Comparing Hat People and B! Wear caps

[Biltmore Bob]

I recieved my Hat People linen Newsie a couple of weeks ago and recieved my B! Wear gray herringbone wool Gatsby in the mail yesterday. The HP cap, while aceptable, does not compare to the workmanship of the B!W cap. For instance, some of the HP seams are not completely straight and the button on top is not centered. The bill is not centered to the front seam line, therefore the back seam line is not centered at the back my head when worn. The cap should not have cost no more than $12 or so retail and I paid $36.

The B!W cap is made with alot more attention to detail and Brett made it exactly to my demanding specifications. Although the bill is a little smaller than I would expect (maybe it's just me). The fact of the matter is that Brett was willingly enthusiastic when it came to making some design changes for me to his already tried and true caps. This cap set me back $37 and is worth it.

 

[scotrace]

Waiting for my HP cap

I ordered a wool herringbone cap from Hat People recently. Your report is a little alarming.
If I may ask, does either of the hats you have use a leather sweat band? Cotton lining?

I'm also a little curious - how long was the wait for either of your caps?

Thanks for any info you can share.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

HP has a cotton lining and a grosgrain sweatband, took about a month for delivery.

BW has a satin lining and leather sweatband, took about 4 days for delivery. Of course I had been coresponding with Brett for awhile and he already had the hat made and sent it out as soon as he rec'd payment.

 

[scotrace]

As I feared.

Thanks for passing along the info.

(rats)

 

[K.D. Lightner]

B! Wear caps

Hi, I have three caps now from Brett and love them all. I have the bone herringbone cap, the black and white herringbone and the dark blue corduory (my first corduroy cap). The caps are cut wonderfully and drape exactly as I like them. Brett is nice to work with, too.

http://mariposa.yosemite.net/bwear

Is the cap Toby McGuire wears in the picture a gray wool cap? It looks like it, at least on my monitor.

karol

 

[scotrace]

brown, James Brown

Looks brown tweed I think.

 

[guitone]

I sent Brett some wool I found and like and he made me a wonderful hat. For me it was a bit big and the bill was not as big as I wanted so since he still had some extra material I told him what I wanted and he made me another and this one is great (I may sell the first one as it is a great pattern and probably most folks will love the fit, these B!Wear caps are great)...so I had already send Brett a second batch of wool and told him to go ahead and replicate the second hat (just make it a tad smaller). Now the way Brett makes his caps if you do have to make it smaller you can, the same way you would a fedora, under than band. Brett's work is first quality, and ask if there is something you want different, within limits he will make changes...very easy to work with.

 

[IndianaGuybrush]

I've got to speak up in defense of the HP cap.

I ordered one in the fall and have been incredibly happy with it since it arrived. My seams are perfectly straight, and my top button perfectly centered. The material is a beautiful lightweight wool Houdstooth pattern in earthtones. The interior is lined with a quite nice liner, that is cotton, which makes it both breathable and very easy to wash should it get dirty. The brim has no wire in it, nor does it have a snap and is quite a bit wider than the B!Wear caps. I actually prefer this to the way the B!Wear caps come, because it lets the cap have more of a 'mind of its own'. The cap also has less built-in shape to it, and is very floppy. I wear my caps off-center and raked either forward or back, so this floppiness really gives it what I think is a jaunty angle. The B!Wear caps have a much neater look to them. With the snap and the material he uses to line it (which I'm not certain is satin, maybe Brett you could chime in on this?), it's a bit stiffer in shape, and so far lacks this floppiness. This is a bonus while running around, as the cap will retain more or less whatever shape you put it in, but a negative in that it's harder to acheive that 'rakishness' I like in the caps I wear.

Now forgive me Biltmore Bob, but didn't you contact Brett and give him specific instructions about where you wanted the seams in your cap to be? I only ask because I remember you posting something to that effect, and also, my B!Wear cap doesn't have a seam centered in the middle of the bill. Not that I mind a bit! I really love the way my new B!Wear cap looks, and Brett has been extremely helpful in the entire process (I originally got a color I wasn't happy with and Brett was sure to switch my hat with no additional charge other than shipping). I got a #3, because I figured I had a nice dark earth-toned cap already from Hat People, so I might as well switch up my color scheme a little.

You are of course entitled to your opinion, but I have mine as well. I can't comment on which cap is better, as I've only owned the B!Wear for a few hours, while I've owned the HP for a few months, but I can say that I am 100% satisfied with my HP cap, and would readily recommend them to anybody who is looking for a newsie/gatsby/big apple cap. My first impression of my new B!Wear cap is very positive, but nothing about it makes me think it's worth more than an HP cap, nor does it put me off from ordering from HP again.

I think we're very lucky to have two vendors like Hat People and B!Wear readily available to those of us who like to rotate out of fedoras every once in awhile with something a bit more casual.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

.99 cent cap

Very good post.
I think both hatters or as I call them Master Capper's. Make good hats! just have a different style and a there way of making them.It would be a very boring world if we all liked the same thing.

I have both company's caps. I have made my feeling known.
Some people like this and that. I bet many of you will just hate my latest's cap I bought to wear as a fun cap.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6759790998&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1

Cost me .99 cents and $11.00 shipping from Korea. Hats/Caps are fun to me and protect my head from cancer. :cry: :cry:

 

[BellyTank]

ScotRace- Seabiscuit Cap!!!

I had this in another thread but here it is again- a good shot of T. Maguire's
Seabiscuit Cap- the actual one-
http://www.propstore.co.uk/showimage.php?pid=5548&iid=18698

-the Herringbone is brown but it looks a bit gray-ish in this photo.

B
T

 

[SHARPETOYS]

I had this in another thread but here it is again- a good shot of T. Maguire's
Seabiscuit Cap- the actual one-
http://www.propstore.co.uk/showimage.php?pid=5548&iid=18698

-the Herringbone is brown but it looks a bit gray-ish in this photo.

B
T

I sent a hyper link to Brett at B ! Wear cap co.. I hope he could make us a copy.!! I will post his answer.

Sharpey.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Brett was very patient with me and made all the adjustments to his design I requested. He rearanged the order of the panels so the seam ran down the middle, deleted the snap and wire and used a great leather sweatband. This is the kind of service I would expect from a custom maker. Maybe I just got a bad HP cap. Who knows? It passes the 30/30 test. The HP cap is the one I'm wearing in my avatar.

 

[scotrace]

Well....

Hey BT - thanks for that picture. I should have known to just ask you guys what the Red Pollard character was wearing in the film. I'm slowly understanding that you gentlemen are a collective goldmine of information. ShanghaiJack has become a line for Hollywood waist pants, I have exactly, exactly! the fedora I've wanted for twenty years because of the info collected here, a great Montecristi on the way, and a couple of caps also being made up. In other news, I've discovered I'm wearing a scent that I need to change...
Sharpey, I've been corresponding with Brett about this cap. He's set to make me one up, but with this new photo from BellyTank I think we can get him even closer. I had sent him film stills. I'm pretty confident we get the right thing.
Thanks to all of you gentlemen for your advice, and generous help. :cheers1:

 

[BellyTank]

Scotrace- MORE PICTURES!!!

There are more DETAIL images of the Seabiscuit cap here-
http://www.propstore.co.uk/showimage.php?pid=5548&iid=18698

What was the FEDORA you had always wanted?
Please remind me...

B
T

 

[scotrace]

I like it

What was the FEDORA you had always wanted?
Please remind me...

B
T

The one with the ears.
Ordered mine with the chinstrap. Had to send the first one back because Mickey was off-center.

Seriously, I'll get pics up soon. The hat that worked best for me was an open crown model I shaped myself. I don't like a lot of pinch or the front brim to drop down too low. It's my experimenting hat until Art gets settled.

 

[scotrace]

This One

What was the FEDORA you had always wanted?
Please remind me...

 

[BellyTank]

Aha!
Nice!

B
T

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Wow, what is that fedora? And is that you in the photo?

Nice!!!

karol

 

[scotrace]

Wow, what is that fedora? And is that you in the photo?
karol

I just wanted a good open crown starting point, so I got an Akubra Federation Deluxe. I shaped it the way I wanted, and avoided the Indy Hat look.

Thanks.

And yeah, that's me. Finally got a 40's tie to work, length-wise!

 

[SHARPETOYS]

A true look its called style with a little class thrown in.

Looks like a great suit nice tie and Perfect block on your Akubra. You put it all together a very nicely dressed man!! Looking good my friend!!
Best Regards,

Sharpey :cheers1: Root Beer