What is your current favourite.

[Matt Deckard]

Don't want to start any contovery, just want to know what your current favourite hat is and why.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

My Optimo Natural Nutria Park Avenue.

Simply because it goes with almost anything. Very casual hat, looks good brim up or down.

A close second is my PanamaBob/Optimo Hollywood. My ultimate summer hat.

 

[rayk]

Wow! That's a challenging question, and one that I can't answer. Unlike many on FL, my collection is rather modest in number. But of those that I have, I'm very fond of most of them. I sometimes change hats two or three times per day. As my mood changes, my hat changes, and at that moment the hat that I've chosen is my favorite. Were it insisted that a more definitive answer be given, I would have to say that of my dozen or so hats, I have three that I value equally and that are very special to me: a PMC Montecristi fino fino, my new Gladhatter sterling beaver, and my muted blue Borsalino (hat in my avatar). I know that this is a wimpy and indecisive anwser, but it's the best I could do.

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by rayk
Wow! That's a challenging question, and one that I can't answer. Unlike many on FL, my collection is rather modest in number. But of those that I have, I'm very fond of most of them. I sometimes change hats two or three times per day. As my mood changes, my hat changes, and at that moment the hat that I've chosen is my favorite. Were it insisted that a more definitive answer be given, I would have to say that of my dozen or so hats, I have three that I value equally and that are very special to me: a PMC Montecristi fino fino, my new Gladhatter sterling beaver, and my muted blue Borsalino (hat in my avatar). I know that this is a wimpy and indecisive anwser, but it's the best I could do.

It is not that wimpy an answer really. I think we all feel that the hat we have on is our favorite at the time or we would not be wearing it.

 

[Zane]

Well that is about the easiest question for me to answer.

My favorite hat is a lite wool felt crushable with a cloth sweat band. I did not make the hat but just took a stamped out body and sewed in the sweat and stuck on a leather trim band. They are light and cool in summer and warm in winter and a good knock around hat for a person that lives a poor life in rural America.

For dress hats, that one Borsalino that Ray has on and every hat I have seen posted by that Optimo company, and that Silverbelly he posted yesterday are all just super fine looking hats. If I could afford it I would get a thin beaver hat for dress and also for casual but that is not in my current budget.

I would not personally buy a Borsalino as I do not think they are much in the way of felt or at least not a new one but would consider an old one to get the body alone from and I hear tell they made a beaver hat and if so it may be a great hat.

Every one says them Optimos are a great hat and they sure to look ultra fine for sure but I guess I would try to get their medium weight from what I read the others ones are very thin.

I have seen optimo brand hats before that was straw and made out west in Arizona or Texas I think and I am not sure if they are same company but they was pretty high dollar hats.

Zohar always seems to make conserative and informed replies and I think I would take his opinion as a good point of reference.

Rayk as a new collector would not be biased and should be a good standard to go by as well if he has 12 hats to judge from.

 

[Zane]

Opps I wanted to add there. I love so many hat colors but Zohar is correct that natural is one of the very nicest colors there is. It does go with absolutely every thing dress or casual.

What is your favorite , Matt Deckard?

 

[Fedora]

What a hard question. Ok, I have to answer it like this. Today, my favorite is the beaver hat that I own from Charlie. Tomorrow, it may be that vintage Stetson Imperial, or the vintage Stetson 3x that I think was mislabeled at production. I think it is probably a 10x Stetson. These are my favorite hats although everyone that I have kept could fit into the category. Fedora

 

[Zane]

Fedora, I tend to agree with you. I never worked much with the store bought hats and they never sold a lot of them back in my day with the company but the few we handled was very often mislabeled in various ways. Size being the biggest one. I have seen hats with size tags that meant nothing at all.

Speaking of store bought and such, I am not for store bought hats generally but some are not bad at all. Most modern ones are not good. During my recent visit I seen the finest store bought hats I ever looked at. They did not interest me personally and I was not familiar with the brand but it was Selentino and he had just a hand full of samples in stock at his shop but they had every kind of finish know to man. If you like really fine quality hats with unique finishes I would recommend any one to look into them. They had velours, silk, beaver, shag and about any kind of finish that you just do not find any more any where. I never seen any felted edge ones and guess they never had it.

We used to do practically all finishes but it is about a lost art I guess as I never see it done much more. I guess that Gary White and Rand may still have the skills, knowledge and tools and body sources to do them but I am not sure. I never met either of them but just know of them from customers that mention them.

Does any of the folks on these forums try to collect any of the old special finish hats?

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Zane wrote,
During my recent visit I seen the finest store bought hats I ever looked at. They did not interest me personally and I was not familiar with the brand but it was Selentino and he had just a hand full of samples in stock at his shop.

How about posting the stores name and phone # So we can give them a call.

 

[Zane]

Sharptoyes, I am sorry I did not make it clear, I was just continuing like we was having a conversation. Them Selentino hats was some that Charlie Swindall and Some New York Jews and some bunch out of the Chec Republic was all tied into together. I don't have his phone number but he said he was set them on a website for them all. www.selentino.com. The way he explained it that outfit makes most of the furfelt hats for about all the hat companies around and just sticks their name on them. He said the Selentino ones are the finest of the fine ones for store bought and I don't doubt it from what I seen. They sure was nothing like any store bought hats I have seen. I guess where I don't get it is if you was going to spend that much on a hat to begin with is why you would not just get one made that suited you unless you was in a hurry or wanted some of them special finish hats. I may have got the web site wrong as I tried to see it yesterday and it would not come open for me but this old computer just works half the time.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Thats ok i found both sites and this one has some prices and if you click on the hat you can see some of the hats. Not my cup of tea! Most of us here like the vintage hats or custom by our favorite makers.

http://www.hatbarn.com/hatbarnonline/html/velours.html

 

[Zane]

That hat barn seems to have plenty of hats and caps and right reasonable prices by todays standards.

 

[Renderking Fisk]

That's like asking me to pick one of my dogs over the other. (Noel...)

The First Akubra I got before the Day Coppertop was born.
The Deluxe Steve reblocked... the first deluxe ever made by Ron and Co. I love how it's relaxed, holding it's shape with no stiffener.
My current everyday Akubra Deluxe.

And the stetson my son wears.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

My favorite fur felt is the thin floppy summer weight Optimo. I have 2 one in Indy brown and the other in London grey. My favorite straw is a Panamabob Montecristi blocked by Art. :cool2:
These guys gave me 100% quality service and i was treated at all times with respect. My favorite store bought hat is Akubra and Ron at Hatsdirect has been a pleasure to work with.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

Can you post a picture of the London Blue hat? I haven't seen one of those.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Zohar,
I meant to say London Grey, not blue. I bought it from Adam.
http://images1.fotki.com/v8/photos/4/42201/141342/2hats9-vi.jpg

 

[Andykev]

My favorite hat

Well, can I say favorite NEW hat, Summer hat, and vintage hat?

My favorite NEW hat is my Natural Nutria Optimo lightweight (like Zohar's).

My favorite Summer hat is my Montecristi Super Fino OPTIMO plantation style.

My Favorite VINTAGE hat is my McLaughlan SILVER BEAVER 50...but can't decide if the gray or brown...probably the brown.


Oh....and that new dove gray Dunlap I just got.......sorry. It's an addiction.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Its Easter so a good time to resurrect this old thread. My hat preferences ebb and flow and what’s my favorite today isn’t always my favorite six months (or 6 days) later. Hard to pick a favorite child or hat, but my Resistol Beaver One-Hundred is my favorite today:

Dime thin felt that gives up nothing to my 1950s 7X CB.

So, what’s your current favorite?

 

[SteveFord]

That's a tough one.
I guess whichever one I have on my fat head at the moment.
This Stetson Biaritz is almost up to St. Regis quality but they got the ribbon riding about 2mm too high in the front.
I believe they were made a for a short time just a few years ago as it has a modern size tag but with a brown sweat band which is a small step up from the cheap black ones they're so fond of.

 

[scottyrocks]

As others have stated, it's a tough call picking a favorite hat. A lot of mine are favorites for different reasons.

But my one favorite that I usually grab first, and ticks off the most good pheromones in my wittw head is my sage green custom Hufvud.