Mia Borsalino

[deanglen]

Just to show that I'm not lost in campaign hat hell, I thought I'd post some shots of a hat a friend of mine gave me. It's a Borsa, but I sure it's not vintage, he bought just a few years ago new at a store called Henry the hatter in Southfield, MI, but it only indicates size "Large" and apparently wasn't big enough for his head. Fits me great and looks much better than my bald head with its fringe of greying hair! That's what I like about hats: temporary image enhancement! The second photo was taken the same day, and that's a vintage 1940 Ford pick-up.

 

[RBH]

Looking very dapper my friend!

Looking good, That straw really looks great with the brim turned down.
I think it has a more casual summer look to it.
You wear it well...

 

[Razzman]

Very nice hat. Which, I might add you wear quite well. :eusa_clap

 

[deanglen]

Thank you, for the encouragement. I have yet to acquire a real fedora and haven't thought they looked okay on me, at least the ones I tried on. I think I need taper to the crown, like, dare I say, the campaign hats have. Thanks again to you guys.

dean

 

[art92101]

Cool hat~

Looks good on you. Is it a pinch or C Crown?

 

[deanglen]

Looks good on you. Is it a pinch or C Crown?

Narrow tear drop, I think.

 

[Panamabob]

Is it a Cuenca Brisa Cocoa? I'm too fuzzy on the photo!

 

[analogist]

You are a fedora man--no doubt about it.

Not only do you look teriffic in the Borsa straw but a felt fedora would look equally nice. Should you want more info on the hat, our own besdor (Steven) is certainly an expert on modern Borsalino hats and he could quote "chapter and verse" on it.

As far as getting a quality felt fedora, the Lounge is filled with quality vendors most or all with whom I have dealt and I am sure they will give you proper information to direct you correctly.

I own several top notch fedoras in straw and felt and I might be willing to swap one for the truck.

Wear it in the best of health!

analogist

 

[deanglen]

Is it a Cuenca Brisa Cocoa? I'm too fuzzy on the photo!

There is a small piece of silk attatched to the inside crown that reads:

"Qualita' Superiore"

Then a crown graphic, then"

"Borsalino" then

"1857 Italia Marca Depositata"

No model name indicated.

I'm pretty sure it's one of the modern less than sought after types. The sweatband has "Borsalino" on it. But I'll bet it's no great shakes. I think the seatband is some kind of cloth material. I admit I drooped the brim in back because I liked it better than having it turned up. I wouldn't mind a felt hat like this one.

dean

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Dean, the hat looks great and you wear it well. Sometimes we all get caught up in the name in the crown or on the sweatband. Higher quality hats may in fact last longer than we ourselves, but what do we realy want out of a hat? The style, the comfort, the protection it provides. If you like what is on your head, thats to say it does what you ask of it, who is anyone else to challenge that?
Cheers to you and enjoy:cheers1:

 

[RBH]

AdventureBilt

One of "Fedora's" AdventureBilt hats would look great on you. Maybe without the Indy turn.
Maybe you may can get you an Open Road at a good price. I think these look great on anyone. [with the fedora crease of course.. {tear drop or c-crown}]
Check out Steves site.
http://www.adventurebilthats.com/

 

[deanglen]

I tried on an Open Road. And of course, I didn't like the cattleman's crease, which is weird because I like the campaign hat crease which is a rather extreme, tight version of the cattleman's crease:

but to change one of those to a tear drop, pinch and dents, or C-crown would take Old Faithful to steam it into shape. It was one tough, rigid hunk of fur felt, that popped when you flicked it with your finger. Are the vintage ORs like that? I must say I like the idea of a hat with some give, a softness, aside from my beloved campaign hats, if I'm going to wear it a lot...and drop my birthday money on it.

dean

 

[Dinerman]

my open road is as soft as butter.
I think the newer ones are rigid, but I don't have on of 'em.

 

[RBH]

The hat in my avatar was shaped with a spray bottle of cold water. The cattlemans crease looks good.. but for me I like the ol' fedora style shape.
The new ones are stiff.. really stiff. A vintage one is usally worth what you pay for it. What size do you wear?

 

[deanglen]

The hat in my avatar was shaped with a spray bottle of cold water. The cattlemans crease looks good.. but for me I like the ol' fedora style shape.
The new ones are stiff.. really stiff. A vintage one is usally worth what you pay for it. What size do you wear?

Regular 7 3/8 are tight front and back, so I guess I need the Long Oval 7 3/8 if I can get it. RBH, WHY are the new OR so RIGID?[huh] And.. can someone UN-rigid them? There's a vintage 7 3/8 OR on e-bay (where else?) right now and two bids have it up to $41 already with about 6 days to go. Does anyone want a rockhard hat like that? I mean, besides a working cowboy whose hat might end up under a hoof at some point. I imagine you could boil the thing, but it would just get hard again, wouldn't it?

dean

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

My Open Road is quite soft, although since it has such a crisp Cattleman's crease I haven't tried to reshape it. I don't know how old it it, but here are the logos inside:

 

[deanglen]

Hi Tony, great to hear from you! So there you have it. The vintage hats are the best! They're not taco shells, more like flour tortillas, and therefore SOMEONE :rage: said,"I know, let's make'em bounce when they drop! No more pliable hats. Viva the cattleman crusties!"

dean

 

[Kevin Popejoy]

It's my understanding that the vintage and therefore soft felt Open Roads have brown sweatbands while the new stiff ones have black sweatbands. Can anyone verify that?

Kevin

 

[feltfan]

It's my understanding that the vintage and therefore soft felt Open Roads have brown sweatbands while the new stiff ones have black sweatbands. Can anyone verify that?
Kevin

I have a vintage (probably 50s) Stetson 25 Open
Road that is stiff. It was an option at that time, too,
so "vintage and therefore soft felt" is not correct.
The felt is really nice. I replaced the old sweat band,
but the original was brown.

There's info on this site regarding the brown vs. black
Stetson sweatbands from people who know more than I do.
But the bottom line is that most of those vintage ORs
were soft, some were not. Most of the vintage Stetsons
had brown sweats, some did not.

 

[ideaguy]

Getting back to your photos-you'd look great in any fedora-no need to narrow it down to an OR or a Fed; if you can, try on a few different hats-sometimes your head will tell you what's best, just feels right, almost like it's not there...
I've got 3 OR's, 2 vintage and soft, 1 newer and soft...no problem in reshaping over steam, maybe I got lucky. Any way you decide to go, IMO you'd look dandy in a fedora!