Best Hat Brands???

[rabbit1361]

What are today's top 5 dress hat brands in the market? and why?

 

[fatwoul]

What are today's top 5 dress hat brands in the market? and why?

In no particular order:

Akubra
Steve Delk (Adventurebilt)
Marc Kitter (Adventurebilt)
Camptown Ken
Lee Keppler

Why? Cos they're the guys making early 20th century style fedoras for people who want to get chased by big boulders and dragged behind trucks.

 

[cooncatbob]

In no particular order:

Akubra
Steve Delk (Adventurebilt)
Marc Kitter (Adventurebilt)
Camptown Ken
Lee Keppler

Why? Cos they're the guys making early 20th century style fedoras for people who want to get chased by big boulders and dragged behind trucks.

What about Vintage Silhouettes?? Art makes unique hats for folks who want to do something else besides running around playing Indiana Jones. lol Not that anything wrong with that.
As much as I like the books and movies I'm kinda dreading Indy 4 cause in the past you get the Indiana Jones comments no matter what color your Fedora is or even if your wearing a Panama hat.
Back in the time period of the movies if you weren't wearing a hat you weren't fully dressed, like walking out of the house just wearing an undershirt.
Bob

 

[fatwoul]

What about Vintage Silhouettes?? Art makes unique hats for folks who want to do something else besides running around playing Indiana Jones. lol Not that anything wrong with that...

I know. I was just kidding about.

 

[RBH]

I am with fatwoul and the cooncat.
I would say Steve Delk, Art [ I do not have one of Arts hats yet, but he has done some great work for me] Akubra, and JerseyJones[ I also dont have one of his hats but I really like the looks of them]
Only I would have to add Mike Moore to the list. My 1936 TVA is a fantastic fedora.

Sorry went back and figured out CampTown Ken...

I, for one dont mind the Indy reference, at least they are starting to know fedoras from ball caps!
I hope...

 

[Fast]

fear of morons

What about Vintage Silhouettes?? Art makes unique hats for folks who want to do something else besides running around playing Indiana Jones. lol Not that anything wrong with that.
As much as I like the books and movies I'm kinda dreading Indy 4 cause in the past you get the Indiana Jones comments no matter what color your Fedora is or even if your wearing a Panama hat.
Back in the time period of the movies if you weren't wearing a hat you weren't fully dressed, like walking out of the house just wearing an undershirt.
Bob

I don't particularly care for rain either, but it keeps fallin'. We're worried about guys who play dressup like athlete wannabes or Thomas Magnum wannabes and call us movie character wannabes? Ok. And the ones who go around with anime haircuts? Or express their individuality bu wearing the same black T-shirt everybody else is wearing?

I've worn hats for decades. They protect my head and face from the sun and what all, and they look good. Shakespeare wrote that "the clothes oft proclaim the man." He didn't say they made him. They can't. What anyone says to you only tells you what they are willing to say. I'd only be afraid of what some moron who does not know me says if he hit the one in a million jackpot and nailed my entire existence with an ignorant off the cuff one liner.

Look them up and down, and while continuing to do so thank them for changing your whole life. Maybe ask if they have something more, something true or original to say. Wait. Thank them again and get on with your life.

Oh yeah. My favs: Akubra and Baron

Carpe diem
Fast

 

[JerseyJones]

In no particular order:

Akubra
Steve Delk (Adventurebilt)
Marc Kitter (Adventurebilt)
Camptown Ken
Lee Keppler

Why? Cos they're the guys making early 20th century style fedoras for people who want to get chased by big boulders and dragged behind trucks.

WOW thanks for the great nod ! I am glad I am keeping the right company. And yes we must add Art to this esteemed list. Oh and FYI, my discount pricing is ending soon, so if you are hankering for a camptown hat, PM me !

Thank much

Ken

 

[halpap]

best brands (depends on the price)

I am not as experienced as most on this board and am going to say something controversial. I think you have to include Borsalino among the top hat brands.

I realize that there are people who knock Borsalino quality, but that is in part because the current offerings don't compare to their vintage offerings, which were really special. Finally, I think part of the question is price. If you buy a Borsalino from someone like Besdor, you are paying $160-$200 for a hat. Many places charge much more than that. I think for $200 and below, Borsalino is quite good. At closer to $300 it is overpriced.

Separately, nothing against Art and Mike but they are really custom hatters, not sure I would count them as a brand. Steve is also custom except that he sells a specific style, Indy, so Adventurebilt could be considered a brand (albeit more of a custom type service to it).

I have both a fed deluxe and a borsalino and am not sure which I prefer. They have different looks and feels and are both good hats and better than other "brands", at least that I have come across.

 

[rabbit1361]

Yes, I was asking for the best brands (Companies) or labels across the nation as far as manufacturers go. (not internet or custom (which I know they do a great job, but that's another category)) but in retail stores. Brands that any people at any given town can go and get. And why they are the best in your opinion? Quality, Price, Value (price/quality), etc...

 

[besdor]

For hat brands , Borsalino is still the best production made hat . And ,we sell many of them . That is not to say that guys like Art dont make better hats than Borsalino . They do ( a lot better) . But if you want to walk into a store a buy a hat, Borsalino is the best .



Steven

 

[cooncatbob]

For a mass produced hat I think Akubra is a bargain.
Bob

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Steve and Art have the best hats for the money. I have one from both and they are treasures....

karol

 

[fatwoul]

I'm with cooncat - my Fed Dlx couldn't be better. Seriously, I'm pleased as I could be with this hat.

Akubra has to be in - if not at the top of - anybody's top five brands.

 

[Matt Deckard]

5?

Well you know how they always say it depends on for what you are looking? Well.. I look for something that won't sag too much in the rain. I don't want the crown to shrink. I think a dress hat like a fedora should be soft enought to roll up (my opinion). That is a durable hat in my book.

So far of all the hats i have hat I like my Optimo from Graham Thompson the best since it has taken the punnishment of the campouts and the storms and the roll ups and the abbrasive cats. It's a tough dense lightweight felt.

The crown shrunk a bit though all modern hats I have run into have shrunk over time. Vintage holds the honors as being the better felt and many who have found their first quality vintag hats soon see why they are such prizes.

Top 5 modern companies?

Hmmm.

Well Graham and Art Fawcett are the custom hatters i recomend in a snap.

1-2

Akubra is a good starter hat, though is it quality? They make the crowns I like and they break in to look nice and advenurous. The price range allows you to play around and not think "Oh how will I replace such an expensive hat". It's a good deal... that makes it a good brand.

3

Biltmore. They haven't been in many stores though the current felt is okay, perhaps better wearing than Akubra.

4
5

That's hard.

 

[deanglen]

I think a dress hat like a fedora should be soft enought to roll up (my opinion). That is a durable hat in my book.

Honestly, most of the hats I see Loungers buying, collecting featuring, etc, do not look like they could be rolled up. I agree with you, Matt, I like soft fedoras, and if they can roll up, all the better. I just don't see too many of them. Then again, I'm showing my ignorance of the manner in which a fedora should be rolled up. I think I've seen pictures of some. I think Marc Chevalier has at least one or more. Those Royal Stetsons, Open Roads, Strats and and the like look way too stolid to endure a roll up. What hats are suitable for rolling up?

dean

 

[Matt Deckard]

Soft and thin felts.

 

[Yohanes]

How do you know that a felt fedora is rollable or not? Is it always written on, say, the lining or sweatband? Crushable woolies usually has this information inside the hat... how about fur? No one here would try to make experiment with their vintage collections...

 

[Matt Deckard]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=1915

 

[Spellflower]

Yes, I was asking for the best brands (Companies) or labels across the nation as far as manufacturers go. (not internet or custom (which I know they do a great job, but that's another category)) but in retail stores. Brands that any people at any given town can go and get. And why they are the best in your opinion? Quality, Price, Value (price/quality), etc...

Sadly, the days of retail stores with quality fedoras in every town are long gone, at least here in the U.S. There just isn't enough market for stores to bother stocking fedoras at all, and when they do, they tend to stock cheaper goods, knowing that most consumers don't know quality, and are more likely to take the unusual step of buying a fedora if it's inexpensive.

Sure, there are still hat shops in some larger cities, and I wish 'em luck. I know they'd stock better stuff if it was available, but Akubra, for some reason, isn't interested in working with them, and the other manufacturers are ruled by corporate overlords who are content to squeeze whatever revenue they can out of their old reputations, and don't seem to care about maintaining their good names for the future. Much as I'd like to see those hat shops fluorish, I just can't afford to spend over a hundred dollars on something I don't need when there's a much better and cheaper product available from over seas.

I wish we still lived in a world where quality goods were available on every Main St., but we don't. We live in a world where hats are a niche item, and where, unless you live in Australia, or next-door to a custom hatter, you're going to have to get on the internet to get something good.

I reccomend Hats Direct and Akubra. Akubras are tough, good looking, and affordable. You can spend more money on some of the other brands mentioned, and you'll very likely get an even better hat. But for pure bang-for-the-buck, Akubra is tops.

 

[DanielJones]

At the risk of repeating myself, for the cost value I prefer my Camptown hat. It may not roll up but it is one durable hat that breaks in nicely, looks good with either a suit or adventure gear and most importantly (for those of us on a limited budget) a reasonable price for a quality product.
Ken may not have the widespread distribution that some have (like Akubra or Borsalino & others) but he is working his way up there with a top notch lid. It's always a good idea to keep the little guy in mind.
Now, Art is another that comes to mind. For a custom made lid his prices are very reasonable, a little out of my range at the time being, but reasonable nonetheless. I know for sure, that once I have a little extra scratch lying around, I wouldn't hesitate to get one of Art's masterpieces, and like Ken's, wear it with a beaming pride, knowing I got one of the best.

Cheers!

Dan