Is there no end?

[tonyb]

Thanks Steve. How about nutria? Ever worked with it?
And chinchilla? Or are those furs you might make a high-end lady's coat from kinda gimmicky? Or not?

 

[photobyalan]

Actually, not always. As we know, people selling hats on
eBay rarely know what they are selling. That's good for the
buyer when we can snatch up something nice by identifying,
often through terrible photos, a treasure, and paying peanuts.

But when the stakes are high let the buyer and seller beware.
If I pay over $100 (or heaven forbid, over $200) I'm going to
be cross if the "like new" or "perfect" hat arrives with surprise
moth bites or a crumbly sweat band. eBay is very poorly
prepared for such disputes.

That's easily the most cogent argument I've ever heard against bidding up a vintage hat to a price approaching a new, high quality hat. I would certainly spring for the extra $75 for one of Art's creations before I would ever pay $200 for a vintage hat sight unseen from ebay.

Vintage hats may indeed be superior in quality (in general), but I'm also looking for value. Part of that value equation is the amount of risk I am undertaking in buying the hat. There is definitely a risk buying hats (or anything, for that matter) from ebay. Each of us needs to decide for him (or her)self what dollar value to place on that risk. For me, it's probably $100 to $150, meaning that I would always stop bidding when the price of the auction hat got within $150 of what a new, quality hat would cost. Usually I stop way before that.

 

[Fedora]

How about nutria? Ever worked with it?
And chinchilla? Or are those furs you might make a high-end lady's coat from kinda gimmicky? Or not?

I have been told that nutria is very close to beaver in feel, but I have never seen a pure nutria hat, so I cannot really say. I have also heard that nutria has a habit of shrinking more after felting, but I cannot verify this, just heresay really. I bought some hat bodies from Argentina last year, 80 per cent nutria, 20 per cent hare, but they were not as nice as the 80/20 beaver/hare from the same folks. So, there may be a difference, I dunno. I would not buy this felt from them again, if that tells you anything. I have found much better beaver felt, and it is mostly beaver too from a very old company that made lots of those vintage bodies the guys here love.

On the exotic blends, well, we all have our opinions. If you do the research, you will find, that beaver has always been the choice of hatters, especially the ones from the 19th century. The USA was opened up in part to the fur trade, due to the demand of beaver pelts. Europe had plenty of rabbits!! Of course, the reason was in part due to the ease of felting that the beaver underfur achieves, but also the very soft finish, and general fineness of the felt. You can make felt from any underfur, some just works better than others. Perhaps some of the real hatters(I have only been doing it for a few years), can chime in. I am all ears when these guys talk!! But, I have a character flaw that involves me voicing my opinions, so pardon any unintended patronizing. :cheers1: Fedora

Personally, I feel the exotic blends were just a marketing technique. A way to increase retails, as the high end hats were already being made of pure beaver. I could be wrong, but until I hear a really old hatter honestly say different, I will believe this.