The Open Road Guild

[Bamaboots]

Stetson Royal de Luxe Open Road in silverbelly. Size 56 with the bound brim at 7cm and the crown at 11,5cm at the center dent. I gave this one a diamond crease, because I have another one with my usual center dent and side pinches. I've been reading that Open Roads tend to be stiff, but this one certainly isn't. Wonderful hat.

Great TAR, Stefan. My RD OR is probably the softest of all of my OR's.

 

[steur]

Great TAR, Stefan. My RD OR is probably the softest of all of my OR's.

Thanks, Greg. Makes it an easy to grab hat for me. Now all I need is a 7x

 

[stevepow]

Ah, that's a shame. I'd like to have it brim down when it's raining, and brim up once I get inside (or when it's not raining). I guess I'll just keep snapping it back down after it snaps up, don't want to steam it down since I only wear/want to wear it snapped down maybe 15-20% of the time.

I have a Black 6x, a Sage Royal, and True Blue Pure - oh, and an SB Straw. The felt on both the Royal and Pure are soft and will snap down/up easily. My Black 6x is stiff - like a helmet stiff. I steamed it to get it to long oval with a hat jack and permanently turned the brim down slightly for an Anthony Hopkins / Westworld look which is subtle, but it won't snap up now. Well, it will, but it immediately pops back down! I'm happy with it this way as it is dead-on WestWorld. I may get a Black Royal at some point for a traditional look.

 

[FunnelVission]

I have a Black 6x, a Sage Royal, and True Blue Pure - oh, and an SB Straw. The felt on both the Royal and Pure are soft and will snap down/up easily. My Black 6x is stiff - like a helmet stiff. I steamed it to get it to long oval with a hat jack and permanently turned the brim down slightly for an Anthony Hopkins / Westworld look which is subtle, but it won't snap up now. Well, it will, but it immediately pops back down! I'm happy with it this way as it is dead-on WestWorld. I may get a Black Royal at some point for a traditional look.

Now that I've been given new incentive to wear my OR again, I might stretch it a bit more. I had hat jacked it a bit, as I too am a long oval, but the brim still likes to snap up (although it is better about staying down). I kind of regret getting the 6x over the royal, although at the time I had wanted it to fill the roll that my 6x Gus now fills (every day field hat (in my defense I didn't realize just how small the brim really was lol)).

 

[stevepow]

Now that I've been given new incentive to wear my OR again, I might stretch it a bit more. I had hat jacked it a bit, as I too am a long oval, but the brim still likes to snap up (although it is better about staying down). I kind of regret getting the 6x over the royal, although at the time I had wanted it to fill the roll that my 6x Gus now fills (every day field hat (in my defense I didn't realize just how small the brim really was lol)).

My 6x and straw are my best fitting - the bashes on the crown or crown depth seem very inconsistent. The straw is really deep - perfect fit right out of the box - and it is new, the 6x is 4 years old. I steamed and hat-jacked it over a few sessions over night until it felt about right. Now after some time it has really become a great fit. I'm going to try to raise the bash just a touch on the Pure at some point as it seems soft enough to do without messing things up - if it fit like my 6x, I'd love it.

The sweet spot price for soft felt for new OR seems to be the Royal although the first one I got was bashed at a slight angle off the center line and knew it would drive me crazy, so I'm waiting for a replacement.

 

[Mighty44]

After a couple of false starts I finally found a keeper. 3X Open Road with a 2 7/8” brim and wind trolley originally sold in Fort Worth. Great thick soft felt.

David

 

[StoryPNW]

After a couple of false starts I finally found a keeper. 3X Open Road with a 2 7/8” brim and wind trolley originally sold in Fort Worth. Great thick soft felt.

David
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Nice find! Looks like it is in great condition.

 

[Mighty44]

Thanks. It is in great shape—looks a lot like yours!

Nice find! Looks like it is in great condition.

 

[StoryPNW]

Thanks. It is in great shape—looks a lot like yours!

Yeah they look very close, and it appears to be of a similar vintage.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

After a couple of false starts I finally found a keeper. 3X Open Road with a 2 7/8” brim and wind trolley originally sold in Fort Worth. Great thick soft felt.

David
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That’s a gorgeous hat, David. I love everything about it!

 

[Mighty44]

Thanks, Brent!

That’s a gorgeous hat, David. I love everything about it!

 

[Rmccamey]

Very nice! Mine came without a store stamp so I'm not sure of its origin.

After a couple of false starts I finally found a keeper. 3X Open Road with a 2 7/8” brim and wind trolley originally sold in Fort Worth. Great thick soft felt.

David
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[Justdog]

Classic

 

[Rumad]

Mid-1960's 3X OR from around the time of the Stetson Centennial, I believe. During the time of Ramco ownership of Stetson. A charcoal gray with blue undertones that has a hand that leaves prints & photographs dusty looking. I have no idea what the name of the color was.

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Old post, I know. I just love the color but more so the look of that finish, HJ.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Old post, I know. I just love the color but more so the look of that finish, HJ.

Thanks! The color is more of a slate gray/blue than it shows on my monitor, The fur has an undertone that gives it that suade look when brushed.

 

[RossRYoung]

I was able to make the trek down to see my sister and her vintage OR 15 that I bought her. I brought along my new-to-me OR 15 so I could do a few comparison shots.

@Randall Renshaw and I were having a fun back and forth convo on our thoughts of Stetsons Imperial/3x/Fifteen felt offerings. I believe we ultimately came to the same agreement, that all 3 felt offerings mentioned should be the same quality (all selling for $15+). But Randall has certainly had more time with all the above felt grades (mine, admittedly is very small) and finds that the older Imperials have a little something extra that’s unquantifiable.

Though my Imperial is, most likely, ten years or more older then the 3x, I could not find and noticeable difference between the two. They both have a very soft, wonderfully moldable felt that could almost stand a touch more stiffener. Both brims also deflect with just the slightest touch or pressure.

I noticed @Short Balding Guy posted a recent Strat (I believe?) with a similar ribbon treatment. I was also excited to see this new Imperial has the same ribbon as Eric’s, and as my sisters OR. Nice to have a change of pace even if done subtly. I really enjoy the hat, and consider myself very lucky to find 2 OR Youngs hats. While Youngs hats do seem to pop up frequently, they also seem to favor a more dressy/fedora style. Hence my added excitement for two modest western shapes. On to the pics:

This is the only other example I have seen, outside of TFL, of this ribbon treatment. This also happened to be a mid 50’s OR 15 (not my hat):

 

[RossRYoung]

I also wanted to add this price tag found 2x times in the Imperial. I saw @BobHufford mention finding a similar tag in a Resistol

 

[jkingrph]

No offense, but what you are describing is one of the many reasons we here gravitate toward vintage hats. Most of the pre-50s/60s ORs have much more malleable felt thus providing much more versatility in the crease and brim configuration. Look around the Lounge and you will see many great ORs in all different configurations. I have a couple of ORs with the traditional Cattlemen's crease but I actually prefer a fedora configuration with a teardrop or diamond crease and a snap brim to use exactly as you describe - up most of the time but snapped down in the rain.

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I like my brims snapped down. Having an eye problem with thousands of floaters makes me want to shade my eyes from overhead light and glare as much as possible. I have one of the higher grade Open Roads, a 20x I think that came from Paris Hatters several years back and it snaps down easily. A good alternative is the Stratoliner if you like a teaardrop bash, which I actually prefer over the cattlemans.

 

[LEOSTARK]

Hey folks, didn’t want to open a new thread unnecessarily. Is the sweatband salvageable on this hat? I got it pretty cheap so I can’t complain…yet. So far, I have tried massaging some bick 4 into it. I have read about folks shrinking their sweatbands with water and a hair dryer, may consider that next after wearing it all of today. Thanks for any tips.

 

[RossRYoung]

Hey folks, didn’t want to open a new thread unnecessarily. Is the sweatband salvageable on this hat? I got it pretty cheap so I can’t complain…yet. So far, I have tried massaging some bick 4 into it. I have read about folks shrinking their sweatbands with water and a hair dryer, may consider that next after wearing it all of today. Thanks for any tips

I personally don’t see anything wrong with it, are you referring to its waviness? That’s most likely due to the previous owner putting sizing strips in it to help bring the size down