In praise of newer Stetson

[Frunobulax]

I am a long time reader but a first time poster. I am a long time fedora wearing man with way too many hats. LOL I have a few vintage but I am one of the few on here that seems to like the modern Stetsons. The lower front C crown just suits my face better. Anything over a 4.5 inches will make my face look longer than old Abe...
I purchased the new Stetson Bogie last week at sale price of around $250 and free shipping which seemed to be a decent price for a full beaver fedora. The price was $315 before the sale price and they also blocked it long oval for me free of charge. This hat falls under Stetson's new excellent quality.
I was pleasantly surprised with the new hat. The detail is somewhat short of my custom hat but for a mass produced hat I was well pleased. It is a nice medium felt with the brim a little on the stiff side is as all Stetson's are. I tend to wear my brim up in the front so that is okay with me. All of my stetsons are stiff at the beginning but with wear they all soften up.. It has a much nicer and softer head band and is very comfortable. It has a wind cord which is also a nice vintage addition. It is not custom; however, I had it 3 days after ordering it. One other thing I would like to say... many talk about the color running on the modern stetson's. I have 7 of the modern ones from the past 6 years and not a single one has ever bleed in rain or shine. I just wanted to offer a choice of a nice beaver fedora that you can have on your head in a few days. My next hat will probably be another custom but with the sale price I am happy I pulled the plug on the Stetson Bogie. Thank you and have a nice day!

I am surprised you mention the stiffness. I have an Excellent Strat, and two Royal Deluxe 150th Anniversary Stetsons (Racine and Stetsonian). All are quite soft.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[hatsandcanes]

I am surprised you mention the stiffness. I have an Excellent Strat, and two Royal Deluxe 150th Anniversary Stetsons (Racine and Stetsonian). All are quite soft.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

J

I am surprised you mention the stiffness. I have an Excellent Strat, and two Royal Deluxe 150th Anniversary Stetsons (Racine and Stetsonian). All are quite soft.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

The Beaver fur is very soft however, the brim is fairly stiff but not as stiff as the Royal deluxe quality like the Chatham and Whippet. I do like the extra sizer they use as I wear the brim up. I actually have a 150th Chatham that came extra soft and it is nice also. If you like the chatham you will love the bogie. Same crown with a 2.5 brim.

 

[IndianaStan]

Hello all,
This is my second time posting in a forum so I’m still pretty new to it all. But I wanted the opinions of this community since you guys seem to know your stuff when it comes to hats. What is your general opinion on Stetson hats, specifically their fedoras? I personally own six (three straw westerns, a hemp fedora, a felt fedora, and a felt western) and I’m currently interested in buying a Stetson Temple in gray (I believe the color is called “caribou”).
I know they’re pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to quality and price, but they’re a solid brand for me and I haven’t experienced any major issues with their hats.
But what do you guys think of Stetson? How do they compare to Borsalinos and the higher-end hats like Herbert Johnson or even the custom hats made by Indy fans?
Would appreciate some feedback just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks, guys!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hello all,
This is my second time posting in a forum so I’m still pretty new to it all. But I wanted the opinions of this community since you guys seem to know your stuff when it comes to hats. What is your general opinion on Stetson hats, specifically their fedoras? I personally own six (three straw westerns, a hemp fedora, a felt fedora, and a felt western) and I’m currently interested in buying a Stetson Temple in gray (I believe the color is called “caribou”).
I know they’re pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to quality and price, but they’re a solid brand for me and I haven’t experienced any major issues with their hats.
But what do you guys think of Stetson? How do they compare to Borsalinos and the higher-end hats like Herbert Johnson or even the custom hats made by Indy fans?
Would appreciate some feedback just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks, guys!

I’m assuming you’re only talking about the current Stetson lineup and not vintage hats.

Like most large for their niche manufacturers, Stetson makes a diverse range of hat styles and qualities. Leaving the wool hats out of it, their fur felt fedoras are solid choices if you like the styling. Many of us do not care for the modern Stetson build quality, but the hats are serviceable. The shapes and proportions are another common gripe, but if you like the looks then that’s taken care of. I personally stay away from the current Royal line, but others like it for what it is. The Pure and Excellent lines have nice felt if you like the styling, but the build quality is still disappointing.

I’m not a fan of modern/current Borsalino. The current Borsalinos I have are rather floppy and poorly blocked. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive hats are a bit better, but the hats I have at the $350 retail price point are disappointing.

I don’t have any modern HJ hats so someone else might be able to opine there.

Custom hats are all over the map too. Some are great but expensive, some are disappointing but affordable, some are mediocre in quality and price, some are expensive and low quality, and some are high quality and affordable. I’ve yet to see cheap and quality go together. The high quality and affordable makers are what we see the most of here. If your budget allows for $300-400 then for my money custom is the best way to go…unless you are alright with vintage and have the time to search.

 

[IndianaStan]

Thank you for all the insight! I’ll be sure to keep this in mind when it’s time for another hat. Cheers!

 

[AndyR]

The one thing I like most about Stetson is the Stratoliner shape. It's my favorite style. That said, my first and only (so far) Stetson experience is mixed. The one I got stuck with (my fault) had a couple of flaws in the felt. One I fixed on the brim (some squiggly looking indentations) and the other was a diagonal bulge from inside across the bubble on top.

That top issue was 'very' difficult to steam out. It had a memory that was tough to break. It's still not perfect, but it's much better now. So I would say, if you get one with a felt or shape problem, send it back. Don't settle.

I wish I had sent mine back, but it was the second hat due to size and I was down with a back injury and couldn't bother with the hat for a few months, so I kept it.

Wouldn't you know it, the first one in the wrong size that I had to send back was perfect! Just my luck,.

 

[jlee562]

I really do like my modern Stetsons, but you are paying a premium for the brand name, and it really is the brand name, because the Garland plant =/= original Philadelphia factory. A good handful of us picked up the 150th anniversary models which were especially well done. What I like about the modern Stetsons of recent manufacture is that they use good quality leather for the sweatbands. On average, Stetsons have a nice, smooth finish. What I don't like about modern Stetsons is the reliance on clear poly thread to tack on ribbons. The Excellent quality felt is very, very nice. I would just prefer more open crown hats.

The blocked in crease hats are not my favorite, but I did own a Temple back in the day it is a hat with very good proportions. I've actually seen a Strat and an OR out in the wild (aka the SF flower mart) in the past week or so and they look good when broken in a little bit.

I'm not sure what weight HJ is using for their rabbit hats, but the beaver felt is quite substantial. They are using FEPSA bodies, so very good quality. The sweatbands are soft, but not as nice as the roan leather Stetson uses. It was a bit stiffer than I was expecting, but all in all a very nice hat. Michelle at HJ does a good job with the creases, and the choice of liner is a nice bonus. You're also paying a hefty premium for the brand name, but you also get the satisfaction of having the right block (IMO anyways).

 

[belfastboy]

My last new Stetson purchase was a pair of 150th anniversary Stetsonians. I was impressed by the felt quality and overall build quality. I picked them up on a closeout for $125 each which I consider a steal.
My complaint is in the ribbon work. I bought a Cariboo and a Mink brown and both had this horrid cheap black poly ribbon that looked to be machine tacked to the felt with the tack stitches visible from across the room I thought a very poor choice for a hat celebrating their 150th. How much more would it have cost them to put on decent ribbon that complemented the felt colour? First thing I did was change out the ribbon and I now have great hats.