Please help assess my hats......

[Boris K]

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pgoat, you do have the look for fedoras!

I also like the Panama the best. The stingies look good, and would definitely work great for a 1960's look.

The grey color of #6 looks great, so that custom Gus Miller should look perfect.

2 3/8" + brim, medium/tall medium height and wider ribbon seem to fit you very well.

 

[indycop]

I agree wide brims and higher crowns!

 

[SinatraStyle]

4 and 7

I personally like numbers 4 and 7. I am curious though, did you start wearing stingy brims first, then gradually start wearing wider brims? The reason I ask is because that is how I started wearing hats. I started with stingies (go figure, with a screen name like SinatraStyle) thinking that anything wider just looked huge on me. However, as I got used to the hats I started to go wider. Now stingies seem to small (although I still wear them from time to time). Just curious if you did the same thing.

 

[pgoat]

I understand everything you posted, SS and whether that makes me you, Sinatra or Miles. I can't complain!

The first time I put on a 2 1/2" brim fedora, I felt like I belonged out in a cotton field or cattle ranch. Most of the early fedoras I bought in discount stores and off ebay were the more readily available stingy styles. This was fine by me as I didn't yet have the cojones to pull off a wider Bogie style yet, and also my fedora icons at that point were 80s bands, who tended to favor stingies in my experience (think the Specials).

It was only after getting a wider brim and doing a side by side comparison that I was able to see the better balance a wider brim can offer - especially for those of us who are not 0% bodyfat in the face, like Bogie or Frank Sinatra. I asked Art Fawcett to give me his opinion on some earlier photos of a few fedoras before ordering from him and he was kind enough to offer his highly valued opinions on what worked for me.

So far you folks are mostly echoing his thoughts, thus proving that great minds think alike!

Since the Panama is winning out so far I may have to snip off the tags (I was waiting for warmer weather to bust it out) and put on a little style when kissing the missus at midnight! Happy New Year to all, and a special :fedora: thanks to Boris for my groovy new avatar!

 

[ukali1066]

They all look perfect on you mate....you look like you break noses for Capone

 

[pgoat]

They all look perfect on you mate....you look like you break noses for Capone

lol I'd probably make a lot more money for sure!!lol

 

[ukali1066]

Maybe I can hire you to be my personal heavy....you can say stuff like

"err yeah whaddeva you say borss"

 

[pgoat]

I'm there!! (oops, I mean - 'ahm dere, boss!')

Thus means we can relocate to UK, right? we want a change of scenery anyway......

 

[pgoat]

pgoat, you do have the look for fedoras!

I also like the Panama the best. The stingies look good, and would definitely work great for a 1960's look.

The grey color of #6 looks great, so that custom Gus Miller should look perfect.

2 3/8" + brim, medium/tall medium height and wider ribbon seem to fit you very well.

Boris, I am glad to here that about the Miller - I love the color of hat #6. Also you have a good eye - 2 3/8 seems perfect brim width to me as well and sits right at about #6.....I'll post all the specs for those who are curious in the next day or so.

 

[ukali1066]

Yeah come on over pgoat....you can be the Frank Nitti of West Yorkshire

 

[Mustang]

pgoat,

Cool avatar.

As soon as I get my fedora I'm going to join the "sketched photo" avatar club. I love that look and I don't mind being a follower

 

[pgoat]

mad props to Boris, as it were. He was creative enough to come up with it and kind enough to do one for me!:eusa_clap

 

[pgoat]

for anyone who may be curious which hat was what.....

1. A Knox Premier ebay find, complete with rain guard and reciept from Oct. 1967. I listed this one on ebay recently as it is a 7 3/8 and a bit snug on me. It actually is the same size brim as #2, but because it is snugger, it sits up higher on my head, which I gather gives the impression of a stingier brim. Very nice black felt on this one!

2. Another Knox Premier, nice felt, probably mid 1960s. These first two have identically sized 1 13/16" brims.

3. Yet another Knox, no model name but the brown sweatband makes this one more likely a late 1950s/early 60s. Lighter felt here. 1 15/16" brim.

4. The clear winner picked by FL was this Stefeno panama, with a 2 5/16" Brim. I exchanged a Biltmore felt I bought from JJ Hats that was too large. You can't see it but the tags are still attached! I got it as summer arrived and forgot to wear it! Now I gotta wait five more months.... . I know Panamas are graded carefully; this one says Grade 8 (if anyone can shed light on what that means??) on the tags and it sold for $150ish at JJ, fwtw. (They tend to charge list, I believe)

5. My newest hat; a Savoy Beaver custom by Art Fawcett. 2 3/8" Brim. A much higher crown here; It always takes me a minute or so to adjust to the higher crown of Art's hats, but Once I do, shorter crowns look like a porkpie on my fat little head! Beautiful felt on this one, of course, and quite thick, which I love!

6. My last ebay score, a 1950s or so Knox 15; also a 2 3/8" brim. It's a 7 1/2 but long oval and is too big, as someone here caught - it sits too low on my head/ears. I have felt strips all the way around the band, which helped, but I am actually praying for this hat to shrink a little!! It just looks so great and is in such nice shape I can't bear to part with it. The felt is fairly soft and thin but it basically looks unworn and I scored it for a great price so no complaints.

7. After I realized my Biltmore was too big (before I traded it in for the Stefeno Panama), I went to Bencraft in Brooklyn and picked up this Borsalino Como for 1/3 off the list. It fits great and the 2 1/2" Brim is just a hair large in my Opinion (2 3/8" seems perfect to my eye), especially with the tapering crown, but you guys seemed to like it so I am giving it more wear time soon as the temps rise over 45 degrees here...The felt is a nice medium weight but the hat definitely supports what many on FL say about new Borsa quality (or lack thereof); there are loose threads after only a half dozen or so wearings and the crown did not hold its reshape too well (It came with a center crease and I had them steam it to a teardrop at the store).

8. Finally, what I feel is the nicest hat in my little collection, my first Custom, an Art Fawcett Cheyenne. 2 9/16" Brim. This hat is so perfect I sheepishly admit I am afraid to wear it outside the house and never have yet (I know, I know - I should be whipped with grosgrain ribbons for this sin!). It fits like Art fitted me in person (we did the conformer through the mail) and it is just a flawless piece of art. I have some nice brown plaid suits I am just a wee bit too chunky this past fall to wear - I am hoping to shed more weight through NY resolutions and then this one is getting some exposure...I definitely can't see wearing it with a t-shirt and jeans!!

Wel, that's it! I'll post one or two new fedoras on the way later this year, and I plan to use your comments when determining the specs on the new lids. Thanks again to all who chimed in!!

 

[KObalto]

I knew there was a reason I liked 5!

I'm sporting a Savoy with a C-cown, too, but with a 2 1/2 brim, in my avatar. The higher crown does stand out these days, but I love it and the hat in general. It looks incredible with a dark suit.

 

[Mustang]

8. Finally, what I feel is the nicest hat in my little collection, my first Custom, an Art Fawcett Cheyenne. 2 9/16" Brim. This hat is so perfect I sheepishly admit I am afraid to wear it outside the house and never have yet (I know, I know - I should be whipped with grosgrain ribbons for this sin!). It fits like Art fitted me in person (we did the conformer through the mail) and it is just a flawless piece of art. I have some nice brown plaid suits I am just a wee bit too chunky this past fall to wear - I am hoping to shed more weight through NY resolutions and then this one is getting some exposure...I definitely can't see wearing it with a t-shirt and jeans!!

Of the felts, I think #8 looks the best on you. In fact, while looking at the photos along with the descriptions, I was thinking that I had initially goofed. I thought I had not voted for #8, but I went up the page and checked, and sure enough....I did. I feel vindicated lol

You're correct about a t-shirt & jeans, but what about khaki's and a button-up shirt?[huh] If you only have one set of clothes to go with that hat, you need to buy more clothes!! :eusa_doh: lol

 

[pgoat]

no, I've got lots of nice vines, but I need to lose at least 5-10 pounds to look right in the bigger stuff and 20-30 pounds to actually get into the rest! One of my stubborn NY resolutions is to not buy anymore 'fat' clothes. I want to be realistic about never getting back into the size 31 waist stuff but for health's sake if nothing else I need to get the weight back to a reasonable portliness (I'm about 50-60 pounds over my ideal weight).


I mentioned jeans and a tee cause all I've been wearing when not at work (I usually wear some older dress pants and a sport coat there because I ride my bike to work and need to have a change of clothes stashed there,,,someday soon I hope to be wearing a suit and tie with hat to work again....)

I think you and I were among the few who picked #8 - Thanks!

 

[pgoat]

It looks incredible with a dark suit.

Judging from your avatar, I'd agree!:eusa_clap

 

[ideaguy]

Good Taste!! Personally like 7 & 8 , and I think you're well on your way to
a very nice collection, worthy already of note. You could teach us a thing
or two about sizing & hats, you seem acutely aware of what's just a hair
long/short...good eye ( even though the re-eye in the photos is a scream!).
Keep buying more hats!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[pgoat]

I need to win Lotto.......

thanks for your kind words - I was stoked to see so many comments referring to my hats as a 'collection' (I guess that makes it official!! ).

as far as the measuring, that's just my usual anal retention at work. Hate to admit it , but I do this with just about everything. For example, I played guitar for years and obsessed over every little detail in selecting instruments....Embarassing, but I do feel i now know the parameters of a neck and fingerboard so well, I can tell just by looking whether I will like a guitar's neck or not. Ahh.....the glory of a misspent youth.....

finally, no worries about this boy buying more hats......I've got a Gus Miller (see Boris' thread) and an Akubra Campdraft on the way, and am already coveting my next VS........just not sure how the bills will be getting paid over the next few months!

 

[Spellflower]

I will add my voice to the Panama chorus. I think you should send it to Art and ask him to clone it in felt, it looks so good.

As for #8, we all know how New Year's resolutions tend to turn out, so why bother fighting it? Just give up on losing the weight, and lose the hat instead! I live in NYC too, so I can come pick it up anytime!