Really Small Borsalino Hat

[volcanokid]

Help please. I acquired a size 4 1/2 Borsalino hat. It has markings inside the band as follows: Beaver XXX; A. Cambini, Firenze; Borsalino; Grand Pri?. Paris 1900; and Antica Casa Fondata Nel 1857. The top insidee under the liner bears the words S. A. Borsalino, Zenit and Alessand??, Italia ; Marcas Registrada. The color is a dark olive green. The brim width is about 1 1/4 inches and the hat band which holds several small feathers is an inch and a quarter also. Any ideas? I suspect this a hat for a boy.
Thank you,

volcanokid

 

[Andykev]

My what big teeth you have, said Little Red Riding Hood

A size 4 1/2 is the French sizing...
It is a size 7, 6 7/8 English, and 56 cm metric. If the sweatband measures about 21.8 inches, or 21 7.8 inches..this is it.

 

[volcanokid]

Small Borsalino

Aloha Andykev,
You are a gentleman and a scholar also a smart guy. Thanks for the size info. I can now find a family member with a 21 inch head and gift the hat to them. I appreciate your rapid assistance.

Lester from on the top of Kilauea Volcano, Big Island of Hawai'i

 

[dopey]

Aloha Andykev,
You are a gentleman and a scholar also a smart guy. Thanks for the size info. I can now find a family member with a 21 inch head and gift the hat to them. I appreciate your rapid assistance.

Lester from on the top of Kilauea Volcano, Big Island of Hawai'i

Or you can send it my way

 

[LadyPowers]

I acquired a size 4 1/2 Borsalino hat.

Did you find a family member that fit it? JP stretched a 1940s Borsalino US size 6-7/8 (bought from Art Fawcett), and resized it to fit me (size 7-1/4). The resizing was not too extreme. He did not have to replace the sweatband or liner in my case. Good thing since Art has not set up his shop in Oregon. JP would never have been able to resize the 6-7/8 to fit a 7-5/8 himself. In this case, JP lost out on this one.

Regards,
Lady Powers

 

[jamespowers]

Darn it! It is a nice hat too. :kick: 6 7/8 do not make good 7 5/8 though. There is a limit to what you can do when resizing.

Regards to all,

J

 

[pgoat]

Darn it! It is a nice hat too. :kick: 6 7/8 do not make good 7 5/8 though. There is a limit to what you can do when resizing.

Regards to all,

J

sorry to revive this - would a 6 7/8 make it up to 7 3/8?

I have two old fedoras - one is a Borsalino - sizes 6 7/8 and 7; I take a 7 1/2 or 7 3/8 (long oval only on the latter). Not sure if I am better off selling them or trying a resize.

 

[Brad Bowers]

sorry to revive this - would a 6 7/8 make it up to 7 3/8?

I have done this before, but there are several things to keep in mind. First, you won't be able to reuse the liner, sweatband, and ribbon, so you're looking at a complete reblocking and rebuild. Second, extra room in the crown will have to come from the brim, so you'll lose brim width. In my case, it was a 1/2", taking the brim from 2 3/4" to 2 1/4", which was what I wanted in any case.

So, unless the felt body is something that you really, really need stretched to fit you, you're better off looking for something in your size.

Brad

 

[Andykev]

No, it is a full four sizes up.

sorry to revive this - would a 6 7/8 make it up to 7 3/8?

I have two old fedoras - one is a Borsalino - sizes 6 7/8 and 7; I take a 7 1/2 or 7 3/8 (long oval only on the latter). Not sure if I am better off selling them or trying a resize.

Only if you dipped it into the Holy Waters at Lourdes, France and a miracle happened!

Each size of a hat generally is by 1/8 of an inch. A 6 7/8 size is succeeded by the following: 7, 7 1/8, 7 1/4, 7 38, 7 1/2, 7 5/8, 7 3/4....and so on.So your question of going to a 7 3/8, no way! That is a full 4 sizes up.

Generally a hatter can block a felt hat to a new size up or down, but it requires disassembly and a total rebuild. New sweat, ribbon, etc. And if you upsize the hat, the new material has to come from the brim. If you have a narrow brim hat, by the time you make the crown bigger, you make the brim smaller. It is easier to "downsize" a hat.

 

[Barbigirl]

a small head

If anyone needs to get rid of a small hat I have the small head to fit it
6 3/8 or so the folks at Bernie Utz tell me

 

[pgoat]

If anyone needs to get rid of a small hat I have the small head to fit it
6 3/8 or so the folks at Bernie Utz tell me

Thanks for the valuable info guys - I need to learn a lot it seems!
The brims are actually wide (around 3") so there's room but maybe not worth the $ for rebuild. They're really nice hats but nothing irreplacable for me. Plus they're in nearly new shape so it'd be a shame to rip them apart.

Barbgirl, I can email you photos if you like. They actually fit (and look rather cute on) my wife-but she is not a hat person! (I've bought her enough hats but they just sit unused.....). They would be large on you if you are a true 6 3/8. Otherwise it's off to ebay they go......

 

[fatwoul]

...And if you upsize the hat, the new material has to come from the brim. If you have a narrow brim hat, by the time you make the crown bigger, you make the brim smaller...

Not to mention that, depending on how the sweatband was originally sewn in, the remaing stitch holes might be obvious on the crown, and so mean that a thin ribbon might not cover them.

 

[Dietzatron]

Borsalino sizing

I've often wondered when looking at vintage Borsalinos on OFAS, when the size is labeled in the hat as 7 1/8, 7 1/4, etc., is that the British size or American? I guess it might partly depend on where the hat was originally sold.

 

[indycop]

Help please. I acquired a size 4 1/2 Borsalino hat. It has markings inside the band as follows: Beaver XXX; A. Cambini, Firenze; Borsalino; Grand Pri?. Paris 1900; and Antica Casa Fondata Nel 1857. The top insidee under the liner bears the words S. A. Borsalino, Zenit and Alessand??, Italia ; Marcas Registrada. The color is a dark olive green. The brim width is about 1 1/4 inches and the hat band which holds several small feathers is an inch and a quarter also. Any ideas? I suspect this a hat for a boy.
Thank you,

volcanokid

Bolthead has a 4 1/2 borso. I think he is 6 7/8 or 7!

 

[barrowjh]

Dietzatron - For vintage, I have found that Stetsons fit large, meaning a 7 1/8 either fits me right away or only needs a little stretching to fit me (I'm 57.5 cm). A vintage Borsalino size 5, which should correspond to American 7 1/8, tends to need a VERY healthy stretch. On the other hand, I have a 1984 Borsalino labeled 7 1/4, 6, 59 - which means English size 7 1/4 (American 7 3/8). It can get tricky - on the more modern Borsalinos you need to get all the numbers to decide how it might fit.

 

[bolthead]

"Bolthead has a 4 1/2 borso. I think he is 6 7/8 or 7!"

I do indeed and might be interested for sure, can you send me a PM?

Thanks for the heads up Indy.

 

[pgoat]

Bolthead, were you interested in my hats? Feel free to PM me if so; otherwise I'll be posting them on ebay tonight.

If you were interested in the olive green Borsalino, my bad - I revived an old thread from 2005! My apologies if I got your hopes up!

 

[bolthead]

I'm interested in this hat.

How do I contact this member?

He can't pm me because he only has 2 posts?

Can I get some help from a Bartender?

Thanks.

 

[pgoat]

Bolthead - check your PM.:eusa_clap

 

[cookie]

Baby Borso

Bolthead - check your PM.:eusa_clap

I have one I bought as well that could got to a good home. PM me next week.