The Cap Faction

[Razzman]

@ Woodfluter, great new caps!
@ Hepville, looking forward to seeing samples of your new wool and linen fabrics!
@ Admamira, very nice City Sport Donegal Tweed! Colorful! Is it a thick heavy wool?

 

[Adnamira]

@ Admamira, very nice City Sport Donegal Tweed! Colorful! Is it a thick heavy wool?

It's very unusual. It is actually very soft and doesn't seem like a really coarse or hairy wool at all. It's also not that heavy. It's got a lot of different sized threads in its construction - there's like a base fabric that is dark navy and brown, similar density to my other donegal tweed cap, and then it has these big, thick coloured, loose threads interwoven through it. We are still getting up to thirty degree C days here at the moment, and the cap isn't all that hot to wear - it'd be a great cap if it had a cotton lining, because the loose, soft fabric would let plenty of air through. My other CS is a size 60, this is a size 59. It's quite snug and tighter than I would prefer, but the crossgrain band is padded a lot like the Wigens, and so it isn't painful to wear... I might try steaming it and stretching it a little the way that Marc Chevalier described early. Don't tell him though, because I was arguing with him about what a silly idea it seemed to me at the time. (I do listen even if I am a stubborn, argumentative bugger).

 

[Woodfluter]

Jason is spot on about the colorful Donegal tweed (actually, is this a tweed technically, given the weave?) and his description fits mine as well; his just has different colors and pattern. It's light enough for warm weather wear. It looks deceptively thick and heavy.

I quoted weights in the earlier post, and both the linen and this thick looking tweed were about 90 gm or 3.15 oz. For comparison, my 11" blue Donegal tweed CS weighs 4.45 oz and a Jonathan Richard 6/4 tweed weighs 4.7 oz. So these chunky weaves are odd.

Jason, do you have a hat stretcher? I used that on all the size 59 City Sports (except the linen which fit OK for some reason) and they came around eventually. I'd leave it on the stretcher for for a half hour, then it would feel loose, and over hours tighten up again, so I'd repeat. But each time I repeated it tightened less until finally it would fit. Makes me a little nervous, but I was careflu not to put excessive tension on them...don't know how I know where to stop, but somehow I can feel that.

- Bill

 

[Adnamira]

Yeah, Bill, that was what I was thinking. A tweed is like a fabric with pills of fabric through the weave... the spots of colour in this fabric are actually threads.

No, I don't have a hat stretcher. The cap isn't so tight that it isn't wearable, so I might be able to wear it in. I wonder what happens with vintage caps that have been stretched and then sold on and someone else tries to stretch them. I would much rather buy a cap that fits, but occasionally you do get in a situation with a snug fit. Guess I will have to get me one of those stretchers eventually.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Bill the first three caps are great to me love the retro sport one.

This one need a little more drape on the sides for my taste to make it look right.

 

[Hepville]

That's great, would love to see that! I like variety, and hence the looks of these different styles of 8/4 and flat caps from different periods; it would be good to get a more complete picture and timeline.



Great! By the way, I agree that this could work fine for summer and don't think wool is necessarily a cool-weather fabric. I wear wool socks year-round, finding them cooler and drier than any alternatives. Wool is very versatile. The Retro Sport I showed is an example...wore that today in temperatures close to 80F (27C) and sweating on the forehead was the only issue, same as with any cap or hat, solved by shifting it around. As long as the fabric breathes well and isn't excessively thick, it's fine.

From what I've seen here, you do good work. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

- Bill

You even have variety using the same pattern with different fabrics (weight, material,weave and such)... drape and fall can be so different. For me linen caps I had to adjust the seam allowance vs me tweed caps for the same size... so in fact there is a very subtile difference in shape.

This scabal wool is definately something for summer... it´s such a lightweigt cloth with a very fine weave. I may have to work with interfacing... will see.

 

[Adnamira]

This one need a little more drape on the sides for my taste to make it look right.

But it is a good demonstration of the differences in the three sizes or styles of City Sport Newsboy - there might be another size and style too... as well as six panel styles and various flat cap styles. If nothing else, City Sport offer a great variety of styles and fabrics. And well, it would be pretty boring if we all had the same tastes and wore exactly the same styles.

 

[Equality 7-2521]

Pardon the interruption with a question. I did a search here and it hasn't been brought up, are the Lofgren caps not being made anymore or are they seasonal and thus will not come back until a certain period?

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I think all Lofgren products are limeted editions. I never bought from them but I read something along these lines in the reproduction classic workwear thread

 

[Lefty]

buy them from the Speedway shop
They've got fantastic service.

 

[ambulatingreader]

For the last 30+ years, i've been wearing Kangol "Spitfires", a brimmed cap, in both the wool blend and synthetic versions. They're both machine washable, and air- dried. The wools can be stretched while wet, but will shrink somewhat over the years. The synthetics do fine. Don't know if they still make the wool one, but I have a lifetime supply. Got them at Berniye Utz here in Seattle.
Now contemplating an akubra Stylemaster in Acorn and an Orvis packable fedora in brown. Comments on either are welcome. Thanks, Walt

 

[Adnamira]

It'd be interesting to try a Lofgren. They look good and I should try a cap with a leather sweatband, seeing that everyone reckons the ants pants.

This is the third City Sport I've bought, the second from Earland bros on ebay. The first one took a week to arrive; this one took three weeks. Postage was very cheap though, so no complaints (they say 7-25 days). It's a concern not having an item registered... but I haven't had a cap go missing yet, so I guess you can risk it if you are getting a good price. The first one of these was the black with red stripes in the tweed that made it look rather spiderish and sinister.... the chunky tweed is a defintely brighter more fun cap, and this one is just nice... for some reason it feels and looks fuller than the other two. The thing that really stands out to me with this cap is again, in comparison to the Wigens Herringbone Gatsby I bought, is City Sports attention to detail in having the patterns in their fabrics line up on the cap... I don't know if they have to waste more fabric to achieve this, or they can somehow work it with their fabric suppliers. Here you can see it in the fromation of an eight point star in the large herringbone pattern coming together around the button. I don't think City Sport are the best cap ever, but they do do some things very well.... and these extended bill medium sized newsboys seem to suit me. I think the Retro Sport Cap I bought is as good a cap, probably even better, than these City Sports, but the eight dart style doesn't seem very flattering on me - it makes me look fatter and older in the face... whereas the shape of the City Sport and the proportions of the brim makes my facial features seem smaller and younger. It takes a long time to figure out what caps suit you best when you are buying online. In the last couple of months, I've sold eight caps and bought four. Please, no one convince me to buy anymore for a while. I think I am pretty set for winter now


City Sport Donegal Tweed Cap by Adnamira, on Flickr

 

[seabass]

FYI, those Lofgren run big sorta strange sizing for a japanese clothing item.. being pants & shirts run small in there sizing on the repop vintage

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Don't know if they still make the wool one, but I have a lifetime supply. Now contemplating an akubra Stylemaster in Acorn and an Orvis packable fedora in brown. Comments on either are welcome. Thanks, Walt

Kangol wool spitfire


-Akubra-Stylemaster
There are several Threads on board that deal with Akubra hats I would read those to get peoples views on the hat.
The Orvis is a wool hat and will not be a long lasting hat. Especially if you get caught out in the rain. The Akubra is a rabbit felt hat an is much more
durable hat. Welcome to the lounge. Also check out the Berets, Anyone ? Daan of South Pacific Berets talks about a new source of the Peaked Berets which the Spitfire is a related too.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Hi,

Checking out some vintage caps on the bay, and the sizing is, well, confusing! I wear 7 1/8, which I would judge to be a medium, but some descriptions indicate that is a "large." Charts place 7 1/8 right on the line between med and large. [huh]

Any advice from the more experienced would be appreciated!

 

[Razzman]

]Here are a couple of pics of me in my Hat People caps. I've had them since January. Excuse the pics, I'm not very photogenic. The caps are comfortable and well made. I'd like a Retro Sport and a cap from Hepville. Waiting for some pictures of his new light wool fabric and linen. The steel blue sounds interesting. [

Beige Linen:

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Green, brown and black herringbone:

[/IMG]

 

[St. Valentine]

Hi,

Checking out some vintage caps on the bay, and the sizing is, well, confusing! I wear 7 1/8, which I would judge to be a medium, but some descriptions indicate that is a "large." Charts place 7 1/8 right on the line between med and large. [huh]

Any advice from the more experienced would be appreciated!

The usual designations of "S, M and L" are not really suitable when buying caps or especially hats. 1/3 of size can make all the difference particularly when it´s 1/3 too small! When in doubt always go for the larger size. You can shrink caps and you can insert cork stripes behind the sweatbands of a hat to make it fit.

Frank

 

[Feraud]

These are some of the nicest repro caps I've seen!

New Custom Caps !

 

[Razzman]

I'd like to shrink my beige linen cap. It's the Hat People cap shown in post #1876. Any suggestions on how to accomplish that?

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Have you used the adjustment built into the rear of the cap. If you look you will see a safety pin in you will find the adjustment.