Looking for hat information?

[deadlyhandsome]

If you will consider a custom, and can wait the eleven weeks for delivery, give Staker Hats a look. Not only do they offer rabbit, beaver, and blended fur felt, they also give you the option of fedora/dress weight felt or western weight felt when they make fedoras. I have one on order but until I receive it I can’t personally comment on quality. For their rabbit hats, prices start at $200 and you get to specify brim width, amount of flange, crown height, binding/raw edge, sweat, etc. There are no shortage of custom hatter who can make you exactly what you want.

Another option is to convert, or have someone else convert, a western hat into a fedora. This is easily done and results in a heavy weight fedora that can take some punishment. The Coversion Corral thread here on the Lounge will show you what is possible.

Lastly, fur felt is tough, but not that tough. If you subject it to what most of us would consider abuse then you have to accept that it will wear out. If you don’t want to baby them a bit more then you might have to see them as consumable items that will need to be replaced every few years. No judgment; I get not wanting to have to be concerned about your gear when working.

Let us know what you decide (I’m curious).

 

[JC225]

Hey everybody,

I wanted to say hello and thanks again for all of the replies and great information over the last couple of weeks. It was a tough decision but after some great advice from all of you and some amazing guidance from "Mr. Barnes" over in the "Homburg Nation", I acquired this little beauty today and couldn't be happier.

Thanks again everybody!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hey everybody,

I wanted to say hello and thanks again for all of the replies and great information over the last couple of weeks. It was a tough decision but after some great advice from all of you and some amazing guidance from "Mr. Barnes" over in the "Homburg Nation", I acquired this little beauty today and couldn't be happier.

Thanks again everybody!

Wow! That hat is pristine. I hope to see more of it.

 

[Redfokker]

Hey everybody,

I wanted to say hello and thanks again for all of the replies and great information over the last couple of weeks. It was a tough decision but after some great advice from all of you and some amazing guidance from "Mr. Barnes" over in the "Homburg Nation", I acquired this little beauty today and couldn't be happier.

Thanks again everybody!

Very nice. These photos belong in the homburg nation thread. Pristine condition. You are off to an excellent start my friend.

 

[JC225]

I appreciate it fella's!

I'm extremely pleased with the way it all worked out. I will be honest, I was pretty set on buying something new and I'm glad I found the Lounge before making that decision. The quality, feel and looks are incredible. It will take and hold any shape and that fact that it's a vintage allowed me to try and research when and where it possibly came from and that in itself has been a blast.

John

 

[Just Jim]

Lastly, fur felt is tough, but not that tough. If you subject it to what most of us would consider abuse then you have to accept that it will wear out. If you don’t want to baby them a bit more then you might have to see them as consumable items that will need to be replaced every few years. No judgment; I get not wanting to have to be concerned about your gear when working.

Let us know what you decide (I’m curious).

Desert Dog put me on to a couple of Resistol and Stetson options I'd not heard of (thanks DD!), which lead me down the rabbit trails of old catalogs and some archives. . . leading in turn to more search terms (did I mention rabbit trails?). I've now got a list of models and color names from various makers that likely match what I'm looking for. If nothing else, I've got enough information I could start discussions with a custom maker.

I do tend to view hats as consumables, and as with any consumable I hate it when I can no longer acquire what I want off-the-shelf. I'll probably continue the now-expanded search, and try to acquire several hats so that when one is worn out I have another waiting.

Thanks again to everyone for their help!

 

[mmbarnes]

I appreciate it fella's!

I'm extremely pleased with the way it all worked out. I will be honest, I was pretty set on buying something new and I'm glad I found the Lounge before making that decision. The quality, feel and looks are incredible. It will take and hold any shape and that fact that it's a vintage allowed me to try and research when and where it possibly came from and that in itself has been a blast.

John

Fantastic beginning, John. It's so awesome when a first swing is a home run. And that's a grand slam.

I do feel obligated to warn you, though...

BEWARE!!!

 

[JC225]

I appreciate it Matt and thanks again for all the wonderful guidance on my first journey. It's funny, I just finished up grabbing some lunch and I was leaving the restaurant as a gentleman walked out that was wearing a long overcoat and a beautiful fedora. I just had to smile and comment on his hat and we ended having a wonderful conversation about hats, style's and the gold old days.

So glad to be part of the family.

 

[Zombie_61]

I appreciate it fella's!

I'm extremely pleased with the way it all worked out. I will be honest, I was pretty set on buying something new and I'm glad I found the Lounge before making that decision. The quality, feel and looks are incredible. It will take and hold any shape and that fact that it's a vintage allowed me to try and research when and where it possibly came from and that in itself has been a blast.

John

I appreciate it Matt and thanks again for all the wonderful guidance on my first journey. It's funny, I just finished up grabbing some lunch and I was leaving the restaurant as a gentleman walked out that was wearing a long overcoat and a beautiful fedora. I just had to smile and comment on his hat and we ended having a wonderful conversation about hats, style's and the gold old days.

So glad to be part of the family.

Oh, you definitely belong here. Welcome home John!

 

[ecleccentric]

Hi all,

Do any of the experts now which hat is David Beckham wearing in these photos at the following URLs?

https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/te...gor-dimitrov-david-beckham-1022588-2017-07-05

https://www.gossipcop.com/david-beckham-midlife-crisis-partying/

 

[jlee562]

Impossible to say by those pictures, not enough available information to judge distinguishing characteristics (such as crown height and ribbon height). Whatever it is, it's well worn.

He popped up once or twice in the Christy's instagram, so it's possible that it's one of theirs.

 

[Edward]

Unless he shops in Bates or Locks, it's most likely Christys (assuming bought new in the UK).

 

[Zoukatron]

The colours don't look like they match up with anything that Lock, Bates, Christy's or Laird currently put out (if the colours in the picture are not true, there are a couple Bates hats it could be), however, the ribbon could have been replaced.

 

[Redfokker]

A thrift store find. Going for the rumpled look.

 

[ecleccentric]

Ah, thank you!

I own some akubras. How does a Christy's or Bates hat compare?

 

[jlee562]

The felt will probably have a nicer/softer hand than an Akubra, but won't be nearly as resilient to the elements.

 

[RJR]

The felt will probably have a nicer/softer hand than an Akubra, but won't be nearly as resilient to the elements.

+1

 

[Zoukatron]

There are already some threads on the qualities of these hats. I can't speak for Bates, having not handled any of their stock, but I can speak for Christy's, Lock and Laird. Christy's have nice felt and (for a theoretically London based company) a reasonable price for the quality of that felt... however, their hats suffer from sloppy workmanship, I've owned a couple which I have just had to return (some people on the lounge have Christy's that they enjoy). Lock have nice felt, good workmanship but monstrous prices (the same goes for Bates) on account of their history and London location. Laird give the impression of being more reasonably priced, but are really not much cheaper than Lock or Bates - I handled some of their cheaper fur felts recently to enquire about getting open crowned versions, and the felt was really not nice, very rough and stiff - their nicer felt hats are really very similar in price to Lock and Bates. I think a Lock or Bates is a nice hat to have for the history and the name, kind of as a treat (the reason I have my Lock homburg), but if you already have multiple Akubras I would not suggest getting regular day-to-day hats there. As a minor aside, some of these London hatters will make custom caps as well - Laird are making some flat caps for me to match some jackets I'm having made at a tailor they work with.

 

[jlee562]

So this video popped into my YouTube recommendations, ostensibly a tour of the Christy's factory, at the 3:00 mark, they show a brass embossing die with the Bates logo.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I have it on good authority that it's a lock & co, like a lot of Dave's caps & hats.