Considering a Stetson Open Road, what pairs well with it?

[RossRYoung]

Definitely smaller headed peeps back in the day. And as such, fewer larger hats made for us (now more common) pumpkin heads. I believe it to be primarily dietary related that we’ve grown larger overall, but who knows for sure.

 

[BobHufford]

I don't understand how that makes sense.. there's just not big vintage hats?

From my experience they are all size 7-1/8 ... but that is anecdotal.

 

[Frunobulax]

I don't understand how that makes sense.. there's just not big vintage hats?

Not as many. Even now the most common sizes are 7 1/4-7 3/8. So they just aren't out there.

 

[Frunobulax]

Really? So you say I have a big head? Actually I'm 7 3/8 according to a tape measure. But I like it a little loose so it sits low and air can flow in from under the hat band, so I always get 7 1/2..but my head is long oval so they're usually a bit tight anyway

I'm saying that, if you plot the distribution curve of hat sizes over time, the normal distribution currently sits at an average of about 7 1/4, a little to the right of the Golden Era. I'd hazard a guess 7 1/2 is at least a standard deviation away.

No subjective analysis applied.

Whew, dodged that one!

 

[Bamaboots]

7 3/8

Been a bit of a run on 3/8's of late on the bay but I've seen it go quite awhile w/o any decent vintage hats showing up.

 

[Frunobulax]

Been a bit of a run on 3/8's of late on the bay but I've seen it go quite awhile w/o any decent vintage hats showing up.

True dat.

 

[T Jones]

This video of a 1947 OR being restored does look just like Hank's hat in this famous picture

Awesome video! That confirms a post by @Jlee where he found an ad from the 1940s showing an Open Road just like that one with a 3 ply hat band. ORs used to come open crowned so a person could put their own crease to it, (the first ORs were wide ribbons). In this ad that @Jlee posted it shows the Open Road with the 3 ply ribbon and a Cattleman crease with the brim snapped down in fedora fashion...

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Why are vintage ORs hard to find in 7.5?


Tbh fawn is the only color i think I'd wear, and it's only in 6x. Idk why that is. I wear them mostly walking around outside, so not sure it's an issue.

The cognac color looks okay I guess. Idk why they don't offer some color standard as tan in the Royal Deluxe

Welcome to my world. It’s tough having a larger head and liking vintage hats. I’m a 7 ⅝ to 7 ¾ so don’t complain too much about 7 ½.

There’s beena lot of speculation on why mens have heads have tended to be larger over the last 70 years or so (give or take a couple decades). I like the hypothesis that better/different childhood nutrition is at least partly at work. There’s no denying that vintage hats in sizes over 7 ⅛ are hard to come by and the larger you go the rarer they are. Rare also equals expensive.

 

[DaveProc]

I find they pair very well with a tractor and a good cigar.

 

[RossRYoung]

Wow this is such a strange idea to me. I guess Americans have gotten taller too, as diets have improved..

TBH I'd prefer a new one anyway. But if the price is right, I'd probably get a vintage

Imagine the next 50-70 years when GMOs start catching up with us too

Also vintage is hands down the way to go if you’re willing to put in the time or money!

 

[T Jones]

Royal Stetson's clone of its own Open Road. It had a Cattleman crease when I first got it, and it was a size too small. I blocked it to a 7 1/4 and recreased it to a Teardrop.

 

[T Jones]

Nice man..is Royal Stetson a separate company? You block them yourself? Do you have a steamer? I listen to Hank Williams almost everyday. I had no idea his iconic hat is still in production

Thank you Bryan!
Royal Stetson is just one of Stetson's felt offerings, like Royal Deluxe, or Stetson 3X Beaver, etc. It's a thinner and lighter weight felt, but still very good quality. The Royal Stetson offering is one of my favorite felts. Nice and light and easy to crease.

Yes. I do my own hat work. I actually put my hats over a pot of boiling water with a splatter screen and the felt softens pretty nicely over that.

I was listening to some Hank Williams this morning, actually. "Move it on Over"

 

[Hurricane Jack]

....in fact that's why Truman was known as fighting harry Truman cuz he'd often talk tough to live up to his father's expectations.

Truman was born from good rebel stock on his mothers side.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I find they pair very well with a tractor and a good cigar.

A good beer too!

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Hello! Longtime lurker here, first post. I’m relatively new to the world of classic mens’ hats (bought my first brimmed hat in 2016), but I always wore visors or baseball caps, dating back to early childhood. A self-described “old soul,” I’ve always had an appreciation for tradition and bringing back lost arts, such as the lost art of proper hat wearing. It also helps that, as I’ve aged into my thirties, and the ol’ hairline has receded ever farther back, I’ve taken up brimmed hats so as to keep my brain canister warm in the winter, and hopefully, ward off skin cancer when I get older. Hats are one of the few things in life which are simultaneously darn functional AND good looking!

As a middle class dad of two young kids, I don’t exactly have a big budget for this hobby. I don’t own nearly as many as I’d like. My current favorite is my gray Jaxon fedora, with a black band and the front snapped down. It is the first true fedora I’ve owned. At $50, it wasn’t pricey, but I figured it was a good introductory fedora, to test the waters and see if I'd like the style. I didn’t want to jump in and drop hundreds, only to hate it. It has been everything I expected. I love the way it feels and looks, and I get compliments on it.

Currently, I’m seriously drooling over a Stetson Open Road, and considering getting one. My gray fedora is just a little too dressy to wear with jeans, in my personal opinion. The OR seems like the perfect blend of the classic cowboy hat and a fedora. It has the cattlemens’ crown, yet the ability to snap down the front brim.The curl on the back is more subtle than a traditional fedora.

I work in the usual office environment - business casual - and on a typical day, I wear a long sleeve Oxford button down with straight leg, slim fit khakis or dress slacks, and dress/chukka boots. If it’s a particularly hot summer day, I’ll wear a polo. In the colder months, add a sport coat, vest, leather jacket, or sweater. Pretty much your standard “preppy” or “Ivy League” style. I live in the Southern U.S., with hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. I always remove my hat in the building, but I wear it while walking in and out, plus out to lunch, or to take a walk in the midday lunch hour.

Any Open Road wearers out there? What do you generally pair it with? It seems to me that it’s a very versatile hat. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Johnson all looked dapper wearing the hat with a suit and tie. And on the other end of the fashion spectrum, I’ve seen guys pull it off quite well with a simple V-neck tee, dark jeans, and boots.

Those in hot, humid climates – have you found that fur felt hats are generally okay to wear in the hot months, within reason? I mean, I’m not going to wear it to an amusement park on a 90 degree July day (that is a job for my straw gambler!) but I think it’d be fine for a summer Saturday night date night. I wear lightweight sport coats in the summer, especially after dark, and the heat has never bothered me.

I appreciate the input! Here’s to making the world a little more classy, one hat at a time. Thanks for having me.

Lots of sage wisdom added by contributors to your querry. I did enjoy reading through the OR histories, advertisements and wearing experiences.

The venerable Stetson Open Road is an iconic thin ribboned hat. Stetson advertisements have them poised to appeal the country and town hat wearers. The "thinner" ribboned hats are the hats that I most often reach for during my hat wearing adventures. What to wear? Almost all attire pairings. Check out the What You Are Wearing Thread for lots of everyday examples. I have been contributing to this forum for a long time and have posted up lots of everyday hat pics. Puruse away. See examples that are similar to what you might be wearing or adventures that you would do. Below I have attached a collage of some everyday examples of mine.

Wear the hats, don't let them wear you.
Cheers, Eric -

 

[Edward]

A good beer too!

I'd be disinclined to mix the tractor and the beer, though!

I have an Akubra Campdraft DLX I bought over a decade ago. I bashed mine like a fedora, and turned the brim down at the front. The thin ribbon gives it a slight Western edge, but other 'hat people' aside, the average person on the street is as likely to call it Indiana Jones, Sam Spade, or Cowboy depending on what their own pop-culture frame of reference is. I mostly have worn mine with a collar and tie, but I did once wear it out with jeans and an Aero 30s Halfbelt. I looked like an extra from Near Dark. Which was fine by me! It definitely has a more wEstern edge worn with denim.

 

[Frunobulax]

I'd be disinclined to mix the tractor and the beer, though!

You are obviously not an American.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Wow this is such a strange idea to me. I guess Americans have gotten taller too, as diets have improved..how much larger can a felt fur hat be stretched?

TBH I'd prefer a new one anyway. But if the price is right, I'd probably get a vintage

It’s not just Americans. European vintage hats tend to be equally small as we move back in time. I suspect other regions would demonstrate the same phenomenon, but we don’t have access to vintage hats from a lot of the world outside North America and Europe.

The lack of large sized vintage hats was one of the primary reasons I began buying custom hats. Some customs can be quite reasonably priced and don’t have the quality issues common to modern production Stetsons.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I'd be disinclined to mix the tractor and the beer, though!

You just affix a drink buddy to the cowling on the tractor so you don’t spill any.

 

[Rmccamey]

I find they pair very well with a tractor and a good cigar.
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Perfect!