Side By Side/ Hat Comparisons

[Garrett]

Helluva bump

 

[mikespens]

Helluva bump

Seconded. WOW!

 

[alanfgag]

Glad to know that some of you find usefulness in my waste of a sunny Saturday morning.

Daniele, thank you. These were accumulated over several years - all from different sellers. One of the hats was in Argentina. Giuseppe Gallieni in Roma seems to have been a prominent source... the Feather Weight that I just purchased and have yet to receive is also from this store. There have been quite a few very nice Borsalinos in smaller sizes listed on eBay recently - most in smaller sizes. They did not bring high bids. I am lucky to have looked away from all of them save one... or two.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Fantastic even for stingys.

 

[alanfgag]

Joao, we have to widen your outlook. A guy who wears hats as well as you do needs a more diverse inventory.

 

[Lotsahats]

Amazing hats--and so well documented.

 

[splintercellsz]

Alan, your post just made my day.. Thank you for sharing!!

 

[DJH]

Alan, those Borsalinos are just fantastic.

You got me thinking how nice it would be to have a "rollable" thin ribbon Borsalino for taking on travels. Well, I have the hat (with thin unreeded sweatband) and I have the box so why not give it a try.

We'll see how it looks when I unpack tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Joao, we have to widen your outlook. A guy who wears hats as well as you do needs a more diverse inventory.

Maybe, bit I like my hats with big brim...

 

[ManofKent]

Wonderful collection Alan.

 

[mayserwegener]

Fantastic!

 

[VetPsychWars]

Stetson Silver Belly

On the left, a 4X Open Road with the powder vacuumed off and reshaped as a fedora. In the middle, the Premier Stratoliner just received. On the right, a not-premier Stratoliner, with the usual powder.

The felt is a little better on the Premier Stratoliner compared to the not-premier.

But! If you see it online... it's not a grey color. It's the pink-tan-taupe color.

Tom

 

[randooch]

Side by side hat comparisons?

 

[VetPsychWars]

Uh yeah, you can see the pic, right?

 

[Lotsahats]

He was pointing out this thread: Side by Side/ Hat Comparisons.

 

[beetleything]

Very cool and you get the plane on the new one too!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Long hair felt comparisons

I have in my hands some Italians hats finished with long hair felt.
The material is mainly beaver or excellent fur felt. It is treated as not "shaved" (rasato) neither abraded or "ironed" (ferro francese used by Borsalino in 40 and 50') but the hairs are present in different dimension on a soft and rich texture.
In this case the three hats (from right Borsalino, Guerra in the middle, Barbisio at the end) are the best you can have on the vintage Italian market of the Golden age of hatters.

A more accurate view of the felt is this

Than you can have more enlargement on the side of the crown (enlarge the pictures)
Borsalino
Guerra
Barbisio

Take note that light is foundamental to appreciate this finish
Borsalino crease
Guerra crease
Barbisio crease

In the different parts of the hats the long hair felt "glitters" with different shades of colors
Borsalino brim
Guerra brim
Barbisio brim

No more produced they are the witnesses of a very interesting way to finish hats

 

[tommyK]

Excellent Daniele! Do you have a favorite among them or are they very close in quality?

 

[mayserwegener]

Super comparison! Side note: The main fur content for the highest quality Austrian and German Velours was Hare (finest being Saxon Hare). You might see some Muskrat or Beaver added (processed and unprocessed) for felting but it was widely acknowledged that Hare produced a finer long hair finish.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Tommy they are both three interesting for different reasons.
Guerra is the softer and very wearable with a touch of winding that is fantastic for a cold day
Borsalino is the sturdiest and the hairs are really pleasant at the touch and color is changing suddendly
Barbisio has astonishing shades and the beaver is superb. I wear one "brother" in brown
The shape of Borsalino is more "international" while Barbisio and Guerra are more Italians oriented style.
I posted some pictures of the Barbisio Beaver brown some days ago, some others (different long hair hat) will be poste in the next days