Here's the first and only one of these that I've ever seen. While there have been a number of hats marked Borsalino Featherweight posted here and on ebay, this is the only one I know of that is marked just "Feather".
Another unique feature of this hat is the shop at which is was sold. While a number of these old Borsalinos came from the Savatore Balbi shop in Naples, this one came from another Balbi in Naples - Michele Balbi. Again, I've never seen any other hat from the Michele Balbi shop.
The felt in this one is, as the name states, feather light. It is so light that it took me a while to give the hat a little shape, as it was quite crumpled when I purchased it. There are no holes, stains, or pits on the felt, the ribbon, or the binding. The sweat is soft and supple and is not pulling away from the hat at all, including near the corrugated area, which is often a problem with these. There is a little sticker residue on the sweat above the Balbi name, though there was no sticker there when I purchased the hat. As you can see, the liner is very thin, lightweight, and topped with that great onion skin tip that hasn't been used on hats in quite some time.
The only flaw I see is a bit of a ring around the rear of the hat where it was deeply creased at one point. This may or may not come out with brushing. I popped up the light center crease I have in the hat (which will inevitably come out in mailing) to get a better shot of the ring. This will be much closer to the point where you crease the hat. It also seems like the ribbon is loose, but it is not. The ribbon sometimes seems this way, because of the lightness of the felt, which always wants to shape itself according to the slightest touch. When I put the hat on the glass head, which is a pretty great fit for this hat, the ribbon looks just as it should be.
Some numbers:
It's tagged a 5, making it a US 7 1/8.
Brim width is 2 5/8"
Crown height (open) is 5 1/2"
PRICE: $150 + actual shipping worldwide.
The color is best represented in these first two shots.
Another unique feature of this hat is the shop at which is was sold. While a number of these old Borsalinos came from the Savatore Balbi shop in Naples, this one came from another Balbi in Naples - Michele Balbi. Again, I've never seen any other hat from the Michele Balbi shop.
The felt in this one is, as the name states, feather light. It is so light that it took me a while to give the hat a little shape, as it was quite crumpled when I purchased it. There are no holes, stains, or pits on the felt, the ribbon, or the binding. The sweat is soft and supple and is not pulling away from the hat at all, including near the corrugated area, which is often a problem with these. There is a little sticker residue on the sweat above the Balbi name, though there was no sticker there when I purchased the hat. As you can see, the liner is very thin, lightweight, and topped with that great onion skin tip that hasn't been used on hats in quite some time.
The only flaw I see is a bit of a ring around the rear of the hat where it was deeply creased at one point. This may or may not come out with brushing. I popped up the light center crease I have in the hat (which will inevitably come out in mailing) to get a better shot of the ring. This will be much closer to the point where you crease the hat. It also seems like the ribbon is loose, but it is not. The ribbon sometimes seems this way, because of the lightness of the felt, which always wants to shape itself according to the slightest touch. When I put the hat on the glass head, which is a pretty great fit for this hat, the ribbon looks just as it should be.
Some numbers:
It's tagged a 5, making it a US 7 1/8.
Brim width is 2 5/8"
Crown height (open) is 5 1/2"
PRICE: $150 + actual shipping worldwide.
The color is best represented in these first two shots.
