Hats with soft or supple brims... who makes them?

[bluesmandan]

I'm looking for a white or light colored hat with a broader brim (at least 3 inches) that has a SOFT brim.

The intended use is for golf on windy days. A hat with a stiff brim just gets blown off your head in those big gusts (and then you have to go chasing it as the wind makes it roll very quickly away). I have a Borsalino Trionfo Bari that is very soft and pliable, and it does great in the wind... when a gust hits, the brim just bends with the wind. But the Borso is black... which is great for a winter hat, not so great in the hot summer.

So I'm looking for a good fur felt hat, white or lightcolored, with at least a 3" brim, but the brim has to be NOT STIFF. Any ideas?

 

[Wesslyn]

I've got a Tilden Whippet clone, called a Dillinger that has a wide soft brim. Not too easy to find however. Found mine in an old costume store! Resistol kitten finish hats are pretty soft if you can find one with a wide brim.

 

[kaosharper1]

The hat in my avatar has a wide floppy brim, but its a custom from Art Fawcett. It's based on hats that the artsey crowd wore in the 1920s. Mine isn't 3". It's more like 2.5".

 

[bluesmandan]

The hat in my avatar has a wide floppy brim, but its a custom from Art Fawcett. It's based on hats that the artsey crowd wore in the 1920s. Mine isn't 3". It's more like 2.5".

I knew an Art lover would chime in. Not sure I can spend that much on a hat, but if there are no other options it's a possibility. About the brim, yeah I like about 3.25"... Just broad enough to give full sun protection

 

[Rick Blaine]

"Traveler" model hats made to stow and go often sport the characteristics you are seeking.

Olney hats
Akubra Traveller
Christy's Traveller
Borso NOT Current but Vintage
Stetson Traveler
Stetson Runabout
Check out THIS THREAD, one of many, many on the subject, of folders anyway, which tend to the floppy.

 

[JackieMatra]

I'm looking for a white or light colored hat with a broader brim (at least 3 inches) that has a SOFT brim.

I am, as well.
Borsalino seems to be the only large hat manufacturer that makes lightweight soft fur felt hats, these days, but they don't seem to make any with brims that size in light colors.
I've inquired of several "custom" hatters regarding this, but they all only seem to be able to make lightweight hats with smaller brims and/or in darker colors.
Old hats appear to be the only remaining option, but they don't seem to turn up in the above specifications in my size often, if ever, at all.

The hats that RB mentioned above all have smaller brims than what we're looking for.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Folder w/ a 3" brim, that's a tough one. Though DAVID MORGAN says his Akubra Traveller sports a 3" brim. Good luck!

 

[JackieMatra]

Folder w/ a 3" brim, that's a tough one. Though DAVID MORGAN says his Akubra Traveller sports a 3" brim. Good luck!

Thanks, ... but, Akubra's Regency Fawn is far from my idea of a light color, and that felt doesn't look very thin to me, either, alas.

 

[bluesmandan]

Folder w/ a 3" brim, that's a tough one. Though DAVID MORGAN says his Akubra Traveller sports a 3" brim. Good luck!

I checked it out, but it's got that double folded mode edge. No way the brim would be floppy like that; it has to be a raw edge brim, I think.

 

[EstherWeis]

3 inches isn't a problem...
You can get either a lightweight regular smooth felt in many colors or you can get a tissue felt.

I can't drive my bicycle in most of my tissue felts. They always blow right down and cover my eyes...the brim that is.
The hat itself doesn't budge.

The real lightweight felts are really stretchable too, if you hand block you can easily get 4 inch out of them... At least the quality I can order.

 

[TheDane]

The real lightweight felts are really stretchable too, if you hand block you can easily get 4 inch out of them... At least the quality I can order.

4" ... Is that in circumference?

 

[EstherWeis]

4" ... Is that in circumference?

The tissue felt gives a lot. The 4" refers to the brim width.

 

[TheDane]

I believe one should be cautious, stretching felt substantially. It's probably not without reason that FEPSA sell their capelines in numerous sizes. I don't believe you get two good hats, if you block a 7 and a 7-1/2 from the same size capeline.

 

[EstherWeis]

Depends on what felt you are using.
I agree that you indeed must be cautious and one must know the felt that they are blocking, but a good quality felt has some give in it.

My supplier provides cones in 3 different sizes and capelines in 12 and 15 cm.

That being said, the tissue felt is pretty amazing in how it blocks.

 

[bluesmandan]

So Esther do you make and sell hats? Got a website?


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[EstherWeis]

Yes Sir, I do. Located in Antwerp, Belgium.
https://m.facebook.com/EstherWeisMillinery/?ref=bookmarks

If you have any questions you know where to find me

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Is the OP a fella or a chick ? .........floppy wide brimmed hats do tend to look a little err......lady like ? especially in the lighter colors.

 

[bluesmandan]

Is the OP a fella or a chick ? .........floppy wide brimmed hats do tend to look a little err......lady like ? especially in the lighter colors.

I'm a dude! My borso is not ladylike... It's shaped right. I know what you mean though.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Lol.

 

[Bob Roberts]

So Esther do you make and sell hats? Got a website?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have one coming...