New Hats and Rain

[1961MJS]

Hi

Apparently getting a new hat causes rain. We did get a little in Oklahoma City last night. I picked up the new Tumwater at lunch. I managed to get a few drops on it. Now it they'll just fix the upstairs guy's shower.

later

 

[Bird Lives]

Thanks guys for all the support and good vibes...It did help...I decided to look for vintage...My wife came up with a super cool vintage shop in a bohemian section of Istanbul....I tried many hats...I was knocked out by a vintage Borsalino....

I bought the Borsalino for $100...the fur felt looks like new...the logo on the satin liner looks like the no. 4 on on the Dating Borsalinos by logo thread, which is suppose to be around the 40's...The satin liner is covered with the yellowed with age onion skin lining protector....the serial is:T5588 8346
It was made to sell in Europe so the only size marking says 60cm..thats exactly my size and it fits perfect...So it apparently hasn't shrunk any...What do you think ?....could it be old enough to stand up to a little weather?

Its a beauty!! Dark Navy Blue....It is a 5 1/2" open crown with a little taper....I put a center dent crease and its app. 4 3/4"....2" brim....I believe its a San Remo because of the measurements...
The fur felt is so lite and easy to shape...looks like that video of someone shaping a green Art-lite, I've seen around here...

I'm hopeing this one will be safe if caught in a shower...I want to wear it daily..

 

[danofarlington]

The main danger from rain, it seems to me after having worn vintage felt fedoras in downpours, is shrinkage of the sweatband, misshaping of brim and crown, and color running. My experience is that the crown shape doesn't change much after getting wet. The brim might, but with a 2" brim, that probably won't happen. The shrinkage thing could happen, although inserting a Hat Jack to the sweatband after wearing when wet could prevent that. As to color, my MacLachlan green fedora bleached a little bit after a couple of heavy downpours. Anything less than a heavy downpour, though, soaking the hat completely, may not affect the color. If you classify the hat as a "wearing hat' rather than a fine dress hat, go ahead and get it wet, nothing will probably happen. And, in the rain you will learn the limits of weather to your hat, which is a lesson you can take to your next hat purchase. You're set up perfectly to test it out.

 

[Bird Lives]

I realize this has been 6 years since this was a live thread. But someone "liked" this the other day...So I feel I need to bring it up to speed...

I Was afraid of the weather and damage to my fur felt...
Well I have since picked up a Lock & Co Sandown and have worn it for three years of snow, downpours, hiking in daily Seattle rainstorms...I hang the hat on a hat stand when I get home...And don't leave it in a Hot room or in a Hot car in the Summer...And this hat is bullet-proof, knock on wood. No shrinkage or color loss or any of the things we talk about in this article...Iit keeps me dry, and warm in the Winter and keeps me cool and the Sun off of my head in the Summer.

So if anyone looking to get into fur felt fedoras and you google your way into this post....Just buy a quality fur felt and wear it!! I brush mine occasionally and wear it all the time...Looks like new. Buy guality, it pays off, and is a good investment!

 

[scottyrocks]

The worst rain I've ever been in with a fedora on my head was during a summer day quite a few years ago.

I was wearing my well-worn Fed III because, well, that's what I wore at that time during my outdoors-all-day job.

Well, that one day was a toad-strangler. I had to be out in it for many minutes at a time several times. The hat got wet to the point that my head was wet, as well. The hat was so heavy it was laying on ears.

The trick to keeping the hat from losing its shape was to carefully help it keep its shape by taking it off my head and poking at it occasionally, exaggerating the dimensions just a bit to counteract any shrinkage or other funkiness (it was already an old and beaten thing). When I got home I checked every crease and dimension and then placed it lightly on a block so that both the crown and brim would dry in the desired shapes, creases and curves.

By the end of the next day you could barely tell anything had happened. The hat was as it had always been. And dry.