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Riffing off Tim's and Daniele's posts...
There seem to be two things to discuss here - materials and workmanship. Felt bodies, as has been my understanding, aren't as high quality as they have been in the past. Now both Art and Esther have weighed in to say we may be overcritical on that front. Certainly Esther seems to be high on her TONAK bodies, and Art seems to think that at least the felting process isn't that different from before (unless Anthony's friend is correct about eliminating process steps).
Of course Tim is correct in that the final product is very dependent on the workmanship, as well. That comes down to QA/QC. Get a modern Stetson and the QA/QC is not as high as it has been in the past (and that allows poor workmanship on the factory floor). My local hatter has said that up to 50% of new Stetsons will get rejected by her from a shipment, and she will need to go through every one to QC them, and will even fix some of them so they don't get sent back and she can try to sell them. Gus Miller at Batsakes will not even carry Stetsons anymore. So a high quality skilled craftsman, such as Tim, Art, etc. will produce a better hat from the materials. It is obvious that those of us who are hat enthusiasts will pay for that attention to quality, but since the masses won't, and are willing to buy those Stetsons, etc. with poorer workmanship, there is no incentive to do better.
As for European hatters, I have to plead ignorance and defer to folks like Daniele and Steve. Certainly Borsalino has been making fine hats for many years, even into the modern age, although there seems to be a consensus that quality degraded after they moved from the original factory.
This is why, despite my satisfaction with a few Stetsons I've purchased the past couple of years, if I'm going to buy a new hat, it's going to be a custom from a craftsman. i use to salivate over the Stetson catalog, especially after they introduced the open crown lines. Now I salivate over Instagram posts by Tim and Michael Gannon.
There seem to be two things to discuss here - materials and workmanship. Felt bodies, as has been my understanding, aren't as high quality as they have been in the past. Now both Art and Esther have weighed in to say we may be overcritical on that front. Certainly Esther seems to be high on her TONAK bodies, and Art seems to think that at least the felting process isn't that different from before (unless Anthony's friend is correct about eliminating process steps).
Of course Tim is correct in that the final product is very dependent on the workmanship, as well. That comes down to QA/QC. Get a modern Stetson and the QA/QC is not as high as it has been in the past (and that allows poor workmanship on the factory floor). My local hatter has said that up to 50% of new Stetsons will get rejected by her from a shipment, and she will need to go through every one to QC them, and will even fix some of them so they don't get sent back and she can try to sell them. Gus Miller at Batsakes will not even carry Stetsons anymore. So a high quality skilled craftsman, such as Tim, Art, etc. will produce a better hat from the materials. It is obvious that those of us who are hat enthusiasts will pay for that attention to quality, but since the masses won't, and are willing to buy those Stetsons, etc. with poorer workmanship, there is no incentive to do better.
As for European hatters, I have to plead ignorance and defer to folks like Daniele and Steve. Certainly Borsalino has been making fine hats for many years, even into the modern age, although there seems to be a consensus that quality degraded after they moved from the original factory.
This is why, despite my satisfaction with a few Stetsons I've purchased the past couple of years, if I'm going to buy a new hat, it's going to be a custom from a craftsman. i use to salivate over the Stetson catalog, especially after they introduced the open crown lines. Now I salivate over Instagram posts by Tim and Michael Gannon.