Beaver prices

[feltfan]

Anyone else see the article on the rising demand for fur in
the 12/24/2006 New York Times? You can read it here:

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0811FA3A550C778EDDAB0994DE404482

That is, if you are a subscriber or want to pay for
the article. Sigh.

Anyway, upshot is there is a lot of demand for
beaver fur (and other fur), sadly mostly not for hats.
Be happy the online version does not contain the photos
of ugly fur creations.

Anyway, reason to bring this up is, I wonder if the rise in
beaver prices will raise the prices of the Winchester (and other)
felt bodies used by the hatters who post here?

 

[interlocutor]

well, it kept the beaver warm....

I can't speak to the future, but you can get a nice price on a beaver Borsalino at Brooks Bros. right now. The internet price is $498, but in the store it's $448. With 25% off the in store price, it's about as good a deal as I've found. Anyone got a better deal?

 

[Matt Deckard]

Well.. For that money I'd say go to Art Fawcett or Graham and get a custom made fedora.

 

[besdor]

Beaver Borsalino Hats

Interlocutor ,at our store in New York the Beaver Bors are always 425.00. We dont jack up the prices and then lower them down for a sale like some other places .

Come on down . We will be happy to show you as many hats as you want.


Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[photobyalan]

Well.. For that money I'd say go to Art Fawcett or Graham and get a custom made fedora.

Agreed. Throw in a few more dollars and you can get TWO lids from Art instead of one from a store that is in business primarily to sell suits, not hats. Does Brooks Bros. do cleaning/reblocking? Do they know what a conformer is?

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

Reprinted at The Herald Tribune for anyone who lacks a NYT subscription.

 

[interlocutor]

Agreed. Throw in a few more dollars and you can get TWO lids from Art instead of one from a store that is in business primarily to sell suits, not hats. Does Brooks Bros. do cleaning/reblocking? Do they know what a conformer is?

With all due respect, they don't need to do the cleaning or reblocking, there's any number of places about to handle that.

The Fawcett hats are beautiful, but I'm not necessarily after a vintage look. I'll certainly take a gander at one of the Bencraft stores when I'm in Brooklyn.

 

[feltfan]

With all due respect, they don't need to do the cleaning or reblocking, there's any number of places about to handle that.

The Fawcett hats are beautiful, but I'm not necessarily after a vintage look. I'll certainly take a gander at one of the Bencraft stores when I'm in Brooklyn.

HJ, thanks for the reprint.

interlocutor, do you have an agenda or business interest?
If not, you might want to search here for some of the reviews
of the Borsalino you mention.

 

[interlocutor]

Feltfan,

I have may have an agenda and a business interest, but they are unrelated to beaver fur, Borsalino, or Brooks Bros. (though I'm an occasional fan of all three). I posted an earnest question and answered a question asked of me, as I'm answering yours.

I guess that even after some two decades wearing hats I'm not yet well educated enough to appreciate the difference between pre 80's Borsalinos and the modern day product. I rather like the latter; but, as S. J. Perelman said, de gustibus ain't what dey used to be...

Pardon me if I've stepped on any toes.

 

[Matt Deckard]

It's not about vintage look. It's about what you get for the price you pay.

You'll have a better time with a modern hat by Art or Graham or a hat off the shelf made by Stetson or Bailey or Akubra.

 

[feltfan]

Feltfan,

I have may have an agenda and a business interest, but they are unrelated to beaver fur, Borsalino, or Brooks Bros. (though I'm an occasional fan of all three). I posted an earnest question and answered a question asked of me, as I'm answering yours.

Pardon me if I've stepped on any toes.

No offense intended. Just wanted to be clear.

Matt Deckard summed it up nicely.

So to get back to my original question, has anyone heard
that beaver felt will be jumping in price? I wish the demand for beaver fur
were the result of a demand for wide brimmed, high crowned fedoras.

 

[majormoore]

Yes, right before Christmas, I was at Winchester Hat Co. and was told that the price is moving up.

Was not told when or if the blanks would go up.

Mike

 

[photobyalan]

With all due respect, they don't need to do the cleaning or reblocking, there's any number of places about to handle that.

The Fawcett hats are beautiful, but I'm not necessarily after a vintage look. I'll certainly take a gander at one of the Bencraft stores when I'm in Brooklyn.

fftopic: Actually, there are very few places left that can handle cleaning and blocking, but that wasn't my point. My point was that it's almost always better to buy a hat from someone who is in the business of hats.

Go to the Brooks Bros website and click on one of those Borsalinos then try to select an exact size. You get a choice of Medium, Large, or Extra Large. What head sizes do they correspond to? The size charts on their website are no help because they only list clothing sizes. Getting an exact fit is a crap shoot, and it may not even be possible with such a limited size range. How important is an exact fit? On that first windy day, when your $400 Borsalino blows right off your head and into the path of a UPS truck, you'll know.

If you're going to pay for beaver, it makes no sense to skimp on the details.

 

[WEEGEE]

What will do ya

photobyalan

If you're going to pay for beaver, it makes no sense to skimp on the details.

I agree though what ever works for you is the bottom line!

Besides i don't want Art , Steve and the rest to get to busy.lol

 

[Aaron Hats]

Yes, fur prices are going up and not just for beaver. About a month ago Hatco announced at least one price increase for '07. Maybe we should start investing in fur instead of the stock market.

 

[interlocutor]

Go to the Brooks Bros website and click on one of those Borsalinos then try to select an exact size. You get a choice of Medium, Large, or Extra Large. What head sizes do they correspond to? The size charts on their website are no help because they only list clothing sizes. Getting an exact fit is a crap shoot, and it may not even be possible with such a limited size range. How important is an exact fit? On that first windy day, when your $400 Borsalino blows right off your head and into the path of a UPS truck, you'll know.

If you're going to pay for beaver, it makes no sense to skimp on the details.

Actually, their sizing online mystifies me, too; but I recommended in store shopping because a) I'd be nervous about buying a hat I hadn't tried on myself and b) in this instance, the instore price starts out $50 less than online. FYI, L=59 &c.

As to the wind and the UPS truck, I shall hope to have the string attached to my buttonhole on that gusty day. Failing that, I shall pray for a Smart Car... Until then, I'm pleased with the purchase. The shape of the hat nicely suits my overpriced yet poorly constructed head...

The article in question is interesting, but I think they miss one big influence on the fur revival, to wit, the closing (?) episode of Sex and the City when SJ Parker appeared in a fur trimmed coat. It made quite a stir at the time, and I believe fur has become more popular (at least on the streets of Gotham) each year since. I can recall not that long ago when ladies of a certain age feared attack should they go out in their minks. Today I wonder how many erstwhile activists now sport a bit of rabbit on the cuffs, or coyote on the parka hood. As they say in Sanskrit, galgel khoyzer, right boys.?

One last interesting point. The article closes with a quotation about how "Nobody wants to wear what her grandmother or mother was wearing", and yet here we seem to have a whole forum dedicated to styles of the past. Seems their source had better read up a bit better!

 

[Mike H]

The Stetson Pinnacle can be found online for under $300.
It won't be near the same quality as one of the custom hats, but still a pretty good deal for 100% beaver.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Winchester Felts....

Yes, right before Christmas, I was at Winchester Hat Co. and was told that the price is moving up.

Was not told when or if the blanks would go up.

Mike

Hey Mike ,
Did you run into that Virginia hat pedler that makes those lousy staple hats with the Girly bows...? I read he goes to Winchester to buy the .50 cents seconds/culls that they sell off.

 

[Art Fawcett]

There was a pretty big increase in felts ( beaver) last year and I expect one this year. That's one of the reasons my prices are going up. I just plain have to. Although, I DID speak to Winchester yesterday for my quarterly order and the fur supply is ample at the moment. That wasn't the case last year.

 

[majormoore]

I can tell you while at Winchester, I picked up a handfull of beaver hair, what I could hold in one hand and was told that was $100.00 worth of beaver.

Mike