I'm thinking of buying my first hat

[mons]

Hey. I'm a 16 year old boy (never too young to wear a hat, hm?) and I'm thinking of getting a hat for the first time. I mostly wear my brown leather flight jacket (much like this) at winter and often simply flannel shirts and the like in the summer. I think the common black fedora type is cool, but I don't know how it is together with my jacket. What do you think? Got any advice?
I tried a hat in a hat store, and I liked a hat named "Stetson Elkader", a black fedora, priced at roughly $100. I think it was wool. (Keep in mind this is Norway, and everything is more expensive here). Anyone got any advice?

 

[Mr. Paladin]

Hi mons, welcome to the Lounge.

In some cases, I think a black fedora can go just fine with a casual brown coat style such as that one. I think it depends on your personal clothing style and look. I would try to avoid a wool felt hat if possible; as they tend to have some problems in wet weather (which you may or may not have). I don't know how difficult it is for you to look around on e-Bay or an equivalent auction website for hats in your size, but many of our European members buy fur felt hats there for less than that. Good luck with your search; post back with your choice!

 

[sproily]

Since you live in Norway. I would strongly advise not to buy a wool felt hat. This knowing, that it rains a lot and a lot more in the wintertime. Get a fur felt and it will hold up the rain much better.

You can get something for much less than 100 bucks on ebay. You can get a hat you like for half the price there. I'd try there first. I know Norwegian prices, and yes they are high.

Try finding some sort of a vintage store, they usually sell hats pretty cheaply (atleast in here, about 30€). Old hats are almost all of the time quality fur felt so you can rarely go wrong.
Here in Finland, flea markets and thrift stores are precious also. Almost all of mine are from those.

Best of luck and welcome to the lounge!

 

[mons]

Woah - thanks for the quick answers
My hat size is ~59cm. Where should I look / what kind of keywords should I search for for a good hat?
When I tried hats that didn't have cm-sizes (only small/m/large/x-l etc) I found that large often was too small and extra large often was too large.

My clothes style is mostly the jacket, a white or black t-shirt, black belt and dark blue or black jeans. My hair is medium long brown somewhat curly hair.

 

[handlebar bart]

Welcome to the FL Mons and I agree you should shoot for a fur felt hat. I think you will be glad you did.

 

[billysmom]

mons -

Welcome to the Lounge! A 59 cm head would translate into a 7 3/8 in US sizes. A recent poll of our members showed this to be the most common size. The downside of this is that there is a lot of competition on eBay for these hats! Best of luck to you!

Sue

 

[avedwards]

I may be able to offer you a black vintage fedora hat from the 50s or so. I'm currently borrowing it off another member of this site and I will put you in contact with him when I return him the hat on the 5th. It's got a relatively wide brim and tall crown, so make sure this is what you want (nothing wrong with that a lot of people here like it but it doesn't always look right on people with narrow faces).

 

[m000m000]

As said, at size 59 (7 3/8 US, or 7 1/4 UK if you're looking there) on e-bay you'll run into a lot of competition, and prices can range from anything between 50-300 USD, depending on desirability of the make and model in question.
If you go the ebay route, be prepared to spend about 70-150$ for something nice in a relatively good condition, but then again I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to get a vintage hat off ebay as your first one - it can be a bit of a crapshoot when just starting out.

As some quick genral rules though, The older the hat, the better the condition, the higher the price. Black Fedoras aren't that common a color, at least in vintage ones in my experience, so you might have to opt for something else. You'll notice the more ubiquitous brown hats tend tend to usually fetch lower prices, followed by gray, where as lighter color variations like tan and camel are much more rare and tend to run higher. Same with shapes - hats with wider brims and higher/straighter crowns tend to run for more than ones with stingier brims and lower or tapered crowns, and some brands (Borsalino) and models just tend to fetch an extra premiums just for being what they are (warranted or not), where as a seemingly identical neighbor model from a competitor can run for half the price [huh].

 

[mons]

Hey. Thank you guys for all the answers! I won't be buying that wool hat then. Avedwards, I would love to hear more about that hat. Still not sure if a black fedora would look good on me though, and I never really thought about my face shape - would it help if I posted a picture?
Is it generally "safe" to buy hats without trying them first, as long as they are the right size? I know that far from all shoes, pants etc. fits me even if they are exactly the same size as the one I'm wearing right now.

 

[Scott Wood]

Hey. Thank you guys for all the answers! I won't be buying that wool hat then. Avedwards, I would love to hear more about that hat. Still not sure if a black fedora would look good on me though, and I never really thought about my face shape - would it help if I posted a picture?
Is it generally "safe" to buy hats without trying them first, as long as they are the right size? I know that far from all shoes, pants etc. fits me even if they are exactly the same size as the one I'm wearing right now.

Welcome to FL mons
I am a newbie here as well but I wanted to say that when I was your age I often wore a brown bomber for casual and at that time I paired it with a rich chocolate dora with a fairly wide brim and medium height crown,
It is very much dependant on your personal taste of course lol

ps. I was your age BEFORE raiders and I snapped the back up

 

[mons]

Here is a picture of me if that helps. A bad webcam picture, but you get the idea
I'll see if I find any cool hats in any vintage-stores (If I find any near me that is), but I'll first see if I find any at the Internet for a reasonable price.

 

[Spats McGee]

Welcome to the Lounge, mons!

I'm a little late to the party, but my reaction was the same as several who have posted before me. For $100, you can do better than a wool felt. I googled the Elkander and it's a nice-looking hat (if I did find the right one). With that said, for that price, or maybe just a little more, you can get into a fur felt, which will likely be much more durable. In my opinion, it's worth it to get a fur felt.

As others have suggested, check out ebay. At 59 or 7 3/8, you're in a high-competition size. Good luck on the hunt. I would also suggest that you check out Hats Direct and Everything Australian. Akubras are very popular lately, because they're a really good value in hats, and because they're good hats. Finally, don't forget to check out the Classifieds here on the Lounge. There's almost always someone who needs to thin out their collection & you might be able to score a good deal there.

 

[mons]

One of the problems ordering hats from the Internet is that it is so damn expensive - the Federation IV from Hats Direct, for an example, costs 108 AUD which is actually cheaper than the wool-one I tried in the store. Then add 37.90 AUS for shipping.. A little more expensive, but still worth it. Then add 25% in taxes.. Then it's up at 183 AUD, or 168.5 USD! :eusa_doh:

 

[Doctor Strange]

For Akubras, also check out EverythingAustralian. While they don't carry the Federation, they do have other nice Akubra fedoras like the Stylemaster, Campdraft, and Squatter. Both their base prices and their shipping are considerably less than HatsDirect (but they tend to have less styles/colors in stock - you should write and ask about specific sizes/models - and international delivery takes more like ten days than five days).

If they have what you want on hand, they're a very good deal. Lots of us have bought from them with excellent results.

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/displayproduct.asp?id=2&cat=Akubra

 

[Spats McGee]

One of the problems ordering hats from the Internet is that it is so damn expensive - the Federation IV from Hats Direct, for an example, costs 108 AUD which is actually cheaper than the wool-one I tried in the store. Then add 37.90 AUS for shipping.. A little more expensive, but still worth it. Then add 25% in taxes.. Then it's up at 183 AUD, or 168.5 USD! :eusa_doh:

Well, that is one of the problems with ordering over the internet. You may do better buying vintage or second-hand.

Edited to add: And Dr. Strange is right. It's worth it to at least check out Everything Australian.

 

[mons]

Thanks for the answers, guys. I'll check if I can find any in a vintage store next week some day. I think the Akubra Stylemaster hat was very cool though - does anyone have a picture of it in black?

 

[Doctor Strange]

Here's mine in the mid-grey/steel grey/carbon grey... which is a VERY dark grey that looks black in anything other than bright sun!

Added: lots more Stylemaster pics in this thread - http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=44017

 

[RBH]

Welcome to the Lounge!

 

[Midwest Boater]

this is a fun link for picking a hat that suits you
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/28/the-perfect-hat-for-your-ugly-mug/
25% taxes OMG!

 

[Spats McGee]

Thanks for the answers, guys. I'll check if I can find any in a vintage store next week some day. I think the Akubra Stylemaster hat was very cool though - does anyone have a picture of it in black?

I don't have any pictures of them in black, but here's a thread that you might find interesting: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=44017