The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

eli104 · Feb 4, 2016

Benzadmiral said:
I purchased it from FL's Bond, knowing it would be a little small for me. Never was able to stretch it enough. Finally I sent it off to Art Fawcett, who stretched it to size 7 and replaced the ribbon with a dark blue sporting his signature silver stripe. It's a pleasure to wear.

May I ask what size it started at? I have a couple of older Borsalinos that don't want to stretch for me, hat jack and steam just isn't doing it, they always bounce back. Would love to know if there is a real solution that will stay and how far it can legitimately go.

- eli104

tommyK · Feb 4, 2016

Eli, I've had similar problems with similar results with various brands over the years. The best solution I've found is to get another hat. Some hats just won't stretch

Benzadmiral · Feb 4, 2016

eli104 said:
May I ask what size it started at? I have a couple of older Borsalinos that don't want to stretch for me, hat jack and steam just isn't doing it, they always bounce back. Would love to know if there is a real solution that will stay and how far it can legitimately go.
- eli104

It was a 6 7/8. On some hats that fits me fine -- one of my vintage Stetsons, a Whippet clone, is great at that size. Others are too small. I tried the classic routine of spraying the base of the crown with distilled water and stretching it with a jack. That technique has worked for me with thin ribbon hats, but not with this one; I suspect the ribbon deflected the water and the felt never actually got wet. Art removed the ribbon, I'm sure, as he changed it, and worked his Art Fawcett magic upon the lid.

hat4sale · Feb 4, 2016

Jana said:
I just found at an estate sale the same hat posted by Bud-n-Texas. I bought it for myself--I'm a woman with a giant head--and I look like a jackass in it. I just put it on ebay--it's a 7 5/8--but I'd rather sell to a hat lover than a re-seller. The hat looked like ten gallon when I took it out of the box--I put a crease in it myself so it would resemble the fedora it was. That was probably wrong? The decedent had 100's of hats--all in boxes and most t looked brand new. So did this but it had weird discoloration inside at the top of the crown. Does anyone want to buy this? I want it to go to a good home.

Can this be reduced to 7-3/8? I'm new to hats in general

hat4sale · Feb 4, 2016

hat4sale said:
Can this be reduced to 7-3/8? I'm new to hats in general

I don't know what I am doing! Where do I buy?

moontheloon · Feb 4, 2016

hat4sale said:
Can this be reduced to 7-3/8? I'm new to hats in general

do you realize you are responding to a post from 4 years ago ?

Bob Roberts · Feb 4, 2016

Can anybody help? Need a few good pics of the whipstitch brim treatment on the Borsalino "Como." Thanks!

moehawk · Feb 4, 2016

A few nice old Borsalinos have been finding their way into deserving hands lately. Here's another. Found on Etsy.

Crown 5 1/4", brim 2 1/2". VERY soft, moldable short-napped velour. Only damage I found was a tear in the keeper on the felt band, a result I'm sure of the pin and long feathers that were attached. Maybe I can reduce the noticability of it. If not, no huge deal. The sweat is very soft and supple, nice that it survived in good condition, especially as it came to me from Arizona. Size is 6 punti, fits like a 7 1/4 once I pulled out the napkin someone had folded and tucked under the band.
I think I'm gonna get some mileage out of this one.

I'm guessing late 40's early 50's, if anyone more in the know can confirm or deny I would apprecite. Also, any interesting tidbits about the markings on the sweat would be received with gratitude.
Thanks!

moehawk · Feb 4, 2016

Here's a Como whipstitch, Bob.

alanfgag · Feb 5, 2016

Bob Roberts · Feb 5, 2016

moehawk said:
Here's a Como whipstitch, Bob.

Thank you. Perfect. Would u mind a pic of the underside? Thx again.

moehawk · Feb 5, 2016

No prob, Bob!

One underside pic, as requested!

Bob Roberts · Feb 5, 2016

alanfgag said:

Thanks Allen. Just what I'm looking for. Would you mind a pic of the underside also? Thanks again. I'm going to ask a custom hatter to attempt to add a whipstitch brim to one of my hats.

Bob Roberts · Feb 5, 2016

moehawk said:
No prob, Bob!

One underside pic, as requested!

Thank you again!

ddcronk · Feb 6, 2016

Hi, I'm hoping a sharp-eyed Borsalino expert can glean some information from this old tag (if there's any to be had). Anything would be interesting, manufacture date, style name, etc. Just trying to get more info on my Dad's old hat. Thanks much!

alanfgag · Feb 6, 2016

Bob Roberts said:
Thanks Allen. Just what I'm looking for. Would you mind a pic of the underside also? Thanks again. I'm going to ask a custom hatter to attempt to add a whipstitch brim to one of my hats.

Sorry... I replied yesterday but forgot to post the reply. I miss that step a lot. I sold this modern Como some time ago - no useful underside photos. Here is an early 1950s Borsalino with a lovely overcast stitch on the edge of the brim. Finer than the modern issue.

alanfgag · Feb 6, 2016

ddcronk said:
Hi, I'm hoping a sharp-eyed Borsalino expert can glean some information from this old tag (if there's any to be had). Anything would be interesting, manufacture date, style name, etc. Just trying to get more info on my Dad's old hat. Thanks much!

The label tells some of the story... model is Ludoela, thin ribbon dress western style. The word to the left is the felt color. Between the two would be the ribbon color if contrasting to the felt. The dash indicates it is a matching ribbon. The numbers above are manufacturing details... any meaning is lost to the ages. This label indicates a hat made after the end of WWII to the first half of the 1950s. Now, show us the hat!

moehawk · Feb 7, 2016

I have been perusing the thread (well, skimming to be honest) but I haven't seen much about the Colombo liner logo on my velour. Does anybody know when this was used? Any ideas on the circular stamp on the sweat or the meaning of the "XX" marking?
thanks!

Bob Roberts · Feb 7, 2016

alanfgag said:
Sorry... I replied yesterday but forgot to post the reply. I miss that step a lot. I sold this modern Como some time ago - no useful underside photos. Here is an early 1950s Borsalino with a lovely overcast stitch on the edge of the brim. Finer than the modern issue.

Thank you Allen. Nice stitching on both.

ddcronk · Feb 7, 2016

alanfgag said:
The label tells some of the story... model is Ludoela, thin ribbon dress western style. The word to the left is the felt color. Between the two would be the ribbon color if contrasting to the felt. The dash indicates it is a matching ribbon. The numbers above are manufacturing details... any meaning is lost to the ages. This label indicates a hat made after the end of WWII to the first half of the 1950s. Now, show us the hat!

Thanks for the info! The hat is currently off being restored. My dad had it for more than forty years and used it hard. Here's a photo I snapped before sending it off.

The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

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