Panama Hat Thread

[rlk]

 

[Lloyd]

reblocking panamas at home?

I just acquired a Panama Barossa from David Morgan because it's the tallest crown out there in a commercial hat while waiting for Panama Bob to see what the weavers can do for a custom woven tall crown dress hat.

The problem turns out that the crown on this is TOO tall. If it was felt hat I'd have already reblocked it down to what suits me.

so is this something I can attempt at home, and if so what's he process? Just soak the hat and be careful or.....have it professionally done?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[WineGuy]

so is this something I can attempt at home, and if so what's he process? Just soak the hat and be careful or.....have it professionally done?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

If you paid more than $100 for it and you've never re-blocked a straw hat before, I urge you to send it to Art Fawcett or any of the other professional milliners on the forum.

 

[Feraud]

I don't think this is really a panama- frankly I don't know quite what to make of it, other than that its very old and interesting.

This is very interesting. Are those seams running across the crown?
Your other close up photos seem to indicate it. If so, is a hat like this not woven in one piece?
What gives?

 

[Lloyd]

If you paid more than $100 for it and you've never re-blocked a straw hat before, I urge you to send it to Art Fawcett or any of the other professional milliners on the forum.

I didn't and I haven't

 

[Dinerman]

This is very interesting. Are those seams running across the crown?
Your other close up photos seem to indicate it. If so, is a hat like this not woven in one piece?
What gives?

Those are indeed seams. 4 separate pieces sewn together. I'm not sure if the brim is sewn on or woven in. The brim feels like it may be double thickness, , and there's no finishing at the edge, it just flows seamlessly from top to bottom. The sweatband's fragile or else I would check under it to see how its all put together.
The font makes me think this may be from before the '20s. It's certainly an old one.

 

[Feraud]

I love it!

 

[carldelo]

The font makes me think this may be from before the '20s. It's certainly an old one.

I agree, the font & design look Jugendstil / Art Nouveau which would put it at the turn of the century or after, but probably pre-WWI. I really like this wacky hat...

 

[daizawaguy]

As per Wineguys request in the `what are you wearing today thread`...

 

[CRH]

Those are indeed seams. 4 separate pieces sewn together. I'm not sure if the brim is sewn on or woven in. The brim feels like it may be double thickness, , and there's no finishing at the edge, it just flows seamlessly from top to bottom. The sweatband's fragile or else I would check under it to see how its all put together.
The font makes me think this may be from before the '20s. It's certainly an old one.

If not for your '20s estimation, Dinerman, this one would appear to be off the charts.

I'm with Feraud. I love it!

 

[singlechange]

I am a newbie who just two months ago discovered this forum with it's wealth of information and comradeship. Really never considered wearing a hat until now. A forum member mentioned a local retired hat maker Vince Corvelli who still keeps his hands busy restoring and making hats so I looked him up and two weeks ago brought some old hats to work on....a vintage Borsalino, a Stratoliner and a straw Mallory. He told me then about his passion for panama hats and gave me very useful advice about style and size so I went on a mission to find one too. Yesterday I picked up the three hats that Vince lovingly worked his magic on and also showed him my panama find, an old Montecristi size 6 7/8 with 2 1/2 brim and 4 1/2 inch crown. He told me that it's probably circa 1940 with weave count of 300 per square inch and also highly valuable to boot. With his permission I thought it might be interesting and useful to post some before and after pics. So, here is the Photobucket link of the before pics. I will post the after pics when Vince finishes the restoration in two weeks or so. Photobuck link: http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/singlechange/Montecristi Before Pics/

 

[Panamabob]

I may be wrong, but it looks much finer than 300 wpsi to me.

 

[singlechange]

Hi Panambob,
Yes, I also thought so and when I put magnifying glass to it at home before Vince had the chance to look at it, I counted something closer almost double his count but when I counted I wasn't sure exactly how to tally each weave.

 

[danofarlington]

Hi Panambob,
Yes, I also thought so and when I put magnifying glass to it at home before Vince had the chance to look at it, I counted something closer almost double his count but when I counted I wasn't sure exactly how to tally each weave.

That's a really fine Monecristi, where'd you get it? They are getting rarer and rarer. Re Vince, I have worked with him for 25 years here in the Washington area and he is a real expert and master craftsman. He also gave me a lot of good advice on how to wear hats, and how they are supposed to look. There should be someone like that in every city but there probably isn't, so I feel lucky to have someone close at hand to work on and advise about hats. On my posts I am always recommending to bring a hat to an expert to re-block or otherwise work on instead of do it yourself, and Vince makes that possible. Personally I would rather hand off the hat to someone like that with all the knowledge, experience and equipment to do it right. The do-it-yourselfers are welcome to the hobby, but for me, I'm not confident in my ability to get a good result and certainly hate to mess with it.

 

[Panamabob]

Vince might have a few of the hats he's bought from us around....maybe. I can't remember if he bought Cuenca or Montecristi last.

 

[danofarlington]

Vince might have a few of the hats he's bought from us around....maybe. I can't remember if he bought Cuenca or Montecristi last.

I saw some at his place of business. I am guessing they are Montecristi.

 

[dwebber18]

That is indeed a fine hat, I can't wait to get my first 2 proper panamas from PB soon!

 

[singlechange]

That's a really fine Monecristi, where'd you get it? They are getting rarer and rarer. Re Vince, I have worked with him for 25 years here in the Washington area and he is a real expert and master craftsman. He also gave me a lot of good advice on how to wear hats, and how they are supposed to look. There should be someone like that in every city but there probably isn't, so I feel lucky to have someone close at hand to work on and advise about hats. On my posts I am always recommending to bring a hat to an expert to re-block or otherwise work on instead of do it yourself, and Vince makes that possible. Personally I would rather hand off the hat to someone like that with all the knowledge, experience and equipment to do it right. The do-it-yourselfers are welcome to the hobby, but for me, I'm not confident in my ability to get a good result and certainly hate to mess with it.

An eBay item that turned out well for me. When I asked about brim and crown size, the seller reiterated that when the panama came into his possession (didn't tell me the source) it was brought to a San Francisco hatter who confirmed it was a Montecristi.

 

[WineGuy]

R.I.P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well guys...it was bound to happen. There is a cosmic force that dictates that when a guy shows off something dear...it's inevitably going to be marked for ruin. Last night while refilling my Mont Blanc fountain pen(something I do regularly and with aplomb) my hand swiped the ink well and splattered black ink across the table and onto my PB Montecristi resting nearby.

The front brim got soaked top and bottom, I rushed the hat to the sink and tried to cold water wash it out hoping that the pigments had not yet set in but those damned Nazi's make the best ink which means it penetrates. I then tried soaking the brim in a shallow pool of 3% hydrogen peroxide which got a little more out but crept up the fibers by capillary action and bleached the front bottom of Arts gorgeous Burgundy ribbon. I managed to only fade the stains from black to purple with the peroxide. So now this once proud hat is relegated to gardening work and will never again strut through the tony neighborhoods of Manhattan getting compliments regularly.

Among us Jews there is a tradition of "Sitting Shiva"(mourning for 7 days)after someone dear passes away. This hat not only became a part of me...it literally defined me. I will be mourning it's undignified demise for the next week and then hope PB can replicate the magic and arrange a suitable replacement.

I'm wearing my backup PB Cuenca today and feel like a guy who just totaled his Ferrari and is forced to drive around in a Volare!

As it was in it's glory days

As it is now :-(

 

[danofarlington]

Well guys...it was bound to happen. There is a cosmic force that dictates that when a guy shows off something dear...it's inevitably going to be marked for ruin. Last night while refilling my Mont Blanc fountain pen(something I do regularly and with aplomb) my hand swiped the ink well and splattered black ink across the table and onto my PB Montecristi resting nearby.

The front brim got soaked top and bottom, I rushed the hat to the sink and tried to cold water wash it out hoping that the pigments had not yet set in but those damned Nazi's make the best ink which means it penetrates. I then tried soaking the brim in a shallow pool of 3% hydrogen peroxide which got a little more out but crept up the fibers by capillary action and bleached the front bottom of Arts gorgeous Burgundy ribbon. I managed to only fade the stains from black to purple with the peroxide. So now this once proud hat is relegated to gardening work and will never again strut through the tony neighborhoods of Manhattan getting compliments regularly.

Among us Jews there is a tradition of "Sitting Shiva"(mourning for 7 days)after someone dear passes away. This hat not only became a part of me...it literally defined me. I will be mourning it's undignified demise for the next week and then hope PB can replicate the magic and arrange a suitable replacement.

I'm wearing my backup PB Cuenca today and feel like a guy who just totaled his Ferrari and is forced to drive around in a Volare!

Oh, my my my. I am sad on your behalf. Was the hat from PB? If so, what was the weave count, or how would you describe the quality? It looks like a fine quality. I have some experience like that--my nice Borsalino $900 Montecristi hat, also very fino fino, was crushed by someone in my house, no one ever confessed. No stains, but I had to have it re-blocked, and the result was not as wonderful as the original. I still use it but it's not as magnetic as when new. I guess every really nice thing has a lifetime.