OK, ready for hats, need advice.

[Weston]

Well, they say with the pushers the first one's free.

How do I measure my head?

Anything to look out for when buying off eBay?

I'd like to find a nice gray hat to go with a navy pinstripe suit, a brown fedora for knockabout, then a black fedora to go with my marryin' and buryin' suit.

Advice?

 

[Feraud]

How do I measure my head?

Measure with a string or tape measure in inches the circumference of your head where you normally wear a hat. Someone recently provided a couple of links for hat size conversions. Get your hat size and start shopping.

Anything to look out for when buying off eBay?

Yeah, watch out for the crap!

 

[John in Covina]

HAT stuff!

Go here for Sizing generalities:
http://www.millerhats.com/hatsize.html

Go here for matching up a good style "rules"
http://www.millerhats.com/hatcare_index/hatfaces.html

A diatribe on Ebay:
E-Bay and Searches

This is an interesting topic because it exposes the weak link in E-Bay, the seller. It is not uncommon for a seller to have absolutely no idea what they are selling and I am not talking hats here. Recently In a search for some item I come across East German “Come-A-Long” a chain with holders that operates similar to a handcuff. It was described as a tie holder! The inability of a percentage of sellers to correctly or adequately list the item they are selling makes the search harder but can provide opportunities for the diligent searcher.

Now they thing is you have to break your search down to certain elements and then look at each element. Many people don’t know what a fedora is and the proof is to search for “fedora” and look at the hats that come up, Homburgs, Straw Boaters, and the occasional cowboy hat. If you punch in “fedora” and have the search for “all categories” all sorts of stuff will come up from computer programs to perfumes and all sorts in between. E-bay provides secondary filters that will winnow it down to only “clothing” or only “men’s” or only “vintage.” You may select these but if you’re in a hairy pursuit of a specific item it is good to search each category even though there will be stuff you’re not looking for in the resulting list.

Terminology matters, say you are looking for a Dobbs Hat Box, searching those three words together will invariably result in a list of Dobbs hat Boxes. However, some people will not know or remember that a hat box is a hat box and may call it a container of some sort. If you can come up with common alternate descriptions you should try those. Also you could try putting in Dobbs or Dobbs Hat and spend time weeding thru the list. Also some people are selling the hat and box together, if the hat is total crap, the price may remain low and you could buy the combo simply for the box you needed. So there are filters to help you, but you have to do the due diligence for an intelligent search. Sometimes you need to go thru a big selection like Hat, because you never know when someone has tied selling a great hat they know nothing about to some other bizarre item.

When ever something is made idiot proof, the idiots seem to rise to the challenge and we find better idiots! Those E-bay listings are proof. So now we all know that good clear pictures with as much detail is a good thing and a good description is a boon to searches, but when these two are not quite up to snuff, it can provide opportunity for the astute. Let’s say you on a hunt for something and you find a listing, poorly worded with a fuzzy picture. You’ve poured over the picture like a bomb run expert back at Bomber Command HQ. You realize that what the seller has is a legendary Manicotti Brand Fedora in that Burnt Sienna color with Burnt Umber ribbon. Now comes the challenge, is the listing poor because the seller doesn’t know what he has, or has the seller cleverly disguised his poor condition hat in an attempt to portray the listing as the work of an incompetent or inexperience seller? If incompetent, you may have an opportunity since the regular crew of buyers may not realize the items potential and pass it up. Now comes the gamble, but in a situation like this calls for a lowball price, not to get too high without better information.

Happy Hat Hunting!

 

[John in Covina]

Hat questions for seller or buyer with some repeating!

Men’s Dress Hats, Questions for the Seller & Buyer!

There are a variety of styles of hats that fall under the category of Men’s Dress hats. The most famous is the FEDORA, which has wide latitudes and parameters for dimensions yet still falls under the description. Your best bet is to do some research visiting online stores to get a good description and look at pictures to match up with the hat you’re selling. Still, “Fedora” is a much misused term with sellers calling all sorts of men’s hats, a ‘fedora’ that are not. HOMBURGS are also in the mix and are similar to a fedora but the especially the brim and sometimes the crown are shaped differently. BOWLERS, DERBIES, TOP HATS, PORK PIES, ALPINE and STINGY BRIMS are the usual suspects that round out those normally found in men’s dress hats.

First off, the best of these hats are made of fur felt, either: beaver, rabbit, nutria orsynthetic. It can be a blend! Occasionally, you may find an exotic fur used in the felt. If you are positive of the content, please list it, exotic fur felt can be quite desirable. Also, there are some well made hats that contain synthetic materials that were blended with real fur to make the felt. The dress hat has a relative in Western hats, both using fur felt bodies to make the hat. Western hats often have different beaver contents are noted as X’s, with the idea that more X’s are better felts. Although wool felt hats can be well made and serviceable, fur felt is generally noted as a better quality.

The quality of the felt may allow for cleaning and re-blocking plus re-sizing sometimes but these are moderate to expensive restorations when done by professionals. The cleaning and restoration of hats were once available in most towns and cities. Now there are only a small number of hatters and shops prepared to do this work. Amateurs should consider many repairs in the realm of pros only, unless they have many hats to practice on to get the experience. Some defects are not repairable or extremely difficult to do such as holes or divots in the felt. Holes can come from too much improper handling and the dreaded “moth bites.” Moth larva may munch on the felt creating small holes and divot like tracks along the surface of the felt. Moth balls or flakes or even cedar blocks should be utilized in the storage area to keep these destructive pests away from your quality hats. Any holes or divots need to be described and shown in photos if possible. Dirt, dust, stains, smudges, or damages to the surface again must be described and shown in photos. Dust and dirt may be cleaned by a knowledgeable person, but should not be done by the untrained as the felt can be quickly and irreversibly damaged. Spots and stains are not always removable and again should be noted and photographed.

Smells or odors should be noted, most can be removed by cleaning, although just a good an airing out may work. Failing that the hat may be placed in a big plastic bag with a box of baking soda like the refrigerator odor removal type for about a week. Don’t get that baking soda on the hat though!

Always try to show pictures of the details of the imprints on the sweatband and the liner. Careful checking under the sweatband may reveal tags with codes that are of interest to the collector. The style of crests and such can often be used to find the era of manufacture. Occasionally an actual date may be revealed and that is good detective work to the delight of the collector. Be sure to include all of the liner, sweatband imprints and tag information in your written description! Be as accurate and complete in your description as you can. If you can do “macro” or close up pictures of these details that clearly show them all the better, it will help sell the hat.

Take clear and focused pictures from every conceivable angle: outside: top, bottom, front back and both sides. Inside: close-ups of any imprints and details. The box, if you have a box, can be a generic hat box or a box that is specific to your hat or in can be totally unrelated. Still , describe fully and accurately and photograph, list the box information and photos at the end of the ad. Try to describe the colors of the hat and the box, as color pictures doesn’t always render correctly on the computer monitor. Fuzzy pictures are a detriment and a headache, and buyers often feel it is a ploy to try to hide defects. Also do not clutter the picture with other items or try to be artsy. Try using a plain background such as a solid light colored blanket, table cloth or sheet. Sometimes you can prop up a hat to effectively show the curl of the brim. Try to refrain from cutesy posing like using the dog or your toddler with the hat, it distracts and detracts from the hat. By concentrating on the hat in your description and photos, you do the buyer a big favor.

Measurements and dimensions are critical to the style and size of a man’s hat so be prepared to measure! Inches with fractions works best but metric can be worked out for most buyers. Describe the Crown & give height front and rear. Describe the brim, as to the WIDTH. Does it curve up or down or both? Please measure width from the base of the crown, at or near where the bottom of the ribbon or band is, and out to the edge. Also note, some hats are wider at the front and the rear than the sides, you may wish to measure all of these sections to be sure.

Good pictures of the ribbon and the bow are essential too! Also the edge of the brim maybe worked in a variety of ways such as raw, bound, stitched, folded and pressed all of which are of interest to the collector or user. Sometimes you may find a button with a string or cord attached to the hat. This is referred to as a Wind Trolley, and by other names. It attached the hat to the man to keep it from being blown away and lost.

Even if you find a size tag, note that old and unworn hats tend to shrink, so you should double check and list the ACTUAL SIZE of a hat! Please, measure the CIRCUMFRENCE of the hat, INSIDE, all the way AROUND the SWEAT BAND in inches to nearest fraction of an inch. If you do not have a cloth tape measure, then use a piece of string and read measured string against tape measure or yard stick. Here is a conversion chart for converting Inches to US sizes:

INCHES US Size Metric
21” = size 6-5/8 = 53 cm
21-1/2” = size 6-3/4 = 54 cm
21-3/4” = size 6-7/8 = 55 cm
22” = size 7 = 56 cm
22-1/2” = size 7-1/8 = 57 cm
22-3/4” = size 7-1/4 = 58 cm
23” = size 7-3/8 = 59 cm
23-1/2” = size 7-1/2 = 60 cm
24” = size 7-5/8 = 61 cm
24-3/8” = size 7-3/4 = 62 cm
24-7/8” = size 7-7/8 = 63 cm
25-1/8” = size 8 = 63 cm

Also the size tag may mention a shape type like LONG OVAL which is a specific shape to match a head shape. This is key information to be listed!

A good, complete, and accurate description, noting all the details, along with clear pictures will bring you a better chance for a good sale.

In the ITEM TITLE you should consider first listing the following:
STYLE, MAKER, MODEL, COLOR, SIZE and then some sales pitch.
These first five items will help more to sell the hat by allowing the collector find your treasure quickly and easily.

Example: Fedora Stetson Playboy Grey 7-7/8 Film Noir very clean!

Again, the more details in your write up you can accurately list the better the chance to sell. The more honestly and accurately you describe the hat including faults, the more likely you will NOT have an angry customer looking to return the hat as misrepresented in the listings. Collectors may be looking for certain specific details which are always good to publish in the Question and Answer area to help all the buyers. It is not privileged information, you as the seller, should use all information at your disposal to help collectors find and select your hat.

If you don’t know the actual age of the hat, don’t guess, unless you care to expound on why you think it is of a certain age. Many hats made in the 60’s and later are listed erroneously as much earlier manufacture, style does not always indicate age.

Damaged hats may be restorable, our hatters can do some remarkable and rather astonishing restorations but they are labors of love, time consuming and of great expense. That said, rare and desirable models may suggest a complete rebuild to revive a notable hat. Even a damaged or dirty hat can be worth listing.

Happy selling and good luck with your hat auction.

 

[DOUGLAS]

Well done John.:eusa_clap

 

[Orgetorix]

Good job, John! Have you thought about posting this on Ebay under the Reviews & Guides section?

 

[John in Covina]

Good job, John! Have you thought about posting this on Ebay under the Reviews & Guides section?

******

I did post a guide, similar to this one. You can't cut and paste to the ebay so I had to re-write it. Try this link.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Fedoras-amp-Men-apos-s-Dress-Hats_W0QQugidZ10000000002178236

 

[panamag8or]

Another eBay search tip is that many sellers do not know how to spell. Go to this site and type in what you are looking for, and it will bring up eBay listings with the most common misspellings of your search word. Many times you will find what you are looking for, and it will have no bids because others are not looking for the misspelled term.

http://www.fatfingers.com/Default.aspx

 

[Dinerman]

I always love when ebay sellers have a fidera or a hemberg

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Or a Barsalino, Borsilino, or Borsalina.

.

 

[jamespowers]

Or a Barsalino, Borsilino, or Borsalina.

.

Geez, comb your hair man!
That avatar looks like it needs bug spray.

Regards,

J

 

[Dinerman]

Or a Barsalino, Borsilino, or Borsalina.

.

or cavanaugh

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Geez, comb your hair man!
That avatar looks like it needs bug spray.

Tell it to Charlie Chaplin. That's him in 1910, on his first trip to New York with Fred Karno's English vaudeville troupe.




Taken around the same time. Check out the lid:

.

 

[jamespowers]

Tell it to Charlie Chaplin. That's him on his first trip to America, around 1910(?)




Taken around the same time:

.

Geez, he needs a vintage comb then. Bug spray is optional.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Gypsy hair. Genes do that to a man.

.

 

[John in Covina]

I know what I am talking about!

Mens' Fedara Humbug balck size 678 like neew vintag gangsta hat cole film noior.

 

[Dinerman]

aah!

*head explodes*

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

You forgot "Durby." lol

And every subject line must include "Hat Cap"

And if it goes on top of your head, it's a "Top Hat" even if it's a boonie hat.

 

[Dinerman]

NEW AUTHENTIC VINTAGE DERBY BOWLER HAT CAP DURBY BROWN CAPS XL, L, M, S