Side By Side/ Hat Comparisons

[alanfgag]

Thanks Joao. That one is a special gift from a Lounge friend. It was sold from a store in Buffalo.

 

[triple-d]

Great Toppers Alan..............you have a very nice collection!! I do appreciate you sharing them as you do!!

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Thanks Joao. That one is a special gift from a Lounge friend. It was sold from a store in Buffalo.

Wow! Now that is something!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

The photographic set (the garden near my office) is still available after the flood.
This is the issue to complete the "fuzzy" chapter of Italian hats with the sun on the long hair.
Comparison is between two browns. A Guerra and a Barbisio

On right Barbisio, on left Guerra 1855.
The Barbisio is beaver and Guerra is marked fur felt.

There is a slight difference in shape. The crown of Barbisio is more full and Guerra is very italian style oriented.

The ribbon is dark brown in the Guerra (4 cm. high) and more chocolate in the Barbisio (4.5 cm. high)
Crown is around 10 cm. low point, slightly higher in Barbisio and brims are 5 cm. both.

Felt is very similar at the touch, a little bit more soft in Guerra, the long haired finishing is excellent in both.
Hope for a better weather.... this could be their last month around Verona and suburbs

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Daniele; Thanks for the posts. Interesting long haired felts. I do not have any "fuzzy" felts and have been watching with interest to the posts showcasing this feature.

Best, Eric -

 

[alanfgag]

great pictures Daniele... I'm reminded of visiting Castellana Grotte on a school trip with my daughter some years ago (she was ten). Our Italian hosts were all wearing fur coats against the late winter cold. The Buffalonians were all in t-shirts. It was 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Alan you were in the deep south of Italy. Apulia is in some parts really tempered in other more cold during winter. It is very different from here, the North and completely different from Buffalo. I put on my phone the daily weather of Buffallo since you post the storm during late fall with the first and abundant snow, so I can see how freeze you are.
On the other hand in summer the parts change like in a ballet. Foggia, north of Castellana, is one of the warmest town in Italy.

Thanks for the appreciation to everyone.
I do my best as retired photographer to set up a photographic set with nothing. This is the challenge!

 

[alanfgag]

The Felted Edge

For my money, a beautiful bound brim edge from Borsalino is the cat's meow... but I thought I would have a closer look at some felted edges to improve my attitude on yet another a bleak and snowy day in Western NY.

The oldest felted edge in my collection - circa 1939, $15 Stetson Imperial with mode-edge, a felted edge that is faintly there.

Another Stetson mode-edge a decade later, 7X Clear Beaver Quality upbrim - high quality hat with a meatier edge.

Knox 20, custom-edge.

... and its costlier cousin, the Knox 40.

Private label fifteen for Peller & Mure, Buffalo... 1950s, perhaps Biltmore.

Disney's forty dollar hat.

A Borsalino felted edge, one of two.

Borsalino two of two. Borsalino's bound and welted edges are among the most beautifully crafted brims I've handled. The softly finished felt seems a challenge for the felted edge.

Frank Stack silver beaver 50, which is made by Maclachlan. Impressive.

 

[alanfgag]

The finest example of a felted edge that I have seen is in this Knox One Hundred - no longer in my collection for a closer view.

And to close, a Cavanagh from the late 1950s. I would like to handle an earlier high end hat from Cavanagh. If you have one, please share!

 

[mayserwegener]

Fantastic comparison! I actually have a late 1940s early 1950s TONAK with a felted edge. I always assumed it was an over welt but close inspection revealed otherwise.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Really interesting survey on felted edge.
Thanks Alan in the snow (my mobile said so) and Steve.
I could do the same in one of these rainy days.........

 

[alanfgag]

Steve, Daniele, thank you!

 

[seabass]

Excellent Photos Alan & Info
Wonderful colors & close up view of those edges
Steve & Daniele Excellent as well !

 

[gtdean48]

Here is a side by side of a vintage Royal Deluxe Stratoliner & modern Premiere Stratoliner (2 models of the latter).

The vintage has a 2 inch sweat with a 5 1/2 inch open crown

The most recent modern Silverbelly Premiere (came in 150th Anniversary box) has a 1 5/8 inch sweat with a 5 3/4 inch open crown

My first purchased Mink Premiere has a 1 3/4 inch sweat with a 5 3/4 inch open crown

Side by side vintage & SB Premiere

Side by side 2 Premieres

 

[gtdean48]

Bow shots vintage then Premiere

Liner Shots

 

[tommyK]

Thanks for the new and old comparison. A vintage "Royal Deluxe" Stratoliner is a rare treat as well. Seems most were just "Royal".

 

[gtdean48]

The felt on the vintage is lighter than the Premiere but feels tighter & better hand (dead felt for sure).
The Mink Premiere is heavier than the Silverbelly, some due to the wider sweatband but also the felt feels heavier.
The vintage has been in an original Stratoliner box so its flange is more cupped than Premieres, so brim seems thinner but measures just as wide when flattened.
I have some vintage Royal Strats that seem to be more on par with the Premieres. The vintage Royal Deluxe is a notch above them all if not a few notches...

I also prefer the sweat in my first Premiere over this one with script Premiere Stratoliner markings.

 

[rclark]

Nice comparisons. Would you say the SB Premiere is worth the $$$?

 

[gtdean48]

Nice comparisons. Would you say the SB Premiere is worth the $$$?

At the discounted price, $160, I'd say it is close.
If it had the Royal Deluxe sweatband of the earlier Premiere Strats, I'd say yes.

The script Premiere Stratoliner sweat is a step backwards & a little disappointing to me when I got it.
I also was disappointed the liner didn't have Royal Deluxe crest like I saw in 2015 catalog.

I don't know all the supply chain costs wrapped up in it from felt body coming out of Longview to final assemble in Garland, but I'd think this should be a $150-$160 hat, definitely not $225. Especially not knowing the felt composition....

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks for sharing these Tom.

For the life of me, I can't understand why they've opted to use a staple gun to attach the ribbon to the hat body... a very noticeable and wrong place to remove skilled hands from the process IMO.