First time buying fedora and introducing myself

[Aleksio]

Hello guys,

been already here posting for some time, but more or less just reading and getting all the interesting info this forum can provide. So as stated in the title, this is my first time buying the fedora and I would like to ask you some questions' topic wise. So firstly, my name is Aleks, I am 30 years young and aficionado of all things vintage, especially the period from 1920s to 1960s roughly speaking, 30s and 40s would be my all-time favourite for the menswear. I am a big guy, 196cm/6.43 ft tall and weights 95kg/210 lbs, I have athletic build with big chest and shoulders and my face is very chiselled with square to rectangular shape. My head size is 61cm or 7 5/8. I mostly wear work boots, high-waisted chinos, khakis, wool workwear trousers with the belt or suspenders/braces and on top I like to combine with henley shirts, Pendleton, Woolrich, LL Bean flannel cotton or wool shirts, with wool or cotton vests, different kind of casual corduroy blazers, chore coats, barn coats and leather jackets to Filson Mackinaws, loden and Crombie coats, pretty much rugged masculine style. I have some formal double-breasted suits, but mostly I like to sport the Indy or lumberjack look. That would be for autumn, winter and spring, for the summer I would rock panama hat withy linen or seersucker. Likewise, I was looking to take a 7,5cm/3 inches wide fedora with teardrop or c crown (isn't this one and the same thing), but I am not sure if that would be overkill for the fedora style hat on my stature and head size? Furthermore, I would mostly wear it with my workwear attire, so the colour of the hat would be dark brown, camel or moss green. What crown size would be advisable for me, should I go on the taller side? Maybe for a reference, I was aiming at Charlton Heston, The Greatest Show on Earth style fedora. In a nutshell, I am looking for late 30s to 40s style fedora, would 3 inch brim be out of place for historic accuracy?

 

[jlee562]

A 3" brim would probably be fine proportional to your build. I'm short and thin and wear 3"+ western style hats all the time. But 3" is not a typical fedora brim width in any decade. I can't think of any off the top of my head anyways.

 

[Aleksio]

A 3" brim would probably be fine proportional to your build. I'm short and thin and wear 3"+ western style hats all the time. But 3" is not a typical fedora brim width in any decade. I can't think of any off the top of my head anyways.

So what would be maximum fedora width for let's say for a golden age decade? I know Americans and even so more British were conservative with the brim widths, but I saw one photo of Australians in the 30s from this forum with on average bigger brims, even for a dress fedora, was this a regional phenomenon? What would be appropriate crown height for a vintage hat?

 

[Mighty44]

Maybe just buy a Fed IV to start with—they’re cheap and rugged and have that 1930s look—and a LOT of people on this site love them have experience with them. Once you get used to that you can start getting a sense of what direction to branch out in.

 

[jlee562]

Ok, let's clarify.

Are you looking to buy a vintage hat? Or a custom? Or a modern off the rack hat?

For the first: There's no such thing as a singular "appropriate crown height" for a vintage hat. They were sold open crown and creased to suit the individual. As I said, I can't think of any well known model that had a 3" brim. It's possible such a thing exists but most fedoras are going to be 2 1/2" or 2 3/4 maybe. Something like a Dr. Who Poet. Personally I'd just grab an Open Road.

For the second: let the hatter take care of it.

For the third: if the parameter is still stuck at fedora, I don't think you'll find anything over 2 3/4"

 

[T Jones]

From your description and your casual dress style I believe a thin ribbon like a Campdraft from Akubra would suit you well. Thin ribbons are pretty versatile and go well with either casual or dress wear. It has dimensions somewhat close to what you're looking for. It's an open crown fedora that you can shape to a crease you prefer, and it comes in different colors other than the one shown.

 

[belfastboy]

From your description and your casual dress style I believe a thin ribbon like a Campdraft from Akubra would suit you well. Thin ribbons are pretty versatile and go well with either casual or dress wear. It has dimensions somewhat close to what you're looking for. It's an open crown fedora that you can shape to a crease you prefer, and it comes in different colors other than the one shown.

I second this idea. The Campdraft or the Fed IV are great 'starter' hats. Decent quality, great price, hard wearing. I would start there and wear it to get comfortable with the look. Then once you have the experience you can consider a custom hat as you will have a better idea of what dimensions are the best fit for you.

 

[belfastboy]

Ok, let's clarify.

Are you looking to buy a vintage hat? Or a custom? Or a modern off the rack hat?

For the first: There's no such thing as a singular "appropriate crown height" for a vintage hat. They were sold open crown and creased to suit the individual. As I said, I can't think of any well known model that had a 3" brim. It's possible such a thing exists but most fedoras are going to be 2 1/2" or 2 3/4 maybe. Something like a Dr. Who Poet. Personally I'd just grab an Open Road.

For the second: let the hatter take care of it.

For the third: if the parameter is still stuck at fedora, I don't think you'll find anything over 2 3/4"

I second the above thoughts. A great place to see vintage hats in action is to watch old movies. There are styles that would be more prevalent in certain decades but the world of hats has always been a wide one. My sweet spot for fedoras is a 6" no taper, open crown, 2 3/4" brim...maybe 2 7/8". But I have vintage Borsalinos from the 1950's with lower/tapered crowns, and just 2 1/2" brims. Experiment, find your sweet spot.....you will likely discover it is almost impossible to have too many hats.

 

[T Jones]

I second the above thoughts. A great place to see vintage hats in action is to watch old movies. There are styles that would be more prevalent in certain decades but the world of hats has always been a wide one. My sweet spot for fedoras is a 6" no taper, open crown, 2 3/4" brim...maybe 2 7/8". But I have vintage Borsalinos from the 1950's with lower crowns, and just 2 1/2" brims. Experiment, find your sweet spot.....you will likely discover it is almost impossible to have too many hats.

Definitely agreed, watching old movies. I especially like the classic fedoras you see in film noir from the 1940s - early 1950s. Murder My Sweet with Dick Powell had a nice collection of classic fedoras. Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum was another good one. Glenn Ford and Alan Ladd also sported nice ones in film noirs. There's so many of those old movies to watch.

Dick Powell and Mike Mazurki, Murder My Sweet. Mazurki is sporting a nice thin ribbon in this picture.

 

[belfastboy]

Definitely agreed, watching old movies. I especially like the classic fedoras you see in film noir from the 1940s - early 1950s. Murder My Sweet with Dick Powell had a nice collection of classic fedoras. Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum was another good one. Glenn Ford and Alan Ladd also sported nice ones in film noirs. There's so many of those old movies to watch.

Dick Powell and Mike Mazurki, Murder My Sweet. Mazurki is sporting a nice thin ribbon in this picture.

If I suggest watching an old movie to my wife and she asks..."is it any good?". I most often retort...."Don't know, don't care.......but it will be a good hat movie". She has stopped asking!

 

[T Jones]

If I suggest watching an old movie to my wife and she asks..."is it any good?". I most often retort...."Don't know, don't care.......but it will be a good hat movie". She has stopped asking!

Mine's the same way, only she asks, "It's not an old black and white movie, is it"?

 

[jlee562]

I've been rewatching Boardwalk Empire these past few days, and there are a lot of vintage hats in that show. I can't attest that they all are, but I have for sure spotted the blue and gold Royal and/or Royal Deluxe Stetson liner on a few hats. I think one of Nucky's Homburgs was a Dobbs too.

 

[belfastboy]

I've been rewatching Boardwalk Empire these past few days, and there are a lot of vintage hats in that show. I can't attest that they all are, but I have for sure spotted the blue and gold Royal and/or Royal Deluxe Stetson liner on a few hats. I think one of Nucky's Homburgs was a Dobbs too.

Gary White out of Buffalo, NY made many of Nucky's hats for the series. It catapulted him into "hat stardom".

 

[Edward]

I second this idea. The Campdraft or the Fed IV are great 'starter' hats. Decent quality, great price, hard wearing. I would start there and wear it to get comfortable with the look. Then once you have the experience you can consider a custom hat as you will have a better idea of what dimensions are the best fit for you.

That's where I'd start.

Or take advantage of the weak pound and check out these guys - https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?search=antelope&route=product/search I have one of the Classic Antelope felts (mine is this one - the navy; I'd happily buy all the other colours - https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=141&search=antelope ). Lovely felt - slightly thicker than my Akubras, and softer out of the box. I dry-bashed mine and it held beautifully. Very similar to a Federation, comes open crown; the key differences being it's a 75mm brim all round (not dimensional), and the crown is fractionally more tapered to the top (though not so much you'd really notice unless you compared them side by side, open crown). The Hat Centre can take a few days to get them into shipping (it's effectively a one-man operation as I understand it), but worth the wait. Only production hat I've found in a similar price-bracket that I felt came close to my Akubras.

 

[belfastboy]

That's where I'd start.

Or take advantage of the weak pound and check out these guys - https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?search=antelope&route=product/search I have one of the Classic Antelope felts (mine is this one - the navy; I'd happily buy all the other colours - https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=141&search=antelope ). Lovely felt - slightly thicker than my Akubras, and softer out of the box. I dry-bashed mine and it held beautifully. Very similar to a Federation, comes open crown; the key differences being it's a 75mm brim all round (not dimensional), and the crown is fractionally more tapered to the top (though not so much you'd really notice unless you compared them side by side, open crown). The Hat Centre can take a few days to get them into shipping (it's effectively a one-man operation as I understand it), but worth the wait. Only production hat I've found in a similar price-bracket that I felt came close to my Akubras.

Interesting that they don't specify if it is fur felt, or a blend or. It is just listed as 'felt'.

 

[Aleksio]

Ok, let's clarify.

Are you looking to buy a vintage hat? Or a custom? Or a modern off the rack hat?

For the first: There's no such thing as a singular "appropriate crown height" for a vintage hat. They were sold open crown and creased to suit the individual. As I said, I can't think of any well known model that had a 3" brim. It's possible such a thing exists but most fedoras are going to be 2 1/2" or 2 3/4 maybe. Something like a Dr. Who Poet. Personally I'd just grab an Open Road.

For the second: let the hatter take care of it.

For the third: if the parameter is still stuck at fedora, I don't think you'll find anything over 2 3/4"

I would gladly buy a vintage hat but lets me honest, it would be hard to find one in size 61 in the USA and even harder in Europe where I am from. For a first hat, I was looking to buy from Hutbreiter in Germany: https://www.hutbreiter.de/huete/fil...uenchen-fedora-bogart-form-monika_16794_61247

Firstly, I know that they were sold open crown, but all the photos from that era I can see they look taller than today's modern one on an average, and I would definitely prefer one with taller crown, so that's the reason I was asking you about crown height. I will rephrase differently this time: What dimensions would define a high crown so I can know what to look in off the rack hats?

Secondly: I will, if I see that he is competent.

Thirdly: Thanks for your honesty.

 

[Aleksio]

From your description and your casual dress style I believe a thin ribbon like a Campdraft from Akubra would suit you well. Thin ribbons are pretty versatile and go well with either casual or dress wear. It has dimensions somewhat close to what you're looking for. It's an open crown fedora that you can shape to a crease you prefer, and it comes in different colors other than the one shown.

Thank you T Jones for your recommendation, you are right, from Akubra I am looking between Fed IV and Campdraft, but I will see if I decide to go for either of these two.

 

[Aleksio]

I second the above thoughts. A great place to see vintage hats in action is to watch old movies. There are styles that would be more prevalent in certain decades but the world of hats has always been a wide one. My sweet spot for fedoras is a 6" no taper, open crown, 2 3/4" brim...maybe 2 7/8". But I have vintage Borsalinos from the 1950's with lower/tapered crowns, and just 2 1/2" brims. Experiment, find your sweet spot.....you will likely discover it is almost impossible to have too many hats.

I'm afraid you're right, I'm slowly becoming obsessed with soft felt hats, even though I don't have any yet

 

[Aleksio]

Definitely agreed, watching old movies. I especially like the classic fedoras you see in film noir from the 1940s - early 1950s. Murder My Sweet with Dick Powell had a nice collection of classic fedoras. Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum was another good one. Glenn Ford and Alan Ladd also sported nice ones in film noirs. There's so many of those old movies to watch.

Dick Powell and Mike Mazurki, Murder My Sweet. Mazurki is sporting a nice thin ribbon in this picture.

Damm Mike Mazurki fedora looks pretty wide from what I can see, what's your estimate how wide it is?

 

[Aleksio]

That's where I'd start.

Or take advantage of the weak pound and check out these guys - https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?search=antelope&route=product/search I have one of the Classic Antelope felts (mine is this one - the navy; I'd happily buy all the other colours - https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=141&search=antelope ). Lovely felt - slightly thicker than my Akubras, and softer out of the box. I dry-bashed mine and it held beautifully. Very similar to a Federation, comes open crown; the key differences being it's a 75mm brim all round (not dimensional), and the crown is fractionally more tapered to the top (though not so much you'd really notice unless you compared them side by side, open crown). The Hat Centre can take a few days to get them into shipping (it's effectively a one-man operation as I understand it), but worth the wait. Only production hat I've found in a similar price-bracket that I felt came close to my Akubras.

Nice, thanks a lot for that! They look beautiful. How would you compare them with Akubras quality wise? I would also like to know how they behave in the rain and how much to expect shrinkage to occur?