Post New Hats Here!

[gilligan]

T

That is a beauty in fantastic shape. Incredible deal and a great find especially in your size. Congratulations

Thanks Blare, I really appreciate that.

View attachment 557867

Stetson Musketeer - Champagne
4 5/8 crown as shaped - about 5 1/2 open
1 5/8 Duo-Tone Grosgrain Ribbon (Champagne/Maroon)
2 3/4 Brim with 1/8 Champagne binding and triple stitching

I am very grateful to @BobHufford that he reached out and offered this Stetson Musketeer to me. I have another one of these with the light colored liner and it was cool to get one with the maroon liner tip. For some reason I did not realize this one was in a different colored felt. The other ones I have seen including mine have been a very light blue grey felt with a silver/maroon duo ribbon. Possibly I may have seen a slightly darker grey version. I think that left me to assume the yellow tones I saw in the photos was just lighting. In fact this Musketeer is an entirely different color scheme with a beautiful champagne colored felt along with a champagne and maroon duo tone ribbon. The Musketeer styling is completed with the 2 3/4 brim bound in matching grosgrain along with three rows of decorative stitching.

The Stetson Musketeer was a model named only via magazine advertisements in 1950 the name does not appear anywhere on the hats themselves. Their unique styling though makes them easy to identify.

Thanks so much to Bob for keeping me in mind for this one. I am so happy to have this great example in my collection. It is truly one of those hats I find myself taking off to admire.

View attachment 557869 View attachment 557870 View attachment 557871 View attachment 557872 View attachment 557873 View attachment 557874 View attachment 557875 View attachment 557876 View attachment 557877

Wow! Absolutely beautiful! You're very lucky to have that in your collection. Just beautiful!

 

[Blare]

Thanks so much!

 

[Frunobulax]

View attachment 557867

Stetson Musketeer - Champagne
4 5/8 crown as shaped - about 5 1/2 open
1 5/8 Duo-Tone Grosgrain Ribbon (Champagne/Maroon)
2 3/4 Brim with 1/8 Champagne binding and triple stitching

I am very grateful to @BobHufford that he reached out and offered this Stetson Musketeer to me. I have another one of these with the light colored liner and it was cool to get one with the maroon liner tip. For some reason I did not realize this one was in a different colored felt. The other ones I have seen including mine have been a very light blue grey felt with a silver/maroon duo ribbon. Possibly I may have seen a slightly darker grey version. I think that left me to assume the yellow tones I saw in the photos was just lighting. In fact this Musketeer is an entirely different color scheme with a beautiful champagne colored felt along with a champagne and maroon duo tone ribbon. The Musketeer styling is completed with the 2 3/4 brim bound in matching grosgrain along with three rows of decorative stitching.

The Stetson Musketeer was a model named only via magazine advertisements in 1950 the name does not appear anywhere on the hats themselves. Their unique styling though makes them easy to identify.

Thanks so much to Bob for keeping me in mind for this one. I am so happy to have this great example in my collection. It is truly one of those hats I find myself taking off to admire.

View attachment 557869 View attachment 557870 View attachment 557871 View attachment 557872 View attachment 557873 View attachment 557874 View attachment 557875 View attachment 557876 View attachment 557877

That's the color mine is (only more soiled). I thought your other one was this color scheme, too.

 

[Blare]

That's the color mine is (only more soiled). I thought your other one was this color scheme, too.

Funny how our color perception can be tinted by our own expectations.. Time for a side by side!

 

[LinoleumBonypart]

The Panizza is excellent. This Paul Ventress looks quite the hat for modern times

I wonder what that means lol …. It doesn’t look far off the musketeer style imho

 

[Blare]

I wonder what that means lol …. It doesn’t look far off the musketeer style imho

Not sure which part you were referring. If you meant what I said about the PV.… It was a compliment on its build quality and styling compared to a lot of what you might find today.

 

[gilligan]

View attachment 557867

Stetson Musketeer - Champagne
4 5/8 crown as shaped - about 5 1/2 open
1 5/8 Duo-Tone Grosgrain Ribbon (Champagne/Maroon)
2 3/4 Brim with 1/8 Champagne binding and triple stitching

I am very grateful to @BobHufford that he reached out and offered this Stetson Musketeer to me. I have another one of these with the light colored liner and it was cool to get one with the maroon liner tip. For some reason I did not realize this one was in a different colored felt. The other ones I have seen including mine have been a very light blue grey felt with a silver/maroon duo ribbon. Possibly I may have seen a slightly darker grey version. I think that left me to assume the yellow tones I saw in the photos was just lighting. In fact this Musketeer is an entirely different color scheme with a beautiful champagne colored felt along with a champagne and maroon duo tone ribbon. The Musketeer styling is completed with the 2 3/4 brim bound in matching grosgrain along with three rows of decorative stitching.

The Stetson Musketeer was a model named only via magazine advertisements in 1950 the name does not appear anywhere on the hats themselves. Their unique styling though makes them easy to identify.

Thanks so much to Bob for keeping me in mind for this one. I am so happy to have this great example in my collection. It is truly one of those hats I find myself taking off to admire.

View attachment 557869 View attachment 557870 View attachment 557871 View attachment 557872 View attachment 557873 View attachment 557874 View attachment 557875 View attachment 557876 View attachment 557877

That hat is absolutely beautiful!!! Congrats, I would be proud to own that.

 

[Blare]

That hat is absolutely beautiful!!! Congrats, I would be proud to own that.

Thank you!

 

[Blare]

I wonder what that means lol …. It doesn’t look far off the musketeer style imho

And also my apologies… I had mistakenly thought both hats were posted by Stefan so that was why I responded in tandem and I can see the confusion. Your new hat is very nice looking and appears well made. congratulations and enjoy it! I appreciate you sharing it with us here on the lounge... we will look forward to some on head shots Soon.

 

[wsmontana]

Cool ribbon work. I’d be tempted to think it was post production... but then a look at that fancy liner tells me it may have been all original.

Thanks Joe. It must have been a limited run as I haven’t been able to find another one like it.

 

[wsmontana]

View attachment 557867

Stetson Musketeer - Champagne
4 5/8 crown as shaped - about 5 1/2 open
1 5/8 Duo-Tone Grosgrain Ribbon (Champagne/Maroon)
2 3/4 Brim with 1/8 Champagne binding and triple stitching

I am very grateful to @BobHufford that he reached out and offered this Stetson Musketeer to me. I have another one of these with the light colored liner and it was cool to get one with the maroon liner tip. For some reason I did not realize this one was in a different colored felt. The other ones I have seen including mine have been a very light blue grey felt with a silver/maroon duo ribbon. Possibly I may have seen a slightly darker grey version. I think that left me to assume the yellow tones I saw in the photos was just lighting. In fact this Musketeer is an entirely different color scheme with a beautiful champagne colored felt along with a champagne and maroon duo tone ribbon. The Musketeer styling is completed with the 2 3/4 brim bound in matching grosgrain along with three rows of decorative stitching.

The Stetson Musketeer was a model named only via magazine advertisements in 1950 the name does not appear anywhere on the hats themselves. Their unique styling though makes them easy to identify.

Thanks so much to Bob for keeping me in mind for this one. I am so happy to have this great example in my collection. It is truly one of those hats I find myself taking off to admire.

View attachment 557869 View attachment 557870 View attachment 557871 View attachment 557872 View attachment 557873 View attachment 557874 View attachment 557875 View attachment 557876 View attachment 557877

Wow, amazing condition! I have a soiled one in 7 1/8 and it is great to see what a new one looks like!

 

[Blare]

Wow, amazing condition! I have a soiled one in 7 1/8 and it is great to see what a new one looks like!

Thank you Bill. So yours is in this color scheme as well? If so I am thinking the maroon liner ones my be the tan/champagne felt and the light colored liners in the light blue grey Felt.

 

[wsmontana]

Yes, I believe it is the same color scheme but mine has gotten lots of wear.

 

[Blare]

Yes, I believe it is the same color scheme but mine has gotten lots of wear.

View attachment 558232 View attachment 558233 View attachment 558234 View attachment 558235 View attachment 558236

Still a beautiful hat!

 

[Edward]

I posted about this hat a couple of weeks ago in the 'what hat are you waiting for today' thread. This is a new hat, from The Hat Centre in Stamford Hill, London. Lovely business. I have actually been there in person a few years ago. Chaotic store, boxes everywhere. It's a small, family-run business with an older, Jewish gentleman in charge who I found very pleasant (with a great sense of humour). That part of town has a lot of Orthodox folks, and you see a lot more hats worn than in many other parts of London. His business sells to both locals and more generally online. This is not the first hat I've had from them, but my first of this model. https://www.hatcentre.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=153&product_id=141 It's sold as "Antelope Felt Hat". This is the navy colour; it's also available in a range of other options (I fancy a green one at some point). Photos taken in my office (please excuse the clutter!)/.

For comparison, I've taken the open crown shots beside a new, Mk IV open crown Akubra Federation Deluxe; so many folks here are familiar already with that model, it seemed to be a good comparison. The brim of the Antelope Felt is clearly wider - it's a 75mm all round, about half an inch bigger than the Akubra is on the size, and a quarter of an inch bigger than the Akubra front and back. Crown is fractionally shorter, maybe quarter to 3/8" of an inch at most. Looks to be more of a height difference than there actually is, I think because of the wider brim. The ribbon is also a bit deeper than the Akubra's, with more flounce to the bow. The other immediately visible difference is the wind trolley, which I like as a visual detail (we'll see how it works in practice in good time).

There's a big difference in feel. I don't think one is necessarily *better* that the other, but the felt on the Hat Centre is definitely thicker, and noticeably softer from the off. Whereas I'll steam the Akubra when it comes to bash time, the bash you see in the Hat Centre hat in the last couple of shots was done entirely dry with the hat fresh out of the box. Brim snaps nicely.

We'll see how it wears in, but so far this is a very nice hat for a comparable price to the Akubra Federation Deluxe (a little more expensive than the Standard Federation). It wears similarly with broadly similar dimensions, and comes in a few colours in which the Akubra is not available. I don't know where it is made exactly - it's just branded, like all the Hat Centre's stuff, with their own logoing. Highly likely it's a Tonak body, though, and quite probably made in Eastern Europe, as afaik the Hat Centre is a retain operation and doesn't directly manufacture themselves. Very pleased, though. THC is worth a looksee if you happen to be in town and have an hour or two to kill. It's not got the panache of Locks, maybe, but if you're actually looking to buy at a reasonable rate... Do check ahead for opening hours, though, as these are a bit erratic (if they've told you they are open and you find the door locked, he might just be in the store room and minding shop on his own, so ring the bell). Mail operation can be slightly slower (again, one-man operation for the most part), but worth the wait ime.

 

[BobHufford]

Well ... at least I can say I had a Vita Felt in my hands for a short time.

View attachment 429036

1940s or early 1950s Royal Stetson DeLuxe Vita-Felt Mode Edge.

I've had this one for a while. I initially thought my wife could wear it, but it has been lost in the "hat pile" for too long. Someone can clean it up and add a ribbon of their choice and have a nice hat.

 

[wsmontana]

Stetson Beaver Twenty-Five in great condition with amazing dry-moldable felt. It takes just a few seconds to crease a new style.

 

[BobHufford]

Stetson Beaver Twenty-Five

Just "wow" Bill! Hellava find!

 

[Blare]

Montecristi Ecuador Panama Blank
Unfinished Panama Body in Balsa Wood Box
About 5 inch open crown (4 1/2 after shaping)
2 1/2 brim
Unfinished - no sweat or hat band

I remember years ago reading a post by a lounger who had one of these unfinished Panama hat bodies in its balsa wood shipping/storage box and the process of finishing by shaping the hat and installing a sweat and hat band. I assume these type of blanks were intended to sell to tourists and have them finished upon return home. I hadn’t come across one until now… and no risk throwing 5 bucks at this one.

The hat body was crammed into the balsa wood box instead of being rolled properly… probably not a surprise and totally fine with me. I just wanted to have some fun with it and see if I could shape it with steam. With a little bit of work.. I got it into some semblance of a hat shape.

Then with more steam and time was able to shape it fairly well. I threw on this ribbon I had laying around just to see how it would work. And even managed to run a couple errands with it.

The weave is not as tight as my finer panamas… but it is certainly a finer than others I have. I’m not good at counting weaves… but I think it may be in the 125 to 150 wsi range as I’m seeing about 12x12 ish. Maybe someone could correct me if I am wrong there.

It will need a sweat and hat band to complete. But honestly I may just roll it up and return it to its balsa box and keep it as a conversation piece as that is where it’s value is to me… being something different. We shall see.

 

[Blare]

View attachment 558529 View attachment 558530

Montecristi Ecuador Panama Blank
Unfinished Panama Body in Balsa Wood Box
About 5 inch open crown (4 1/2 after shaping)
2 1/2 brim
Unfinished - no sweat or hat band

I remember years ago reading a post by a lounger who had one of these unfinished Panama hat bodies in its balsa wood shipping/storage box and the process of finishing by shaping the hat and installing a sweat and hat band. I assume these type of blanks were intended to sell to tourists and have them finished upon return home. I hadn’t come across one until now… and no risk throwing 5 bucks at this one.

The hat body was crammed into the balsa wood box instead of being rolled properly… probably not a surprise and totally fine with me. I just wanted to have some fun with it and see if I could shape it with steam. With a little bit of work.. I got it into some semblance of a hat shape.

View attachment 558533
View attachment 558534
Then with more steam and time was able to shape it fairly well. I threw on this ribbon I had laying around just to see how it would work. And even managed to run a couple errands with it.

View attachment 558535 View attachment 558536 View attachment 558537 View attachment 558538

The weave is not as tight as my finer panamas… but it is certainly a finer than others I have. I’m not good at counting weaves… but I think it may be in the 125 to 150 wsi range as I’m seeing about 12x12 ish. Maybe someone could correct me if I am wrong there.

View attachment 558539

It will need a sweat and hat band to complete. But honestly I may just roll it up and return it to its balsa box and keep it as a conversation piece as that is where it’s value is to me… being something different. We shall see.

View attachment 558540

The obligatory into the sun weave shot…