What is the shoelace type thing at the rear of some sweatbands?

[Rick Blaine]

as seen here

... and what is (was) its use or rational?
Is it a sign of a more expensive product, a better quality hat?
I seem to have only seen it on about 10% of vintage lids and no contemperary hats at all that I can think of...

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Ya mean this thing here??

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=8663

 

[feltfan]

I assume you are talking about the string threaded
through the leather sweat band (as well as the bow).
Like the bow itself, it harkens back to the days
over a century ago when hat size was determined,
at least in part, by a string in the sweat one could
tie tight.

If you have a modern bicycle helmet you
probably do similar adjustments.

It seems to me that this sort of sweat band was
a trend in the 50s. A lot of hats had them- I have a
Borsalino with that sweat and Stetsons, including the
Stetson 100, had them. Good hats. Sort of a "retro"
touch for those hats.

 

[Caledonia]

Yep, that's what it is.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Many thanks...

... for all the replies.
Very informative... just a flourish then, for the more high end hats.
I was sure that this had been brought up before (thanks Maj.) but was unsure of what keywords might yield a hit.
I have one old borsalino w/ it and it is marked "superior" ... made me wonder..



Regards

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And that string was very important in the days when men wore hats while riding horses or driving carriages. If your hat wasn't tight enough on your hat, the wind could knock it off.

.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

It seems to me that this sort of sweat band was
a trend in the 50s. A lot of hats had them-

I've seen them on a lot of French and English hats from the '30s, '40s and '50s. Maybe it was a particularly European style.

.

 

[Dinerman]

I always thought it was just a thing marking which end was the back of the hat.

 

[Atomic Glee]

I seem to have only seen it on about 10% of vintage lids and no contemperary hats at all that I can think of...

The Akubra Federation has it, don't know about any others.

 

[Dinerman]

I seem to have only seen it on about 10% of vintage lids and no contemperary hats at all that I can think of...

Every single one of my hats has it in one shap or another. The old ones, and my new ones.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I think he's specifically talking about the ribbon that's threaded through holes in the sweatband. Only one of my hats, a Scott & Co. I got from Marc, has it.

 

[Dinerman]

in that case- never mind. All mine have the ribbon thingy, but I think only one of mine has it threaded.