I need some HAT help!!!!

[eli hogue]

Looking for any info on this hat. The brand? The quality? Can't find anything online. Thank you in advance for any and all info, comment and feedback.

 

[jdouglasj]

I have purchased a number of nice hats over the year from Optimo here in Chicago, and I also spent too much money on a Watson's hat last year. I wish I had a great fedora, but the only hat that actually looks good on my huge, long head is the Open Road. I have a silver Stetson Open Road, for which I paid $200+. It's rabbit. I once had a tobacco Open Road but it was stolen by a staff member at Chicago Skyline Club some years ago. Now I want to get a new tobacco-colored Open Road, and I want a good one.

I can take my soft, expensive Optimo fedora out in a soaking wet snowstorm and it'll be none the worse for wear. But that soaking wet snow will make a mess of my stiff, rabbit Stetson. So question #1: If I had a 100% beaver Open Road, it would still have to be a stiff hat with a lot of starch to hold it's shape (right?). Would water still damage that hat, or could I wear it in a soaking wet snowstorm?

Question #2: The reviews for the 100% beaver Stetson Open Roads on their website aren't very good, although there are only a handful of reviews. Beaver is beaver, right? Or am I missing something that makes Stetson's of inferior quality? Is there anyone you would recommend to make me a durable, good looking Open Road?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have purchased a number of nice hats over the year from Optimo here in Chicago, and I also spent too much money on a Watson's hat last year. I wish I had a great fedora, but the only hat that actually looks good on my huge, long head is the Open Road. I have a silver Stetson Open Road, for which I paid $200+. It's rabbit. I once had a tobacco Open Road but it was stolen by a staff member at Chicago Skyline Club some years ago. Now I want to get a new tobacco-colored Open Road, and I want a good one.

I can take my soft, expensive Optimo fedora out in a soaking wet snowstorm and it'll be none the worse for wear. But that soaking wet snow will make a mess of my stiff, rabbit Stetson. So question #1: If I had a 100% beaver Open Road, it would still have to be a stiff hat with a lot of starch to hold it's shape (right?). Would water still damage that hat, or could I wear it in a soaking wet snowstorm?

Question #2: The reviews for the 100% beaver Stetson Open Roads on their website aren't very good, although there are only a handful of reviews. Beaver is beaver, right? Or am I missing something that makes Stetson's of inferior quality? Is there anyone you would recommend to make me a durable, good looking Open Road?

If you like a firmer felt more like a modern dress western Open Road I’d say The Northwest Hat Co. would be my first choice. If you liked a more vintage type of felt I’d go with the Gannon Hat Co. If you want to stick with FEPSA beaver like Optimo uses (Northwest and Gannon primarily use Winchester sourced beaver felt), then I’d look at Hufvud. I’d also send @belfastboy a PM to see if he has the color you’re after as he too has some FEPSA beaver and his prices are incredible.

Good luck!

 

[belfastboy]

If you like a firmer felt more like a modern dress western Open Road I’d say The Northwest Hat Co. would be my first choice. If you liked a more vintage type of felt I’d go with the Gannon Hat Co. If you want to stick with FEPSA beaver like Optimo uses (Northwest and Gannon primarily use Winchester sourced beaver felt), then I’d look at Hufvud. I’d also send @belfastboy a PM to see if he has the color you’re after as he too has some FEPSA beaver and his prices are incredible.

Good luck!

I echo Deadly's advice. I have made myself two hats with the FEPSA beaver felt and it is incredible. The caveat is that my supplier brings in the 95gram weight. it is a beautiful felt, soft and malleable as a vintage Borsalino. Not sure it would stand up to a good soaking as it is so light weight. FEPSA makes all manner of felts; weights & finishes etc so my FEPSA is undoubtably different than Optimo's. I also use Ukraine beaver felt, it is a heavier 160gr but can be pounced to much thinner, softer, lighter felt. So if you do commission a custom hat have a direct conversation with the hatter about the feel you want. A good hatter can finesse the felt and get it close to what you want so have that conversation up front. I have Long Oval blocks up to 63cm in size.

 

[jdouglasj]

Excellent advice all around. Let's talk. I have sent you a PM. I always prefer a softer hat, but there's something in my mind that says "an Open Road will need a lot of stiffener to hold that shape." I hope I'm wrong about that! Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[jdouglasj]

If you like a firmer felt more like a modern dress western Open Road I’d say The Northwest Hat Co. would be my first choice. If you liked a more vintage type of felt I’d go with the Gannon Hat Co. If you want to stick with FEPSA beaver like Optimo uses (Northwest and Gannon primarily use Winchester sourced beaver felt), then I’d look at Hufvud. I’d also send @belfastboy a PM to see if he has the color you’re after as he too has some FEPSA beaver and his prices are incredible.

Good luck!

If you have any pictures of how a "modern dress western Open Road' compares to a "more vintage type of felt" compared to FEPSA, please post. but you've given me a lot of places to look. thank you!!

 

[Scooterz]

I assume you know that older vintage open roads have more of a flatter brimmed teardrop shaped crown like many Akubra campdrafts are shaped. Akubra's can be shaped several ways including in a cattleman's crease. Modern open road Stetson's are more cowboy with a cattleman's shape, like LBJ's hat. Campdrafts are the aussie version of the original open road and can take lots of weather. I have hats from Belfast Boy at Wolfbrae Hats and from Gannon as well as modern and vintage Stetsons. Modern stetsons come in different felt qualities and some are stiffer and more western and some are softer. The royal deluxe open roads are usually softer but at one time Stetson stated which colors are made softer. The 6x open roads are more western stiff hats usually. If you want to handle rain the Akubras or custom hats are your best options. You cannot really go wrong with beaver felt from Gannon or Wolfbrae and lots of folks here really like Northwest Hats. Much more of a sure thing than modern hats. They all have threads dedicated to them which you can probably find with the search function.

 

[Cepice]

I have to go to Austin for a big party in spring. I hope to avoid being the subject of Lyle Lovett's "That's right, you're not from Texas" song.

I have a grey Stetsonian open crown that has a brim just a tad too big for me but I love it anyway. I was wondering if you think I could put a cattleman crease and swap out the ribbon to pull this off? I would prefer a hat that I'm comfortable in than a new, perfect cowboy hat. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[RBH]

I have to go to Austin for a big party in spring. I hope to avoid being the subject of Lyle Lovett's "That's right, you're not from Texas" song.

I have a grey Stetsonian open crown that has a brim just a tad too big for me but I love it anyway. I was wondering if you think I could put a cattleman crease and swap out the ribbon to pull this off? I would prefer a hat that I'm comfortable in than a new, perfect cowboy hat. Thoughts? Thanks!

If it would suit you... you could do something similar.
Maybe with a bandana. I personally would not remove the ribbon.
It suits the Stetsonian so well.

I found these images of a Stetsonian.

 

[belfastboy]

I have to go to Austin for a big party in spring. I hope to avoid being the subject of Lyle Lovett's "That's right, you're not from Texas" song.

I have a grey Stetsonian open crown that has a brim just a tad too big for me but I love it anyway. I was wondering if you think I could put a cattleman crease and swap out the ribbon to pull this off? I would prefer a hat that I'm comfortable in than a new, perfect cowboy hat. Thoughts? Thanks!

I am not clear on what you want to accomplish with the look. Do you want to make the Stetsonian more western in appearance? Do you want to take the hat from a classic fedora look to more of a hipster/boho look? I have a Cariboo modern Stetsonian. It came with the usual horrid cheap Stetson generic black ribbon. I immediately changed out the ribbon to a vintage lighter grey. So in your instance I would not hesitate to remove the crap stock ribbon.

You could look on line for a Vintage silk tie, deconstruct it (remove the stitching and interfacing) and fashion a wrap around tie to give it a contemporary boho look. (Look on Instagram for myriad pics of contemporary boho style hats and the wrap around fabric bands)

Using a vintage tie is Inexpensive and easy to do. Or online you can find an infinite array of western look hat bands. I have a preference for the braided horsehair bands. You can find good ones on Ebay for $40. You can get double or single tassle or no tassle at all. If you want more detail I can point you to my suppliers for vintage ties or western hat bands.

 

[Cepice]

Thank you both for the ideas!
Yes @belfastboy I would love your sources for bands, thank you.

 

[belfastboy]

Thank you both for the ideas!
Yes @belfastboy I would love your sources for bands, thank you.

Ties: www.waterhollowtweed.com
horsehair: cntryhrt on Ebay
ties: especially4ubymarsha on Ebay. A bit pricey but some damn nice ties
leather bands: CountryClassicsShop on Etsy

 

[Rmccamey]

Or you might try to curl the brim a lot more and give it a Montana/Gus crease.

 

[Cepice]

I was just looking at the Gus crease @Rmccamey, that makes sense to me! Keeps a bit of the fedora vibe but the sides run longer like a cowboy style.

 

[Cepice]

So how far off is a fedora from a traditional cowboy hat? Hope this hasn't been rehashed a thousand times, but I can't find much. I feel like I'm swimming in a Stetsonian, I can't imagine if I'm wearing a 3"+ brim.

 

[Rmccamey]

So how far off is a fedora from a traditional cowboy hat? Hope this hasn't been rehashed a thousand times, but I can't find much. I feel like I'm swimming in a Stetsonian, I can't imagine if I'm wearing a 3"+ brim.

That is a loaded question with no real answer. Look through the Westerns threads and the What Hat are you Wearing threads to see general differences. Fedoras TEND to have shorter brims, pinch fronts and snapped brims, but that is a very general statement as there are fedoras that do not fit that description.

 

[Cepice]

Sorry, did not intend to stir up trouble. Just a bit new at the game. Since mine is an open crown, it seems to me I can cross over, but don't know the subtleties.

 

[belfastboy]

Sorry, did not intend to stir up trouble. Just a bit new at the game. Since mine is an open crown, it seems to me I can cross over, but don't know the subtleties.

An open crown hat is fun to play with. A spritz of water, some steam and you can bash it into whatever style you wish. As long as you don't put in hard sharp creasing you can steam it out and bash it in a different way. Play with it, play with differing styles until you achieve the style you like.

 

[jlee562]

So how far off is a fedora from a traditional cowboy hat? Hope this hasn't been rehashed a thousand times, but I can't find much. I feel like I'm swimming in a Stetsonian, I can't imagine if I'm wearing a 3"+ brim.

3" brim is nothin'!

This is my current favorite brim width, about 3"-3 1/4". Just IMHO, it's wide enough to clearly distinguish it from a wide brim fedora, but not so wide that you look like you just checked into a dude ranch.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

So how far off is a fedora from a traditional cowboy hat? Hope this hasn't been rehashed a thousand times, but I can't find much. I feel like I'm swimming in a Stetsonian, I can't imagine if I'm wearing a 3"+ brim.

The “traditional cowboy hat” takes in a lot of territory.

It’s common for men who are new to brimmed hats to prefer narrower brims and lower crowns. With time and exposure to other’s hats here in photos, many start to like wider brims and some also go for taller crowns. Some of my custom fedoras, and they are definitely fedoras, have 3 ⅛” brims. Of course, a lot depends on your hat/head size and your build. I have a hat arriving new week with a stingy 2 ⅞” brim; the narrowest I’ve commissioned in a long time.

I’d bet your Stetsonian (great hat by the way) doesn’t look like it has a wide brim to most of us.