Brooks Brothers Hat

[likavik]

Howdy all,

By way of introduction, a quick question to the community: does anyone know who made the felt hats that Brooks Brothers sold in the 60s, 70s, and 80s? I have a nice example, and was wondering who their supplier was...

Also, what do people think, does this qualify as a homburg? The brim isn't smartly rolled, but resists being turned down.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I believe that Lock & Co. made the fedoras for Brooks Brothers at that time. Not sure, though. Might have been Herbert Johnson.


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[analogist]

Brooks Brothers Hats

I believe Marc is correct. I own a Brooks Bros. bowler from the seventies and it is a Lock & Co. I was at a Brooks store last month and the few hats they had were all sized as Small, Medium, and Large and were not worth buying. I was wearing a Borsalino that day and several of the sales associates waxed longingly for the days when Brooks Brothers was the most complete and finest clothier.

One of my favorite presidents, Mr. Lincoln, would stop and the Manhattan store often when in New York to get a new suit. The suits were black with a black satin border on the lapels.

analogist

 

[likavik]

thank you, marc. seems probable it's lock.

agree w/ you on brooks brothers, sad. they really haven't handled business casual very well. and oh, lincoln was also assassinated in a black brooks coat, which is supposedly why the company never offered black suits.

 

[MattJH]

My wife's grandfather recently passed. He was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His tie collection partly went to me. What brand? 100% Brooks Brothers. They're fantastic ties.

A bit off-topic, but relevant to Brooks Brothers!

 

[Dinerman]

'fraid i'm not getting any picture.

 

[Matt Deckard]

It is Lock and i have one of their Homburgs... Back then they were good hats.

Today BB sells Borsalinos with stningy brims and low crowns.

 

[Fletch]

Yes, I got a soft felt C-crown from Brooks several years back. Olive green. I wore it in the rain once too often and it never really sprang back. Plus, the stingy crown with the hard pinch in front made me look like a pinhead with my big face.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Lock it is.

I am with Marc and Matt; vintage Brooks Bros. hats are all over the vintage shops here in Boston and they all have the Lock & Co. label, or at least the ones I have seen.

 

[ideaguy]

I've had an older Brooks Brothers Fedora for about 20 yrs., long before I got
really hooked on hats. Fine, smooth felt, great form, doesn't give the mfg., but
does have tons of reorder info., model numbers, references both on the sweatband and underneath-in two places. Simply top-quality accessory for the
well-dressed man of the time-I'm figuring 1940's, back when they were them.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Surprise, surprise ... I just stumbled across a 1960s fedora that was made for Brooks Brothers by Herbert Johnson, the British hatters.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

You photoshopped it...

I'm just kidding. That goes to show that just when you think you know something, something else pops up.
What does the rest of the hat look like?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Me? Naah ... http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-BROOKS-...5QQihZ006QQcategoryZ14065QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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[Matt Deckard]

Back then Lock and HJ were the exotics.

 

[Barry]

This is the edge on one of

I posted about this once before but I have one fedora that bears the BB label. The tag states that it was "Made in the USA." Matt mentioned lower crowns and shorter brims - this one fits the bill for sure.

I like the edge on the hat. I'll put in in the classifieds here eventually.

 

[MattJH]

Over the years, I've had the pleasure of having a lot of different vintage hats pass through my hands. Dobbs, Knox, McAndrews, MacLachlan, Adam, Stetson, Borsalino, Barbisio, Crofut & Knapp, Churchill... but none (save the MacLachlan, which is my favorite hat that I own) stands up like Brooks Brothers. I'd like to know more about them. I know they're the original gentleman's clothier store. I know that they're still held in high regard by traditionalists, etc. That's about it, though. I have a Herbert Johnson made for Brooks Brothers. I've also seen Borsalino and Lock & Co. make hats for Brooks Brothers. I also have a hat that just says Brooks Brothers on the leather sweatband. Did Brooks Brothers actually manufacture their own hats, too? I guess I'm just mostly surprised that they don't get talked about more in the Hats forum here since I've found them to be consistently high in quality.

 

[AlanC]

A Brooks Brothers hat is something that I'd very much like to have.

I can't imagine that Brooks ever made their own hats. Whatever hats they sold under their name was likely rebranded. Brooks used to have a lot of their own workrooms for clothing, though.

To my knowldege the only things Brooks actually makes itself these days are their ties (factory in NYC) and their oxford cloth button down shirts (factory in North Carolina). Everything else is outsourced, although much of it high quality (Alden shoes, Swaine Adeney Brigg briefcases, etc.).

 

[Art Fawcett]

To my knowledge Dumbjaw, they never made their own hat but rather contracted out. That's why they aren't discussed much as they are a store rather than a brand.

 

[besdor]

I do believe that Brooks Bros carries Borsalino hats today . In the past, they carried hats made in England that were most probably made by Christy's. I got one on OFAS a few months ago. It's as light as a feather.






Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[MattJH]

To my knowledge Dumbjaw, they never made their own hat but rather contracted out. That's why they aren't discussed much as they are a store rather than a brand.

What do you make of this one? Its only label is Brooks Brothers. I checked on the sweat, on the inside of the sweat, on the lining, under the lining... just marked Brooks Brothers. I always assumed that it was a Brooks Brothers original.

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