Optimo south side mobsters

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

I'm not an expert but indirect sunlight seems best.

I, too, am not an expert, although I have a different opinion. I have spent a whole lot of time examining various Optimo felts in every kind of light that I could access. After that experience, my opinion is that direct sunlight brings out the best and truest color of Optimo felts, in terms both of looking at them with the naked eye, and of photographing them.

Here is an Optimo that I got last Summer, although I am have not posted it until now. These photos were taken on a sunny Summer day, in direct sunlight.

I have used that hat extensively all Summer and all Fall long. Optimo claims that their lightweight felts (which that one is) are "three season hats." Before I used mine, I thought that they must be exaggerating a bit. They aren't. I wore that same hat both on extremely hot Summer days, and on extremely cold Fall evenings. It served those opposite purposes (protect and keep my head cool against hot sunlight; protect and keep my head warm against cold air) well in both cases. It was not too hot except for on days that exceeded about 24°C: on those days, my head would perspire excessively in that hat; however, on those same days, my head would perspire equally as much if I wore a straw hat instead. On the cold days & evenings, at about 8°C, my head never felt chilly with that hat on it. I dare not push my luck any further, though; I am now switching to a dress weight hat until spring returns.

 

[GamaH]

What color is that?

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

That is teal color.

 

[TomS]

Beautiful color!

 

[wine65]

Got a chance to visit the Southside shop while visiting Chicago over Thanksgiving. Tiffani told me they ran out of Silverbelly and only had 1 battleship gray body left. It was fun to see all the styles and try on quite a few as well. Wanted a more causal style brown hat for travel and walking. Settled on an International in club brown with a thin vintage burnt orange fade ribbon. Can't wait for the hat to arrive!

Steve


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[pfisto22]

is that hat the traveler I was looking at his site for some ideas and the traveler and the safari really caught my eye. Also that hat looks pretty flexible is it. were you able to look at the 2 hats I mentioned and if so what were your thoughts
thanks mike

 

[wine65]

Mike, the Safari crown is higher and brim wider than the hat I'm getting. I believe the traveller is unlined so easy to fold. I essentially wanted a wider brimmed trilby, the international model fit that bill. I did not actually see the traveller model at the shop but did see Tiffani fold and unfold a hat for a customer. It may have been that model.

Steve



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[Mulceber]

Just got my Oxblood Cagney in the mail - I'm really pleased with this one. Tiffani recommended a black ribbon and she was spot on. It also goes very well with a topcoat.



In terms of comparison to Art's light weight black cherry color, the differences are slight. The oxblood has a slightly more brownish hue to it, but depending on the light they can look identical.

 

[wine65]

Mulceber
Sharp looking hat!


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[KingAndrew]

That is a great looking Cagney. My oxblood is probably my favorite hat, but I've got a maroon ribbon and binding, to bring out the red in the felt.

Yours looks great with the black.

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

I have now realized a downside to the Optimo lightweight hat that I talked about in post #1641: my heavy use of it in the Summer has caused the leather sweatband to shrink more than they normally do on all hats, and hence the hat is now too tight on my head. Optimo tells me that they can restore the hat its original size, but to do that may require a reconstruction service that starts at $150.

Therefore, that experience has taught me that for me, leather sweatbands are henceforth unacceptable in any hats which I will wear in the Summer. Otherwise, I'd just run into the same problem after every Summer.

On another note, today I have received my Optimo Emerald Melusine hat. Below are fresh out of the box pics that I took of it for you ladies and gentleman. For some reason my camera was capturing images in different colors/lighting conditions even though the pictures were taken in the same spot and at almost the same times. In my opinion, the most true color of the felt comes across in the the pictures which show the hat to be dark green, like the picture of the front of the hat, and the picture of the side of that hat that has no bow.

The ribbon is dark green and the binding is dark green, but I am not sure if those colors will come across properly at all on your screens. On my screen, they do not.

 

[DJH]

I love the felt on that one, Gangster - very nice indeed.

I've found a good way to deal with the shrinking issue is to get a bandblock from Art Fawcett. If you've every bought a hat from him he has your head size/shape on file and can get one made up for you at a reasonable cost. After a hot hat wearing day, just plop the hat on the bandblock and it fits perfectly next time.

These are also good for tweaking vintage hats that might be a tiny bit small or not quite the right shape to be comfortable.

I don't know if he still does it, but Art used to make these blocks even if you were not a client - just pay a deposit (refunded, less the cost of the block) on the conformer he sends to you.

 

[gtdean48]

...
Therefore, that experience has taught me that for me, leather sweatbands are henceforth unacceptable in any hats which I will wear in the Summer. Otherwise, I'd just run into the same problem after every Summer.
...

You need a hat stretcher or band block to use for letting your sweatband dry after use properly. I wear leather sweatbands in the GA humid & hot summers & never had to send one off for such a service....

 

[bowlerman]

Really fantastic, GCG.
+1 on the hat stretcher stuff. Should work fine.
What exactly is a band block? I have a similar problem, particularly when I road trip in the summer. Is it something portable?

 

[Lotsahats]

It's a block of wood, about two inches thick, cut in the shape of your head. It ought to be easy enough to throw in a suitcase or backpack.

 

[Lotsahats]

An inch thick, really. This is my band block next to a Vintage Whippet.

 

[wine65]

Nice hat Gangster. I tend to perspire quite a bit in the summer, the use of a simple hat stretcher has worked well for me.


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[Latoso]

Bought a new Optimo yesterday. I honestly only stopped by to say hi to Tiffany and she did it to me again. She had a Chicago Fedora in a Bronze lightweight underbelly felt. They only had three hat bodies in that color that they liked, the others they sent back because they didn't come out the way they liked, so they only made three hats in that color. She wanted me to try it on since it was my size and she thought I would look good in it. She was right. I had to get it. The color is really nice. It goes from brown to golden depending on the light.

 

[wine65]

Latoso
Nice hat! I really liked the bronze felt but unfortunately not in my size. Enjoy it!
Steve


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[Mulceber]

Gorgeous hat, Latoso! I too have been eyeing the bronze for a possible hat in the future, although with 3 felt hats (4 if you count the Homburg), 1 Montecristi and 1 Milan, I've got about as many hats as I can justify at the moment. What are the dimensions on that hat?