an uncommon size

[pointystuff]

Check it out...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52369&item=8193399288&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Time machine?

 

[BellyTank]

My size but not my price... :cry:

B
T

 

[android]

Once they go over about $80, I just save the pictures so I can eventually have one made that looks like it. I'm not stuck on vintage hats, just hats that look vintage. Maybe because I know they'll never fit anyway.

 

[fedoralover]

While that hat is going for a somewhat high price for ebay, it's good to keep things in perspective. You would be hard pressed to find a new hat of that quality for $400. I've held the new $400 100% beaver felt Borsalino and there is no comparison to the old Borsalino's like that one. I have 5 of them and I'm just glad I got them before the prices started going up.

Also even an Akubra Federation Deluxe is about $125.00 not to mention the shipping from Australia. This borsalino puts the Akubra to shame and is like comparing an old Ford Pinto to a Rolls Royce. No offense to Akubra owners but thats just a fact, as I wear a Fed Deluxe to work.

Android you are correct that the size can be a big question mark, but if they are only a size off of what you wear, it's not that hard to either stretch it or shrink it down to fit.

fedoralover

 

[scotrace]

Awlays Surprised

I'm always pretty amazed that I often see very fine items photographed, like this really nice hat, out on the dirty old deck, or on the sidewalk, or tar driveway, or lying in some brown grass.

Would it be so hard to keep a little plain cloth at hand to photograph sale items on?

"For sale. One hat. Good condition - some Thompson's Water Seal stains. A few wood splinters...."

 

[pointystuff]

I mean...

Check it out...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52369&item=8193399288&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Time machine?

I mean it looks so well-preserved that it must've come through a time machine.
B

 

[Brad Bowers]

I wouldn't be surprised if that hat goes for around $200. It's still a bargain. I love my vintage Borsalino, and have found no finer hat. Now, if I could just find one in brown and one in black in a 7 3/8, I'd be set!

Brad

 

[fedoralover]

Brad, lots a luck finding a black one. I finally, after over a year of real looking, found a vintage black Borsalino my size and the dimensions I wanted. The brim is 2 5/8ths and the crown is 5 1/2. Felt is perfect, very thin and very dense, the sweatband has very minimal wear. I'd prefer the dimensions of the one in the link above but am content just getting the one I did. The stingy brim Borsalino's come up all the time but I don't like them and wanted one with a larger brim and crown. Like I've brought up on another thread, they are the rare ones indeed.

fedoralover

 

[Flick]

I like the weatherbeaten deck background. I think it fits the hat, being an old vintage but very nice condition hat. I wouldn't pay that much for it, but I'm sure it is worth it. The vendor is a good photographer, the auction shows the hat in very nice detail, and that is what's important. Look at the price s/he is getting. What I do not like is the hand holding the hat...but that is personal preference.

 

[dopey]

My brother bought a beautiful vintage Homburg on ebay, much like that one in color and quality. It was not his size and it is now mine. My hat is also in absolutely beautiful condition, and one thing I noticed that they appear to have in common is that the elastic keeper is somewhat dried out and loose. You can keep the hat sealed in a safe, but unless you also keep it in a humidor, the keeper elastic will get dry and brittle.

 

[feltfan]

Paen to vintage felt...

I have to agree with Fedoralover, the old Borsalino felt has no equal today.
In fact, I don't understand why people buy new hats for $400 when quality vintage hats are still available for $200 and under.

I have seen some Optimo hats (as an example) at a store in SF
that isn't serious enough about hats to deserve mentioning. I was
not impressed- wrinkled stitching around the brim and nice felt, but no
where near as nice as an old Borsalino or, in a different way, Cavanagh.
You don't want to know how they marked those lid$ up, but I coulda bought
four of the most expensive vintage hats I've ever purchased for those prices.

I think it's fair to assume I saw some so-so Optimos that had not been
treated well, but even so, a good hatter can't get the felt or even the
sweatband leather or stunning hatband material we see in old hats. I have
not seen a lot of Akubras, but they seem to do what a lot of hatters
do today- add a bunch of glue ("stiffener") to the felt so they can block
it fast. You end up with a stiff toy hat, not a real, time-formed hat.
Some of those Borsalinos would form into different styles in your hands.
Same, BTW, goes for Panama weaving- my cheapo 1940s Stetson's weave
is out of the league of anything I could get for less than healthy 4 figures
these days.

One thing to note about the Borsalino is that gap at the front of the
inside, between the felt and the sweatband. There's a sort of corrugated
material in there, allowing breathing and no doubt keeping sweat off the
felt. Brilliant- more hatters should have done/should do that.

I'm not saying one should not buy new hats- we need to support
hatters and build up enough demand for men's hats that it becomes
economical for someone to start making real felt again. And I've seen
hat styles made today that weren't made in the old days (Art is
trying out some cool new ideas). But meanwhile,
do realize that the old hats have materials and craftspersonship that you
simply cannot buy in a new hat for any money these days. I look forward
to visiting the Optimo shop one of these days, but meanwhile I'll keep
my eyes open for hats made before I was born.

 

[dopey]

One thing to note about the Borsalino is that gap at the front of the
inside, between the felt and the sweatband. There's a sort of corrugated
material in there, allowing breathing and no doubt keeping sweat off the
felt. Brilliant- more hatters should have done/should do that.

Thanks, feltfan. I have always wondered what that corrugated stuff was. I have it on one of my non-vintage Borsalinos - meaning purchased new sometime in the last ten years (at least three to five years ago).

 

[fedoralover]

feltfan, you and I are in 100% agreement when it comes to older fedora's. It amazes me that people balk at paying $80 to $120 for a vintage hat on ebay but will pay the same amount for a new Akubra. I can only figure that they have never really examined a vintage hat or felt it's felt (sorry) and then compared it to an Akubra or anything else new. From another thread, you've seen that I just got a 100% beaver felt fedora in black. I'm going to be anxious to see how it is compared to the vintage. Fedora aka Steve Delk, who made it says that even it does not compare to the old vintage felt but it is in his opinion, probably as close as you can get today.

In a way I probably shouldn't be saying this as I've noticed the prices on ebay for some vintage fedora's has already really went up and by expounding on their virtues it will only increase their demand and the price will continue to go up. However, I pretty much have all the inventory I want or will ever need in my lifetime or my kids for that matter, so I don't mind trying to educate others on the quality that can be had for a fraction of anything new off the shelf. There are still enough of them that come up that for right now the demand is stll less than the supply, but eventually all of Grandpa's closets will be emptied, more people will be buying them up and then the law of supply and demand will go in the other direction and then the prices will really go up.

regards fedoralover