Can one's hat size change?

[epic610]

weather is just getting cold and am finding all my 7 3/8's are fitting a little tight. is it possible one's hat size can change with age and or weigh? or is it a result of age in the felt? anyone else having this problem?

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Could be you need a haircut??

 

[D. Hats]

I'm not a doctor, but I'd suspect the material the hats are made of are more susceptable to temperature variation... more than your head !
Also, I would imagine that if your head was changing due to the weather that during the winter it would shrink... Do your rings feel looser in the winter or tighter?

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Your head grew!?! Oh, well. Guess you'll just have to give all your hats away. I can help with that...

 

[Snrbfshn]

I think so...

I looked back at hats I bought 20 years ago, and several are 7 1/8, and I'm a dyed-in-the-felt 7 1/4 now.

 

[Michael Mallory]

I've heard that leather sweatbands can shrink, though usually it's because of heat, not cold (like if you leave a panama in the car during the summer). I think there's a little bit of give in a hat, though haircuts do make a difference. I have a stretcher which I use on stubborn hats.

 

[Andykev]

Only when all your friends flatter you with compliments.

I have experienced shrinkage (not down there...hahhahh) as I have aged, no! I mean, as the HATS have aged!

Yes, you are correct sir. Sweatbands, and fur felt hats do shrink in storage. Plus, if they got wet, damp, or sweaty, and then put away...they SHRINK.

Some of my Optimos have shrunk. I have three "vice type" hat stretchers, one is electric. I have the wooden turn-the-handle type that I use ALL the time.

Modern hats just shrink, plain and simple. Now, my vintage, that's another story! And Art's vintage hat bodied hats, and his beaver, don't shrink. Just my newly made hats.

I suggest you go on Ebay and buy on of the nicer stretchers, the kind where you turn the knob and it goes in the hat.

Oh, and yes, weight gain, will slightly snug your hat. Just like a haircut will loosen it.

 

[Doh!]

I still have a 7 1/4 fedora I bought in the '80s (which no longer fits), but now I take a 7 3/8 - 1/2, depending on the maker. Also, if anything, I wear my hair shorter than I used to, so my head must have gotten ENORMOUS!

 

[Siirous]

A little disappointing

To think that these fine vintage 7 1/8 hats that I've bought at 20 years old might not fit my noggin when I'm 35 or 40. Ah well, such is life I suppose

Sincerely,
Rob