Panama Hat Thread

[Txmason]

Panama Hat
I just received a beautiful Panama Hat from Robert over at www.panamas.biz Does anyone know if a panama hat can be shaped and stiffened in the style of a Fedora? Or are panamas made to stay natural without doing anything to them?

Happy Trails,
Jerry

 

[Panamabob]

Panama Hat
I just received a beautiful Panama Hat from Robert over at www.panamas.biz Does anyone know if a panama hat can be shaped and stiffened in the style of a Fedora? Or are panamas made to stay natural without doing anything to them?

Happy Trails,
Jerry

The hat is shaped, so I think you're asking about reshaping the brim. You can do this yourself by ironing the brim and molding it with your hands. Keep the iron cool. Sometimes, you can do it with steam, but keep the steam away from the inside of the crown. There is a little bit of sizing in the hat from the factory in Cuenca. Alternatively, you can take it to a hatter and he can put stiffener on the hat and flange the brim. The particular hat you have just doesn't come up from Ecuador with that snap-brim that you want. You could look for a hat store in Houston that should be able to do this. It might cost about what the hat cost.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Exquisite!

That beaut' puts me in mind of my favorite panama-this old Stetson Monti

Or this 'un that went (I think) to RBH sometime back

The 28x28 / 800wpsi (lower right) with my other VS Panamas: 24x24 / 600wpsi (upper left), 33x38 / 1250wpsi (lower left), and another 28x28 / 800wpsi (upper right).
As you may be able to see in the full resolution image (link below), weave count isn't everything. Evenness/ consistency of weave is a big factor. The 28x28 in the upper right looks finer than its weave count, more like a 900wpsi; the new acquisition looks closer to a 700 or 600wpsi. By the way, Art very decently sold it as a 600wpsi.

Full resolution image

 

[Rabbit]

VS Montecristi Collection

- cross posted from the Art Fawcett Hall of Fame -

This seems to belong here as well.

The actual straw color of the individual Panama hats is rendered fairly accurately overall, with the limitation that the lighting is a little uneven (sunny afternoon, shot during moments of faint cloud cover). See the full resolution images for a better view of the weave.

Upper left 33x38, upper right 28x28, lower left 28x28 reddish straw (the new one), lower right 24x24.

Full resolution image

33x38:

Full resolution image

28x28:

Full resolution image

28x28 reddish straw:

Full resolution image

24x24:

Full resolution image

 

[carouselvic]

nice

 

[WineGuy]

Won this on ebay a little over a month ago. I've been waiting patiently to replace my beautiful PB Montecristi that got severely stained by fountain pen ink almost 2 years ago. I'm thrilled to own a Gus Miller hat..always wanted to commission a felt Fedora from him but this beauty will do. The weave is very tight and symmetrical, I'm getting a WPI of 29x28 on the brim and 35x36 on the crown. The blocking is top notch and the hat is holding a really nice shape without the need for stiffeners. I've learned my lesson and this one has become my "wear it when I'm not going to sweat" hat and my cleaned up PB, which cleaned up nicely but still shows some staining, has become my day to day work hat. The fit was like it was made to order.

 

[like2fiddle]

Came across this today

Hello to all. I'm new around here and wanted to show you a few pics of a hat I purchased at a local used clothing store today. The sweat band is out of it so I am hoping some of you can help me figure out exactly what I've got. Thanks in advance.

 

[Panamabob]

Won this on ebay a little over a month ago. I've been waiting patiently to replace my beautiful PB Montecristi that got severely stained by fountain pen ink almost 2 years ago. I'm thrilled to own a Gus Miller hat..always wanted to commission a felt Fedora from him but this beauty will do. The weave is very tight and symmetrical, I'm getting a WPI of 29x28 on the brim and 35x36 on the crown. The blocking is top notch and the hat is holding a really nice shape without the need for stiffeners. I've learned my lesson and this one has become my "wear it when I'm not going to sweat" hat and my cleaned up PB, which cleaned up nicely but still shows some staining, has become my day to day work hat. The fit was like it was made to order.

Looks great! How many vueltas are in that hat?

 

[WineGuy]

Hi Bob, thanks! You tell me. I count 13 possibly 14 but I'm not sure if there are more in the dead center.

Looks great! How many vueltas are in that hat?

 

[Rabbit]

Hey Robert, since you brought up the subject - I've been wanting to ask this for some time now - how do you count the vueltas that are very close to the crown center? Or do you just leave out the vueltas at the center section when counting?
See the pic below to illustrate the problem.

VS Montecristi 33x38:

Full resolution image

 

[gdc]

Some beautiful lids here! Maybe I'll have one in the future but I've been enjoying my $2 thrift store cuenca. A local dry cleaner/hatter blocked it for my melon head and gave it a leather sweat and dark navy ribbon. It's helped me get through the hot summer.

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[hatophile]

Like2fiddle:

It's an optimo style, but obviously treated roughly. You could send that to hat guy and have a sweat installed and reblocked, could be a very nice hat.

 

[randooch]

 

[hatophile]

Nice Randy.

 

[Panamabob]

Hey Robert, since you brought up the subject - I've been wanting to ask this for some time now - how do you count the vueltas that are very close to the crown center? Or do you just leave out the vueltas at the center section when counting?
See the pic below to illustrate the problem.

VS Montecristi 33x38:

Full resolution image

I use a loupe and sometimes have to fudge it a little.

 

[Landman]

Robert,

What would your count be on the hat that Rabbit posted?

 

[fluteplayer07]

The other work Optimo performed for me while I was there early July. This semi calado is very special to me, it formerly belonged to my good friend Aureliano here on the Lounge, who had inherited it from his grandfather. The body dates to the 1970's and I had Optimo perform a full ground-up renovation. It's been blocked in their Fastback style, a 40's French block and flange.

 

[alanfgag]

Just beautiful. Ale would be proud.

 

[carouselvic]

very nice

 

[HungaryTom]

Great Hat with great provenance

The other work Optimo performed for me while I was there early July. This semi calado is very special to me, it formerly belonged to my good friend Aureliano here on the Lounge, who had inherited it from his grandfather. The body dates to the 1970's and I had Optimo perform a full ground-up renovation. It's been blocked in their Fastback style, a 40's French block and flange.

Just that. Great hat Great provenance. Congratulations to all


Tom