looks good as a generally safe fedora just this side of a stingy. For modern college environment, it's similar to the modern stingy types out there. At least you're not trying to smash down a tall crown to fit the brim specs in this case. Won't be much room after a rain, but overall it has a generic blend that doesn't call much attention to itself. It's a good, safe, generalized hat for breaking into wearing in public. Low on flare and stare. Enjoy!

While I don't particularly care for admitting that one of my favorite hats is "safe," (I prefer to think of it as "classic," or "timeless") there's some truth to this. The Stylemaster is pretty conservative, being neither huge nor stingy. I would like slightly less taper in the crown, but there's not that much taper, and the brim is a nice size for me. I can't really wear anything less than 2", and anything over 3", I suspect, begins to look like a sombrero on me.

 

[Spats McGee]

. . . .
I haven't jumped on the Campdraft bandwagon because my Federation III has nearly the same dimensions (2.88" by 2.75")... and frankly, it's just too much hat for me:

The Stylemaster's 2.5" brim is about right for me. . . .

Doc, what kind of crease do you have in this fed? The brim's just about right, maybe even a tad on the small side. Have you thought about changing the crease to drop the crown a little?

 

[Neophyte]

That is something to consider. One of the things I tried originally was to take construction paper to the brim of a cheap wool stingy fedora to see how much larger the brim on the Fed would look. Maybe I should do the same with the Campdraft. And I concur with Spats...that crown could be brought down some and it would look GREAT.
At any rate, Dewhurst, I was wondering if you could comment on a "wet (?)" bash on the Fedora/Sydney. I have heard several times that dry bashes will eventually pop out, but what about wet, or steam?
I like the Stylemaster, and I like it a lot......but I'm not sure if the factory bash will work on me...that's why I like opend crown. However...this thread is about gathering information on these hats so as to narrow down my decision, so I'll keep it on the list. (For instance, if the Fedora holds a wet/steam bash poorly, then the Stylemaste just jumped to the top of my list, followed by the Campdraft and Bogart).

 

[Spats McGee]

I thought I remembered seeing a thread around here on what happens when you Re-bash the Stylemaster.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Doc, what kind of crease do you have in this fed? The brim's just about right, maybe even a tad on the small side. Have you thought about changing the crease to drop the crown a little?

That pic is from when I first got the hat circa 2003. I never changed the crown - it's a pretty standard Indy-ish center dent - but the brim has developed a lot more swoop over the years.

The truth is, I hardly wear this hat - I wear vastly more blue, black, and gray than earth tones, so I'm typically wearing one of my gray hats. Anyway, I haven't really considered changing the bash. (But I have considered getting another brown/tan Akubra with a lower crown, maybe another Stylemaster or Campdraft.)

 

[Neophyte]

I wear mostly jeans with polos or buttonups (mostly shades of green, khaki, white, sometimes grey or black) and cargo pants or shorts (tan or white). As much as I'd like to have light greys, blacks, or whites for my hats, they just probably don't match up well with my wardrobe. I can rock any shade of brown, possibly fawn as long as it's as dark as the Fed IV's tawny fawn, and MAYBE a darker grey.
I'm not that stylish, so I never know really what goes with what......guess I'm gonna have to learn.

 

[Fletch]

Can someone show me a picture of a moonstone Stylemaster?

Your wish is my command...

 

[James71]

Is it just my imagination or does the stylemaster look exactly like my black Bogart? I believe it is pretty much the same dimensions.

 

[Spats McGee]

According to the HD website, both have a 64 mm brim, so they're awfully close. Perhaps the only difference is the bash?

 

[James71]

Its definitely a different bash.

Im planning on getting a grey hat this weekend. (If I can find one that I like at the hattery in Katoomba), and this would have been an option, but of my two dressy city hats that I wear most often to work, I get a better reception for the CEO with the wider brim. Im 6'1 and 240 with wide shoulders and apparently the bigger 70mm brim suits me better than the thinner more hip bogart, so Im afraid the stylemaster is out.

I guess I will look at the campdraft in grey or the fed IV in moonstone...

 

[Neophyte]

So...

I'm going to retake my thread here.

The one thing I'd like to know before I make my decision:

Can the Akubra Fedora hold a bash, after being wet or steamed? If it cannot, then it's off my list.

 

[Wolfwood]

Doc, what kind of crease do you have in this fed? The brim's just about right, maybe even a tad on the small side. Have you thought about changing the crease to drop the crown a little?

I'm not Doc, but I still have to point out that Fed III was a really tall hat - the newer Fed IV is closer to perfect in its dimensions.

 

[The Good]

Your wish is my command...

Thank you for the photos, Fletch... if you wouldn't mind, could you show me that same hat, but outdoors? I would like to see how light the sunlight and all could make the moonstone color. Thanks!

 

[EggHead]

Reviving old thread here.. Sydney va Banjo Paterson

Picker or anyone else who had Sydney and Banjo Paterson - how would you compare the hats? Which hat did you like more and why?

I currently own a Sydney (charcoal) and want to buy a brownish color hat. So far my choices are Regency Fawn Sydney, Heritage Fawn BP and I was also thinking about Christy's Wincanton (in light brown).

Pluses/minuses as I see them:

Comfort:
Sydney open crown, BP not - I want to try stiff crown because Sydney's crown needs adjustments often, but is BP too stiff in general?
Sydney conformed to my head from the get-go. Will I need to break-in BP?
Wincanton?

Crown height:
Using a tear-drop shape on Sydney, when I put it on, I the crown pops up a bit, will I need to do crown work on BP because it has a center crease?

Brim:
I am also looking at Wincanton trilby because I like a 2 inch brim more than 2.5 inch (my avatar has a 2 inch brim hat and I like it's shape too, but it's a panama). BP has 2.75 inch brim (even wider).

Band (ribbon):
I don't like matching ribbons, so BP has an advantage over Sydney, Wincanton can be ordered with different color ribbon, (so can Sydney, but I don't want to wait 3 months). DM would be my choice because of efficiency.
Hornethats would take a month I suppose.

Durability:
While I don't intend to soak it in the rain (charcoal Sydney was bought for this purpose), I may experience occasional light shower or heavy fog.
1. BP
2. Sydney
3. Wincanton (also, I read here that with Christy's it's a crap-shoot)

Price:
They all fall within my acceptable range

Oh yes, I wear "smart-casual" style to work.

All of your thoughts and recommendations would be welcomed!

Thanks,
Egg

 

[carldelo]

Egghead, what do you think about the Stylemaster? It's nice in Acorn Fawn, but it does have a matching ribbon and a 2-1/2" brim. I guess you realize a 2" brim is hard to find these days - I myself prefer 2-1/4" and they're a rare item.

PS the Christys hats have significantly more taper than Akubra, and in my experience the sizing was a little on the small size - I could have used one size bigger on my Marlborough. The felt is nice, comparable to Akubra.