Christy's of London

[Blackthorn]

Hornet Hats...

I just bought one from Hornet. It took 3 weeks to arrive. My only complaint is that I ordered 'light sable' and it is very dark chocolate brown. I contacted them and they sent me a bunch of swatches (at no charge). The only one that's not some form of dark material was the beige. But it's a nice enough hat for the money, and it does go back into a decent shape after a 27 hour journey in the can.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

:arated: wanna hear something cool? I sent an email inquiring about the foldaway. Duane replied with the answer and also, since I have a link to my site under my signature, he visited my webpage. Joking around I said to him, via email too, that I'd trade one of my small pieces for the hat. He said yes. I though he was kidding but he and his wife were serious. In the end it didn't happen as even my small pieces were too large for the space they had in mind. He offered me 20% discount "to support the art" he said!:eusa_clap

Very cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[frussell]

Order Cancelled

Well, I hate to be hasty, but communication with Hornetshats is not what I'd prefer, and they don't seem to be reading the emails I sent them, so I cancelled my order. At least I think I did. I emailed my cancellation to two different addresses. The only person I could get on the phone was a gruff-bordering-on-rude gentleman who told me he couldn't help me over the phone, then asked me why I was cancelling. Hopefully they won't be so slow at refunding my money, which they were very speedy to withdraw. I was really looking forward to this hat, as the posts about the Adventurer made it sound like just what I was looking for. I guess I'm spoiled by HatsDirect, who always communicate clearly and quickly with me, and are very helpful. In the meantime I've got a Fed IV coming from them, which I really wanted to compare to the Christy's. Too bad. Frank

 

[Tone]

Too bad about your issues with Christys correspondence. Holiday season seems to be affecting plenty of online places when it comes to communications lately. But anyway...

Why not order the Christys through some other online hat store that sells Christys? If you're not making any changes to specs on the Adventurer, why go through Hornetshats in the first place? Although they are the least expensive retailer and they've been great for getting custom orders through to Christys, there are plenty of vendors carrying the basic Adventurer it seems. It's the same default 5 3/4" specs every other Christys vendor has in that case. [huh]

Especially if you're doing a direct comparison to the Fed IV, you'll want the crown heights roughly equal anyway, right? Grab a default 5 3/4" Christys from somewhere else?

 

[frussell]

Any suggestions on an alternate vendor?

Thanks Tone. Any suggestions on a specific vendor who carries the Adventurer, even by another name? Thanks, Frank

 

[cybergentleman]

color swatches

I just bought one from Hornet. It took 3 weeks to arrive. My only complaint is that I ordered 'light sable' and it is very dark chocolate brown. I contacted them and they sent me a bunch of swatches (at no charge). The only one that's not some form of dark material was the beige. But it's a nice enough hat for the money, and it does go back into a decent shape after a 27 hour journey in the can.

I emailed hornets numerous times about the color swatches on their site.

could you post those swatches on here? maybe scan it in?

most online vendors, in every clothing department i can think of could do a better job with swatches. i like to see the actual item from different positions and angles to see what it really looks like.


i wanted the christy's grey mix- but i opted for the sable for safety reasons. was worried the grey mix was too dark or would dissapoint me.

sable seemed pretty unassuming, which i like

 

[Tone]

Thanks Tone. Any suggestions on a specific vendor who carries the Adventurer, even by another name? Thanks, Frank

Hmm...I have always ordered mine through Hornetshats; and I was looking at all the usual hatshops and they seem to have only the Trilby or the Foldaway. I know I'd read here, for certain, others insisting on the availability of the Adventurer from other dealers.

I recall Cybergentleman saying somewhere that he had found some other vendor who promised him the ability to order the specific 'Adventurer' as well. I think he went through and ordered from them, too. Maybe he'll respond on how that all turned out, or at least, who that was.

I would imagine for a Christys version felt with similar characteristics for comparison you might try the Uptowner. I don't know if it's the Christys block, but it should be a pretty good comparison to a Fed IV; especialy considering that the Uptowner says the brim can be customized.

If the crowns are about the same, you could request that they trim down the Uptowner's brim to match those of a Fed IV, I'd gather. Unless, the Uptowner is already using those Fed IV specs or something.

Probably a more close comparison to the Fed IV, spec-wise, than a customized Christys out of Hornets, anyway.

Sorry man. I thought, for sure, there were more shops carrying the default hat.

 

[kiltie]

There's a movie prop place that sells them... hang on and I'll see if I can find it.

 

[kiltie]

Here it is:

http://www.themovieshop.com/Fedora-Hat-Fedora-Hats-Mens-Fedora-Hat-Fedora-Felt-Hat-Buy-Fedora-Hats

Considerably more expensive; bordering on not worth it, it fact. The site's still worth a spin, even if it's just to see how ridiculously expensive the Herbert Johnson hats are.

 

[Tone]

Aha. Yes! Here you go, Frussell:

They even seem to have two versions of the crown height for ya! Not sure if they sell the taller 5 3/4" for your comparison, but this might work for you.

http://www.themovieshop.com/Indiana-Jones-Fedora-Adventurer-Fur-Felt-Fedora-Hat-Movie-Hat

Doh! Kiltie got it.

Yeah, it's a bit 'much' for this hat, but might be an option for you.

 

[jlee562]

The last I heard from Todd at Todd's Costumes, the Uptowner is NOT a Christy's.

 

[kiltie]

Here's a Christys' going on about a year and pretty regular wear:

The best way I can put this Adventurer in perspective is to say: If you'd pay $100 for a modern Stetson Soveriegn, then you should drop it for the Christys'. If you'd go as high as $150 ( as the movieshop site is asking ) for the Stetson, do it for the Christys'. I personally would NOT go a buck fifty for the Adventurer. Nor would I go that high for a modern Soveriegn ( again ).

The thing the Christys' has got going for it is the combination of the very versitile, only very slightly tapered crown along with it's very soft, compliant felt. This combination seems almost impossible to find in modern hats outside of Borsalino and HJ, both of which are absurdly overpriced.
You can get a lot of different hats out of the Christys' Adventurer from a ( really ) good Indiana Jones hat with very little tweaking ( nothing to do with methamphetamines ) to a wide variety of "vintage" styles limited mostly to your imagination and skill.
I've really enjoyed mine and intend on getting one of the lighter colored ones somewhere down th road.

 

[Tone]

Here's a Christys' going on about a year and pretty regular wear:

The best way I can put this Adventurer in perspective is to say: If you'd pay $100 for a modern Stetson Soveriegn, then you should drop it for the Christys'. If you'd go as high as $150 ( as the movieshop site is asking ) for the Stetson, do it for the Christys'. I personally would NOT go a buck fifty for the Adventurer. Nor would I go that high for a modern Soveriegn ( again ).

The thing the Christys' has got going for it is the combination of the very versitile, only very slightly tapered crown along with it's very soft, compliant felt. This combination seems almost impossible to find in modern hats outside of Borsalino and HJ, both of which are absurdly overpriced.
You can get a lot of different hats out of the Christys' Adventurer from a ( really ) good Indiana Jones hat with very little tweaking ( nothing to do with methamphetamines ) to a wide variety of "vintage" styles limited mostly to your imagination and skill.
I've really enjoyed mine and intend on getting one of the lighter colored ones somewhere down th road.

:rage: OH YEAH!!!!? WELL...THEN -

No, that's about 100% EXACTLY on the money regarding the considerations for this hat. Those traits are tough to find, and usually waaaay too expensive to get 'em, otherwise. Well put, Kiltie. :eusa_clap Very well put.

 

[frussell]

Thanks for the help boys.

Unfortunately, I'm a bighead, and I didn't see any of the Movie Shop hats in the size 63 I was getting from Hornetshats. If I had a smaller head, I'd be in business with scoring vintage hats and making huge eBay steals. Of course, if my head were smaller, it would squeeze my gigantic brain, so it's a trade off. I appreciate the help. I guess it would be better if I wasn't so impatient, but I'm not a big fan of take the money and go incommunicado. That's not where I like to throw my hard earned cash. Sounds like I'm headed toward custom made pretty soon. Frank

 

[frussell]

Update

Received an email on my home email late this afternoon, despite specifically asking Sarah to correspond with me at my work email. Good news for anybody waiting for the Burma felt, she said Christy's told Hornets that the felt would be in stock by this week. Bad news for me, as I don't feel like this company has communicated well, and I'm still cancelling my order. Even if I choose another color, it will take several days more to get the hat done, and who knows how long to get shipped to SoCal. I know this is not a lot of time for most people, but I just had another miscommunication with a hat renovation that ended up with a hat I could not use and sold to another Lounger, so I'm a bit fed up with waiting right now. Good luck to other customers. They do look like beautiful hats. Frank

 

[cybergentleman]

now i need to jump in

Howdy,

this thread really developed in the last day or so.

I ordered my hat through http://www.ascot-tophats.co.uk/default.html

Doug offered to do it for me, on here. so i went with it.

i did not want the christy's with that nasty stitching. if you look at the link from the site below you will see it IS probably the same hat:
http://www.themovieshop.com/Indiana-Jones-Fedora-Adventurer-Fur-Felt-Fedora-Hat-Movie-Hat

that obvious stitching on the bow bothered me, so Doug offered to redo it for a nominal fee, i also wanted the hat stretched a tad in case of shrinkage.

now the bad news....All was fine, and then suddenly Christy's had some kind of back log and then their felt cutters or something went on holiday!

so there has been one hell of a delay. this bugged me a lot, but i was able to live with it since it has been quite hot here until recently.

Doug received the hat but christy's sent him the wrong color ribbon/bow! It really bothers me how a company can have such incompetent people working for it.

anyway, Doug has been a great help, kept in touch letting me know what the status was. Says he should be shipping it soon..i will post pics when it arrives for sure.

 

[Tone]

Ascot, that was the place. There you go. Another one. (Knew there were more places.)

How much does it cost through Ascots?

Hornets - $90.00 (customized)
MovieShop - $140? (their specs)
Ascot - (all stretched out with four stitchpoints removed?)
Herbert Johnson - $350 (5 3/4")

 

[cybergentleman]

price

Hi,

well i haven't received it yet, and i hope i am not jinxing the mail service gods,
but the price was:

74.95 GBP.

"total price. £59.95 + £15 P&P"

i think it was 50 for the hat and 9.95 GBP for the stitching and stretching
without digging too deeply thru' my inbox that is what the invoice reads.

what i like the most about going thru' Doug is that it made customization requests a lot easier. i did not like the fact hornets wanted me to ask for the customization after placing the order- to me that was a recipe for a screw-up. in my experience if it can go wrong it will. despite the great reviews, i did not want to take any chances on that.


i still would like to know what that grey mix looks like in person!


-------

price quote in email a while ago,
"Options:
If you want the lining hand sewn in £25 extra.
If you want a bow made up Christys' in "their" standard design, and you "supply" the ribbon ( 1.5m please) £10 extra.
If you want a bow specific your own design ( please send photo) I can make one if you send exact pictures and source ribbon. £20 extra."

 

[cybergentleman]

pssst

the pic you posted awhile back was the one that sold me.

the other feedback i received was great. but i liked the way the felt on your adventurer had a deep rich hue to it in the sun- really convinced me.

 

[frussell]

Possible Happy Ending

I received two sets of emails yesterday, from Sarah and from a Justin at Hornets. They apologized for the lack of communication and promptly refunded my PayPal. Justin then informed me that my hat was actually ready for Christy's to forward to them, so I re-paid and they are refunding me the shipping costs as a goodwill gesture. If the hat arrives before the holidays are underway, I'll be perfectly satisfied. Still a wait-and-see, but I'm pleased that they worked to resolve this issue. The good news is that the Burma color felt seems to have arrived at Christy's. Anybody have any hats in "Burma" they can post photos of? Thanks, Frank