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Aureliano · Feb 21, 2010

XX...

I'm not familiar with this:
My Borsalino Colombo has XX stamped on the sweat. I know this refers to quality. Does it refer to beaver quality, or just felt in general?
What's the max amount of x's? 7?
Thanks!

Lefty · Feb 21, 2010

Someone has a 5x (Bantam-man?), but that's all I know.

Aureliano · Feb 21, 2010

[huh] Anybody?

Lefty · Feb 21, 2010

Here's a thread on the subject of Borso qualities. It doesn't get anywhere.

Aureliano · Feb 21, 2010

Lefty said:
Here's a thread on the subject of Borso qualities. It doesn't get anywhere.

Thanks for sharing, Lefty. But you're right: anywhere.

Scott Wood · Feb 21, 2010

Lefty said:
Someone has a 5x (Bantam-man?), but that's all I know.

I have a Borso 5X Marque Grand Luxe

No pic of the Xs

Aureliano · Feb 21, 2010

Do you know what the Xs refer in terms of fur? beaver? rabbit? [huh]

Tango Yankee · Feb 21, 2010

Musashi said:
Q: How does one begin to find fedora's on ebay auctions?
all my searches turn up 'fashion hats' and an occasional real fedora.

I saw a link here one time to an ebay search but i forgot which thread it was in.

Here's a good place to start looking. There are other places as well, but it's a good starting point to kick off searches.

Not that I want any more competition than I already have, you understand! lol

Cheers,
Tom

mike sullivan · Feb 22, 2010

im looking to buy my first Fedora, there is a small place in my city that makes a assortment of hats, they have two types of Fedora's center crease or pinch crease. Im looking for a 1930's look, any suggestions on what one i should go for?

http://www.smithbilthats.com/dress-hats.htm

Scott Wood · Feb 23, 2010

mike sullivan said:
im looking to buy my first Fedora, there is a small place in my city that makes a assortment of hats, they have two types of Fedora's center crease or pinch crease. Im looking for a 1930's look, any suggestions on what one i should go for?

http://www.smithbilthats.com/dress-hats.htm

Welcome to the lounge fellow Canuck, beware the addiction...
"I am powerless over fur-felt and my life has become unmanageable" :eusa_doh:

KevKaos59 · Feb 23, 2010

Rain protection

I am a true beginner here, but I have a vintage Stetson Royal Deluxe and a vintage Dobbs. Both are probably from the 60s, maybe earlier. Great condition and soft feeling felt. Not sure if wool or fur on either one. Today I was wearing the Stetson and it was sunny in the morning but raining in the afternoon. It got wet but not soaked, and seems to have dried nicely. Should I be using one of those spray protectors? If so, recommendations?

Chinaski · Feb 23, 2010

mike sullivan said:
im looking to buy my first Fedora, there is a small place in my city that makes a assortment of hats, they have two types of Fedora's center crease or pinch crease. Im looking for a 1930's look, any suggestions on what one i should go for?

http://www.smithbilthats.com/dress-hats.htm

Mike, welcome! My suggestion, since the place is in your town, is to go there and ask questions and try on a hat or two. Since you are looking for a 30's look, you must have some idea in your mind as to what you're looking for, so that will guide you as you try on hats and ask questions. Pretty neat to have a hatmaker in your town. I don't know about their quality, but it will be part of your education.

AlterEgo · Feb 23, 2010

KevKaos59 said:
I am a true beginner here, but I has a vintage Stetson Royal Deluxe and a vintage Dobbs. Both are probably from the 60s, maybe earlier. Great condition and soft feeling felt. Not sure if wool or fur on either one. Today I was wearing the Stetson and it was sunny in the morning but raining in the afternoon. It got wet but not soaked, and seems to have dried nicely. Should I be using one of those spray protectors? If so, recommendations?

I wouldn't. Some would say you should use Bickmore's Gard-More Water & Stain Repellent or similar product, especially because both hats are vintage. I say don't use anything, especially because both hats are vintage.

These hats have to be fur felt, which is made to withstand the elements. No amount of rain water will phase fine felt from that vintage. Just be sure to re-shape the bash as you like it before hanging a wet hat up to dry at room temperature. Apply a leather dressing like Pecard's a couple times a year to the sweat, and brush the hats with a hat brush in a counterclockwise direction pretty much every time you put them away.

Do these simple things, and unless a truck with tire chains runs over them, the hats will outlast you.

daizawaguy · Feb 23, 2010

When stretching a hat...

Sould one leave the brim UP or DOWN? Thanks

jeffconnors · Feb 23, 2010

Scott Wood said:
Welcome to the lounge fellow Canuck, beware the addiction...
"I am powerless over fur-felt and my life has become unmanageable" :eusa_doh:

Heroin Process not mercury process correct?

gtdean48 · Feb 23, 2010

daizawaguy said:
Sould one leave the brim UP or DOWN? Thanks

I always stretch the same way I store, with the brim UP. All of my hats but 2 are bound brims, so they all get snapped in UP position when put in a box or hung on the hat rack.

Stan · Feb 23, 2010

daizawaguy said:
Sould one leave the brim UP or DOWN? Thanks

Hi,

I presume you're referring to a snap brim. Hang/store those with the brim up all the way around, as that's the natural position for the brim felt as determined by the flange when the hat was made.

I have a couple with nearly flat (slightly up in the back, slightly down in the front) brims and so I leave those as they are. The same would apply if you have hats with slight downturn in the front and back.

later!

Stan

Scott Wood · Feb 25, 2010

Fedora vs. Trilby

I have a theory but really don't know the difference between a Trilby and a Fedora[huh] . Anyone have a quick explanation?

AlterEgo · Feb 25, 2010

This question always stirs controversy here, so I'll stir first.

Short answer is, Fedora and Trilby are different terms for the same felt hat. Brits and some people in former crown colonies say "trilby," while the rest of the world says "fedora."

However, based largely on misperceptions and the phenomena of social contagion, the terms have come to mean different things to those who know something about hats but are not really experts: Trilbies are shorter-brimmed, with a shape leaning toward that of a woven wool rex; fedoras are a softer, wider-brimmed hat typified by those Humphrey Bogart wore in many of his films.

Interestingly, If you were able to time-travel back to the 1930s and 1940s and compliment Bogie on his "fedora," I doubt he'd know what you were talking about. Just as the expression "muscle car" only became widely popular years after their heyday to describe powerful autos from the late 50s through early 70s, neither did "fedora" gain traction as a descriptive term until decades after the era when most men wore such hats on an everyday basis.

I have a very elderly friend who is a retired newspaper photographer and started his career in the 1940s. He said members of the press generally called the lid we now identify as a "fedora" simply a "hat," or if they had to differentiate it for some reason from a derby or top hat, they'd call it a "slouch hat."

Fedora versus Trilby, let the arguments begin once again.

jeffconnors · Feb 28, 2010

Top hat re-ferb

Any hat makers out there that can repair and reblock old top hats?
I have one that is crushed and missing the leather sweat.
Thanks in advance

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