HNC Hatworks (formerly known as Agnoulita Hats)

[deadlyhandsome]

Has anyone had Agnoulita hats in a good rain? If so how did they hold up? Wondering if the rabbit holds up anything like Akubra's rabbit. Nutria sounds interesting.

A light sprinkling is the most I’ve subjected mine to. I can’t imagine them doing as well as Akubra, but the felt on the Agnoulitas makes for a better dress hat.


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[PanosChris]

Hi all,



Following the request of deadlyhandsome here is my review on my new Agnoulita fedora.



Intro : This hat was born in my mind basically because I wanted to try another felt finish and slightly different style for my collection from Agnoulita and suede seems to be the favorite so far here in FL. Steve Trevor’s hat (wonderwoman movie- never seen it, just appeared when searching online for hat ideas and really liked this particular hat style) has served as an inspiration for this one.



Order : As usual order was done through etsy shop, using another rabbit suede as a template and adding my customization notes :



Marine blue rabbit suede finish fur felt body

extra fine pouncing

14.5cm open crown, minimal taper (#52 block – many thanks to deadlyhandsome for the education here)

Dimensional cut snap brim (5.7cm sides, 6.0cm front/back) with under welt finish in burgundy stitching

5cm burgundy grossgrain ribbon with pleate box bow finish and marine blue stitching for the “X” on the central piece (pictures were attached here as examples)

Burgundy leather sweatband

off white top rayon lining and two color red/blue pattern sides

Soft/supple crown and crisp brim



Delivery : The dispatching time for Agnoulitas is 2-3 weeks. Mine was delayed for 6-7 days more and surprisingly Mr. P. has upgraded the shipping using DHL express along with an apologies letter. Within two days the hat arrived from Athens to Oslo, even faster than following the normal procedure . Hat arrived in a typical paperbox, marked as fragile. Inside there was the usual white Agnoulita hat paperbox covered in plastic foil. Hat came with caring instructions and travel bag. I cannot think of any better packaging, really.



Initial thoughts : The hat looks and feels superb ! The hand is great and it took several dry creases very easily. Exactly what I was expecting (hoping) for.



Fit and finish : Size (57.2) is again to the point, comfortable fit and easily adjustable to snug fit if needed. This time I have ordered open crown so to have the pleasure of giving the desired hand shape myself. After playing around with dry creases I used steam to better keep and adjust the deep teardrop I aimed for. Shaping the crown was slightly easier compared to my normal rabbit fur Agnoulita, maybe because of the open crown and stiffener amount used. The hat gets stiffer at lower half at the back of the crown. The bow details are to the point of what I had in mind. The ribbon seems that could be fitted 1-2mm tighter, however no folding or anything that bothers. The brim is quite stiff, stiffer than my other Agnoulita, maybe because of the smaller size and the underwelt finish. The underwelt is nicely executed and seems even to the naked eye, it also keeps the proportional cut of 2-3mm difference between the sides and front/back as I asked for. It might be that you will find some inconsistencies if you use an electronic caliber but this is a handmade item and is nothing really that is noticeable to me and my hat standards. Flange is OK, I may like it slightly more, but you still can hear the snap and for the brim size might be better that way since it looks more proportional with the overall hat proportions. Sweatband and lining exceeded my expectations, simply.



Compared to my other Agnoulita : Definitely not that classy and versatile as my other custom but this one make for a different style and nice addition in an bigger collection that I am aiming for. Suede finish is to my opinion slightly less dressy and makes for a more casual winter hat but I can see what all the hype is about. Very soft and luxurious hand.



Overall : I am very happy with my purchase and the way Mr. P executed and delivered my needs. Commitment to delivery times shows his professionalism level. One thing that I might had change is the ribbon width. For this width (5cm) I felled that I had to lower even more the crown to avoid the hat looking unproportionally tall to my head dimensions. Maybe that is also relevant to the brim dimensions which are in the lowest width limits I would say. Anyways that’s something I chose to go for since I am still in the learning curve period regarding hat styles and is growing on me and I like it more and more every day. To sum up another great job from Agnoulita and to my standards at least, great value for money, again I could not recommend his work more.



Photos : These will follow in another post



All the best,



Panos



PS : Regarding Agnoulitas and rain, I have also used mine in light rain with no issues (I have nothing from Akubra to compare with though). I am planning to use them during snow in the winter though so I will keep you posted in a few months

 

[PanosChris]

Here are the photos.
The hat

Underwelt detail

Lining

Side by side with my other Agnoulita

Brim finish details

Flange difference

And me

All the best,
Panos

 

[Tukwila]

I asked for a 5 inch crown and a 3 inch brim. Although I have not measured it, I think the hat is fairly close to those dimensions. My only real criticism or concern is that the felt body seems a bit thin. Someone asked about rain, the hat got a bit wet today, not a deluge, but it did not seem to damage the hat. Stitching of the hat band is very good. The ribbon work is simple but carefully done.

I love that the felt is pounced so nice and thin. I don't believe I've seen a modern rabbit felt done as nicely. In my mind, it shows quality and skill not generally employed currently.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi all,



Following the request of deadlyhandsome here is my review on my new Agnoulita fedora.



Intro : This hat was born in my mind basically because I wanted to try another felt finish and slightly different style for my collection from Agnoulita and suede seems to be the favorite so far here in FL. Steve Trevor’s hat (wonderwoman movie- never seen it, just appeared when searching online for hat ideas and really liked this particular hat style) has served as an inspiration for this one.



Order : As usual order was done through etsy shop, using another rabbit suede as a template and adding my customization notes :



Marine blue rabbit suede finish fur felt body

extra fine pouncing

14.5cm open crown, minimal taper (#52 block – many thanks to deadlyhandsome for the education here)

Dimensional cut snap brim (5.7cm sides, 6.0cm front/back) with under welt finish in burgundy stitching

5cm burgundy grossgrain ribbon with pleate box bow finish and marine blue stitching for the “X” on the central piece (pictures were attached here as examples)

Burgundy leather sweatband

off white top rayon lining and two color red/blue pattern sides

Soft/supple crown and crisp brim



Delivery : The dispatching time for Agnoulitas is 2-3 weeks. Mine was delayed for 6-7 days more and surprisingly Mr. P. has upgraded the shipping using DHL express along with an apologies letter. Within two days the hat arrived from Athens to Oslo, even faster than following the normal procedure . Hat arrived in a typical paperbox, marked as fragile. Inside there was the usual white Agnoulita hat paperbox covered in plastic foil. Hat came with caring instructions and travel bag. I cannot think of any better packaging, really.



Initial thoughts : The hat looks and feels superb ! The hand is great and it took several dry creases very easily. Exactly what I was expecting (hoping) for.



Fit and finish : Size (57.2) is again to the point, comfortable fit and easily adjustable to snug fit if needed. This time I have ordered open crown so to have the pleasure of giving the desired hand shape myself. After playing around with dry creases I used steam to better keep and adjust the deep teardrop I aimed for. Shaping the crown was slightly easier compared to my normal rabbit fur Agnoulita, maybe because of the open crown and stiffener amount used. The hat gets stiffer at lower half at the back of the crown. The bow details are to the point of what I had in mind. The ribbon seems that could be fitted 1-2mm tighter, however no folding or anything that bothers. The brim is quite stiff, stiffer than my other Agnoulita, maybe because of the smaller size and the underwelt finish. The underwelt is nicely executed and seems even to the naked eye, it also keeps the proportional cut of 2-3mm difference between the sides and front/back as I asked for. It might be that you will find some inconsistencies if you use an electronic caliber but this is a handmade item and is nothing really that is noticeable to me and my hat standards. Flange is OK, I may like it slightly more, but you still can hear the snap and for the brim size might be better that way since it looks more proportional with the overall hat proportions. Sweatband and lining exceeded my expectations, simply.



Compared to my other Agnoulita : Definitely not that classy and versatile as my other custom but this one make for a different style and nice addition in an bigger collection that I am aiming for. Suede finish is to my opinion slightly less dressy and makes for a more casual winter hat but I can see what all the hype is about. Very soft and luxurious hand.



Overall : I am very happy with my purchase and the way Mr. P executed and delivered my needs. Commitment to delivery times shows his professionalism level. One thing that I might had change is the ribbon width. For this width (5cm) I felled that I had to lower even more the crown to avoid the hat looking unproportionally tall to my head dimensions. Maybe that is also relevant to the brim dimensions which are in the lowest width limits I would say. Anyways that’s something I chose to go for since I am still in the learning curve period regarding hat styles and is growing on me and I like it more and more every day. To sum up another great job from Agnoulita and to my standards at least, great value for money, again I could not recommend his work more.



Photos : These will follow in another post



All the best,



Panos



PS : Regarding Agnoulitas and rain, I have also used mine in light rain with no issues (I have nothing from Akubra to compare with though). I am planning to use them during snow in the winter though so I will keep you posted in a few months

Thank you for the review. The brim binding certainly looks better executed; particularly where the ends butt together.

I’m curious, does the seam in the sweatband and the brim binding ends where they butt together coincide with the long axis of the crown? In the past, the sweatband seam and the brim binding “seam” matched neither each other nor the long axis of the crown. It didn’t really effect anything, but it showed a lack of attention to detail.

Yours looks great and has me wondering if I should have another go. The nutria in black or dark grey sounds intriguing.




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[PanosChris]

Thank you for the review. The brim binding certainly looks better executed; particularly where the ends butt together.

I’m curious, does the seam in the sweatband and the brim binding ends where they butt together coincide with the long axis of the crown? In the past, the sweatband seam and the brim binding “seam” matched neither each other nor the long axis of the crown. It didn’t really effect anything, but it showed a lack of attention to detail.

Yours looks great and has me wondering if I should have another go. The nutria in black or dark grey sounds intriguing.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Many thanks! Never really thought about it but now that you mentioned it seems that they not far from all being in a straight line, specially in my new (suede) one. Pics are attached for your reference where my finger indicates the brim seam. As you see in the grey it's maybe 1cm off but as you said nothing really changes and you have to look for it. Hope that's helpfull, best, Panos

 

[PanosChris]

Thank you for the review. The brim binding certainly looks better executed; particularly where the ends butt together.

I’m curious, does the seam in the sweatband and the brim binding ends where they butt together coincide with the long axis of the crown? In the past, the sweatband seam and the brim binding “seam” matched neither each other nor the long axis of the crown. It didn’t really effect anything, but it showed a lack of attention to detail.

Yours looks great and has me wondering if I should have another go. The nutria in black or dark grey sounds intriguing.




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Nutria indeed sounds very tempting although I am not sure yet if velour is my cup of tea after all. I would love to hear any impressions if someone pulls the trigger though. I will probably go for another suede (maybe pure hare this time), or beaver or even a straw one for the long awaited summer vacation

 

[PanosChris]

Has anyone learned the price for the nutria yet?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Mr. P didn’t give me a price for his Nutria hats, but he did pass in some good information. He was disappointed in the quality of the nutria bodies he sourced from Italy. In fact, he thought they were inferior to his rabbit and regretted buying so many nutria felts. He was really down on the nutria and thought they were overpriced and inferior quality so he wasn’t listing them on Etsy. Mr. P did rave about his new 100% hare hat bodies and assured me they were far superior to the nutria felts he had acquired.

Mr. P also also dropped this:

“I’ve been recently invited to Eastern Europe to meet the guy who makes, in my opinion, the best felt in the world. Better than Tonak's or any other manufacturer I have worked with in every single aspect. He is a bit pricy, but I was quite surprised to find out that he provides his felt to some of the top hat makers in the world. One of them is in Chicago.”

Chicago? Could it be Optimo? Hmmmm. This could be interesting as both a source of finished hats and hat bodies.


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[mayserwegener]

Mr. P didn’t give me a price for his Nutria hats, but he did pass in some good information. He was disappointed in the quality of the nutria bodies he sourced from Italy. In fact, he thought they were inferior to his rabbit and regretted buying so many nutria felts. He was really down on the nutria and thought they were overpriced and inferior quality so he wasn’t listing them on Etsy. Mr. P did rave about his new 100% hare hat bodies and assured me they were far superior to the nutria felts he had acquired.

Mr. P also also dropped this:

“I’ve been recently invited to Eastern Europe to meet the guy who makes, in my opinion, the best felt in the world. Better than Tonak's or any other manufacturer I have worked with in every single aspect. He is a bit pricy, but I was quite surprised to find out that he provides his felt to some of the top hat makers in the world. One of them is in Chicago.”

Chicago? Could it be Optimo? Hmmmm. This could be interesting as both a source of finished hats and hat bodies.


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There are some companies in Russia and Ukraine but I can't remember their names but I am not aware they are producing anything of high quality. I guess it could be some very small operation. There is also PolkaP in Poland but I haven't heard anything about their quality. I can't see it being better than Tonak. ŠEŠIR (Slovenia) shutdown and liquidated all assets in 2017. From what I know Optimo Chicago sources from FEPSA / Portugal who became important because Mayser Ulm moved operations to FEPSA in the late 1980s. I can check with Bahner Hat Machines and see what they say.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

There are some companies in Russia and Ukraine but I can't remember their names but I am not aware they are producing anything of high quality. I guess it could be some very small operation. There is also PolkaP in Poland but I haven't heard anything about their quality but I can't see it being better than Tonak. ŠEŠIR (Slovenia) shutdown and liquidated all assets in 2017. From what I know Optimo Chicago sources from FEPSA / Portugal who became important because Mayser Ulm moved operations to FEPSA in the late 1980s. I can check with Bahner Hat Machines and see what they say.

It was my understanding as well that Optimo used FEPSA. I have no clue to the identity of the felter Agnoulita was referring to. I’d love to see another source of quality felt become available.

 

[mayserwegener]

It was my understanding as well that Optimo used FEPSA. I have no clue to the identity of the felter Agnoulita was referring to. I’d love to see another source of quality felt become available.

I received this information from Bahner regarding the company in Ukraine. I have no idea about quality or this is the source.

Khust Felt Wears Ukraine

https://hust-filts.biz-gid.com/

 

[PanosChris]

Very interesting info thanks for sharing. Another source of high quality felts is more than welcome indeed. Regarding the current updates he offers also rabbit in two different qualities (regular and premium) while 100% hare comes in three finishes (pounced, suede and velour). In my understanding he will add more felt options soon (including lightweight!) while the colour palette is almost endless. I am sharing the catalogue he sent me for your reference

 

[deadlyhandsome]

From Mr. P:

“... 100% hare felt in three finishes (smooth, suede and velour) and any weight from 80 gr up to 250 gr.”

I just placed an order for a fedora in 100% hare light weight and I’m looking at another western in mid-weight. I’m very curious to see the new felts and to see how his updated build quality turns out.


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[Scooterz]

What do the hare lightweight hats cost?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

What do the hare lightweight hats cost?

I’ve asked for the price and I’m waiting for his response (best guess is $170 ish). This is the color I went with:

I’m always looking for the perfect shade of gray.


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[deadlyhandsome]

From Agnoulita:

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[Tukwila]

Is the 100% hare supposed to be better quality than the usual rabbit/hare offering?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Is the 100% hare supposed to be better quality than the usual rabbit/hare offering?

According to Mr. P, yes. Not sure if it’s the type of fur or the source he’s getting them from or both.

I’m expecting a lot more for a $230 hat than what I was fine with at $140.


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[Dlaniger]

Ok you guys are going to make me order one. They seem to have a lot of eye catching models and colors. I was just a little leery about the quality, but since I have stumbled across this thread I’m now ready to give it a whirl.


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