Recent content by nicolasb

Herbert Johnson is a centuries-old hatter in London, England. They are (in the opinion of many people) a mere shadow of their former selves these days. Like their equally famous neighbour James Lock & Co. they sell Cuenca panama hats stamped "genuine Montecristi". :rolleyes:

Impossible to say for sure. Depends how far away from "long oval" your head shape is. I have a very round head (round-oval and then some) and I find long oval hats unwearable - they're either painfully tight at the sides, or hopelessly loose at the front and back - often both. Your head is...

Just make sure the mice can't get at it! :eek:

Talking of stretching hats - are there any stretchers available that are designed to stretch a hat evenly in 2 dimensions rather than just making it longer in 1? It ought not to be too hard to make a device that gets wider as well as longer when you open it up.

"Antique" heated hat stretchers come up fairly regularly on eBay. I've thought of buying one, but they're always in america, and by the time you factor in the price of the item, shipping of something that weighs 15 pounds or more to the UK, VAT, import duty, courier company stinging you for the...

So far as I'm aware, there aren't any decent hatters in England. James Lock & co, Herbert Johnson and (to a lesser extent) Bates Hatters are the best-known places in London, and were (I believe) something exceptional in the past, but nowadays what they produce is rubbish, overpriced, or both. :cry:

I think straw-type hats (e.g. panamas) are often not lined. One of the main reasons for wearing a "straw" hat is that is supposed to be cool in summer - reflects the heat from the sun, is light enough not to act as an insulator, and is well-ventilated because it is made of woven fibres rather...

I think that would make me look like a drunk gendarme.

If you don't mind my asking, what style and weave grade is that?

"Steam 'er up"? You mean the hat, or the seller? :eek:

I'm in London too, incidentally. Was there any particular thing you wanted a photo of? (Might take me a while, mind you - I'm waiting patiently for a good deal on a new digital camera on eBay).

I actually quite fancy the hat in that Shadow photo, I must admit. :) Don't know where one could find something like that.

You could always wear a scarf over your face (and ears). Of course that might cause you to end up looking like The Shadow.

I don't own one - but one thing that would be great for rain is one of those oiled leather hats made by Jacaru (Australian company).

I'm guessing that the 22" figure was derived by the seller measuring round the inside of the hat with a tape measure. I've found that this is actually extremely difficult to do accurately: hold the tape with one finger, move the other one round the circumference a little, and the tape doesn't...