The Stratoliner Appreciation Club {MODERN}

[safetyfast]

Already pulled the trigger; ships from Overland Sheepskin Co. If there's a problem, Amazon's return policy is liberal.


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[safetyfast]

My new premier Stratoliner in Cornhill. Arrived yesterday. Had to leave it on the stretcher overnight. Same size as all my other Stetsons, but arrived too tight. I'm not convinced the quality is THAT much better than my Royal Strat. However, the pin is way nicer.

 

[safetyfast]

Has anyone else had issues with their Strat being tighter than their usual size? I talked to my vendor and they will exchange my hat, but I'm wondering if the next one will also be too tight.


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[moontheloon]

Has anyone else had issues with their Strat being tighter than their usual size? I talked to my vendor and they will exchange my hat, but I'm wondering if the next one will also be too tight.


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this is exactly why we should go to a hat shop and physically handle the hats whenever possible

any time you are dropping that kind of money you want what you want and you deserve what you want ... and if you are anything like me you want it without the hassle and disappointment of opening a box to a hat that does not fit

every time I am at a shop I will have four or five of the same hat in front of me and every single one of them will have slight variations

buying hats online is a crapshoot where you need to expect these things ... the vintage market is slightly different because there are not always many other options ....but for a modern hat I cannot express how important it is to handle the hat before buying because things like this happen more times than not I have found

all that being said... all my modern Strats fit true to size ... one I ordered from a hat shop via the internet and had to be sent back ... and the others were all bought in person

 

[safetyfast]

this is exactly why we should go to a hat shop and physically handle the hats whenever possible

any time you are dropping that kind of money you want what you want and you deserve what you want ... and if you are anything like me you want it without the hassle and disappointment of opening a box to a hat that does not fit

every time I am at a shop I will have four or five of the same hat in front of me and every single one of them will have slight variations

buying hats online is a crapshoot where you need to expect these things ... the vintage market is slightly different because there are not always many other options ....but for a modern hat I cannot express how important it is to handle the hat before buying because things like this happen more times than not I have found

all that being said... all my modern Strats fit true to size ... one I ordered from a hat shop via the internet and had to be sent back ... and the others were all bought in person

Thanks Moon. I wish there was a decent hat store in a hundred mile radius. Alas, no such luck.


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[moontheloon]

Thanks Moon. I wish there was a decent hat store in a hundred mile radius. Alas, no such luck.


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in that situation I would call a shop like JJ , Bencraft, or DelMonico .. whoever has the hat you want ... give them your measurements and they will be glad to go through their stock and find something that will fit you

I've done it and they are glad to do it

 

[EricinMS]

Brim up! Looks good.

I have a Stratoliner "royal Deluxe" on the way-- is the felt of a quality that I can redo the crease? It's cornhill, and I essentially want it to look a bit like an open road. Thanks Eric

 

[Frunobulax]

If it's Royal DeLuxe , it comes open crown, no?

Both of my new RDs take a crease just fine.


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[safetyfast]

I have a Stratoliner "royal Deluxe" on the way-- is the felt of a quality that I can redo the crease? It's cornhill, and I essentially want it to look a bit like an open road. Thanks Eric

It comes open crown. Here's mine in Cornhill

 

[EricinMS]

It comes open crown. Here's mine in Cornhill

 

[EricinMS]

I think that's the Premiere; mine has the standard shape and I'm hoping to re do it

 

[EricinMS]

Brim up! Looks good.

This is what I'm looking to do with a Cornhill--did you have to change the crease?

 

[moontheloon]

I think that's the Premiere; mine has the standard shape and I'm hoping to re do it

Sounds like you got the royal quality
Which comes precreased has a lower crown and quite frankly some pretty horrible felt

 

[LuvMyMan]

Sounds like you got the royal quality
Which comes precreased has a lower crown and quite frankly some pretty horrible felt

If I a not mistaken, that model of the Stratoliner was what Stetson first offered a while back and comes with that stiff crown pre bashed and as stated yes, a lower crown. BUT a few of you fellows spent some time on theirs and did some steaming and had the hats blocked to gain some more crown height and the hats looked much better. Not sure if the felt bodies now on those models of Strats are a bit nicer or not? But we had one here and it was a decent hat...until it was replace by a Dobbs 15 Open Road Clone....and the Dobbs was less money then that modern Strat! Then you get a few vintage Strats and spoil yourself like crazy, right? haha! I have no clue how nice the premium new Strats are but I am sure they are a step up from the older version of the modern Strats! A lot of steam and working on the lesser model Strat can do some good for it.

 

[safetyfast]

I think that's the Premiere; mine has the standard shape and I'm hoping to re do it

You are correct. I was thinking it was the same thing because the Premier is also marked on the inside "Royal Deluxe." I have a standard modern Strat as well. It's not as nice but I like it pretty well and get a lot of compliments on it- more than on the Premier.

 

[moontheloon]

If I a not mistaken, that model of the Stratoliner was what Stetson first offered a while back and comes with that stiff crown pre bashed and as stated yes, a lower crown. BUT a few of you fellows spent some time on theirs and did some steaming and had the hats blocked to gain some more crown height and the hats looked much better. Not sure if the felt bodies now on those models of Strats are a bit nicer or not? But we had one here and it was a decent hat...until it was replace by a Dobbs 15 Open Road Clone....and the Dobbs was less money then that modern Strat! Then you get a few vintage Strats and spoil yourself like crazy, right? haha! I have no clue how nice the premium new Strats are but I am sure they are a step up from the older version of the modern Strats! A lot of steam and working on the lesser model Strat can do some good for it.

the Premier are very nice and light years above the below model.
I can't imagine anything short of a miracle making a royal quality modern strat worth owning at all... the ones I've handled at hat shops felt like costume hats with a terrible sweatband

Why anyone would not spend a few more dollars and get a Premier makes no sense to me

I understand not everyone spending for an Excellent .... But when you can spend $30 more or so and get a far superior hat I believe it is wise to do so

and not all vintage Strats are great to be honest... all the 40s strats I own are fantastic .... but I've owned some 50s era strats that were pretty terrible to be honest
That being said I do have some 50s strats right now that are quite nice
Just making the point that vintage doesn't always mean amazing quality

 

[LuvMyMan]

the Premier are very nice and light years above the below model.
I can't imagine anything short of a miracle making a royal quality modern strat worth owning at all... the ones I've handled at hat shops felt like costume hats with a terrible sweatband

Why anyone would not spend a few more dollars and get a Premier makes no sense to me

I understand not everyone spending for an Excellent .... But when you can spend $30 more or so and get a far superior hat I believe it is wise to do so

and not all vintage Strats are great to be honest... all the 40s strats I own are fantastic .... but I've owned some 50s era strats that were pretty terrible to be honest
That being said I do have some 50s strats right now that are quite nice
Just making the point that vintage doesn't always mean amazing quality

Yep that is so true. I can say we have had a few what I would call "modern day" hats, made within the last 15 years or so. Some are not very nice at all. A few fairly nice but to date none that were anywhere near the vintage. Now the ones we have had made custom, really nice. I have only found one hat we had that was vintage and had a hard course feel to the felt, nice looking but still a bit course. I am sure we have been lucky so far, as to vintage. We've had 4 or 5 vintage Strats mostly 1950's era, the best one we sold to another lounger, and all of them have been in a condition of looking like they have never been worn. All super smooth but the one we sold was really super creamy, a silverbelly with a slight blue to the color tone. That was so soft, would remind you of a white powder coated donut, soft and yummy! haha!

 

[Hurricane Jack]

the Premier are very nice and light years above the below model.
I can't imagine anything short of a miracle making a royal quality modern strat worth owning at all... the ones I've handled at hat shops felt like costume hats with a terrible sweatband

Why anyone would not spend a few more dollars and get a Premier makes no sense to me

I understand not everyone spending for an Excellent .... But when you can spend $30 more or so and get a far superior hat I believe it is wise to do so

and not all vintage Strats are great to be honest... all the 40s strats I own are fantastic .... but I've owned some 50s era strats that were pretty terrible to be honest
That being said I do have some 50s strats right now that are quite nice
Just making the point that vintage doesn't always mean amazing quality

Word from employees is that the open crown Premier Stratoliner is getting hard to get supposedly because the bodies are getting hard to get. The Excellent may have already been dropped from the line. As we know, if you special order a Premier the wait time is long; employees say it's because of the lack of Premier grade bodies. They think the 150th anniversary line of hats is being reduced down to one model each: creased, no open crowns; leather sweats, just not sheepskin leather; no more Stratoliner pins. They will all be labeled Royal Quality. The 150th anniversary thing has almost run its course.

I recently handpicked a Royal Quality Stratoliner. From the ribbon out the brim is nice & soft, has a good hand. The pounce on the crown is not as nice but feels no worse than some Akubra CD's. Colors were limited & I found the best in stock to be either Caribou or black, so I bought Caribou. These were all prime hats & not seconds.

They had a nice Tawny Premier Whippett in my size but it had a terrible divot in the top side of the brim. It apparently had been there in stock a while. They were only willing to discount it $20/off but the divot was so deep I thought it could soon become a hole.

I only found one Stratoliner straw (7-3/4 gray) so wasn't able to evaluate the quality based on one hat.

At St. Joe they sell a lot of western straws & they said more & more straws are coming in with cloth sweats. They said expect that trend to continue & spread to other mid grade hats as well.

 

[jonkertb]

you folks in this Modern Strat Appreciation thread are making me ashamed to wear my first ever fur felt fedora!!
My first hat!! Now I will be embarrassed to wear it in public......who has a real vintage strat in 7 1/8 to trade so I can be seen
in public again???? :>)

Oh well!!! Next week I'll have a Gus Miller on my noggin.....
tom

 

[Short Balding Guy]

you folks in this Modern Strat Appreciation thread are making me ashamed to wear my first ever fur felt fedora!!My first hat!! Now I will be embarrassed to wear it in public......who has a real vintage strat in 7 1/8 to trade so I can be seen
in public again???? :>) Oh well!!! Next week I'll have a Gus Miller on my noggin.....
tom

Tom; I humbly disagree with the premise that you should be remiss about your Modern Strat. Every hat has a purpose, a utility, a "perfect use."

I do have a "modern" Strat. and it has a perfect use - wearing when hauling and hanging with my wife's show horse friends. A durable, hard working hat that is at home and accepted by that group when I wear it. It offers style, hat wearing benefits and protection. It has gotten stomped in the trailer by horse hoofs, soaked by rain, crushed by having someone sit on it and having it thrown into the air and landing in the dirt/dust by wind. I have naphtha bathed, steamed the hat many times. It works great.

I have the luxury of owning a couple vtg. Strats and they would not be appreciated by this utility or folks. Wearing my "Sunday best" to the show just would not do. My job is not to be the star of the show, but to support the star of the show. I wear them often, but not during these occasions.

I find myself wearing most often (by percentage) hats that are not "special" by the passionate hat folks. Granted I am a an older guy and feel freedom from peer pressure and social pressure to choose my costume as I wish.

Stetson modern Strats are good hats and are the gateway drug to vtg. or specialty bespoke modern hats. I look forward to see your new Gus and your Strat on the What Are You Wearing thread.

Respectfully, Eric -