Do you remember your first vintage hat purchase?

[NY_Confidential]

Sorry I can not enlighten you guys with my first vintage hat buying experience, as I haven't done so yet! So if you were hoping to open this thread and read an interesting story-- I come up short.

Oh, also "Hi! I'm new!" (I introduced myself in the Observation Bar if some of you missed it). , and I'm happy to be here.


I'm a pretty well informed buyer-type, no matter what it is I'm buying.. So I found the FL, and I've been reading up on the hats.

I'm glad I read somewhere about European sizing, because I used a website that told me my 21½" head was a 6-3/4 as it turns out, in US sizing it's 6-7/8, and I was about to dump money on three 6-3/4 hats.. Now I'm going over 6-7/8 availability... hence the thread.

Johnny has been very helpful to me (johnnyphi) and so naturally my first purchase is going to be from his store.. -- but I'm big on getting it right, the first time! I hate to be unhappy with a purchase if its ever possible to avoid that. Maybe in the last 30 things I've bought (from clothing to auto parts), I've returned 2 things.

Now -- all that ranting and rambling aside-- I'm a few hours away from clicking "buy" on some hats, (need to dbl check bank account 1st), and was curious if some of you guys could tell me about your first hat buying experiences? I'm afraid currently of just 2 things..

1) I'll buy an open-crown hat and not be able to crease it properly myself, but as a hands-on-kinda-guy, I know I'll attempt it and maybe screw it up beyond repair

2) I'll buy something with a brim that is too short or too big.


Thanks, everyone for reading through all that. I look forward to reading about your first experiences.

 

[Dreispitz]

5.1.2009

Two Borsalini and two Barbisio hats. And then this addiction started off ...

 

[greeny]

I only ever bought one vintage hat - a brown German made fedora. Unfortunately it didn't really fit me very well, but the felt was lovely. I must still have it somewhere...

 

[buler]

Like it was yesterday.....

Here is the thread on my first....
BulerBuysaHat

B

 

[anon`]

I don't recall my first hat buying experience. I know the hat was a Bailey, but beyond that, no details. That was years and years ago. After that came two felt and one straw Stetons and a felt Borsalino, all modern.

Then two works of Art. That's cheating, because he sends you a modern interpretation of a conformateur.

Then... my first vintage hat. Turned out it was a Dobbs Rainbow. Saw it as I was about to leave the big antique show they have here a few times a year. Wandered over to the guy at the booth, asked to see it. Plopped it on my head and it fit. No tag, so I asked what he wanted for it. "Twenty bucks," says he after a moment. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

Since then, I've acquired quite a few other period hats, some of which turned out to be too small and others, too large. I've learned that the tag size is useful only as a rough guide to whether a hat might or might not fit. This is true with modern hats and even more so with vintage ones: most shrink, but I swear some grew (or probably got stretched at some point, but that's not as interesting of a proposition). I've also learned that tastes, with respect to crown height or brim width, change. If you're worried you'll get this one wrong, then I cannot strongly enough recommend trying a few hats on first, or at the very least only buying one at a time. I used to swear that I loved a high crown and wide brim. Turns out, I like an even higher crown and fairly narrow brim more.

Don't worry about bashing. With the exception of certain old hats that've had the same bash for the last sixty years, it's super easy: douse with steam and bash away. Those old hats? Well, they're cantankerous, and no matter what you do they'll go back to their old bash. Consider it built-in character

 

[NY_Confidential]

I've learned that the tag size is useful only as a rough guide to whether a hat might or might not fit. This is true with modern hats and even more so with vintage ones: most shrink, but I swear some grew (or probably got stretched at some point, but that's not as interesting of a proposition). I've also learned that tastes, with respect to crown height or brim width, change. If you're worried you'll get this one wrong, then I cannot strongly enough recommend trying a few hats on first, or at the very least only buying one at a time. I used to swear that I loved a high crown and wide brim. Turns out, I like an even higher crown and fairly narrow brim more.

Don't worry about bashing. With the exception of certain old hats that've had the same bash for the last sixty years, it's super easy: douse with steam and bash away. Those old hats? Well, they're cantankerous, and no matter what you do they'll go back to their old bash. Consider it built-in character

Hey anon, thanks for the wise words. It's good encouragement, so-to-speak. I had just wrote a 3 paragraph response to you.... and then I closed the wrong browser "tab" and lost it all.. grrrrr! I want to say "I'll come back and edit this" but... honestly I think what I had originally wrote was mostly rambling.. lol so thanks! and I appreciate it! Interesting story about the antique show. :eusa_clap Thanks for sharing.

 

[Spats McGee]

Let's see, . . . I'm not really sure which purchase counts as my first vintage purchase. First, I bought a Resistol off another Lounge member, but I'm not sure that one was really "vintage." Nice hat, but it didn't fit, so I sold it to a different Lounge member. Then I bought a Stetsonian, but I hadn't looked at the size before I placed my bid, & it was way too small. So I sold it to another Lounge member. Then I bought a Barton, and it's off having work done on it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

My first one wasn't a purchase, but a gift. My dad, a naval officer, bought a huaso hat in 1962 when his ship was in Chile. He gave the hat to me when I was big enough to wear it. Who could have known that 35 years later, I'd move to Chile? Must've been the hat.


.

 

[GWD]

Alexander Milan

I purchased this hat at an Antique shop in Carlsbad, Ca. for around $40.00.

It's still one of my favorites.

In fact it's the hat I'm wearing in my Avatar.

 

[Cigarband]

After too many years of wearing baseball caps and other such junk, I got my first vintage hat right here from FeltFan.
A gem of a Portis from a heck of a guy!:eusa_clap

I think I need a haircut.:eusa_doh:

 

[Tango Yankee]

Sometimes it takes a few purchases (if you're buying online, from eBay for example) to figure out how to get it right.

I stumbled across the Lounge during a search for a hat stretcher. I have a leather hat that was too tight. I've had a couple of wool fedoras over the years, so the idea of getting a decent fur-felt hat caught on quick!

Off to eBay. I was looking around at hats in the 7 1/8 size as that was the size of garrison cap and fatigue cap I wore in the Air Force. I came across a lot of four Cavanagh hats in 7 1/8. I'd read about the Cav edge and these had it; I liked the way they looked. I bid, won, and eagerly awaited their arrival.

Well, I was a bit disappointed but it was a learning experience. I learned that some how or another my hat size was now at least a 7 1/4. I learned that looks can be deceiving when it comes to brim width in photographs--these were all stingy brims (I'd not yet learned about them at this point) as a majority of Cavanaghs I've found online tend to be. I learned that at this point most stingy brims just don't look good on me. I also learned that Cavanagh hats are very nice! I immediately went off bidding on other hats. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what the first hat I could wear turned out to be, though.

Since then I've learned that if I have a question about the hat, ask. Not everyone puts details into their auctions like brim width, or a dozen photos from different angles.

I've learned to have high hopes, but to know that there are times when what appears to be a gem will turn out to be a lemon. Might be your fault (did you read everything? Ask questions?) or it might be the seller's (did they misrepresent the hat's condition?) or it may have simply been a perception problem when looking at photos.

Since then I believe I've found homes for all the Cavs (my nephew has a couple, I think) and I've gone on to purchase a few more hats. Despite my experience, I still get bit from time to time in a purchase, or mildly disappointed. It happens. I don't let it worry me too much.

Best of luck on your own first purchase and remember, it's addictive!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[duggap]

I got my first right here on the Lounge. I bought two of Johnnyphi's hats he auctioned off here. Both were Adams hats. I would have got more but Jimmy the Lid kept getting in the way.

 

[Dewhurst]

I don't buy vintage. That being so, the memory is impossible to recall by way of non-existence.

Mwahahaha

 

[carouselvic]

The first hat I bought was a vintage hat, and that was 40 years ago. I am still trying to find an exact replacement.

 

[gtdean48]

I bought a hat for camping & hunting off ebay years ago. It was listed as a Fred Bear type hat & growing up I had a Bear bow, still have it. I came on here end of last year & found out it was a Royal Stetson Casual. I have other beaters that go camping & hunting now. This is one of my favorite lids...

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Yes I do!

Having won the winning bid on eBay by sniping at the last minute, I went out to PayPal and entered my Password and then pressed the purchase button! What a thrill it was too, I remember it to this day, even though I've done it countless time since. But it's that first time that always sticks in one's memory! Ahhhh, what a day it was. Thanks for bringing it to mind once again so I can relive that moment and share it wil you. lol

-dixon 'memories' cannon

 

[High Pockets]

Sure do!

My first vintage hat purchase was right here on the Lounge from fellow member Douglas. He had listed it in the "Classifieds".

It was a Borsalino.

Beautiful hat! The quality of the felt was so unbelievable I was instantly hooked on vintage fedoras. I've purchased four more since then,.....and have no intention of stopping!

 

[ScionPI2005]

Over the years, I have bought several vintage hats: a few fur felts, and a few straws. I still have most in my collection. Here are a few:

1950's Stetson "Whippet-Style":

Wormser Straw, purchased from a Lounge Member:

Adam Executive, purchased from one of Johnnyphi's auctions:

1960's "Pilgrim", purchased at an antique store in Durango, CO:

Dobbs Milan, purchased on Ebay:

 

[Not-Bogart13]

You know, I don't recall HOW I got it, but I do remember my first vintage hat. It was a powder blue Stetson Open Road. I was still fairly new to serious hat wearing, and I no longer have the hat because;
a. My head got a smidge bigger, and it became too tight.
b. I have since discovered that I'm not a thin-ribbon guy.

I did like, though, especially the felt. It's the only blue hat I have ever owned, too. Somebody here bought it from me, but I no longer remember who.

As far as open crown shaping, I was terrified of it, but it turned out to be very easy. As long as you have a good hat, there's not a great deal you can do to mess it up. Just avoid tight and sharp creases until you know that you like what you have done. The tight creases are harder to un-do.

Brim width; Unless you are a very big, broad guy, or a small, skinny guy, 2 1/2 inch brims are a good place to start. Not too wide, not too narrow.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Wormser Straw, purchased from a Lounge Member:

I always liked that one. *sigh*