Ebay/Vintage question

[ironhead]

I am new to collecting vintage fedoras so I am looking for good deals on a popular auction site. I have found that a size 7 fits okay depending on how short my hair is. Unfortunately most of the hats I like the looks of are 7 1/8 to 7 1/4. My question is how much might have the sweatbands shrunk over the years. Might I be able to look at some of the larger sizes?

 

[jpbales]

if the hat is just one size too big, you can pad around the inside of the sweatband with felt or foam strips (or money ) and you can probably reduce the size enough to fit your head that way.
I don't have enough vintage hats to answer your question about how much the sweats shrink tho. I would think tho, if you wear it enough it should shrink and conform to your head at least a little.
Good luck finding hats and welcome to the lounge!
Jimmy

 

[Tango Yankee]

I have found that a size 7 fits okay depending on how short my hair is. Unfortunately most of the hats I like the looks of are 7 1/8 to 7 1/4.

So you wear between a size 7 and a 7 1/8? That's a good thing for you! I see a lot of very nice hats in that range that go for a lot less than a 7 1/4 and higher. Stay away from the 7 1/4 hats... says the guy who wears a 7 1/4 and doesn't want any more competition!

Seriously, yes, sweatbands do shrink sometimes. Not something to count on, though. I've found that more often then not the vintage hats I buy are generally pretty close to the size marked. As JP said, you could always pad a little bit if you really want the larger hat.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[barrowjh]

I have seen it both ways - sometimes a hat is 'smaller' than its size, sometimes larger. In vintage times, as today, hat retailers can stretch a hat at least half a size, and in some cases probably stretched them a full size. I have found that it is safest to buy a hat that was originally sized at my size (presuming the seller can find the size). Most of the time, they fit just fine.

I am a 7 1/8th, but occasionally I see a hat where the seller is selling an estate's collection, and all the hats are 7 1/8th exept for one 7. I will gamble that 7 was probably store-stretched to 7 1/8th, so if the hat looks drop-dead gorgeous, I'll bid on it. Otherwise, I stick with 7 1/8th.

You will need to invest in a hat stretcher anyway, just to dry out your own hats when they get a bit wet, so when an ebay hat arrives that is a bit tight, you can use your stretcher to gradually stretch it back out to its original size (careful with those brittle vintage sweatbands!).

 

[jec]

I have seen it both ways - sometimes a hat is 'smaller' than its size, sometimes larger. In vintage times, as today, hat retailers can stretch a hat at least half a size, and in some cases probably stretched them a full size. I have found that it is safest to buy a hat that was originally sized at my size (presuming the seller can find the size). Most of the time, they fit just fine.

I am a 7 1/8th, but occasionally I see a hat where the seller is selling an estate's collection, and all the hats are 7 1/8th exept for one 7. I will gamble that 7 was probably store-stretched to 7 1/8th, so if the hat looks drop-dead gorgeous, I'll bid on it. Otherwise, I stick with 7 1/8th.

You will need to invest in a hat stretcher anyway, just to dry out your own hats when they get a bit wet, so when an ebay hat arrives that is a bit tight, you can use your stretcher to gradually stretch it back out to its original size (careful with those brittle vintage sweatbands!).

I totally agree with everything John said here - with the added thought that if you are between sizes and looking at vintage hats, I would definitely look at hats that are on the larger end of your size zone.

I am between a 7 1/4 and 7 3/8 and almost vintage hat that I have found on EBay that has been correctly identified as a 7 1/4 has arrived way too tight to get on my head... but the vintage 7 3/8s seem to have shrunk just enough so that they fit me perfectly. A new/properly sized 7 3/8 is big and I need to stuff the sweatband to get a good fit.

 

[Daoud]

The absolute best thing to do is to contact the seller (well in advance of the auction's close) using the "Ask Seller A Question" form-( I'm assuming here that you're talking about eBay. It's OK, you can say eBay) and ask him or her to please measure around the inside of the hat and provide you with those dimensions. Using a measuring tape to do this is harder than it might appear, so some people just give the dimensions of the inside of the crown (length and width).

I guess it would be helpful to advise that you should measure your head or all this will be irrelevant. Use a tape measure and measure around the biggest part of your head, just above the ears and eyebrows. Tape should be held so that it is firm but not tight. Here's a good size chart-http://www.millerhats.com/hatsize.html. You'll notice that many experienced sellers will provide you with the hat's dimensions in their ads without being asked.

 

[ironhead]

Thanks for all the tips. The next on that comes up I will take a chance.