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The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

Messages
18,379
Location
Nederland
Borsalino Ecosan in Biber colour. Size 57 (or 58), depending on wether you believe the tag or the label. Bound brim at 7cm and crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Despite the "biber" (beaver) name of the colour, the felt isn't actually beaver, but rabbit.

borsalino-biber_01-jpg.372531
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Messages
18,379
Location
Nederland
Finally found one and had to dig pretty deep (for my standards that is) to get it.
Borsalino Gulaela homburg in Bismuto in Castoro (beaver) felt. Size 56 with the bound brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Finally found a Castoro felt. A few members here have one, but these things are rare! The felt is fantastic and it is fairly light at 111 grams. The sweatband does not have the Borsalino logo, so could be a replacement, even though the hat doesn't seem to have been worn very much.

borsalino-castoro_1-jpg.372570
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Made especially for Michele Balbi of Napoli. Interestingly it came wrapped in this nice piece of ephemera: a paper Barbisio bag.

package2-jpg.372579
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,816
Location
Denmark
Haven't come across any Borsalinos for a while, then suddenly, I bag 6 of them. This one was the first to arrive. Quite new, even still has the tag. Not up to the quality of vintage Borsalinos, but it looks nice. I was drawn by the colour and the fact that it was sold in Petitgas; Denmark's oldest, still in existence hat shop.
At 8cm, the brim is no stingy. 20211026_181812.jpg 20211026_181825.jpg 20211026_222034.jpg 20211026_222044.jpg
 
Messages
18,379
Location
Nederland
Haven't come across any Borsalinos for a while, then suddenly, I bag 6 of them. This one was the first to arrive. Quite new, even still has the tag. Not up to the quality of vintage Borsalinos, but it looks nice. I was drawn by the colour and the fact that it was sold in Petitgas; Denmark's oldest, still in existence hat shop.
At 8cm, the brim is no stingy. View attachment 373376 View attachment 373377 View attachment 373379 View attachment 373380
Six!? Now that is some score, Steve. The first one is a nice classic looking hat. Already curious about the others.
 

PanosChris

Practically Family
Messages
977
The second of the 6 recent Borsalino purchashes arrived today. Yet another Facebook Market Place find.
Late 1950s / early 60s if I'm reading the label right. Wonderful hand to the dense felt. Shark gill bow treatment, and a double stitched overwelt edge. The 5cm brim seems to say up, but can equally be worn down. Win-win.
View attachment 373450 View attachment 373451 View attachment 373452 View attachment 373453 View attachment 373454 View attachment 373455 View attachment 373457
That's very nice! Maybe the indoor pics are misleading but I would expect to write misto on the label or the nap is somewhat longer?
Are 2 out of the 4 rest coming from the north? ;)
 
Last edited:

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,816
Location
Denmark
That's very nice! Maybe the indoor pics are misleading but I would expect to write misto on the label or the nap is somewhat longer?
Are 2 out of the 4 rest coming from the north? ;)

Thanks, Panos. The nap is indeed somewhat longer, but not what I'd call misto.
2 of the other 4 are indeed coming from the North. The other two, more South ;-)
 
Messages
18,379
Location
Nederland
The second of the 6 recent Borsalino purchashes arrived today. Yet another Facebook Market Place find.
Late 1950s / early 60s if I'm reading the label right. Wonderful hand to the dense felt. Shark gill bow treatment, and a double stitched overwelt edge. The 5cm brim seems to say up, but can equally be worn down. Win-win.
View attachment 373450 View attachment 373451 View attachment 373452 View attachment 373453 View attachment 373454 View attachment 373455 View attachment 373457
That's a really good one, Steve. Love the gills. Unusual that the label has a different layout. If the "zebú" in the upper left is the colour of the felt, it is a colour we haven't seen before. We've only ever seen Buio as a felt colour once, so that is likely the case. Wouldn't know what else the "zebú" could refer to.
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,816
Location
Denmark
That's a really good one, Steve. Love the gills. Unusual that the label has a different layout. If the "zebú" in the upper left is the colour of the felt, it is a colour we haven't seen before. We've only ever seen Buio as a felt colour once, so that is likely the case. Wouldn't know what else the "zebú" could refer to.

Thanks Stefan. Ja, the label had me a bit confused, too.
 
Messages
17,466
Location
Maryland
The second of the 6 recent Borsalino purchashes arrived today. Yet another Facebook Market Place find.
Late 1950s / early 60s if I'm reading the label right. Wonderful hand to the dense felt. Shark gill bow treatment, and a double stitched overwelt edge. The 5cm brim seems to say up, but can equally be worn down. Win-win.
View attachment 373450 View attachment 373451 View attachment 373452 View attachment 373453 View attachment 373454 View attachment 373455 View attachment 373457
Steve, Super Form and Finish! Really like the Bow. Looks great on too! :)
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,816
Location
Denmark
That's a really good one, Steve. Love the gills. Unusual that the label has a different layout. If the "zebú" in the upper left is the colour of the felt, it is a colour we haven't seen before. We've only ever seen Buio as a felt colour once, so that is likely the case. Wouldn't know what else the "zebú" could refer to.

Could it possibly refer to the shade of black seen on the Asien zebú cow? Borsalino were pretty inventive when it came to the names of colours.
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,816
Location
Denmark
"Buio - Dark" is the color. "Zebù" Bos taurus indicus an animal in Italian language, so is the finish of the surface felt. Cocisan is the type of hat

Thank you for the clarification, Daniele. However, Cocisan seems to cover at least two types of hats. The Cocisan type is not as clear a definition as Bowler, Homburg, Fedora for example. Or am I missing something?
 

Daniele Tanto

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,217
Location
Verona - Italia
Thank you for the clarification, Daniele. However, Cocisan seems to cover at least two types of hats. The Cocisan type is not as clear a definition as Bowler, Homburg, Fedora for example. Or am I missing something?
Steve, the Borsalino paper labels were and are, today even more than yesterday, a processing slip inside the factory, therefore they contain processing indications, some understandable such as the colors or the finish of the felt (see Zebù) but the name that here all refer to the type of hat is an abbreviation that determines the processes used for that batch of hats. There are no categories to which the shapes or proportions of a hat belong, they can be repeated, but there is very little evidence that these indications (Cocisan, Celesti, Mula, Ecosan and so on) refer to a single type of hat. They have often been used to determine, I repeat within the Borsalino departments, to indicate lots of hats for export. These indications are also linked to the manufacturing periods of hats in Borsalino, according to a series of procedures that have changed over the years and the curves of the markets. There are very vague connections between this terminology printed on the labels and the type of hats, while the colors and finishes of the felt are certain
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,816
Location
Denmark
Steve, the Borsalino paper labels were and are, today even more than yesterday, a processing slip inside the factory, therefore they contain processing indications, some understandable such as the colors or the finish of the felt (see Zebù) but the name that here all refer to the type of hat is an abbreviation that determines the processes used for that batch of hats. There are no categories to which the shapes or proportions of a hat belong, they can be repeated, but there is very little evidence that these indications (Cocisan, Celesti, Mula, Ecosan and so on) refer to a single type of hat. They have often been used to determine, I repeat within the Borsalino departments, to indicate lots of hats for export. These indications are also linked to the manufacturing periods of hats in Borsalino, according to a series of procedures that have changed over the years and the curves of the markets. There are very vague connections between this terminology printed on the labels and the type of hats, while the colors and finishes of the felt are certain

Thank you Daniele for the clarification. It makes sense now; from a Borsalino perspective at least.
 

Daniele Tanto

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,217
Location
Verona - Italia
We introduce a Borsalino that has an unknown peculiarity in many hats of the house in Alessandria: its size is full, which is strange in the sizes of the Borsalino
Lupo 1.jpg

Borsalino Qualità Suprema size 6 1/2 or 60 and 7 1/2 in the US.
Lupo Interno totale.jpg
The color of the felt is "Lupo - Wolf" one of the most difficult to make true in photography
Lupo 4.jpg

Medium felt finished with a tone-on-tone belt and a beautiful effect for global colors
Lupo 2.jpg

Unlined and light weight is a hat from the seventies Lupo Etichetta carta.jpg
sold in Italy with a soft felt, rare to find in the Qualità Suprema.
Lupo 6.jpg

These are measures of the Borsalino : the brims edged by a very thin ribbon to match the felt measure 6 cm. the ribbon in perfect color with the felt is 3 cm and the crown at its lowest point is at 10.
Lupo 8.jpg

This too is too wide for my head and as well as the other hats size 60 or 7 1/2 showed these days it is in sale for now without remorse :rolleyes:
 

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