The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[Steve1857]

Stefan my manual hatter skills have increased in recent years, but for hard cases like those presented, you need the hands of a real hatter.
I too am convinced that some hats must be saved otherwise we will never see them again. I posed the question because too often we do not consider the possibility of resurrecting a hat with results and prices far from the current standards to have a new one. Then I like to see objects take shape and return to their primary function. I have photographed for work many restorations of paintings, frescoes, wood and stones, and perhaps I have learned and appreciated the art of bringing back to life pieces of the world. For a box full of vintage Borsalino I often try and when there are opportunities never back. It would be necessary to found a consortium for the preservation of ancient hats, perhaps having heads of different sizes could be amortized costs and draw benefits

Thanks for sharing the Borsalinos along with your questions and thoughts Daniele.
I like your suggestion for the creation of a vintage hat collectors consortium. I'd be in! [emoji4]

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[steur]

Stefan my manual hatter skills have increased in recent years, but for hard cases like those presented, you need the hands of a real hatter.
I too am convinced that some hats must be saved otherwise we will never see them again. I posed the question because too often we do not consider the possibility of resurrecting a hat with results and prices far from the current standards to have a new one. Then I like to see objects take shape and return to their primary function. I have photographed for work many restorations of paintings, frescoes, wood and stones, and perhaps I have learned and appreciated the art of bringing back to life pieces of the world. For a box full of vintage Borsalino I often try and when there are opportunities never back. It would be necessary to found a consortium for the preservation of ancient hats, perhaps having heads of different sizes could be amortized costs and draw benefits

I can see the conundrum there, Daniele. The way I look at it now all of the hats you posted pictures of are well within the saving range. I don't see any that are beyond redemption. Only question is: are you the one to do it (or have it done)? I think you and I look at answering that question the same way. If the hat is a candidate for your personal collection then the answer is easy: yes. If not, then it gets a bit more difficult. Will you pass it on and let someone else decide to restore it or not or restore it and sell it on for maybe a little bit more than it has cost you. I opt usually for the first option: present the hat the best you can after the basics of brushing and steaming and then pass it on. A new owner will have his own wishes and wants for a hat he likes. And we do have the benefit of being able to pass hats on to people we know will take care of them the way we would want ourselves.

 

[mayserwegener]

Thank you my friend. The age and purpose of this block it is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment. For what it's worth I did find a evidence of another cone shaped block at the museum.

View attachment 131696

I think this block (from the Borsalino Museum) is a "Charo" but your block is different. See below.

 

[steur]

I think this block (from the Borsalino Museum) is a "Charo" but your block is different. See below.

We know they exist, now only to get our hands on one!

 

[Steve1857]

I can see the conundrum there, Daniele. The way I look at it now all of the hats you posted pictures of are well within the saving range. I don't see any that are beyond redemption. Only question is: are you the one to do it (or have it done)? I think you and I look at answering that question the same way. If the hat is a candidate for your personal collection then the answer is easy: yes. If not, then it gets a bit more difficult. Will you pass it on and let someone else decide to restore it or not or restore it and sell it on for maybe a little bit more than it has cost you. I opt usually for the first option: present the hat the best you can after the basics of brushing and steaming and then pass it on. A new owner will have his own wishes and wants for a hat he likes. And we do have the benefit of being able to pass hats on to people we know will take care of them the way we would want ourselves.

You are so right, Stefan. Basic clean and brush up if it's not a keeper, then sell it on to the person who wants it and knows what she/he wants to do with it.

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[Daniele Tanto]

I can see the conundrum there, Daniele. The way I look at it now all of the hats you posted pictures of are well within the saving range. I don't see any that are beyond redemption. Only question is: are you the one to do it (or have it done)? I think you and I look at answering that question the same way. If the hat is a candidate for your personal collection then the answer is easy: yes. If not, then it gets a bit more difficult. Will you pass it on and let someone else decide to restore it or not or restore it and sell it on for maybe a little bit more than it has cost you. I opt usually for the first option: present the hat the best you can after the basics of brushing and steaming and then pass it on. A new owner will have his own wishes and wants for a hat he likes. And we do have the benefit of being able to pass hats on to people we know will take care of them the way we would want ourselves.

Stefan, I was lucky enough to buy new hats, especially stock items, but when I dealt with lots of used hats, I posed myself the problem. I solved the personal enigma keeping an eye on the quality of the hats to be restored, even if not of my size. I will also tell you that the solution depends a lot on the hatter in charge of the job. For most of the hats published in photography I decided to be restored and then sold, but this was not always the case. In my inventory of unsold there are hats that need care, the buyer will decide which and how many. The temptation of large lots of used hats is always a temptation, then I have expressed my doubts considering that in Italy second-hand shops are rare and there is little or nothing in flea markets. That said, we will see when the rest is finished. I live in the country of open-air archeology

 

[Steve1857]

Daniele, your understanding of, knowledge about, and ability to make these hats come to life again is second to none. The hats you've bought and shown are certainly worthy of saving. It's just a matter of by whom, when, where, and at what price?

Stefan, I was lucky enough to buy new hats, especially stock items, but when I dealt with lots of used hats, I posed myself the problem. I solved the personal enigma keeping an eye on the quality of the hats to be restored, even if not of my size. I will also tell you that the solution depends a lot on the hatter in charge of the job. For most of the hats published in photography I decided to be restored and then sold, but this was not always the case. In my inventory of unsold there are hats that need care, the buyer will decide which and how many. The temptation of large lots of used hats is always a temptation, then I have expressed my doubts considering that in Italy second-hand shops are rare and there is little or nothing in flea markets. That said, we will see when the rest is finished. I live in the country of open-air archeology

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[Steinbockhase]

First: we often underestimate the life that is present in our beloved hats, even if they are on avenue sunset. Second: what can be done to make them return wearable. Third: decide, according to casuistry, for a philological restoration or for a partial or total renewal.

Here, you have on the desk the doubts and the vicissitudes of treating used or partially new and badly preserved hats like those you see in the photos. I ask you the considerations, the questions and what you think about it

Then there are the hats that do not interest you, the ones you already have in other copies and the ones that you wonder why they ended up in that pile

Yet along these roads you learn many things.
All Borsalino hats are currently being restored.
A few days ago you saw the finished Lobbia, the one eaten by the moths.
The yellow light you see in the photos is that of an autumn afternoon

Let me know what do you think. Thanks

Hi Daniele,

did you buy these hats from Italian eBay user "atelierdescharliecanari" ?
They look like hats he has been offering; very many of his hats are small sizes.
Just like the Italian eBay user "relodn"; his hats are more recent, but mostly small sizes.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Hi Daniele,

did you buy these hats from Italian eBay user "atelierdescharliecanari" ?
They look like hats he has been offering; very many of his hats are small sizes.
Just like the Italian eBay user "relodn"; his hats are more recent, but mostly small sizes.

Buon pomeriggio, no this lot of Borsalino was bought in Turin last fall. I never bought from the ebay seller you mentioned. For "relodn" I did two years ago the consultant for the brothers Mayer to view and give a price to the stock of the store "M. Hutter" of Merano closed a few years ago. The inventory of hats was huge and there are all sizes available. On the age of Borsalino and other Merano hats there are very old things, before the Second World War up to the 2000s. If you are looking for somenthing special you can ask them.

 

[Steinbockhase]

Buon pomeriggio, no this lot of Borsalino was bought in Turin last fall. I never bought from the ebay seller you mentioned. For "relodn" I did two years ago the consultant for the brothers Mayer to view and give a price to the stock of the store "M. Hutter" of Merano closed a few years ago. The inventory of hats was huge and there are all sizes available. On the age of Borsalino and other Merano hats there are very old things, before the Second World War up to the 2000s. If you are looking for somenthing special you can ask them.

I think "relodn" have sold most of their hats in average sizes 57-59cm; what you see on eBay now is mostly 54-56cm and some 60-61cm. I bought 3 or 4 hats from them which were actually smaller than on the tag; maybe the felt shrunk over the years, because of bad (humid) storage? I had some correspondence with them; they told me that they receive a lot of complaints because hats are smaller than expected. I sugguested they measure each hat before putting it on eBay. The lady said it was so difficult to measure; so I sugguested to buy one of those hat-measuring-scissors and even gave her a link to a shop. Do not know if they bought the tool and use it now.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

We have talked and we often talk about hats with short brim or trilby, or fashion hats, in sixties and seventies, when thinning brim had become a way to be less "classic". I often read criticism and see little consideration for the ì hats of "thin" brim that marked an era. So I made a census of mine, happened in my hands, especially with exchanges or lots of hats and I will give them a few episodes in the presentation of the new hats.
I know that there is an audience that loves them and for them I spend as much as I have in the closets

Borsalino Marca Renna size 6 1/2 with a very high standards finishes

The color is "Banana" and the felt is finished with a light hair

The dimensions are as follows: 4.5 cm brim. crown at 11 cm. and ribbon at 4 cm.
The felt is soft, malleable and the color is enchanting and rare in my find of Borsalino hats

As many tilbies or short brim hats the best way to see them is to wear them with the right spirit

For those interested in this or the others that follow, send me a PM.
These are hats that for various reasons do not stand on my head. This is wide.
Honor and praise to the trilby who made, in spite of themselves and the little love received, the history of hats fashion.
Willy-nilly

 

[steur]

We have talked and we often talk about hats with short brim or trilby, or fashion hats, in sixties and seventies, when thinning brim had become a way to be less "classic". I often read criticism and see little consideration for the ì hats of "thin" brim that marked an era. So I made a census of mine, happened in my hands, especially with exchanges or lots of hats and I will give them a few episodes in the presentation of the new hats.
I know that there is an audience that loves them and for them I spend as much as I have in the closets

Borsalino Marca Renna size 6 1/2 with a very high standards finishes

The color is "Banana" and the felt is finished with a light hair

The dimensions are as follows: 4.5 cm brim. crown at 11 cm. and ribbon at 4 cm.
The felt is soft, malleable and the color is enchanting and rare in my find of Borsalino hats

As many tilbies or short brim hats the best way to see them is to wear them with the right spirit

For those interested in this or the others that follow, send me a PM.
These are hats that for various reasons do not stand on my head. This is wide.
Honor and praise to the trilby who made, in spite of themselves and the little love received, the history of hats fashion.
Willy-nilly

Well, it's not my style of hat, but that felt looks soooo pettable.

 

[Steinbockhase]

We have talked and we often talk about hats with short brim or trilby, or fashion hats, in sixties and seventies, when thinning brim had become a way to be less "classic". I often read criticism and see little consideration for the ì hats of "thin" brim that marked an era. So I made a census of mine, happened in my hands, especially with exchanges or lots of hats and I will give them a few episodes in the presentation of the new hats.
I know that there is an audience that loves them and for them I spend as much as I have in the closets

Borsalino Marca Renna size 6 1/2 with a very high standards finishes
The color is "Banana" and the felt is finished with a light hair

The dimensions are as follows: 4.5 cm brim. crown at 11 cm. and ribbon at 4 cm.
The felt is soft, malleable and the color is enchanting and rare in my find of Borsalino hats

As many tilbies or short brim hats the best way to see them is to wear them with the right spirit

For those interested in this or the others that follow, send me a PM.
These are hats that for various reasons do not stand on my head. This is wide.
Honor and praise to the trilby who made, in spite of themselves and the little love received, the history of hats fashion.
Willy-nilly

I love Trilby, Pork Pie and other short or snap brim hats; just like most of the men's fashion from the the 60s (i.e. men's suits).

 

[Steinbockhase]

Here are sample pics of three of my short(er) brim Borsalinos. More photos and details will follow.

 

[steur]

Here are sample pics of three of my short(er) brim Borsalinos. More photos and details will follow.

View attachment 132884 View attachment 132885 View attachment 132886

We don't see many of these around here. Interesting hats from Borsalino.

 

[Tonio]

Sealed the deal on this antique Borsalino hat block. Acquired through an antiques dealer in Alessandria. It was said to have been brought home by a factory worker back in the day.

View attachment 131311

The block has arrived. Super heavy. Crown block is 7-1/4" tall.

 

[alanfgag]

The block has arrived. Super heavy. Crown block is 7-1/4" tall.

Oh my!

 

[steur]

The block has arrived. Super heavy. Crown block is 7-1/4" tall.

View attachment 133152 View attachment 133153 View attachment 133154 View attachment 133155 View attachment 133156 View attachment 133157

Wonderful, Tonio. Now all you need to do is replicate that Borsalino hat with it

 

[steur]

Borsalino Augusta Diamante in a semi-longhair finish. Colour Bismuto, Size 56, with the underwelt brim at 5cm (which I read here is still not considered a stingy) and crown depending on which crease either at 10 or 11 cm at the pinch. The felt is gorgeous and it's a very pettable hat and it takes any creasy with no steam. It's the nice full crown that prevents it from looking like a little (or stingy) hat. The underwelt is done with blind stitching, so the stitches don't show on the top of the brim. If the borsalino label theory holds true this should have been made in 1979.

 

[steur]

Borsalino Nutria Celespo in Opale colour. Size 57, with the raw edge brim at 7cm and the crown 10cm at the pinch. Lined with the crown patch covered with cellophane (love those).
It needs some work because the sweatband stitching is loose and the ribbon is soiled (needs replacement). That felt though...