Hat sizing: long oval?

[RLM]

Hey guys/gals, fairly new to the Lounge and my first post in the hat forum. I've been thinking of picking up a Fedora lately, I love Fedoras, they just seem classy. Probably too classy for me. I've got a question about hat sizing/shape. I've read that hats are made not only in the numeric sizing but also in Round or Oval shape. I've got a several year old Stetson cowboy hat that's 6 7/8R. Its a little too tight and I should probably go to a 7, but the R, I presume, means Round, and it is too tight front to back. If I press in on the sides while its on my head it relieves the pressure a little, but obviously I can't walk around like that. So, I'm thinking I need oval or long oval (don't know if there's actually an oval shape or if its always referred to as long oval). The problem is, none of the online hat stores bother to give you the option of round or oval in their sizing choices, and the only local store (at least the only one close to me) that carries hats only has Round, and the salespeople there either don't seem to interested in answering questions or they don't know the answers. Are hats not made this way any more or is it something you have to specifically ask for when ordering? Oh, another thing, does this shaping even apply to Fedoras? The local shop only has cowboy hats.

 

[gtdean48]

Modern factory hat makers no longer do the Regular Oval, Long Oval, Xtra Long Oval like before. Some are more round than others, especially modern Stetsons. Resistols seem to be more oval than Stetsons & they are from the same parent company. This is why hat stretchers are a requirement for us egg shaped noggins. I wear a 7 5/8 Long Oval & have a 7 1/2 XLO that fits about the same. The best of all worlds is a custom hatter that uses a conformer to get your actual head shape. Some hatters have blocks & can take a new hat, steam it & shape it to the block for a Long Oval shape. HTH

 

[avedwards]

Most new hats will conform if you wear them for long enough. My Stetson Chatham eventually become more long ovaled. I'm hoping my new Akubra Federation will as well with time. Wearing the hat in rain will speed up the process.

 

[gtdean48]

Most new hats will conform if you wear them for long enough. My Stetson Chatham eventually become more long ovaled. I'm hoping my new Akubra Federation will as well with time. Wearing the hat in rain will speed up the process.

Definitely like Alan says. All of my Akubra Campdrafts have formed to my noggin with wear, even without the rain but it does help. My modern Stetson Roadmaster has come around as well with wearing it doing barn chores. A good "head sweat" helps with the process as well.

 

[m000m000]

If the brim on your hat isn't of the flat variety, and it is made of thinner felt (Borsalino Alessandria style), you might find that putting a regular oval hat on your LO head will make the brim swoop look all funny and wonky.
You can fix it with a handheld stretcher and meticulous steaming/fitting, but it is a process and a bit of a pain in the ass if you want to get it to look all right and perfect :v.

 

[RLM]

Thanks for the advice guys. I gather then, that I'll likely just have to put up with a not quite right fit until the hat begins to conform to my head shape, unless I want to try reshaping/stretching it myself or having a hatter do it for me. That's fine, I can live with that. I just like to know where I stand to begin with. m000m000, I look kind of funny and wonky anyway, so that shouldn't matter much! lol

 

[feltfan]

R is for Regular oval. There were also Long Oval, Extra Long Oval, Wide Oval,
and probably some other designations.

I thought some modern factory cowboy hats were still made Long Oval?

I have not had a lot of luck stretching regular oval hats to long simply
by wearing them. Depends on the hat. If you get into stretching hats
with a hat stretcher, I strongly suggest reading up on how to do it on
this site. There are some very important tricks. I've been doing it for
years and still manage to mess up the occasional hat. Some hat shops
can do it for you (and then they assume the risk), though hats can
sometimes return to their old dimensions.

You do have a couple of other options. You can get a vintage
fedora in a long oval size. You can also go to one of the custom
hatters whose contact information is on this site. If I were just starting
out with fedoras today, I would probably skip all the waiting, searching,
risk, etc of a vintage fedora on eBay and go straight to Art Fawcett
of Vintage Silhouettes and order the hat of my dreams. It's not
cheap, but it is a fair price, and if you add up all the hats I bought
while learning about vintage hats, well, it's a bargain for a sure thing.

 

[Tim in Ohio]

... skip all the waiting, searching, risk, etc of a vintage fedora on eBay and go straight to Art Fawcett
of Vintage Silhouettes and order the hat of my dreams. It's not
cheap, but it is a fair price, and if you add up all the hats I bought
while learning about vintage hats, well, it's a bargain for a sure thing.

RLM- You may have noticed that Art Fawcett has a legion of devoted disciples on this site. God bless him, and cheers to his success.

You may find that an Art Fawcett hat isn't in your budget... or dare I say maybe even not to your liking (might not wanna say that too loud around here ).

If that be the case, eBay is a great option and plenty of happy hat wearers have had their needs met there. Go with a reputable Seller. I find that the thrill of the hunt and the waiting is very nearly as enjoyable a part of the process as the actual score. To each his own. Enjoy the journey and welcome to the community.

 

[RLM]

Thanks for the tips FF and Tim. I searched for Art's website and wow, he has some amazing looking hats and the prices seem quite reasonable. However, they are a little more than I'm willing to spend on a hat at the moment. I dropped some serious cash on an Aero LHB just before the price increase, so my budget is blown for a while. I've never been much of a hat wearer, not even baseball caps, unless my hair is really messed up and I need to run out to the store. Sometimes I'll wear a boonie hat when I'm out working in the yard or fishing, etc. in the sun all day. I think I may try the bay first and see if I can find some inexpensive fedoras to try. Once I get used to wearing a real hat then maybe I'll spring for a really nice one from Art.

 

[scottyrocks]

I will venture to say that the style, and quality of the hat may determine how long it will take for the hat to conform to your head shape.

Westerns generally have wider brims than fedoras, and are also of a thicker and/or stiffer felt. This will make them less resistant to changing shape.

Sticking to fedoras, though, you should find that the higher quality hats, made of better, softer felts and sweats, will conform to your head more readily. I have a Fed IV that is probably one of the thicker, less 'soft' good quality fedoras around today, and this regular oval hat conformed to my long oval head quite nicely. My vintage hats are pretty much all long oval to begin with. If you go with something like a Scala, you may find that a hat like that may take longer, or never, to conform to your head (can you say 'cardboard?' I knew yew could!)

Most of the quality factory hats should conform to your head given a break-in period. Of course, if you have the scratch, a custom would be best, right out the box, so to speak.

 

[jeffconnors]

These guys just arn't into hats anymore, thus no more long ovals...and that's that

 

[RLM]

These guys just arn't into hats anymore, thus no more long ovals...and that's that

I've been discovered!lol

 

[cptjeff]

These guys just arn't into hats anymore, thus no more long ovals...and that's that

Hey, didn't that guy have a minor part in the new indiana jones movie?

 

[Wildblue]

Hey, didn't that guy have a minor part in the new indiana jones movie?

Oh... that's Catherina Zeta Jones with her makeup off?

(or maybe that's Shia Lebouf... how does that kid keep getting those roles?)