So whats so horrible about the new Stetsons anyway?

[jlee562]

I have a feeling wider brims may catch on, at least with a few "converts." I've seen a smattering of wide brim fedoras amongst folks my age here in SF. Wider brimmed hats have also been featured in some runway fashion shows for the past few years, which suggests that they're cycling back in. I seem to recall an NYT photo editorial a few months back which had several young men wearing wide brims (who were the derided for the rest of their outfits by some here).

 

[Rick Blaine]

To return to the OP

Everybody here seems to "bash" ( excuse the pun) the new Stetsons even though they have some really nice looking re-pops of their classics...what is so bad about these hats??

Get ahold of quality vintage and then you will know why. :thumb:

 

[John Galt]

Get ahold of quality vintage and then you will know why. :thumb:

+1


"Faint hat never won fair lady."

 

[JOVE23]

I have a new Whippet that I am very pleased with, and I guess that's all that matters re: the vintage/modern Whippet debate.

I wonder if shows like Boardwalk Empire and all the great period movies coming out these days will get more men back into wearing hats? I started off as a 60s stingy brim/skinny tie/narrow lapels guy but I might want to branch out into suits that go with my Whippet, so to speak.

(PS: I would love to get my hands on whatever hat Eli Thompson is wearing in Boardwalk this season)

 

[KY Gentleman]

People will "bash" new Stetson hats all day long (Please forgive the pun). But it's all we have right now, it beats a baseball cap and still conveys a sense of style. If you wear a large size hat (I wear a 7 7/8) a new hat is really your only option, although I have gotten lucky on eBay once or twice.
So the new Stetsons are pre-formed (generally) and not as soft and easily bashed or creased but if you want a good quality hat these days, Stetson is a great choice.

That being said I have bought a number of Akubra hats in the last five years or so and I feel like they are my go to hats, my Campdrafts being my favorites.

 

[TOuten2]

I have a Stetson Inwood scheduled for delivery on Friday. I'm anxious to see what the quality looks like. I'm sure that, being that I'm a relatively new hat wearer, I won't notice the quality issues that a lot of other folks have mentioned...until my Penman arrives in a couple of months.

 

[gtdean48]

I have a Stetson Inwood scheduled for delivery on Friday. I'm anxious to see what the quality looks like. I'm sure that, being that I'm a relatively new hat wearer, I won't notice the quality issues that a lot of other folks have mentioned...until my Penman arrives in a couple of months.

Sometimes the quality issues are on the tips of your fingers after handling the hat & right in front of your eyes as you see the stitches staring at you from below the ribbon treatment.

 

[TOuten2]

Sometimes the quality issues are on the tips of your fingers after handling the hat & right in front of your eyes as you see the stitches staring at you from below the ribbon treatment.

I'm afraid I don't understand. Are you saying that just handling the hat will damage it?

 

[Feraud]

People will "bash" new Stetson hats all day long (Please forgive the pun). But it's all we have right now, it beats a baseball cap and still conveys a sense of style. If you wear a large size hat (I wear a 7 7/8) a new hat is really your only option, although I have gotten lucky on eBay once or twice.
So the new Stetsons are pre-formed (generally) and not as soft and easily bashed or creased but if you want a good quality hat these days, Stetson is a great choice.

That being said I have bought a number of Akubra hats in the last five years or so and I feel like they are my go to hats, my Campdrafts being my favorites.

Just to clarify a misunderstanding but Stetson is definitely not the only game in town.
Here on the Lounge we have at least three(?) hatters who will make exactly the kind of fedora you want. I'm talking color, size, crown height, brim length, ribbon, etc. That is the kind of service many places do not want to offer. This is particularly beneficial if you wear a larger, hard to find size. Our local hatters cut out the "hit or miss" aspect of purchases.

 

[Feraud]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Are you saying that just handling the hat will damage it?

I think he meant handling the hat will highlight the quality, or lack of..

 

[TOuten2]

I think he meant handling the hat will highlight the quality, or lack of..

Got it. As I said, I'm fairly new to "proper" hats, and am learning as I go. From ball caps to a wool fedora, and from wool to fur felts...learning as I go.

 

[Lotsahats]

Got it. As I said, I'm fairly new to "proper" hats, and am learning as I go. From ball caps to a wool fedora, and from wool to fur felts...learning as I go.

Exactly right, T. What I've learned about hats over the year or so I've posted and lurked here surprises me, and I'm still a rank amateur. For me, when I bought a modern felt to replace a wool fedora, I couldn't believe the difference; then when I went vintage, it was like night and day.

Enjoy the journey.

A

 

[gtdean48]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Are you saying that just handling the hat will damage it?

Not so much damage the hat as stain your fingers with powder residue...especially the darker hues.
I reviewed a Caribou modern HatCo Stetson Stratoliner. Just handling the hat out of the box had my fingers bluish.

 

[carldelo]

Well, I have half a dozen modern Stetsons and have never encountered powder on any of them, nor any of the shrinkage problems that many have posted about. I did return one (bought on clearance) for a defective sweat band installation - but that was more about an unscrupulous vendor trying to sell inventory that should have gone back to the factory.

Re: felt quality, I've found that Sovereign felt is FAR superior to Royal, and Sovereign silk-finish is downright luxurious. My oldest new Stetson is a Chatham that has seen a lot of wear. Overall the Sovereign felt has loosened up nicely with time, and it is noticeably softer than my more recent purchases. So I make a point of massaging the crowns of new Stetsons while I'm handling them, and they soften up gradually.

Many prefer Akubra, but the felt is far stiffer than Stetson. I've had a couple - both had brims that made an audible pop when being snapped down in front. The crowns were also stiff - the open crown Sidney couldn't be dry-bashed, it would pop out. Many who criticize Stetson for having stiff felt give Akubra a pass, and say they're just more rugged - I still don't understand that double standard.

 

[frussell]

The felt on Akubras may be stiffer, but there's no dye runoff when it gets wet, and no wrinkling when you re-crease, like with every modern Stetson I've owned. I like to re-bash my hats once in awhile, and new Stetsons just don't hold up to it. I wish it was different, because I am a lifelong Stetson fan. Frank

 

[EliasRDA]

Got it. As I said, I'm fairly new to "proper" hats, and am learning as I go. From ball caps to a wool fedora, and from wool to fur felts...learning as I go.

Same here, although my military cured me of really wanting to wear ballcaps/patrol caps for the longest time. I would wear them occasionally, mainly when I wore my team (BB) polo & just in support of them, well to irrate local philly/O's/Senator fans too as I'm an Indians (BoSox occasionally as I grew up with them) fan.

But the last few years I've grown tired of the polo/khaki crowd, they reminded me too much of the "preppies" I grew up with. Now dont get me wrong, if thats what people want to wear more power to them, specially since I'm in a "beachy" area. But when I went back to Ha'waii I picked up a nice straw fedora that I would wear with a specific hawaiian shirt, it formed the basis for my real estate tag & "look".

But I really cant wear a straw after all hallows eve here or a tropical shirt, so I would switch to a "western" look but the cowboy hat got me wierd look & I do mean wierd. Transient workers tend to wear them here & I am quite caucasian, heh. So I went to a wool crushable POS fedora but at least its a start, with collared dress shirts, vest & tie.

So I lurked here for a few years, would have kept lurking except for the thread about the upcoming Stetson Strats & Stetsonian.

I am quite the amateur/novice for here but am learning lots as the days go by. I've been promised a felt for the holidays, not sure yet if I'll mke the leap to either a custom or vintage, on vintages it seems 7 3/8 is either popular or hard to come by. [huh]

Every day is an experience for the better.

 

[jlee562]

The good news is that Stetson seems to be making changes for the better. I know a bunch of us have already ordered the new Premier Stratoliner and Stetsonian models, and there looks to be more open crown, soft felt hats on the way.

If Stetson puts out a quality product, I'm happy to support the brand. I had a Temple a few years back and it was good, but not great. Certainly not compared to vintage or custom.

 

[gtdean48]

I got a Sovereign grade Stetson Road Master a while back. That felt was much better than the modern HatCo Stetson Stratoliner, which was Royal Stetson grade. I liked that sweatband better too but the liner was still glued in place & nothing special. Ribbon work seemed to be done better as well. Just didn't care for that low crown profile like the modern Open Roads....side by side, it did not compare with the Akubra Heritage Campdraft Deluxe to me...

 

[tonyb]

I suspect that most of us would prefer to have more favorable things to say about modern factory made hats in general, and, in keeping with the topic of this thread, Stetsons in particular. And I suspect most of us are hoping that we will at some point in the not too distant future be honestly making such favorable commentary.

For those who might think we're being a bit nit-picky, if not downright obsessive, well, I suppose we are. But this is where hat-obsessives congregate. We are not casual observers here. We have differences of opinion, and in the greatest part those opinions are well-informed.

And while consensus can be elusive around here, we are very nearly unanimous in our view that most of what Stetson has produced in recent decades falls well short of what they made a half century and more ago.

I wouldn't expect the average person, or even the occasional hat buyer, to give a hoot about all of this. In this world of seven billion-plus people, we are but a grain of sand on the beach. Indeed, I suspect that the run of humanity would find our obsession kinda silly.

But, you know, if you maintain hope that products might be made better, you need people who pay careful attention to the details.

 

[Mulceber]

I've really liked the pictures of the Heather felt hats the Matt has posted on his facebook page. If Stetson produces them, I'll almost definitely buy one. I've only been casually following this thread, so I might have missed something, but do we have any updates on when the hats that Deckard has been proposing to Stetson might see a store shelf?