Too Small?? Too big? Just right? or How to wear a hat!

[RobFedoraField]

size

I'm a big believer in it's better to go large and use foam tape behind the sweatband as needed.

I don't have a tremendous amount of experience, but I'm guessing most hats shrink 1/2 size or so, or atleast that's been my experience. I have one hat that needs to stay on a stretcher so it fits, and to be honest, I don't wear it much because over time it's put a "warble" shape on the brim. my other ones, I don't have a problem with.

good luck and post pictures.

 

[gtdean48]

New hats will draw in, at least all of mine have. I always want a hat to fit a tad loose around my head because I know with wear I'll sweat & cause the sweatband to tighten as it dries. Leather just does that. I'd rather need to put some sizers behind the sweatband from the jump instead of knowing I have to use the stretcher. I reserve the starting off stretching for elusive vintage hats that I know are hard to find in my big noggin size as well. All modern production hats are round now & all take some wear to adjust to my Long Oval shaped mellon, too. Some need a stretcher to help.
Some folks say they have never had a sweatband draw in but I must have a different biochemistry going on in my sweat glands or something! [huh]

 

[Alan-Eby]

Fit

I'm somewhere between 7 1/8 and 7 1/4 but recently I found an old Serratelli western hat (6x beaver in decent shape) in a flea market for $10.00. I figured for that price weather it fit me or not I should get it, walking out of the store I tried the hat on, it fit perfectly I was pleasantly surprised. Since then that hats become my favorite hat I currently own.

 

[150719541]

a little more than the size.

I don´t like tight the sweat band, as well as all hat models are differents, crown C, tear, porky pie and others, there are many head forms and size, thence I prefer the flat hat rest on my head than the sweat band tighting and burding the hat weight. My size is 59.5 and I always use 60 or XL
lol lol lol

 

[zetwal]

Alan-Eby, what's the story with the guitar in your avatar? Did you make those modifications yourself? Wow!

 

[RobFedoraField]

stretchers

does anyone know if the hat jacks come in different widths?

the ones I've found are too narrow and by the time the hat starts to "stretch" it's already in a long oval. I'm looking for something to keep in my hat while it's in storage so it stays a little loose on me.

Cheers and have a great labor day (if you in the states anyway)

 

[gtdean48]

does anyone know if the hat jacks come in different widths?
...

Not the modern commercial ones. I have some vintage ones that are wider. I think there are some folks building some custom stretchers that are much wider but the Hat Jack & the ones in Harbour Freight seem to be the same width as a modern sweatband only. I could be mistaken and other disclaimers apply....

 

[RobFedoraField]

Not the modern commercial ones. I have some vintage ones that are wider. I think there are some folks building some custom stretchers that are much wider but the Hat Jack & the ones in Harbour Freight seem to be the same width as a modern sweatband only. I could be mistaken and other disclaimers appy....

I've thought about building one, but I don't have a garage / tools / etc. available to me at this point.

I can't imagine it would be that difficult if you had the right tools, heck you could even make it of cedar and help ward against moths.

 

[zenid]

Sorry for reactivating an old thread. Topic is the same though and thought my post isn't worth a new thread

I just got my second hat (just a Christy's...living on a student budget after all and haven't had any luck in putting my hands on an actual vintage hat so far. Guess it's more difficult here in the netehrlands ). Well, and my first hat was more of an indy style hat and thus relativley loose sitting.
I posted two pictures below. That's the hight in which it is still comfortable without causing a headache. I guess it's ok and according to the "two finger rule" it could still be a little higher. However, I just started wearing hats and I am quite unsure what suits me and what not
Thanks for any opinions! and greetings from the netherlands!

 

[John Galt]

Looks good to me. About 1/4 inch above the ear they say, but if it is comfortable, carry on. Nice hat, BTW.

 

[Dreamofgilgamesh]

Sorry for reactivating an old thread. Topic is the same though and thought my post isn't worth a new thread

I just got my second hat (just a Christy's...living on a student budget after all and haven't had any luck in putting my hands on an actual vintage hat so far. Guess it's more difficult here in the netehrlands ). Well, and my first hat was more of an indy style hat and thus relativley loose sitting.
I posted two pictures below. That's the hight in which it is still comfortable without causing a headache. I guess it's ok and according to the "two finger rule" it could still be a little higher. However, I just started wearing hats and I am quite unsure what suits me and what not
Thanks for any opinions! and greetings from the netherlands!

That's a fine looking hat, could you tell me what it is please?

 

[gtdean48]

Welcome zenid....looks to fit just right. Not touching the ears & not to high above them, just above the eye brows, not too fare up on the forehead....spot on. JMHO

 

[zenid]

Thanks
It's an "Christy's Hat Adventurer" from advintagefedora.de!

 

[Edward]

I made a statement somewhere (re wind trolleys) that many men that i've seen wear a hat that i would consider too big. My standard for deciding if a hat fits me or not is whether i need to hold it on when a tube train is entering the platform. If i feel that it might blow off, it's too loose.

Heh. That's probably pretty effective, on most platforms - one or two stations I think I'd need it painfully tight for that, though that's probably more to do with brim width than anything.

Regarding sizing, I agree you often see people on the street wearing them too loose - as much as anything to do with how many hats are sold in S/M/L imprecise sizes these days. I also think a lot of folks don't realise some of the things that can affect hat size. If I'd taken to wearing hats regularly before I shave my head, I suspect I'd have been wearing a 58 - now I wear a 57 (with the very occasional 56). I reckon I'd have been in a 58 with hair.

All said and done, if it's an especially windy day out, I just wear a cap...

It's definitely a personal thing, and I agree it has more to do with personal choice and comfort than any specific fashion rule. I like my fedoras to sit two fingers from where my ear joins my head/ one finger above the level of the top of the ear. That's how I test for the correct size when I try it on straight. I do tend to prefer it cocked to one side, though, in actual wear. Top hats and Hombergs (presumably also Bowlers, but I don't care for those and so don't wear one) sit higher than that on me - nature of the hat.

If you shave your head, the question becomes; how low should a fedora sit? And the answer is- till it stops. Unless of course you stretch or pad it.

All a matter of personal taste and comfort, but if it's only your ears stopping it going lower, it's definitely too big! A hat should sit on your head, not the top of your ears.

See, this is exactly what I was talking about above. bk is measuring from the place where his ear and head are actually physically attached. I measure from the top of my ear (the high point where the ear actually stops and you just see hair on the side of my head. I always measure THAT space between the bottom of the hat and the top of the ear).

Yes, this is how 'rules' can go awry... who said Oxford Bags?

Nice looking hat - to me, that's bang on, height wise.

 

[ManofKent]

Zenid - looks about right to me.

A lot of it's personal preference and your head/face proportions. One of my ears sits slightly lower than the other, but the top of my ears are both set fairly high - some people have smaller ears set slightly lower...

 

[ManofKent]

Zenid - looks about right to me.

A lot of it's personal preference and your head/face proportions. One of my ears sits slightly lower than the other, but the top of my ears are both set fairly high - some people have smaller ears set slightly lower...

 

[TheDane]

Zenid - looks about right to me.

A lot of it's personal preference and your head/face proportions. One of my ears sits slightly lower than the other, but the top of my ears are both set fairly high - some people have smaller ears set slightly lower...

- and some are even a bit more challenged:

Zenid, it looks great! As Richard writes, it's a very personal matter, and you'll develop your own style over time. Some like it tilted a bit - some don't. Some like it very close to the ears - some don't. Some like to show a lot forehead - some don't [huh]

Personally I do the "undoable": My brim often just touches the top of my right ear. It leaves a tiny white spot of salt on the brim - yes, but I like the way it feels. Many good things in life are either fattening, immoral or illegal. Wear your hat as you please ... that's still okay

 

[McGeezer]

This thread had me laughing and wondering how many people started checking to see how many finger widths their hats were over their ears. The image of a bunch of us putting on hats in front of mirrors and holding fingers over our ears made me laugh. every time we put hats on now we'll wonder how high it is sitting.
Reminds me of the old joke about ruining a competitors golf game by asking him/her if he/she exhales on the up-swing or down-swing. For the rest of the game all he/she will think about is when they are inhaling or exhaling.

 

[TheDane]

Reminds me of the old joke about ruining a competitors golf game by asking him/her if he/she exhales on the up-swing or down-swing.

Well, for the one who actually plays serious golf, breathing is not a matter of laughs. For the serious riffle shooter, the breath is also of outmost importance. If you don't care how you shoot or look, not much matters. Upon that we can agree

 

[Zombie_61]

...I just got my second hat...I posted two pictures below. That's the hight in which it is still comfortable without causing a headache. I guess it's ok and according to the "two finger rule" it could still be a little higher. However, I just started wearing hats and I am quite unsure what suits me and what not
Thanks for any opinions! and greetings from the netherlands!

In my opinion (which is far from being an expert opinion) that hat suits you very well! The crown height and shape are a good match for the shape of your face, and you could easily wear hats with a slightly narrower brim (which is something I can't quite pull off).

Getting back to the main topic, I prefer to wear my hats and caps with the front of the sweatband at the top of my forehead (i.e., the hat angled slightly downward from front to back) simply because that's most comfortable for me. If a steady wind starts up I can always pull them down to a more level position if need be, but I like my hats "snug, but not tight" so a strong wind would likely blow them off of my head regardless of how I'm wearing it.

That said, if anyone were to tell me I was wearing my hat wrong I would see no need to have any further conversations with that person.