Wool felt bowler appraisals?

[Torpedo]

Hello,

I am toying with the idea of acquiring a grey bowler. I have a modern brown bowler (fur felt) by Beaver Brand, which I bought on a sale. No such sales seem to be available now. Vintage bowlers, other than black ones which are aplenty, are hard to come by.

So, I thought of looking for a wool felt, which are cheaper, and, for a hat that will not be used as much as fedoras, may perhaps be enough.

Any opinions/suggestions? Better still, appraisals by anyone already owning such a hat?

Regards!

 

[avedwards]

I think if durability is not a concern and you don't intend to have people feeling how smooth the hat is wool felt is fine. Just my opinion.

 

[feltfan]

I was waiting for someone who owns both to post.
I've seen a lot of wool bowlers. Not a one that looks at
all like a bowler to the trained eye. The brim is all wrong.

Nice as the Beaver Brand bowler is (and it looks great here:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=215268&postcount=18 just scroll down),
it's not quite right. But outside of the Beaver Brand fur bowler,
those wool bowlers all look like toys, and appear to be built like them, too.

But then again, most people don't have a trained eye.
So it depends on what is important to you. I agree it would
be tough to find a vintage gray bowler in one's size.

My opinion. As we say here, <<vale lo que pagaste>>.

 

[Charlie Huang]

I myself am toying with the idea since I cannot get a brown bowler fur felt without going down the bespoke route which will cost me too much and it is not worth it with the current financial climate.

I suppose you'd be forgiven for wearing a wool bowler if you wear it rarely anyway and keep it in good condition so it can pass as a fur felt one.

The Christys' one looks cheap enough:

http://www.hornetshats.com/f_hatview.php?link=Bowler Hats

I want a brown one with a beige ribbon and brim binding so it looks like this:

 

[immortaldiamond]

I myself am toying with the idea since I cannot get a brown bowler fur felt without going down the bespoke route which will cost me too much and it is not worth it with the current financial climate.

I suppose you'd be forgiven for wearing a wool bowler if you wear it rarely anyway and keep it in good condition so it can pass as a fur felt one.

The Christys' one looks cheap enough:

http://www.hornetshats.com/f_hatview.php?link=Bowler Hats

I want a brown one with a beige ribbon and brim binding so it looks like this:

Interestingly I phoned Patey's (the most exclusive maker of bowlers in the UK - £400+) and their normal bowlers are made with wool not fur felt. They said they could make me one in fur but it would not be their normal style. That brown one is fabulous though! Where did you find it?

 

[Charlie Huang]

Interestingly I phoned Patey's (the most exclusive maker of bowlers in the UK - £400+) and their normal bowlers are made with wool not fur felt. They said they could make me one in fur but it would not be their normal style. That brown one is fabulous though! Where did you find it?

That is strange; at that price, you'd expect nothing but fur (you'd get far cheaper from the likes of Christys' for £60)! Did they say how much it would cost if you wanted a fur one? If it is the same price then that's OK.

The one in the pic was a Lock's and was from eBay. It looks like wool given the fuzziness. I wanted to get it but the size was too small. I saved the picture for future when I wanted a hatter to replicate it. There maybe a precendent for wool bowlers looking at these examples.

 

[immortaldiamond]

That is strange; at that price, you'd expect nothing but fur (you'd get far cheaper from the likes of Christys' for £60)! Did they say how much it would cost if you wanted a fur one? If it is the same price then that's OK.

The one in the pic was a Lock's and was from eBay. It looks like wool given the fuzziness. I wanted to get it but the size was too small. I saved the picture for future when I wanted a hatter to replicate it. There maybe a precendent for wool bowlers looking at these examples.

Yes, I was puzzled, Charlie. I didn't ask about the price of the fur ones, but perhaps the high cost of their wool bowlers comes from the shellac structure and the personal fitting more than from the covering.

 

[carldelo]

I agree with C.H. - the Christy's is the only wool bowler I've seen that looks acceptable and the price is right. The grey is a nice shade, at least on my monitor.

 

[Torpedo]

Thank you all. In fact, the hat I had in mind was the Christy's to begin with. I'll see...