Dark Grey Borsalino

[MK]

Our good friend JPdesign is send me the new dark grey Borsalino from PB for evaluation. I love my brown one. It is my favorite hat. The regular grey is very high on my list too.

Optimo seems to be the current favorite, but I wouldn't trade my brown Borsalino for one......but mine is much better than the others I have seen.

I will take pictures when it arrives.

 

[ITG]

The dark grey PBBM is (IMO) between the brown PBBM and the light grey PBBM in terms of floppiness. It's a beautiful hat (my opinion of course, but I love grey hats with black ribbons).

 

[Sam Spade]

Dark Grey PBBM

I recently purchased both of the grey PBBM's, and they are both great. The new dark one would make a great Bogart hat as it has a tall crown, and Joe Jr. could simply cut the brim down. The lighter grey, or Seaplane as he calls it is indeed a bit floppier as ITG wrote. I am really sold on the Borsalino's that Joe has. I have still yet to see an Optimo that has a brim and block that looks as good as his (as far as the Raiders look goes IMHO).

 

[MK]

It shipped today and will be here tomorrow.

 

[MK]

I thought that this hat would be too dark to my liking, but I was pleasently surprised when I opened the box. It is not as dark as the Akubra grey.

The felt might not be as tight as an Optimo, but I love the way these Borsalino hats look and feel.


I think this one is a keeper.

 

[BD Jones]

Man, that is a nice color! I guess I'm adding that to my Christmas list. I only hope Joe still has some in stock. I know he was running low.

 

[ITG]

MK, that hat look marvelous on you; actually it looks as though it was made for you. Grey is your color in hats!

If you can find an orangish light outside somewhere, the hat will look brown. I saw JPDesign a few weekends ago in downtown Ft. Worth and in the light his dark grey PBBM looked brown.

P.S. I like the new goatee you're sporting.

 

[MK]

Thanks!

 

[Jsoftz]

Wow! That looks really good! Much better than I was expecting. I'm thinking.. maybe i'll save up for that little number there.

 

[Sam Spade]

Nice!

Nice Hat MK! That's my most recent hat as well. I fully agree with you on the PB Borsalino's, I think they are the best bet for an out of the box, shaped, ready to wear dress hat. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine!

 

[Sam Spade]

Speaking of Borsalino's...

One of our resident hatters (one hell of a Texan to be exact!) let me in on an interesting piece of Borsalino history. Guess who the official spokesperson for Borsalino was in the early part of the 20th century? Humphrey Bogart! Joe told me that Bogie was a huge fan of their hats and wore them quite a bit. He told me the only other spokesperson for Borsalino since Bogie was Harry Anderson (Night Court) in the 80's. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Matt Deckard]

Seeing this hat upclose was nice. It is pretty much a xerox copy of your brown hat in grey. happy to see Joe Jr. made it how you love it

One of the other things I noticed is that the block used for the PB Borsalinos is a bit less tapered than the block Optimo uses for its Indy hats... this creates a bit more of a stovepipe affect sort of like the block used on this old Mallory.

It is easier to see the difference when the hats are all open crowned and i will try to do some better comparison photos later.
I spoke to Optimo and they say they have blocks with less taper. So far I am satisfied with the block they used for my Indy style hats, but on my next hat I may opt for a block with less taper to get that high crowned early 30's look with a nice bound edge and no dimentional brim.

You may not see the differnce too clearly in these photos so I will do an open crown run when I get the chance.

Optimo

2003 Borsalino

Vintage 30's Mallory

Optimo

2003 Borsalino

30's Mallory


Enjoy your new hat and where it with pride.

 

[MK]

Originally posted by Matt Deckard

One of the other things I noticed is that the block used for the PB Borsalinos is a bit less tapered than the block Optimo uses for its Indy hats...

WOW! I never noticed that.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Had to take a crown pop out for me to see the difference.

Optimo was going for a Raiders look which has a bit of a taper to the crown... It's not a 30's hat ya know!

I see why you like your borsalino better... if it be for looks alone, you have what you want.

 

[MK]

There is more felt at the top of the hat on the Borsalino blocks. Optimo should take a que from them.

That Mallory is really straight. Great looking hat.

The hat I used for the desk on The Golden Era is my brown Borsalino turned grey in photoshop. Now it looks like my new grey one.