My first post here. 
As something of a newbie to the subject of Fedora hats in general and Panama hats in particular, I'm wondering if anyone could give me a bit of guidance about good places to buy them? I'm in the UK, which complicates things a bit. (I have done a fair bit of reading on subjects like weave counts, the difference between Montecristi and Cuenca hats, llano and brisa weaves, etc. so don't need too much of a newbie introduction there).
I've come across a number of possible sources, many of which seem to be quite outrageously expensive (www.brentblack.com and www.montecristihats.com spring to mind). Here are some of the slightly more reasonable looking ones. Any recommendations?
www.panamahut24.de - prices may or may not be reasonable: not too much info on weave qualities. Any fluent German speakers want to check it out for me?
www.panamahatsdirect.com - seems quite reasonable all round.
www.planetepanama.com - the fact that the email address on their website is invalid doesn't inspire confidence . Not so much choice of styles (fedoras only). Prices a little higher than panamahatsdirect (so far as one can tell), but they have some quite reasonable-looking Cuenca hats - the "extra fino" cuenca is llano weave (rather than brisa).
www.panamas.biz - run, I think, by thefedoralounge's own Panama Bob, so perhaps he would like to comment. Nice prices at the high end, but the lower grades seem to be more expensive than (say) panamahatsdirect. I suspect there are good reasons for this, but it would be interesting to know what they are. Link to his Cuenca section is broken.
As I understand it the same guy also sells on Ebay under the name real*panamahats. Some hats currently on Ebay are significantly cheaper than the ones with similar weave counts at www.panamas.biz - I presume this is because of issues like a lack of evenness in the weave, but it'd still be interesting to have the official explanation.
"Ultrafino Panama Hats" - Ebay vendor ( http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MONTECRISTI-ULTRAFINO-PANAMA-HATS_Mens_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm ). I get the impression his English isn't very good! (Understandable if he lives in Ecuador, I guess). Very difficult to keep track of what grade his various hats are, but superficially rather good prices.
Steinfern - another Ebay vendor ( http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZsteinfern ) based in Luxembourg. Cheap fedora-type hats, presumably Cuenca brisa at that price, but not too much info.
Craftercash - another Ebay vendor ( http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZcraftercash ). No active sales at the moment. Claims to be an actual Montecristi weaver. Blocking of his hats looks a little crude - sharp edges and corners - but good prices.
Pachacuti ( http://www.panamas.co.uk/retail_menspan.htm ) UK-based, which is nice, with some useful grade info ( http://www.panamas.co.uk/info_grades.htm ). Better prices (and, indeed, better hats) if you're buying wholesale: http://www.panamas.co.uk/wholesale_menspan.htm .
www.panamahats.co.uk - UK-based, but seems rather expensive to me - mostly brisa weave.
Any other suggestions?
As something of a newbie to the subject of Fedora hats in general and Panama hats in particular, I'm wondering if anyone could give me a bit of guidance about good places to buy them? I'm in the UK, which complicates things a bit. (I have done a fair bit of reading on subjects like weave counts, the difference between Montecristi and Cuenca hats, llano and brisa weaves, etc. so don't need too much of a newbie introduction there).
I've come across a number of possible sources, many of which seem to be quite outrageously expensive (www.brentblack.com and www.montecristihats.com spring to mind). Here are some of the slightly more reasonable looking ones. Any recommendations?
www.panamahut24.de - prices may or may not be reasonable: not too much info on weave qualities. Any fluent German speakers want to check it out for me?
www.panamahatsdirect.com - seems quite reasonable all round.
www.planetepanama.com - the fact that the email address on their website is invalid doesn't inspire confidence
. Not so much choice of styles (fedoras only). Prices a little higher than panamahatsdirect (so far as one can tell), but they have some quite reasonable-looking Cuenca hats - the "extra fino" cuenca is llano weave (rather than brisa).www.panamas.biz - run, I think, by thefedoralounge's own Panama Bob, so perhaps he would like to comment.
Nice prices at the high end, but the lower grades seem to be more expensive than (say) panamahatsdirect. I suspect there are good reasons for this, but it would be interesting to know what they are. Link to his Cuenca section is broken. As I understand it the same guy also sells on Ebay under the name real*panamahats. Some hats currently on Ebay are significantly cheaper than the ones with similar weave counts at www.panamas.biz - I presume this is because of issues like a lack of evenness in the weave, but it'd still be interesting to have the official explanation.
"Ultrafino Panama Hats" - Ebay vendor ( http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MONTECRISTI-ULTRAFINO-PANAMA-HATS_Mens_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm ). I get the impression his English isn't very good! (Understandable if he lives in Ecuador, I guess). Very difficult to keep track of what grade his various hats are, but superficially rather good prices.
Steinfern - another Ebay vendor ( http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZsteinfern ) based in Luxembourg. Cheap fedora-type hats, presumably Cuenca brisa at that price, but not too much info.
Craftercash - another Ebay vendor ( http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZcraftercash ). No active sales at the moment. Claims to be an actual Montecristi weaver. Blocking of his hats looks a little crude - sharp edges and corners - but good prices.
Pachacuti ( http://www.panamas.co.uk/retail_menspan.htm ) UK-based, which is nice, with some useful grade info ( http://www.panamas.co.uk/info_grades.htm ). Better prices (and, indeed, better hats) if you're buying wholesale: http://www.panamas.co.uk/wholesale_menspan.htm .
www.panamahats.co.uk - UK-based, but seems rather expensive to me - mostly brisa weave.
Any other suggestions?
