Tatton Baird Hatters

[ChicagoWayVito]

Continued:

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I would go with one of the Milan's! I assume he is doing the sewing of the braided plait and turning it into a hat.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Still planning to visit his shop in December.

Lots of diversity. I don’t like all of it, but I like that he isn’t limited to a single style.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Today I traveled about an hour south of SLC and visited Tatton Baird Hatters. I called first to see if they were open this close to Christmas and Chandler said he was closing at 2:00, but he’d stay open for me if I needed to come later. That’s good service!

The shop is definitely a must-see if you’re ever in the area. It’s orders of magnitude more interesting and more friendly than JW Hats. The store and shop isn’t large, but it’s obviously sufficient. Chandler was engaging and enthusiastic. His finished hats were depleted as people were even buying the display hats for Christmas. The finished hats I saw showed great attention by a knowledgeable hand. The stitching holding the crown ribbons to the felt was indiscernible. The junction where the brim binding edges meet was barely noticeable. The hats were well-pounced and the finishes were even.

Chandler offered a tour of the shop in the basement and his whole setup is just about perfect. Chandler wasn’t shy about sharing opinions on other hatters: some flattering and some less so.

Chandler told me his shop made over 3,500 custom hats this year! Some went to Japan where he has a partner selling them for him. His 100% beaver hats start at $675 and delivery is approximately 6-8 weeks. I went over some styles and ribbon options with Chandler, but left without ordering a hat! No one is more shocked than I am. I had my $250 deposit ready to hand over, but was undecided and chose to wait.

His western felt is from Winchester, but he can get FEPSA for dress hats. Chandler was unequivocal in stating that the best felt in the world comes from Portugal. I did have him take my measurements and save them for a future custom.

Great place to kill some time if you’re in the area. No commercial hats for sale, just his own custom hats.

 

[hatsRme]

Nice job! Looks like you had a great visit. Thank you for taking us along, Brent.

 

[belfastboy]

Thank you for the report. Now I am even sadder I didn 't stop in last year.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Thank you for the report. Now I am even sadder I didn 't stop in last year.

Quality hats, but I’m not sure of the value for my needs. The hat I was thinking of would have been between $750 and $800 all told. It’s not overpriced, the way I see it, but for my needs there are probably better options.

 

[belfastboy]

Quality hats, but I’m not sure of the value for my needs. The hat I was thinking of would have been between $750 and $800 all told. It’s not overpriced, the way I see it, but for my needs there are probably better options.

I was most surprised at Chandler’s willingness to critique other hatters without any solicitation. He’s a man of definite opinions. He wasn’t rude, but he didn’t pull punches.

That $800 is for a western weight Winchester beaver? Is he adept at both western and fedora styling?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

That $800 is for a western weight Winchester beaver? Is he adept at both western and fedora styling?

That price is for a beaver hat, bound brim, and pencil curl. My understanding is that his prices for western and dress hats are the same. He had a few of his fedoras on display and one was made from a western felt and the rest from dress felts. The dress felt hats were not overly stiff and definitely better than what I handled at JW, and I’d say roughly equivalent to my Northwest Hats fedora. They certainly don’t compare to my two most recent Gannon hats. Then again, not everyone wants a thin and easily molded hat that doesn’t always hold its crease come hell or high water. Great, now I want to order another Gannon.

 

[Yahoody]

Chandler told me his shop made over 3,500 custom hats this year

Must have a fair size crew of hat makers working for him to put out 9+ hats a day, 7 days a week, 365. Obviously some busy hands there And seemingly a very good living for a small little hat shop out in the weeds, grossing $2.5M+ in 2020!

$800 western felts? There are so many good makers doing western hats from Winchester's 100% beaver selling from $450 to $600, along with a quick delivery, I find it hard to justify the prices some what to charge. ( $1000+ beaver hats asked by some, made from the same Winchester blanks) Even more so once you know what it takes to turn a beaver blank into a decent hat.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Must have a fair size crew of hat makers working for him to put out 9+ hats a day, 7 days a week, 365.

$800 western felts? There are so many good makers doing western hats from Winchester's 100% beaver from $450 to $600, along with a quick delivery I find it hard to justify the prices some what to charge. ( $1000+ beaver hats from some made from the same Winchester blanks) Even more so once you know what it takes to turn a beaver blank into a decent hat.

Preacher, meet the choir.
To be fair, that $800 (or just below) includes shipping as well as some add-ons such as brim binding and a curled edge, but yeah....

Lots of people buy custom hats costing much more and are happy to do so. Many of these customers are sophisticated in hats and still find the small increases in quality worth the the cost. I will say that my Montecristi Hat Works pure beaver hat with a $1,700.00 price tag (I bought mine secondhand for much less) has the nicest finish of any newer stiff western hat I’ve handled. Is it worth the extra cost? Not to me, but it is to some. There are also a great many people who don’t think beaver is worth the cost over rabbit or that a custom is worth the cost over an Akubra. We all draw our lines in different places. I left without ordering a hat because for me the value just wasn’t there, but they sure were some great hats where attention was payed to every detail. I wouldn’t think someone was overpaying if they bought one, it just wasn’t for me in my current circumstances. I can say that by my subjective evaluation they were all much better than what I saw a JW a few days before.

 

[Yahoody]

I have no doubt on the comparison between shops. The folks working in/for JW's shop is what was awesome from my experience. Watching them do all the things I do myself was fun. But nothing there made me want to go back or ever order a hat from them. And since my trip to SLC I've ordered 4 new hats.

At least Tatton looks like an old time hat shop. I liked the ambience your photos showed. The conversation that you conveyed would have turned me off no matter price or quality. Some neat hat designs shown though. But also easy to pick them apart just from the photos.

Kettle or pencil curls and bound edges don't add a lot to a hat's cost or production time. Shipping? $20 and the carboard box will get a 5" brim hat any where in the US via priority mail. If all three went over $75 I'd find another hat maker.

But you are spot on. Everyone has a different set of values for their own hats. I was part of a hat discussion on the SASS forum recently. Always easy to find enlighten opinions as to what makes a good western hat

I appreciate the effort you took to write up your visit. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

We're all on the look out for Santa here!

 

[Rmccamey]

Sounds very interesting, and glad he has the business, but that was my first thought as well - does he have a crew working because that is 9 or 10 hats per day every day!

And no offense to anyone or any of the great hatters in the world, the main reason I don't buy locally (I have a shop almost in my back yard) is that their market is primarily westerns and they get caught up in making big, stiff, heavy westerns with 100% beaver prices over $1000. They make so many big westerns that, over time, they lose the skill set (and desire) to make a soft, moldable, lightweight hat at an affordable price. I know we each have our own, rather complex criteria for hat purchases but for me, a lot has to do with value. I can spend $400 at Gannon, VS, Northwest, etc and get an amazing hat and I see zero increase in value by spending $1400 for the same hat from most of the western hat makers I know of in Texas and New Mexico.

I came out of the Tatton Baird Hat shop and saw that I had two messages: a PM from Max @drmaxtejeda and an email from Randall @Randall Renshaw and both of these fine men sent me a link to this hat...and now it’s mine!

Quality hats, but I’m not sure of the value for my needs. The hat I was thinking of would have been between $750 and $800 all told. It’s not overpriced, the way I see it, but for my needs there are probably better options.

I was most surprised at Chandler’s willingness to critique other hatters without any solicitation. He’s a man of definite opinions. He wasn’t rude, but he didn’t pull punches.

 

[steur]

Today I traveled about an hour south of SLC and visited Tatton Baird Hatters. I called first to see if they were open this close to Christmas and Chandler said he was closing at 2:00, but he’d stay open for me if I needed to come later. That’s good service!

The shop is definitely a must-see if you’re ever in the area. It’s orders of magnitude more interesting and more friendly than JW Hats. The store and shop isn’t large, but it’s obviously sufficient. Chandler was engaging and enthusiastic. His finished hats were depleted as people were even buying the display hats for Christmas. The finished hats I saw showed great attention by a knowledgeable hand. The stitching holding the crown ribbons to the felt was indiscernible. The junction where the brim binding edges meet was barely noticeable. The hats were well-pounced and the finishes were even.

Chandler offered a tour of the shop in the basement and his whole setup is just about perfect. Chandler wasn’t shy about sharing opinions on other hatters: some flattering and some less so.

Chandler told me his shop made over 3,500 custom hats this year! Some went to Japan where he has a partner selling them for him. His 100% beaver hats start at $675 and delivery is approximately 6-8 weeks. I went over some styles and ribbon options with Chandler, but left without ordering a hat! No one is more shocked than I am. I had my $250 deposit ready to hand over, but was undecided and chose to wait.

His western felt is from Winchester, but he can get FEPSA for dress hats. Chandler was unequivocal in stating that the best felt in the world comes from Portugal. I did have him take my measurements and save them for a future custom.

Great place to kill some time if you’re in the area. No commercial hats for sale, just his own custom hats.


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Thanks for the write-up, Brent. Nice pics as well.

 

[belfastboy]

That price is for a beaver hat, bound brim, and pencil curl. My understanding is that his prices for western and dress hats are the same. He had a few of his fedoras on display and one was made from a western felt and the rest from dress felts. The dress felt hats were not overly stiff and definitely better than what I handled at JW, and I’d say roughly equivalent to my Northwest Hats fedora. They certainly don’t compare to my two most recent Gannon hats. Then again, not everyone wants a thin and easily molded hat that doesn’t always hold its crease come hell or high water. Great, now I want to order another Gannon.

Yes, I really do want to order another Gannon. I have just the one and would be a treat to see his evolution as a hatter.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Sounds very interesting, and glad he has the business, but that was my first thought as well - does he have a crew working because that is 9 or 10 hats per day every day!

And no offense to anyone or any of the great hatters in the world, the main reason I don't buy locally (I have a shop almost in my back yard) is that their market is primarily westerns and they get caught up in making big, stiff, heavy westerns with 100% beaver prices over $1000. They make so many big westerns that, over time, they lose the skill set (and desire) to make a soft, moldable, lightweight hat at an affordable price. I know we each have our own, rather complex criteria for hat purchases but for me, a lot has to do with value. I can spend $400 at Gannon, VS, Northwest, etc and get an amazing hat and I see zero increase in value by spending $1400 for the same hat from most of the western hat makers I know of in Texas and New Mexico.

I’m sure the didn’t mistake the quantity of hats he said he makes, but from what I saw that number seems impossible. They are closed Sundays and Mondays so they would have to complete a hat every 30 minutes or so in an eight-hour day. He could have misspoke and meant the total number of hats the shop has produced over since it started?

I mostly wanted a hat from him to get a style not available from Gannon, Northwest, etc., and I wanted to add another custom maker to my collection for comparison. I had planned on getting a western and was resigned that it would be a stiff Winchester felt that I don’t prefer. His prices really are more middle tier than top of the market too. In the end I just knew I would be happier with getting hats from other hatters for less. No dig on Tatton Baird, just my own cost-benefit analysis.

 

[Yahoody]

FYI?

was resigned that it would be a stiff Winchester felt..

Winchester overs at least 3 different felt qualities. Their felt is only as stiff as the hatter (intentionally or unintentionally) makes it.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

FYI?


Winchester overs at least 3 different felt qualities. Their felt is only as stiff as the hatter (intentionally or unintentionally) makes it.

I have to disagree with you on this. I’ve never seen a western felt from Winchester that wasn’t stiffer than I wanted it and the hatters didn’t add any stiffeners to them. I think you and I just have different definitions on what a non-stiff western felt is. I’ve asked several hatters if they could get me the non-stiff western felt that I want and all of them have said it isn’t possible. I’ve even had a hatter contact Winchester for me and Winchester told them that they don’t make the less-stiff felt I’m after. It’s not a dig on Winchester, the majority of the western market wants felt that is stiffer and less dense than what I want.

 

[hatsRme]

“I was most surprised at Chandler’s willingness to critique other hatters without any solicitation. He’s a man of definite opinions. He wasn’t rude, but he didn’t pull punches.”

Ok, Brent, @deadlyhandsome... that’s twice you mentioned how he offers up his perspectives on other hatters. It HAD to be good!!! Of course you’ve piqued our interest! Please don’t leave us hanging here! In the spirit of the season, what did he say, and about whom did he say it?! Just between us...
MY lips are sealed!!

 

[Yahoody]

Just to clarify, these are NOT Tatton Baird’s prices.

Yes, I realized another hatter's price list on this thread was inappropriate so I deleted that post. Sorry about that.

 

[suitedcboy]

Yep, spill it. We'll keep it under our hats. We'll have to spend a bit of time figuring out WHICH hat of course.