My Borsalino Trionfo Bari. How to date a modern Borsalino? Decipher the tag?

[bluesmandan]

I bought a NOS Borsalino on Ebay the other day. It was a Buy it Now or Best Offer... He was asking $175 so I offered him $100 and he accepted. It arrived today. It's a Trionfo Bari from Bencraft. It was listed as vintage era, but it is not; it is modern one with a computer printed tag underneath the sweatband.

About the hat: It has a soft (seemingly unstiffened) crown, with a wide ribbon and a 3 1/2" brim. The brim is quite large and makes the hat feel like a dress western or an outback style hat, though the shape of the brim is to slightly curl up in the back. Actually, the whole brim seems to want to curl up, and will need to be tamed. Any pointers on taming an ungainly brim, or "setting" the crown to a more permanent shape?

The white tag under the sweatband reads:
Cod. Col. 07A003595
104472 0421 58

What do these symbols all mean? 58 is obviously the size. The rest, I have no idea. I'm guessing the first 07 means made in 2007? Is there a quality designation in here somewhere?

 

[jlee562]

That's the way the brim is flanged.

 

[bluesmandan]

Can the flange be tamed so it isn't quite so pronounced?

 

[The Good]

I think that hat has a very good look. Fedoras with very wide brims are not common, but they are distinctive, and in your case, I think it works. There's a rakish element to it that suggests confidence. I think even with the brim turned upward all around, it would be a good look. If you could try it, show pictures like that as well.

 

[bluesmandan]

I think that hat has a very good look. Fedoras with very wide brims are not common, but they are distinctive, and in your case, I think it works. There's a rakish element to it that suggests confidence. I think even with the brim turned upward all around, it would be a good look. If you could try it, show pictures like that as well.

kinda goofy looking with the brim turned up all around... and it won't turn up evenly... three spots turn up, kinda like a triangle, with the front turning up, and then the back corners, too.

 

[mayserwegener]

I can't remember the dating with these new tags. It might be 1995. I believe Besdor / Steven (Bencraft Hatters) sold this model so he might chime in.

 

[The Good]

kinda goofy looking with the brim turned up all around... and it won't turn up evenly... three spots turn up, kinda like a triangle, with the front turning up, and then the back corners, too.
View attachment 22846

Thanks for showing this. Is that hat with a dimensional brim, like the Akubra Federation IV for example? The front does look longer, from that angle. I think I like that particular hat turned down, the most, even though turned up is a great style for the Akubra I mentioned.

 

[besdor]

The hat was made in 2007. Borsalino hats hats made since 1994 will have a year code printed on the label. Before that , it was just a six digit number . Prior to that there were year code from 1976 until 1985 when the factory moved to its present location.
You paid 100$.. not bad. We sell sell this model altough the brims have gotten a little smaller over the past two years.

 

[bluesmandan]

Thanks for showing this. Is that hat with a dimensional brim, like the Akubra Federation IV for example? The front does look longer, from that angle. I think I like that particular hat turned down, the most, even though turned up is a great style for the Akubra I mentioned.

No, it is 3.5" all the way around by my measurement. The dimensional look of the picture is because it was taken from so close... exaggerates the perspective.

 

[bluesmandan]

The hat was made in 2007. Borsalino hats hats made since 1994 will have a year code printed on the label. Before that , it was just a six digit number . Prior to that there were year code from 1976 until 1985 when the factory moved to its present location.
You paid 100$.. not bad. We sell sell this model altough the brims have gotten a little smaller over the past two years.

Thanks. Do you know what any of the other symbols/numbers mean?

There's very little information available about this hat. At least when you google it, it pulls up nothing. A couple of pictures. Like this one from a 2011/2012 catalog:

 

[jlee562]

Can the flange be tamed so it isn't quite so pronounced?

Provided you find a hatter with the flange you want, it's quite simple. My guess is that such a wide brim absent any stitching/welting/binding is just going to be a bit more untameable.

 

[mayserwegener]

The hat was made in 2007. Borsalino hats hats made since 1994 will have a year code printed on the label. Before that , it was just a six digit number .

Thanks! I was aware of the 1976-85 format. Is it always the first two digits post 1994? What about this one?

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?13133-The-BORSALINO-BROTHERHOOD&p=1888316&viewfull=1#post1888316

 

[bluesmandan]

I called up Bencraft to get info on the hat, like the felt quality. I asked what kind of felt it was made of... the fella said "rabbit fur and felt." I said, "yes, I know it's felt, but what's it made of?" "Felt." Okay. He didn't know. I kind of thought there would be beaver in the hat, but apparently not. Or maybe the guy had no idea...

I'm thinking about trimming the brim down a bit... haven't decided... I think it will take that big swoop out of the flange. Or maybe swap out the dressy ribbon for a more casual hatband... probably both. I think it will make a good cool weather golf hat...

 

[tommyK]

The guy you talked to at Bencraft was probably right. It's most likely made of rabbit fur. Not likely beaver and little or no beaver content

 

[bluesmandan]

Yeah, he's probably right about the rabbit fur, but what is the "other felt" that the rabbit is mixed with?

 

[tommyK]

Well, there are several different types of rabbit and depending on whether they're having trouble sourcing rabbit fur like Akubra recently was, for example. There may be other varmint type animal fur mixed in. Nutria, mink and "others" which could mean "god knows what".

 

[bluesmandan]

I'm getting used to the Bari and its large brim. I also steamed it and worked on the bash as well as the shaping of the brim. I gave it a teardrop, and once the brim was steamed and flattened it was tamed considerably... it's still a big flange in the back but the overall shape of the brim seems more subtle now, and it will flip up or down no problem, without the weird triangle shape that it had before. So I'm getting used to it and getting to like it. I do have some new hatbands coming in today that I'll put on it.

 

[besdor]

Current Borsalino hats are made of a blend of rabbit fur and hare (Big rabbit!) .

 

[bluesmandan]

Here's the Bari with a new hatband, to make it a little more casual...

 

[bluesmandan]

Update. I trimmed the brim from 3.5" down to 3". The big brim made me feel a little too much like Zorro.

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