Guide for first fedora/hat

[deadlyhandsome]

Best hat for the rain while working horseback in March in Wyoming with a budget of $1500? Best hat to wear to the beach in Hawaii before taking a swim? (Hello @jonesy86 ), or the best hat to go to the Met Gala with a budget of $20? Are you looking for a western? Dress fedora? Everyday hat? Homburg? Is your budget $50 or $200 or $600?

It’s like asking what’s the best car and wondering how you’re going to pull your 30 foot travel trailer and seat your five kids when I tell you to get a Toyota Prius.

We’d like to help, but you have to give us more to work with before we tell you to buy an Akubra.

Brent

 

[Frunobulax]

Cut to the chase.

Buy a Camp Draft. If you don't like thin ribbons, put a wider one on. You just won't get better bones for the $$.

 

[Pellie]

I also recommend Akubra hats. Bang for your buck.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

 

[jonesy86]

I also recommend Akubra hats. Bang for your buck.

The Akubra hemp straws are good beach hats.

 

[Silver-Wolf]

Best hat for the rain while working horseback in March in Wyoming with a budget of $1500? Best hat to wear to the beach in Hawaii before taking a swim? (Hello @jonesy86 ), or the best hat to go to the Met Gala with a budget of $20? Are you looking for a western? Dress fedora? Everyday hat? Homburg? Is your budget $50 or $200 or $600?

It’s like asking what’s the best car and wondering how you’re going to pull your 30 foot travel trailer and seat your five kids when I tell you to get a Toyota Prius.

We’d like to help, but you have to give us more to work with before we tell you to buy an Akubra.

Brent

Yup,
Brent said it well, you need to share a little more information on the kind/type of hat your after. A budget or even the intended use for the hat, hot dry or cold 'n wet, work or play etc.. Without a slight idea of what your after and a budget range it's like asking how long is a bit of string.

The Akubra hemp straws are good beach hats.

I was wearing a Balmoral today in fact.

 

[Pellie]

The Akubra hemp straws are good beach hats.

Indeed, i have 2 Akubra Capricorns. I love them!

 

[SteveFord]

Start with a bowler and work your way out from there.
Hang here long enough and you'll find yourself with more hats than Imelda Marcos had shoes.

 

[1961MJS]

Oh My GAWD! Charlie Chaplin wore a bowler as did Stan Laurel, Lou Costello, and the bad guys in a Clockwork Orange. Just be SURE you're good with that look!!!

On a side note AKUBRA doesn't make Bowlers. Per above, don't blow the bank on a $500, 100% beaver hat, chances are about 30% you won't like wearing a hat and won't get another one, OR 70% that you'll need the extra $ to get a hat that fits your face better. I have 4, 3 hat boxes by Hammer Plastic full.

Later

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On a side note AKUBRA doesn't make Bowlers.

They did but it is discontunued due to the COVID scale back.
https://hatsdirect.com/products/bowler

 

[Scott Mensching]

I was thinking 100 to $150 definitely not straw either fur felt or a blend. A 40s style fedora

 

[belfastboy]

Start with a bowler and work your way out from there.
Hang here long enough and you'll find yourself with more hats than Imelda Marcos had shoes.

or in my case hats & shoes!

 

[belfastboy]

I was thinking 100 to $150 definitely not straw either fur felt or a blend. A 40s style fedora

Then at that price point definitely look to Akubra. As mentioned above the Campdraft comes in a good colour selection and is a great looking hat at a great price. If you want a smaller crown/brim look to the Sydney or Stylemaster. David Morgan is the US distributor/stockist or you can buy direct from Aus ....Hats Direct or Everything Australian.

 

[SteveFord]

A pre-owned Stetson Sutley? They have nice proportions and aren't that expensive.
I was wearing one but the way the weather has gotten to be so blustery a Stetson Special Derby makes more sense.
Kind of a ridiculous argument as I'm inside reading a book and playing the guitar today but it looks pretty windy out...

 

[Rmccamey]

I second that emotion!!! But if you start with a bowler, it's all downhill from there!

Start with a bowler and work your way out from there.
Hang here long enough and you'll find yourself with more hats than Imelda Marcos had shoes.

They did but it is discontunued due to the COVID scale back.
https://hatsdirect.com/products/bowler

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I second that emotion!!! But if you start with a bowler, it's all downhill from there!


View attachment 271046

I think that derbies look best when dressed up a bit. You can add dents to a Homburg and sort of tame it’s formal or semi formal nature, but the derby/bowler just looks better to my eye when paired with something dressier than my usual casual attire. Maybe it just takes more confidence to wear it well?

 

[Rmccamey]

Pairs well with a black leather Harley jacket and sunglasses

I think that derbies look best when dressed up a bit. You can add dents to a Homburg and sort of tame it’s formal or semi formal nature, but the derby/bowler just looks better to my eye when paired with something dressier than my usual casual attire. Maybe it just takes more confidence to wear it well?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Pairs well with a black leather Harley jacket and sunglasses

That’s what I said: dressed up.

 

[In This Style 10/6]

Hat making using felted beaver fur is at least a 500 year old industry, documented I believe in Holland and Spain. Very active, I bet, in Poland and Russia, too. Later, in 1732, Great Britian passed The Hat Act to control production by its colonists in British America in an effort to protect local industries. But, in 1789 Congress enacted its own American tariff on "highly-manufactured articles", which was a long list of items that included hats. The purpose of the act, "It is necessary for the support of this Government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the protection of manufacturers."

My understanding in the Old West in the US, all hats began as open crown, e.g. ten gallon hats, but creases were added for weather protection, heat retention or to create resistance to wind gusts. Apparently, those creases eventually evolved such that particular creases came to reflect where a person was raised and/or what he did for a living.

So, there's a long, long history here for creases and crowns and brims and styles to evolve and see convergence. For example, you mentioned the Dune. I see that as a crossover hat, western proportions with a thin ribbon, but a city crease. Anyway, all that history, mix in 100 years of corporate marketing, and here we are!

If you're interested in the Open Road, Stetson has listed in its 2020 City Fall catalog a pure beaver Open Road; I don't think it's in the stores yet, but perhaps something to watch for.

I actually just managed to purchase a pure beaver Open Road this morning from Stetson's site. I couldn't be more excited to be adding it to my collection.

 

[Koechinggendoet]

Which one is should i consider buying first,an stiff english bowler or an homburg hat?im gonna use them for formal attire,homburg first then bowler or the other way around?