My new (vintage) Borsalino

[flylot74]

OK, I may have paid too much for this hat, but I had to calm the voices in my head

Gonna be eating red beans and rice for a while......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280165497772&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Looks like a great hat, the price really isn't out of line.

I wonder why the fellow would sell his father's hat, though. I guess some folks are less sentimental than others.

I have a hunch you'll really enjoy it and get your money's worth out of it.

 

[deelovely]

Great hat, Flylot74!! And red beans and rice aren't so bad... I like 'em!!

 

[J.T.Marcus]

flylot74, I've got a brown one. You are going to love it! Nothing else compares. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[mingoslim]

A great hat . . .

And I do not beleive that you overpaid . . . I think you got a pretty good deal.
As for the red beans and rice . . . buy a little andouille to throw in for flavor. You will be fine . . .

 

[AlanC]

Great hat, good price. That's about what I paid for mine. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

[fatwoul]

I know Borsalinos are totally different, but now I have my Whippet I understand better what those crinkly-looking crowns are like, and how much wonderful character vintage felts have. They're just different, somehow.

A new hat, you can put a bash into it, and that's the only bash it has, but lots of these vintage hats on here have little dents left right and centre, like fingerprints. Every one of them is unique.

What sort of shape are you planning for your new hat when it arrives?

Wonderful hat. Good find. Enjoy it.

 

[deelovely]

I know Borsalinos are totally different, but now I have my Whippet I understand better what those crinkly-looking crowns are like, and how much wonderful character vintage felts have. They're just different, somehow.
A new hat, you can put a bash into it, and that's the only bash it has, but lots of these vintage hats on here have little dents left right and centre, like fingerprints. Every one of them is unique.
What sort of shape are you planning for your new hat when it arrives?
Wonderful hat. Good find. Enjoy it.

Funny you say that, I just discovered a couple of days ago that I can shape my vintage Borso into a pork pie! Now THAT is a very soft hat that doesn't want to hold much shape, but it does hold the pork pie and looks really neat that way!!

 

[carter]

That's a good price for a vintage Borsalino. Nice color. Enjoy!

 

[ideaguy]

Now that there is one sweet hat! I'd get it cleaned & reblocked, and if it fits
you, you might not want to take it off...great price for that hat, great color, what more could you ask for? (yeah, I know- one in my size, too...):eusa_clap

 

[Colby Jack]

I know Borsalinos are totally different, but now I have my Whippet I understand better what those crinkly-looking crowns are like, and how much wonderful character vintage felts have. They're just different, somehow.

A new hat, you can put a bash into it, and that's the only bash it has, but lots of these vintage hats on here have little dents left right and centre, like fingerprints. Every one of them is unique.

What sort of shape are you planning for your new hat when it arrives?

Wonderful hat. Good find. Enjoy it.

Now Fats...thats what I've been wondering about for a long while. Now that you have a number of different hats...you'll be better able to describe the different feel of each. Can you perhaps start a thread to better describe the finer differences of the different hats you have. Maybe Douglas and the others will chime in. Whatchya think?

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Uh...what THEY said!

 

[Mid-fogey]

I don't know...

...about overpaying. The new ones are over twice that much, and that one seems in pretty new condition.

Enjoy it.

 

[Colby Jack]

Sorry back to the point...Great hat!...and the price of new Borso's run around $250...so you did mighty well!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Johnnysan]

Ditto on all the previous posts...a beautiful hat at a VERY good price. Lose no sleep over this purchase, you'll always be glad you got it!

 

[cookie]

Borsalinos

OK, I may have paid too much for this hat, but I had to calm the voices in my head QUOTE]

There is no calming of the voices until you have your own size 60 vintage Borsa (*stamps feet in totally infantile manner and has bottom smacked by wife*).

 

[carter]

OK, I may have paid too much for this hat, but I had to calm the voices in my head QUOTE]

There is no calming of the voices until you have your own size 60 vintage Borsa (*stamps feet in totally infantile manner and has bottom smacked by wife*).

So you're OK 'bout the Open Road now? lol

 

[flylot74]

It's here! It's here! Oh my! It is a beautiful specimen indeed! I think it's softer than my new Borsolino that I recently bought. I think I like the 3" brim on me better than the 2 1/2" on my brown and my gray snap brim hats! However, I'll let you guys be the judge of that as soon as I can get my wife to take a picture.

It could use a cleaning and blocking, er, bashing. The current bash is a sort of semi-pinched/semi-kinda teardrop, although the more I look at it, the more I'm getting to like it. It's more "casual" looking than the Dobbs snap brim or my new Borso..... so, it's growing on me already.....

The elastic w/button (I know there's gotta be a proper term for it) is stretched. Must be a way to remedy that! I like the narrow ribbon better I think. The liner and sweatband are perfect! Which begs the question, "Did anyone really wear this, or did it just sit someplace and get dirty?"

I will attempt to brush it first to see how much I can clean, but ultimately guys (and gals), where can I send this to have it cleaned and bashed?

And to add to my surprise, the hat came in an industrial strength hat box the likes I've never seen with a leather strap and buckle to secure the top, not the cheezy cardboard boxes one gets today. Something I failed to spot in the picture on OFAS!

OK, now, where did I put that hat cleaning sponge........

 

[DOUGLAS]

You got that hat for a great price. I was seriously tempted. It looks fantastic.

 

[barrowjh]

You landed a great hat a great price. I paid about $35 more for mine, and it is not in as good a shape as that one, and it did not come with a box. Good score! If it were not for the Loewe I sniped from you, I would have cause for jealousy!

After you've cleaned the former 'bash' lines with Scouts, and then you boil some water for steam to set a new bash, then pour some of that hot water into a bowl. Hold the hat and the wind trolley button up, but dip the entire length of the wind trolley string into that hot water and let it set there a few seconds, then take it out. Lay a piece of plastic, like an empty ziploc bag, on the brim and just let the string coil down onto that plastic, then set the hat in the cold (or on an a/c vent) to rapidly cool that string, and leave it be for the night - relaxed. Repeat as necessary. Be careful NOT to have steamed the leather sweatband, as this treatment will shrink it too.