Is my head shrinking?

[Kevlar]

Don't know how common this and if anyone else here in the lounge has experienced this, but here it is: My head seems to be shrinking as I age.

I have been a 7 3/8 LO for decades, but suddenly I find that may not be the case any more. For example, I recently went to Batsakes in Cincinnati to buy a summer hat. I tried on some Dobbs straw fedoras, asking for them in size 7 3/8. I tried on three different hats but the result was the same -- they all came down way too low, almost to the top of the bridge of my nose. But a 7 1/4 fit in the same model much, much better. I then tried on a Dobbs linen trilby, asking for a size large. Wow, same thing happened again -- way too big. I then asked for a size medium and it fit, as Goldilocks would tell it, just right. Again, I have many size large hats at home purchased over the years.

Acting on a hunch, I have since purchased two more 7 1/4 hats, both vintage, and they fit nicely. So is my head shrinking or what? (This is not a hair loss situation, I am doing OK in that department.)

BTW, I ended up with the black linen Dobbs trilby as it was half the price of the straw fedora. As my daughter said it, it is the only way to wear linen without wrinkling it.

 

[casechopper]

Have you lost some hair with age? When I cut my hair shorter I drop about 1/2 a hat size.


Thanks,
Sam

 

[Lotsahats]

How about weight loss? That can also alter hat size.

A

 

[T Jones]

Then again, not all hats fit the same. I wear a 7 1/8 LO, supposedly. I have a Stetson LO that fits me perfect and I have a Knox LO that fits too snug. I also have a Resistiol LO that fits a little large to where I have to pad the sweat a little. Now for my 7 1/4s, I have both a vintage Resistol and a vintage Bradford 7X in 7 1/4 that fit me perfectly. I have two more 7 1/4s, one a Western hat and the other is an Akubra (58), both large on me. I have two Stetson 7 1/8s that fit me okay, a tad tight, and another 7 1/8 Bradford ,(John Galt's hat now), that I can barely get on my head. Hat sizes can vary from one manufacturer to the next. I'm a 7 1/8 LO in some hats and a 7 1/4 in others.

 

[Lotsahats]

Heard that, TJ. I'm usually a 7 3/8 LO if I can get it, but even some 7 1/4s fit, while the odd 7 3/8 is too tight.

A

 

[facade]

The answer should be obvious. Do your existing hats no longer fit? If they are now too large then something about you has changed. If not then the new brands you tried just run larger.

 

[Duper]

I am thinking the older hats may have snugged up over time and the newer hats are sized differently making this apples and oranges for sizing. Could it be?

 

[fedoracentric]

Often when I try on a band new hat the size 7 seems closer. But in vintage 7-1/8 is often better.

 

[fedoracentric]

Wait, is your wife (or girlfriend) from Peru or Ecuador? She may be related to those headshrinkers!

 

[Zombie_61]

...Hat sizes can vary from one manufacturer to the next...

And sometimes even from the same manufacturer. I have four Akubras--two Fed IVs, and two Campdrafts, all size 60--and after the expected "shrink to fit" common with Akubra hats the Campdrafts are a full centimeter smaller than the Fed IVs. The Campdrafts aren't uncomfortable, but they have a noticeably "more snug" fit than the Fed IVs.

 

[T Jones]

And sometimes even from the same manufacturer. I have four Akubras--two Fed IVs, and two Campdrafts, all size 60--and after the expected "shrink to fit" common with Akubra hats the Campdrafts are a full centimeter smaller than the Fed IVs. The Campdrafts aren't uncomfortable, but they have a noticeably "more snug" fit than the Fed IVs.

I've read other posts where people have said basically the samething about Fed IVs fitting differently from other Akubras.

 

[LuvMyMan]

You all realize, if there were some "gizmo" to change a head size...........lol!

I think that from one hat to the next, it could be tagged the same as the next hat, but maybe not fit the same.

Daniel started wearing a 7 3/8 LO but now most of the hats that size are way too small. Next was the 7 1/2 LO and even at times those can be snug. However, one hat that fit (a bit snug) was a vintage Dunlap fedora, it was a 7 1/4 LO.....haircuts and a person's weight does have some factor in all of it....but that is also why we have "hat jacks"......

 

[TheDane]

- and you also often sweat your hat smaller. Heat and moisture make fur felt - and felting makes the hat-body smaller

 

[Wolfwood]

I've read other posts where people have said basically the samething about Fed IVs fitting differently from other Akubras.

They have a separate sizing table for the Federations at Hatsdirect. Or at least they did when I bought my Federations from them a few years back.