the future of hats

[Dr Trinidad]

I passed a icing store on the way through the mall and noticed a lot of little pink , blue, and some black cheap lil stingy brims. Do you think hats are headed in the direction Harley Davidson went mainly boutique trendy garbage?

 

[RBH]

I think those style hats a aimed mainly at the teen market.
But maybe some of those teens[after being used to hats] will become hat wearers later on.

 

[Jerekson]

Ah, yes.

Just recently a buddy of mine came up to me and said, "I went to Tilley's last night, and they had fedoras there!" (he knows and respects my fedora wearing, and was trying to connect).

I asked him what they were like, and he said, "They're really nice. They're made of felt and everything. They're real fedoras."

Well, needless to say I went to Tilley's the following night and looked around.

What I found, didn't surprise me in the slightest; a bunch of very cheap, very stiff, wool felt stingy brims. I wasn't very impressed.

In fact, I'd feel sorry for anyone who purchased one of the things. They were running at $24. Probably only worth about...$5...?

 

[Dr Trinidad]

Not only that but I used to ride a Harley and was really proud of the fact and it had its on mystic, but when it became the trendy thing to do it somehow lost something for me. Just hope hats don't go the same way. A market flooded with cheap hats that are everywhere you look. Just my 2 cents

 

[Gary Crumrine]

Friends, at least hats -- brimmed all 'round -- are coming back. And, as others have said, once the kids with the baggy cropped trousers and oversized T-shirts grow up, perhaps they will graduate to proper head coverings.

 

[Davidson]

There's nothing wrong with stingy brims

Brim size is a matter of personal preference. There are fine examples of high quality hats with all brim sizes, including stingy brims.

 

[Davidson]

Where's the market leader for the future?

i've wondered a bit about the future of hats myself. It's not coming from beaver fur - too expensive, too labor intensive. I doubt it's rabbit, too. Wool is a poor material for hats, by most accounts. The ebay and antique shop well will eventually run dry, at least as far as bargains.

Women, including on FL, don't seem to show a huge interest. I don't think "skin cancer protection" will move things, with SPF50+ suntan lotion so cheap and ubiquitous.

As far as I can tell, the concensus of the Lounge is that Akubra is the only company that consistently offers a well-made, stylish $100 hat.

I think the future of hats, other than as some nostalgic niche, lies in modern production using synthetic materials to increase function, fit, durability, comfort...and to get the cost (way) down as quality goes up. I see some of this showing up in caps for sports, but not in hats in general.

 

[Red Beard]

Good point, Davidson. I think you're probably right about the future of hats being in synthetic materials. I honestly can't see a huge amout of growth in the Fur industry, given how attitudes towards it have changed so much over the years. I think there will always be a small comfortable market, and it could grow, but can't see a huge influx of people desiring new fur products, at least not in the same manner as past times.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

If the use of fur felt hats had remained strong for the last 50 years, instead of taking a nosedive, I'm sure that there would be a fairly decent synthetic fur felt by now.

 

[Davidson]

Red Beard: I agree. It may be that the "high end" of the market will for a very long time be for a pure beaver felt hat with a leather sweat, etc. But that will be a small, if ongoing, market.

Joel: I'm told that a few natural furs have qualities that make them "felt" that are difficult to reproduce in artificial fibers. Many "wool" hats are blends of wool and synthetic fibers, with the wool there to get it to felt (I am told). Most of the R&D has been applied to fibers to be woven, or to materials produced in sheets or rolls. From what I've read here, the felting process for hats itself is labor intensive with many steps, and maybe it won't be part of the future manufacturing process.

Also, there must be a better material to make sweatbands out of than leather (or elastisized cloth), that actively wicks sweat away from the head but protects the hat proper from sweat damage, has some give to make a more conformable fit, optionally provides some cooling, etc. Maybe something replaceable, maybe even removeable for washing and then replacing (by the owner).

 

[Joel Tunnah]

A micromesh sweatband with some elasticity to it would make close sizing unneeded. It would also breath, unlike leather.

Yeah, now that you mention it, leather is a pretty awful sweatband material.

I shall now be burned at the stake.

 

[Anders]

Now that you mention it

I always thought leather did a great job of keeping sweat off the hat, just not off one's head....

 

[Davidson]

One example from MLB (New Era)

Wool-free caps looking cool for ballplayers

 

[rockyj]

The future looks bright!

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