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Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

jlee562

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,097
Location
San Francisco, CA
Gents, please be on the lookout for eBay seller gameishu. This guy recently sold me a Royal Stetson, advertised as being in "excellent" condition, and worn "a few times." When I received it, not only was it stuffed in box which was too small for it, but it had some pretty deep moth bites. The auction photos were from creative angles which did not show the mothing. I requested a partial refund and the guy went all balllistic. I had to open up an eBay resolution case, where he admitted to describing the item wrong in one response, but then accused me of taking pictures of a different hat to send to eBay. Ebay sided with me and I finally got a partial refund.

Moral of the story is, stay away from seller gameishu. He is dishonest about the quality of his hats, or simply too incompetent to accurately assess them. He is unprofessional and rude.
 

buler

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,380
Location
Wisconsin
Lelewer hat identification tag. States "established 50 years". Earliest reference I could find was 1865. So this may be from around 1915.

B


lelewer_1.jpg

lelewer_2.jpg
 

jskeen

One of the Regulars
Messages
120
Location
Houston
The previous owner just tightened up the adjustment bow string (or whatever the proper name for it is). Those cuts at the rear of the sweatband were there originally. It will probably be fine once that string is loosened and whatever is behind the sweatband is removed.

It's not an Open Road though. The brim is too wide. It's probably just a western Stetson 25 with a 3" to 3 1/2" brim.

Is that really what that is for? As much muss and fuss as there is about getting a hat to fit right in the first place, do stetson's best quality vintage hats really need an "adjustable" sweatband? If so, is that the best way to go about it? It seems that it would put all the tension of wearing the hat onto a tiny little strip of leather at each end as soon as it's "adjusted" the least bit. Really? I had always just assumed that it was decorative and meant to distinguish the higher end hats which would fit correctly as purchased.

Of course I have no factual basis for the above opinion, and am open to correction :)
 

Landman

One Too Many
Messages
1,751
Location
San Antonio, TX
Is that really what that is for? As much muss and fuss as there is about getting a hat to fit right in the first place, do stetson's best quality vintage hats really need an "adjustable" sweatband? If so, is that the best way to go about it? It seems that it would put all the tension of wearing the hat onto a tiny little strip of leather at each end as soon as it's "adjusted" the least bit. Really? I had always just assumed that it was decorative and meant to distinguish the higher end hats which would fit correctly as purchased.

Of course I have no factual basis for the above opinion, and am open to correction :)

I think it is probably intended to be more decorative than anything in newer hats but I have seen some very old hats (1800's) that it appeared to be used to help size the hat. Below is a closeup picture from the Black Sheep Hat Works thread showing the sweatband in Mikespens' new custom hat with a drawstring bow. Very classy looking and I guess if you needed to tighten the sweatband a little you could do so.

IMG_0261.jpg
 
Last edited:
Messages
15,072
Location
Buffalo, NY
It is purely decorative. The strip of ribbon is taped to the back of the sweatband. Steve posted a couple of examples where the cord runs the full diameter of the sweatband and is meant to adjust the fit. I have seen this used in equestrian bowlers.
 

Landman

One Too Many
Messages
1,751
Location
San Antonio, TX
It is purely decorative. The strip of ribbon is taped to the back of the sweatband. Steve posted a couple of examples where the cord runs the full diameter of the sweatband and is meant to adjust the fit. I have seen this used in equestrian bowlers.

I was wondering if the bow ribbon on Mike's hat pictured below went all the way around the sweatband. The very old hats I have seen usually have the leather cuts all the way around the top of the sweatband and it is obvious it goes all the way around.
 

Joshbru3

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,409
Location
Chicago, IL
Here's a couple examples of old hats with drawstrings in the sweatbands, Landman

1916 Stetson Pacemaker

DSC05091.jpg


WW1 era Peschel Velour

IMAGE9.jpg


Both of these sweatbands are VERY thin and I feel if the sweatband string was tightened at all, it would make the sweatband fairly uncomfortable. I think this is decorative as well. I could be wrong, but it just appears to be decorative.

This Stetson equestrian hat has a drawstring, but its meant to be tightened. The leather part of the sweatband is stitched to a fabric portion which would be more comfortable and conform to ones head much better than leather would.

DSC04772.jpg


DSC04771.jpg
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
Allow me to refine what I was asking. I mean is the hat a good quality one? It seems like a low price.
Usually I've found Resistol dress hats to be unsung bargains. At $16, plus $8.50 economy shipping, it seems like a grand deal if you like the style and color, and if it's your size.
 
Messages
15,072
Location
Buffalo, NY
The Old Hawes Von Gal has a perfed sweatband with ribbon too... I'd have to check to confirm, but I don't believe the sweat bow and the perf ribbon are connected... purely design.

19.jpg
 

Joshbru3

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,409
Location
Chicago, IL
The Old Hawes Von Gal has a perfed sweatband with ribbon too... I'd have to check to confirm, but I don't believe the sweat bow and the perf ribbon are connected... purely design.

19.jpg

I'm still drooling over that one.......

If only they could make hats like that for $3 today!
 

mikespens

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,913
Location
Tacoma, Wa
I think it is probably intended to be more decorative than anything in newer hats but I have seen some very old hats (1800's) that it appeared to be used to help size the hat. Below is a closeup picture from the Black Sheep Hat Works thread showing the sweatband in Mikespens' new custom hat with a drawstring bow. Very classy looking and I guess if you needed to tighten the sweatband a little you could do so.

IMG_0261.jpg

Mike the bow and drawstring are decoration, I asked Bob to add it after finding it in a vintage RDL Stetson I have. Fortunately, with Bob's custom fit a functional one isn't necessary anyway.
 

bowlerman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,294
Location
South Dakota
...and yet, how wonderful it would be to have functional ties on modern sweatbands for those of us who can't seem to stick with one hair style for very long!
 

VetPsychWars

A-List Customer
Messages
410
Location
Greenfield Wisconsin

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