Velour?

[Simon82]

Hi, All --

I recently saw a hat up for auction on ebay that was just about exactly what I wanted: the right shade of brown, with a 3" brim, and a nice extra-wide ribbon.

However, the description said it was "velour." I remember velour being brought up in another thread, but I couldn't recall which. At any rate, all I could think of was my childhood best friend's v-neck velour shirts, and I can't imagine a hat being made out of them!

I asked the seller if the hat was fur, and she said it might have some in it, but was a velvet-like fabric. It looked vintage, had a nice liner, etc., but I didn't want to chance bidding on something that wasn't real fur. Anybody else know anything about how to interpret the term "velour"?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Brad Bowers]

Velour just refers to the type of finish of the felt. I have a Fifties Borsalino with a velour finish. It's certainly different, and seems dressier than regular smooth felt.

Brad

 

[Simon82]

Thanks, Brad!

Tough call for me on this one, since I think there's still time on the auction if I go back and look. I like that it's vintage, and has a fairly cheap starting price, way, way under what I'd have to pay for a newer model.

I'm wondering, though, if it's "shinier" and dressier, if I could get away with wearing it with just a plaid shirt and field coat, sort of the 30s workman look. I'd rather have a hat I can wear without having to worry if it catches a little rain, snow, etc. Hard to tell the degree of shine with the photos on the site, as they're all pretty dark.

Like I said, tough call.

 

[nicolasb]

As Brad says, "velour" is not a term that describes the fabric the hat is made from, it describes the finish. So a hat can be "smooth" fur felt or "velour" fur felt. Velour is softer, and feels like velvet - it has a bit of a reflective sheen, and more of a "nap" - the surface fibres that aren't fully bound into the body of the cloth are longer, so it makes more of a difference which direction you brush it in (if that makes sense). Velour hats tend to be "soft felt" (possibly they always are), in other words the shape of the hat is less rigid, and more flexible - easily reshaped.

 

[Simon82]

Thanks, Nicolas!

I love coming to this forum, 'cause I'm always learning cool stuff, such as how to cut brims, what a "dimensional cut" is, how to spot particular hat models and when they were made, etc.

Yet another question about "velour" hats: If you had to, could you sand down the hairs to make a hat less "nappy"? I don't think I would even attempt this, particularly on the hat I was looking at, but I'm curious.

 

[besdor]

DONT EVEN TRY TO SAND DOWN THE NAP . YOU WILL RUIN THE HAT. A VELOUR FINISH ESPECIALLY ONE FROM THE 1940'S OR 50'S IS A WORK OF ART ,UNLIKE TODAYS CRAP FROM THE CZEK REPUBLIC.