Post New Hats Here!

[mayserwegener]

Hello Manfred, Great find and deal! I don't think I have seen a Rockel Homburg. Unique sweatband! Looking forward to more details.

[randooch]

Hello Manfred, Great find and deal! I don't think I have seen a Rockel Homburg. Unique sweatband! Looking forward to more details.

+1

Great catch, Manfred.

[Herzen]

Well done, CRM! A beautiful hat and the pride of having created it yourself! Kudos!

[hatophile]

That hat Rocks, Manfred!

[fedoralover]

Vintage Borsalino. Super tight and light felt. New ribbon and edge binding by Mike Miller in Eugene Or.



fedoralover

[randooch]

That Mike Miller needs to quit his day job.

[Chepstow]

Steve, Randall and Perry, thank you for the kind comments. I couldn't leave that on Ebay.

[Alive'n'Amplified]

I just received a modern Stetson from the 'bay. It reminds me of a Saxon, but much nicer. Before I go on to the pics let me tell this brief story about my growing experience with vintage hats. I had looked at buying a new brown Saxon ($140) from a local Western store about 7 or 8 months ago; this was before I started buying vintage hats and reading the valuable information here on The Fedora Lounge. Since then, I have purchased 4 vintage hats, including my latest Stetson.

I stopped by that Western store again the other day (after receiving the new hat) to pick up some more black plastic hat stands, and I noticed the Saxon again. Boy, am I glad I didn't buy it back then! It just doesn't compare to vintage quality hats, even as late as 20 years ago. IMHO, the build quality of the new stuff lacks character. Low blocks, narrow ribbons, too many visible ribbon stitches, o.k. quality felt, plain liners and sweatbands, etc...

My latest hat was purchased for a VERY reasonable BIN price. Thinking this was a Saxon, I thought, "It's a hat I've always wanted at a fraction of the new price." Upon receiving the hat I knew this was no Saxon. Nor is it a rare find, either. But the quality is far superior to a brand new model. The liner and sweatband suggest that it's modern, and I'm guessing this might have been a '90s model (an uneducated guess at that). The label on the sweatband was peeled off, so I have no way of telling the model, but I am extremely pleased with the purchase.

It was a bit dusty and needed a surface cleaning. So I gave it a good brushing to remove the dust and pull up the felt. Then I applied some steam to "wake it up" a little. Smoothed out the brim with an iron and ironing cloth, and voila! It stiffened up and was very easy to shape.

THANK YOU, Fedora Lounge members, for opening up my eyes to vintage hats and knowing what to look for regarding quality. <insert tears here, sniff>

Now on to the pics...















Thanks again!!

[mikespens]

Couldn't agree with you more David. The noggin shot is worth a thousand words. Congrats!

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Thanks, Mike! Should we be seeing a new hat post from you soon?