HNC Hatworks (formerly known as Agnoulita Hats)

[Rmccamey]

Keep us informed, Brent. I'll be interested to see how these turn out...and any new sources of beaver felt.

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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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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[deadlyhandsome]

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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Reggie, his “custom” hats from last year weren’t anywhere near the quality of the custom hatters whose creations show up here all the time. However, for the price they were decent and cheap fun.

The proprietor, Mr. P, has upped his game with new machinery, a claimed higher build quality, and supposedly better felts too. I’ve yet to see one of his new hats, but they are a 60% premium over his standard hats so I’m hoping they are worth the cost.

What he really has to offer is the huge variety of colors not available from most domestic hatters. He also has impressive completion times with some of his customs taking just over one month from order to delivery.

At $229 and up he’s more than Gannon or Phoenix, and several others; albeit, Agnoulita is using hare and the domestic hatters are using rabbit. Since the new pricing means he’s playing with some serious competition he had better have upped his quality control game.

I believe that his improved build quality also applies to his rabbit fur felt hats that are still priced below his domestic competition. I’ve been favorably impressed with his rabbit fur felt hats in the standard and antelope (my favorite) finishes. I don’t like his velour and the long hair was better but not great. The flecked fur is interesting, but I only have one so it’s hard to say.

I’ll post a detailed, and critical, review once I receive his new hare offering. I should add that Mr. P speaks fluent English and fluent hat: he knows US hat terms, blocks, etc. He’s a very easy guy to work with, but you must be specific about every detail that’s important to you: e.g., if you want it finely pounced you need to tell him.




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[Dlaniger]

Reggie, his “custom” hats from last year weren’t anywhere near the quality of the custom hatters whose creations show up here all the time. However, for the price they were decent and cheap fun.

The proprietor, Mr. P, has upped his game with new machinery, a claimed higher build quality, and supposedly better felts too. I’ve yet to see one of his new hats, but they are a 60% premium over his standard hats so I’m hoping they are worth the cost.

What he really has to offer is the huge variety of colors not available from most domestic hatters. He also has impressive completion times with some of his customs taking just over one month from order to delivery.

At $229 and up he’s more than Gannon or Phoenix, and several others; albeit, Agnoulita is using hare and the domestic hatters are using rabbit. Since the new pricing means he’s playing with some serious competition he had better have upped his quality control game.

I believe that his improved build quality also applies to his rabbit fur felt hats that are still priced below his domestic competition. I’ve been favorably impressed with his rabbit fur felt hats in the standard and antelope (my favorite) finishes. I don’t like his velour and the long hair was better but not great. The flecked fur is interesting, but I only have one so it’s hard to say.

I’ll post a detailed, and critical, review once I receive his new hare offering. I should add that Mr. P speaks fluent English and fluent hat: he knows US hat terms, blocks, etc. He’s a very easy guy to work with, but you must be specific about every detail that’s important to you: e.g., if you want it finely pounced you need to tell him.




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Thanks, Brent. looking forward to your review. I probably will grab one in the, not too distant future just to check them out.

 

[mayserwegener]

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

Hare Fur is primarily used for Long Hair finishes because it produces the highest gloss. It's also very durable but more difficult to felt. The quality of the fur is most important which lacks today.

"Quality Differences in Hare Hair

The most precious hair stems from the back. Depending on its dimension it is classified into Blumenrück / Flowers Back(very rare) , Kronenrück / Crowns Back(rare), Schwarzrück / Black Back or Reinrück / Purely Back . If we leave white and blue sides or even the underside at the back, i. e. if we process the whole fur, significant differences in quality will be the result. The qualities also depend on the countries of origin. Saxony e.g. can boast good hare, while the Nordic and Russian white hare cannot be used. This is surprising, because the effects of temperature, i.e. the coldness of each winter play an important role in the natural selection of the animals and the quality of the hides. The season is so important that a particularly poor quality is called “summer back” (the fur of the back of a hare killed in the summer). Only the final product allows the best assessment; especially the gloss is an excellent feature for the quality of the raw material. Thus the term "hare hair" alone doesn’t mean anything; hair from the tail of the hare e.g. is the most inferior quality you can think of, and yet the untrimmed hare stomach is only about one-third of the value of a normal Schwarzrück / Black Back. So only a velour hat which has a certain quality level can be called well wearable, notwithstanding that an inferior brushed velour must be more expensive than a clean or smooth hair hat."

From "Hair Velour / Real (Echter) Velour / Prime (Prima) Velour Fabrikation von Damen- und Herren- Filzhüten, Der Deustchen Hutmacher Zeitung (1933)"

(I would recommend reading this article. You will not find this information anywhere else.)

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/216-hair-velour-real-echter-velour-prime-prima-velour-fabrikation-von-damen-und-herren-filzhüten-der-deustchen-hutmacher-zeitung-1933/

 

[pairrothead01]

Good read
Thank you, I am always up for learning things

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[PanosChris]

During my short trip back home last week I paid a visit at Agnoulita hats. The deal was to local pick up the milan straw I have ordered for my summer expeditions. I also brought with me a couple of older hats I own for restoration/modifications. Mr P warmly welcomed me and gave me a tour over his studio. I was also lucky enough to see his new 100% hare felts in different weights and finishes upon arrival, along with others from Tonak, Fepsa and some vintage beaver (!) ones. Below I am sharing some photos from my visit for you to see (some pics from his studio have allready been posted here before so please forgive me for any dublications)
Here we go. Entrance and studio

Blocks, flanges and tools

Felt color samples, sweatbands and harris tweed (!) liners

To be continued ..

 

[PanosChris]

Part 2.
100% hare felts in light and western weight

Beaver felts from Fepsa, Winchester and some vintage European ones

Deciding on vintage ribbons for my borsa and on the hat block for my next order

From left to right : #510, #52, #51

Sweatband skiving

Antique sewing machines. From left to right, German (I forgot the model name) and Greek clone

To be continued...

 

[PanosChris]

Part 3 and last.
Removing my hat from block and shaping

A happy hat owner posing with hat maker and admiring the sweatband sewing machine

And sporting it on the island

And I think I will stop there... I am grateful to Mr P for opening his studio to me and allowing to share some pics here. I finally got to meet him in person and can't really say enough how friendly, knowledgeable and easy to deal with is. I'll definitely try to visit him again in my next trip. I hope also you got a small taste of this visit.
All the best,
Panos

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Part 3 and last.
Removing my hat from block and shaping
View attachment 178667 View attachment 178668 View attachment 178669
A happy hat owner posing with hat maker and admiring the sweatband sewing machine View attachment 178670
View attachment 178671
And sporting it on the island
View attachment 178672 View attachment 178673
And I think I will stop there... I am grateful to Mr P for opening his studio to me and allowing to share some pics here. I finally got to meet him in person and can't really say enough how friendly, knowledgeable and easy to deal with is. I'll definitely try to visit him again in my next trip. I hope also you got a small taste of this visit.
All the best,
Panos

A great write up, Panos. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Mr. P frustrates me sometimes by not responding to my emails and other times taking a couple weeks to respond, but I know he’s busy and doing his best.

The photos of the shop are illuminating. He sent me a photo of his ASM sewing machine when he first received it and I was shocked that he (his emplyee(s)) had been sewing all their sweats by hand. I’m really encouraged by his expansion of felt sourcing and US hatters should also be able to use him as a middleman to access hard to get felts.

Mr. P told me that you were present when my hat body was unboxed. He also said he hoped to ship my finished hat by the end of this week! Your photo of the hat body where it’s been pinched gives me hope that the felt will be what I’m looking for.

Thanks again for the photo essay, Panos! Your Milan looks great by the way.


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[PanosChris]

Hi Brent,

I am glad you liked my Milan and the photos from Agnoulita shop !

I agree with you and I think Mr P has great potential of offering, both directly and as a middleman, a broad variety of felt bodies from different sources.

Indeed I was very lucky to be present in the unboxing. My overall impression from these felts was very positive. I also attach here the non-pinched pic of the light weight #861 for you to compare the thickness of it with the western weight brown posted above. I hope the colour, hand and overall feel of your finished hat will fulfil your expectations. Looking forward to your review when you receive it.
Panos

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi Brent,

I am glad you liked my Milan and the photos from Agnoulita shop !

I agree with you and I think Mr P has great potential of offering, both directly and as a middleman, a broad variety of felt bodies from different sources.

Indeed I was very lucky to be present in the unboxing. My overall impression from these felts was very positive. I also attach here the non-pinched pic of the light weight #861 for you to compare the thickness of it with the western weight brown posted above. I hope the colour, hand and overall feel of your finished hat will fulfil your expectations. Looking forward to your review when you receive it.
Panos View attachment 178700

Someday I hope to visit him myself....

I asked for an unfinished western weight 100% hare hat body be added to the box with my finished hat. I hope they’re both everything that Mr. P says they are.


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[belfastboy]

Someday I hope to visit him myself....

I asked for an unfinished western weight 100% hare hat body be added to the box with my finished hat. I hope they’re both everything that Mr. P says they are.


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We are planning a trip to Crete in April next year. If he has FEPSA beaver I may have to make a side trip to Athens and pick one out. ......and I thought I was done!!!!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

We are planning a trip to Crete in April next year. If he has FEPSA beaver I may have to make a side trip to Athens and pick one out. ......and I thought I was done!!!!

I’d call in advance. I got the feeling from Panos that he didn’t have a lot of beaver in stock.

 

[PanosChris]

I’d call in advance. I got the feeling from Panos that he didn’t have a lot of beaver in stock.

That's correct Brent. Currently he has black and moss green from FEPSA 100% beaver. Maybe some more to come in the future but a call in advance it's the safest indeed.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This is the hat body that keeps hope alive!

The felt molded around where the fingers grabbed it makes me drool. Thanks again Panos!


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[Just Daniel]

WOW! This thread is so much fun!

Great work from everyone!

 

[Scooterz]

Great postings! Really like the photos. What are the dimensions of your milan? It does look very nice.

Part 3 and last.
Removing my hat from block and shaping
View attachment 178667 View attachment 178668 View attachment 178669
A happy hat owner posing with hat maker and admiring the sweatband sewing machine View attachment 178670
View attachment 178671
And sporting it on the island
View attachment 178672 View attachment 178673
And I think I will stop there... I am grateful to Mr P for opening his studio to me and allowing to share some pics here. I finally got to meet him in person and can't really say enough how friendly, knowledgeable and easy to deal with is. I'll definitely try to visit him again in my next trip. I hope also you got a small taste of this visit.
All the best,
Panos

 

[PanosChris]

Great postings! Really like the photos. What are the dimensions of your milan? It does look very nice.

Many thanks! Some details regarding my Milan :
Super extra fine straw in natural (finer and less "yellow/gold" than his old straw one)
Size 57
Crown: #52 block, 14.6cm (open)
Brim : 6.5cm fedora flange
Ribbon, 4cm taupe color with bow finish
White leather sweatband, unlined

Best,
Panos

 

[deadlyhandsome]

A rather cryptic photo with very little explanation. I was told it took two sets of hands to get the hat on the block. I hope for it to ship next week:

And yes, this is an accurate representation of the photo. It doesn’t show much, but I’ll take what I can get. Mr. P remains very busy and is slow to answer emails, so I’ll take what I can get. If you order from Agnoulita you have to accept that you’re not going to get the level of service and attention that domestic custom hatters provide.


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[mayserwegener]

Part 2.
100% hare felts in light and western weight
View attachment 178658 View attachment 178659 View attachment 178660 View attachment 178661
Beaver felts from Fepsa, Winchester and some vintage European ones
View attachment 178662
Deciding on vintage ribbons for my borsa and on the hat block for my next order
View attachment 178663
From left to right : #510, #52, #51
View attachment 178664
Sweatband skiving View attachment 178665
Antique sewing machines. From left to right, German (I forgot the model name) and Greek clone View attachment 178666 To be continued...

Did he confirm the Hare felt source? Is it Khust Felt Wears Ukraine (seems most likely)? If so made on Bahner machines.