The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[FedOregon]

Here's one that popped up on Etsy Sunday afternoon. The deep rich brown caught my eye, then the price. So low it was impossible to pass up. So cheap I don't want to say for fear of being called a thief. *cough* thirtyeightbuckswithfreeshipping *cough*
That free sbipping was seriously fast, too. Mailed on the 11th, in my hands today.
This thing is nearly pristine inside and out, with just a little misshaping to the brim that was easily fixed. Felt is really nice, what one would expect from Borsalino. Crown is a tad over 5", the dimensional brim is 2 3/8" X 2 1/4". 113g. Unreeded sweat, stitched in liner. Brim edge is either felted or a super finely stitched overwelt.

The pics:

I should have dusted it better before the pics...
The guts:

By the number on the tag, looks to be made in 1978.

Here's with a quick crease.

And the nog.

Worth every penny!

Powered by happy thoughts

What a deal! Find me one and I'll send you a 20% finder's fee!

 

[Redfokker]

Here's one that popped up on Etsy Sunday afternoon. The deep rich brown caught my eye, then the price. So low it was impossible to pass up. So cheap I don't want to say for fear of being called a thief. *cough* thirtyeightbuckswithfreeshipping *cough*
That free sbipping was seriously fast, too. Mailed on the 11th, in my hands today.
This thing is nearly pristine inside and out, with just a little misshaping to the brim that was easily fixed. Felt is really nice, what one would expect from Borsalino. Crown is a tad over 5", the dimensional brim is 2 3/8" X 2 1/4". 113g. Unreeded sweat, stitched in liner. Brim edge is either felted or a super finely stitched overwelt.

The pics:

I should have dusted it better before the pics...
The guts:

By the number on the tag, looks to be made in 1978.

Here's with a quick crease.

And the nog.

Worth every penny!

Powered by happy thoughts

Great score Moe! My Borsalino is from this era and is really nice quality as well. I seem to remember someone saying they were still making a high quality hat at this time. Love the color and lines.

 

[moehawk]

And then some! Awesome find!!

Thanks Jhoff!

What a deal! Find me one and I'll send you a 20% finder's fee!

As long as you're not a 7 1/4 - 7 3/8...

Great score Moe! My Borsalino is from this era and is really nice quality as well. I seem to remember someone saying they were still making a high quality hat at this time. Love the color and lines.

Thanks Red! This certainly has great materials and workmanship. I like everything about it, including how it's not so fragile with age that I have to baby it!
Also love the fat ribbon.

 

[FedOregon]

As long as you're not a 7 1/4 - 7 3/8...

A 7-1/2 Borsalino would be great!

 

[steur]

C.1950s

.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Classic looking Borsalino. Love the colour scheme (in my size too). Did it ever have a liner or is it an unlined one?

 

[steur]

Here's one that popped up on Etsy Sunday afternoon. The deep rich brown caught my eye, then the price. So low it was impossible to pass up. So cheap I don't want to say for fear of being called a thief. *cough* thirtyeightbuckswithfreeshipping *cough*
That free sbipping was seriously fast, too. Mailed on the 11th, in my hands today.
This thing is nearly pristine inside and out, with just a little misshaping to the brim that was easily fixed. Felt is really nice, what one would expect from Borsalino. Crown is a tad over 5", the dimensional brim is 2 3/8" X 2 1/4". 113g. Unreeded sweat, stitched in liner. Brim edge is either felted or a super finely stitched overwelt.

The pics:

I should have dusted it better before the pics...
The guts:

By the number on the tag, looks to be made in 1978.

Here's with a quick crease.

And the nog.

Worth every penny!

Powered by happy thoughts

Good catch, Moe. I really like that darker shade of brown. Don't see that too often.

 

[splintercellsz]

Classic looking Borsalino. Love the colour scheme (in my size too). Did it ever have a liner or is it an unlined one?

It looks like it was unlined. Extremely lightweight felt

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[Ken David]

Can anyone provide any details regarding "Borsalino Linea Augusta" or Borsalino Augusta Line that I believe were made in the 80s? I can't seem to find much regarding this. thanks.

 

[Ken David]

I don't know much about borsalinos nor any of their sub brands/lines ideally I would love to find a thin ribbon 40s vintage (wide brim, high crown) but unfortunately they appear to demand a premium and are highly sought after. Regardless my question is putting style aside which borsalinos should I stay away from that have use lower quality felt? Is it just the USA made Borsalinos?

 

[steur]

Can anyone provide any details regarding "Borsalino Linea Augusta" or Borsalino Augusta Line that I believe were made in the 80s? I can't seem to find much regarding this. thanks.

I don't know much about borsalinos nor any of their sub brands/lines ideally I would love to find a thin ribbon 40s vintage (wide brim, high crown) but unfortunately they appear to demand a premium and are highly sought after. Regardless my question is putting style aside which borsalinos should I stay away from that have use lower quality felt? Is it just the USA made Borsalinos?

Ken, there's no easy answer to your questions. If you'd read every post there is in the Borsalino thread you still wouldn't be able to get a straight answer to your questions. Borsalino has a long history in hatmaking and has produced millions of hats during that history. I have dozens of Borsalino hats, but could not tell you the difference in style or quality between their Trionfo line, Augusta Line or normal Borsalino line. Aside from their different lines they have used several different quality designations, like superiore, extra superiore, extra extra superiore, lusso, extra lusso, gran lusso, suprema, nadir and maybe several more. And then there's the production over different periods and different factories and partial or complete outsourcing to consider. Part of the puzzle is that only some of this information can be found in the hat. As the French would say: it's a "mer a boire". You can only realy judge it if you hold it in your hands.

 

[steur]

Time to add another Borsalino to this thread. Borsalino fedora in light brown (could be Averla colour), size 57 with an overwelt brim at 5cm and crown at 10cm at the pinch. Not a very interesting hat as such, but there are two things that got my interest. First is the liner, which I have not seen before and second is the label. This has the rounded edges and shows 60 as the first two numbers in the upper right corner, which would mean 1960 as a production date. That would be the earliest example of this label I have seen. The shop it was sold by J. Keniger jr in Rotterdam, Holland was founded in 1872 and still exists today (it's not a specialist hat shop, but sells menswear).

 

[belfastboy]

Ken, there's no easy answer to your questions. If you'd read every post there is in the Borsalino thread you still wouldn't be able to get a straight answer to your questions. Borsalino has a long history in hatmaking and has produced millions of hats during that history. I have dozens of Borsalino hats, but could not tell you the difference in style or quality between their Trionfo line, Augusta Line or normal Borsalino line. Aside from their different lines they have used several different quality designations, like superiore, extra superiore, extra extra superiore, lusso, extra lusso, gran lusso, suprema, nadir and maybe several more. And then there's the production over different periods and different factories and partial or complete outsourcing to consider. Part of the puzzle is that only some of this information can be found in the hat. As the French would say: it's a "mer a boire". You can only realy judge it if you hold it in your hands.

My two cents for what it is worth....I have 8 Borsas of varying ages from the 1940's all the way to a 1990's plus a modern Cuomo. The felt on the 1980 and 1990's hats compare well to that of the ones from the 40's and 50's. The only one that stands out in a negative way is the modern Cuomo from the early 2000's. It is still a decent hat but the felt does not compare with the others. I bought them all at a distance so (other than the beautiful 1950's I picked up from Moon) were a gamble. But it was back when the price for Borsalinos had not reached such inflated pricing and worth the risk.

 

[Bob Roberts]

There are/were some American made Borsalinos by Bollman, I believe. Wouldn't go there...

 

[Ken David]

Ken, there's no easy answer to your questions. If you'd read every post there is in the Borsalino thread you still wouldn't be able to get a straight answer to your questions. Borsalino has a long history in hatmaking and has produced millions of hats during that history. I have dozens of Borsalino hats, but could not tell you the difference in style or quality between their Trionfo line, Augusta Line or normal Borsalino line. Aside from their different lines they have used several different quality designations, like superiore, extra superiore, extra extra superiore, lusso, extra lusso, gran lusso, suprema, nadir and maybe several more. And then there's the production over different periods and different factories and partial or complete outsourcing to consider. Part of the puzzle is that only some of this information can be found in the hat. As the French would say: it's a "mer a boire". You can only realy judge it if you hold it in your hands.

My two cents for what it is worth....I have 8 Borsas of varying ages from the 1940's all the way to a 1990's plus a modern Cuomo. The felt on the 1980 and 1990's hats compare well to that of the ones from the 40's and 50's. The only one that stands out in a negative way is the modern Cuomo from the early 2000's. It is still a decent hat but the felt does not compare with the others. I bought them all at a distance so (other than the beautiful 1950's I picked up from Moon) were a gamble. But it was back when the price for Borsalinos had not reached such inflated pricing and worth the risk.

There are/were some American made Borsalinos by Bollman, I believe. Wouldn't go there...

Steur, Belfast, Bob....exactly the info I was looking for. Very informative, thanks for taking the time to post I appreciate it!

 

[Bob Roberts]

Steur, Belfast, Bob....exactly the info I was looking for. Very informative, thanks for taking the time to post I appreciate it!

Welcome Ken. Love to see pics of the Deckard Whippet.

 

[splintercellsz]

Welcome Ken. Love to see pics of the Deckard Whippet.

I second this

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[steur]

Time for another Borsalino. Borsalino fedora in green (Alpestre according to the label). Size 56 with an overwelt brim at 6cm and crown 9,5cm at the pinch. This one was part of the Holland-Italy hat-exchange program I have going with Daniele. I liked this one because of the colour, which is not that common for Borsalinos. Not the lightest hat or the finest felt, but what you might call a Borsalino workhorse. Late fifties to early sixties.

 

[steur]

Here's one I want to share with you for a number of reasons. First of all because it is a great colour. I don't have that many blue hats and this one has been away from the collection for a while. The reason for that is that it is in fact a women's hat. It has a cloth sweatband and the bow was on right hand side. I sent the hat to Fleur de Huu of Penumbra Hats in Holland to fit it with a new ribbon and bow treatment and she came through with this wonderful two-tone bow arrangement you see below. I have a few other hats she renovated for me (I'll be posting these soon) and I think her work is top notch. Highly recommended. Another reason is that this hat is wonderfully lightweight, coming in at only 80 grams. Borsalino in blue, size 56 with raw edge brim at 6,5 cm and crown at 10 at the pinch. Unlined and with cloth sweatband. Even if it is a modern Borsalino (1994) it's still a top-quality hat.

 

[KarlCrow]

^ incredibly similar colour to my borsalino blue, leather sweat, lined, 105g

 

[steur]

I have another Borsalino in blue (Mirtillo) that has a liner and leather sweatband, but that one is certainly heavier than 105 gr. I haven't compared them colourwise, but I don't think this is their Mirtillo colour.