What's a 'crushable' fedora?

[Boroparkpyro]

What's Up With Crushable/Rollable Hats?

i just started bidding on one on ebay.

it looks okay in the picture, but i'm wondering how to get it to look completely proper after it gets decrushed or unrolled or whatnot.

do you need a special stand or stretcher or something like that, or are they made to be reshaped by hand?

thanks!

 

[Dinerman]

My wool crushable pops right back most of the time, but not if it's been rolled a long time.

 

[MattC]

Wearing it

I have a couple of good rollable Borsalinos. They unroll a bit messed up after a long time (12 or 15 hours traveling). Oddly enough, they get their shape back most quickly when I put them on and wear them for a bit.

 

[Dayonfire]

Rollable Borsalinos

Can someone post a link/some links as to where one can buy new or vintage, rollable Borsalinos?

Also, the Borsalino rollable optimo, I thought, was a flagship hat for them, yet it isn't even shown on their new website (which offers an "English" version that doesn't work).

 

[KenS]

What's Up With Crushable/Rollable Hats?

Hi, My name is Ken and I am a lurker on this site. I'll come out of Lurke Mode long enough to say that I just got a Pendelton wool felt crushable hat in the "Outback" style. It came in the mail a couple days back and the post office had flattend the box to no more than 1 1/4" in transit.:eusa_doh: In less than 1/2 a day it was back in shape which really surprised me.
Best Regards, KenS.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Welcome to the Lounge Ken & thanks for the review. Good info

 

[RBH]

Glad you joined us Ken, sounds like your hat had the ulitimate test!

 

[Edward]

I have a couple of good rollable Borsalinos. They unroll a bit messed up after a long time (12 or 15 hours traveling). Oddly enough, they get their shape back most quickly when I put them on and wear them for a bit.

Body heat, I should think. Try putting them near a radiator or better yet, if you're in a hotel, leave the hat in the bathroom while you shower to get the steam.... I've found this to work in the past with an opera hat. (And also suits - actually, suits was what I did this with first, only tried hats later as an experiment).

 

[Rick Blaine]

Got this one last week...

it is a Lagomarsino, said (by the seller) to be crushable. Here it is on their website:

Although they do not explicitly state it is crushable, the finish is called "Flexil" which sounds, well, flexible, the sweat is fabric & the hat is unlined & has a "self" band of the same fur felt the body is constructed of... the edge is an underwelt that tends to reinforce and supply a certain rigidity to the brim itself... It is quite a nice hat, good proportions, nice feel. A keeper, fer sure & if it is a "traveler" type (which I think it is) it gives us another option in fur felt outside of the Akubra/Borsalino matrix.

 

[OttawaMan]

Other than the blatantly obvious, what is a crushable hat? I purchased an inexpensive Scala New Yorker fedora at a local shop. Love the hat but it's very 'stiff' and other than the brim not particularly flexible. And that's fine with me. I want it to keep it's current shape. But since I found the brim a tad large and kept getting Capone references, I thought I would get one with a smaller brim.

Now yesterday I received a vintage 50's Knox New York fedora that I had won on ebay. To my surprise, the hat is very plyable and could easily be collapsed and then put back into it's shape if I wanted to. Is this what's meant by a crushable fedora? The Scala is wool felt and must have some sort of cardboard inside but I don't know what the Knox is other than felt. There is no mention of wool or fur in the hat.

Is it possible my hat is just worn with time and no longer stiff? Are some hats made this way? Is there a restoration process required? The hat looks great in my mind but when I grab it with my hand, I tend to squish it a bit and have to re-shape it to my liking.

Am I over-reacting? (Likely)

 

[alanfgag]

As a general rule, the deader the hat, the less it's a stiff. Meaning that you are experiencing the joy of vintage felt.

Welcome to the Lounge. You might find that posing questions in this thread is a good way to go. It is stickied at the top of the list.

 

[jlee562]

Crushable hats nowadays are generally wool. Fur felt crushable hats certainly exist, but wool is far more common for modern hats. Basically crushable hats are designed to pop back into shape. Some models, like Borsalino&s traveller, can be rolled for packing.

 

[Duper]

Akubra has their Lifestyle line of hats which are designed for travel. They are forgiving of cramped quarters. They come in fedora and outback styles in a number of colours. If their Traveller version had an option for a leather sweat I would order it again. They are fur felt and can take the elements very well. Not overly expensive either.