Or should that be "Borsalini"...? But I have been looking at the general comments on modern Borsalinos and it chimes with my experience. I had thought that perhaps the hats sold in Borsalino's own "boutiques" would be of a higher standard, but alas no. The specimen illustrated below came from what I suppose is their flagship boutique up by the Spanish Steps in Rome. (I should have been put on my guard by the location; the Spanish Steps is pure touristville, but I was in a hurry...)
The shop itself is a sorry affair. Bored, unhelpful staff more concerned with replacing hats on their displays than helping one choose; no attempt to assist; no offer to measure my head; no offer to steam or brush the new hat. Give us the money: now get out.
As for the hat: ludicrously soft felt so that it cockles, won't hold its shape, flaps ludicrously in the lightest breeze. The felt is simultaneously coarse and soggy, with weak spots which of course crease or bulge. The sweatband is some kind of synthetic-y leather; the liner badly glued in. Altogether a disgrace.
Maybe I was unlucky. They certainly were, for I shall not be going back. My only excuse is that I had left my own hat in my car, back in England, at the airport, and wanted to look good. Stupid, of course. (The "own hat" on that occasion was a 20-year-old Borsalina bought in Spa, Belgium; it has been round the world with me – including months of flying solo round the Australian outback - and still looks beaut, as they say in Oz. Only problem is the sweatband stiching has pulled through the edge of the leather. Can anyone replace it in England? Lock? Bates? Herbert Johnson? Nah. Welcome to London...)
So it looks, from my experience, as though Borsalino are as bad at home as they are abroad. A rubbishy hat knocked up without concern for quality. A sad end for a great name. (And these are the hats for which Lock of St James's -- once, one of the great hatters -- now charge nearly $500. At least I didn't pay *that* much.)
The shop itself is a sorry affair. Bored, unhelpful staff more concerned with replacing hats on their displays than helping one choose; no attempt to assist; no offer to measure my head; no offer to steam or brush the new hat. Give us the money: now get out.
As for the hat: ludicrously soft felt so that it cockles, won't hold its shape, flaps ludicrously in the lightest breeze. The felt is simultaneously coarse and soggy, with weak spots which of course crease or bulge. The sweatband is some kind of synthetic-y leather; the liner badly glued in. Altogether a disgrace.
Maybe I was unlucky. They certainly were, for I shall not be going back. My only excuse is that I had left my own hat in my car, back in England, at the airport, and wanted to look good. Stupid, of course. (The "own hat" on that occasion was a 20-year-old Borsalina bought in Spa, Belgium; it has been round the world with me – including months of flying solo round the Australian outback - and still looks beaut, as they say in Oz. Only problem is the sweatband stiching has pulled through the edge of the leather. Can anyone replace it in England? Lock? Bates? Herbert Johnson? Nah. Welcome to London...)
So it looks, from my experience, as though Borsalino are as bad at home as they are abroad. A rubbishy hat knocked up without concern for quality. A sad end for a great name. (And these are the hats for which Lock of St James's -- once, one of the great hatters -- now charge nearly $500. At least I didn't pay *that* much.)
