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Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Custom from Northwest:

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More in the Northwest thread.
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Royal Stetson DeLuxe thin ribbon similar to the Stratoliner but not marked as such. 2 ¾” bound edge brim and 5 ½” crown. There is some significant sun bleaching on the top portion of the crown. I’d say late 1940s to early 1950s.

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This was the hat the seller on eBay listed as a Flagship. Aside from the sun bleaching, the hat is fantastic. The felt is thin and very shapable.
 

The Lost Cowboy

One Too Many
Messages
1,697
Location
Southeast Asia
Royal Stetson DeLuxe thin ribbon similar to the Stratoliner but not marked as such. 2 ¾” bound edge brim and 5 ½” crown. There is some significant sun bleaching on the top portion of the crown. I’d say late 1940s to early 1950s.

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This was the hat the seller on eBay listed as a Flagship. Aside from the sun bleaching, the hat is fantastic. The felt is thin and very shapable.
Is this hat blue? It is an interesting bleaching effect - very similar to what’s happening with my navy blue Northwest hat. I wonder if the blue dye is just particularly prone to bleaching?

All the indigo clothing in north Thailand (where indigo is used often) bleaches very quickly and I always thought this was due to poor quality dying processes/materials. Now I wonder if it’s just inevitable.

I saw another vintage blue hat on eBay recently with what looks like similar bleaching. Hard to tell, it could just be the light, but (again) it reminds me of my Northwest.

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Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Is this hat blue? It is an interesting bleaching effect - very similar to what’s happening with my navy blue Northwest hat. I wonder if the blue dye is just particularly prone to bleaching?

All the indigo clothing in north Thailand (where indigo is used often) bleaches very quickly and I always thought this was due to poor quality dying processes/materials. Now I wonder if it’s just inevitable.

I saw another vintage blue hat on eBay recently with what looks like similar bleaching. Hard to tell, it could just be the light, but (again) it reminds me of my Northwest.

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From some of my photos I can see why you would think the felt was blue. Felt colors can be very hard to accurately capture. The felt is definitely tan and not blue. I’d love to know this hat’s history to understand how the bleaching took place.
 

The Lost Cowboy

One Too Many
Messages
1,697
Location
Southeast Asia
From some of my photos I can see why you would think the felt was blue. Felt colors can be very hard to accurately capture. The felt is definitely tan and not blue. I’d love to know this hat’s history to understand how the bleaching took place.
Oh, well that throws sand in the face of my blue dye theory. I still can't say why my Northwester is bleaching. It's obviously nothing Mike did since it came from the factory dyed. But I am hesitant now to go for any more blue hats. I've seen some nice navies coming out of the Gannon shop as well.

Excellent lids, by the way. You come up with the best finds.
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Oh, well that throws sand in the face of my blue dye theory. I still can't say why my Northwester is bleaching. It's obviously nothing Mike did since it came from the factory dyed. But I am hesitant now to go for any more blue hats. I've seen some nice navies coming out of the Gannon shop as well.

Excellent lids, by the way. You come up with the best finds.


I have several blue hats, but I don’t wear any of them enough to opine on how the dye holds up with use and exposure. I can’t say I’ve noticed bleaching on my vintage blue hats, but then I don’t know their stories so all I can do is guess.
 

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,363
Location
Mexico City
My Optimo blue hats have kept their color.
Oh, well that throws sand in the face of my blue dye theory. I still can't say why my Northwester is bleaching. It's obviously nothing Mike did since it came from the factory dyed. But I am hesitant now to go for any more blue hats. I've seen some nice navies coming out of the Gannon shop as well.

Excellent lids, by the way. You come up with the best finds.
 

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