French Hats and makers.

[steur]

No brand woolfelt lords hat in black. French manufacture, judging by the size label (and the country where I got it from). I find these older woolfelt survivor hats hard to resist. Overwelt curled brim at 5cm and crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Failry light for a woolfelt at 116 grams. These twisted wind cords we find only on older hats.

 

[steur]

Some French makers or retailers you can safely buy a hat from. Sools is one of these; never found a hat by them that wasn't worth it. So a no-brainer to pick this one up.
Sools Pacific fedora in grey. Size 55, with the raw edge brim at 6,7cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. An older hat, but can't say exactly how old. Judging by the size label, which is the only one there, and the crown patch it is likely forties. Fairly lightweight at 96 grams. The size label also tells me it is French made.

 

[steur]

Meteor bowler. Size 56 with the bound brim at 5cm and the crown at 12cm. Fairly low bowler and a woolfelt one (it is a dustmagnet). I bought it for the rather lovely liner it has. What can you do?
It is an old one and it does show its age here and there. French (or maybe Belgian) in origin. Meteor isn't actually the brand, but the quality.

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

Spectacular liner!!!

 

[steur]

Spectacular liner!!!

It is! Thanks, Matt. It was what made me buy it.

 

[steur]

My curiosity got the better of me once more.
Fauvet velour in black. Size 57 (I think) with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. It is certainly old and of good quality. Not Hückel levels of velour but certainly well made. No label inside the hat unfortunately and the liner is at the end of the line. Most remarkable is that the nap is brushed clockwise. I had the hardest time getting it to behave at first until it dawned on me the nap was the other way around. Pity about the liner.

 

[steur]

Tirard GrandRaid fedora in a grey-blue (almost looks purple in some lighting conditions) colour called "Ceylon". Size 56 with the bound brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. Very lightweight at only 78 grams and with vent-holes in the sides of the hat. The ribbon looked like felt on the seller's pics, but it looks to be folded and stitched grosgrain ribbon. I like these lightweight hats a lot and I tend to buy Tirard hats if they look halfway decent because they don't come around very often. Tirard was one of the first ones to go under in the post-war hat decline, so their hats are more difficult to find.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Tirard GrandRaid fedora in a grey-blue (almost looks purple in some lighting conditions) colour called "Ceylon". Size 56 with the bound brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. Very lightweight at only 78 grams and with vent-holes in the sides of the hat. The ribbon looked like felt on the seller's pics, but it looks to be folded and stitched grosgrain ribbon. I like these lightweight hats a lot and I tend to buy Tirard hats if they look halfway decent because they don't come around very often. Tirard was one of the first ones to go under in the post-war hat decline, so their hats are more difficult to find.

Molto, molto bello! E che colore! Fantastico

 

[steur]

Molto, molto bello! E che colore! Fantastico

Grazie mille, Daniele.

 

[steur]

Didn't have much luck finding hats last week. Well, I did find them, but couldn't seem to land them. Except this one.
Tirard Ragondia in black. Size 60 with the overwelt brim at 5,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Ragondia, or nutria to you and me, was Tirards highest priced felt, even higher than beaver. The quality of it shows in this hat: the hand of the felt is fantastic. Tirard was was of the first French manufacturers to go under in the decline of hats in the sixties.

 

[Rmccamey]

Meteor bowler. Size 56 with the bound brim at 5cm and the crown at 12cm. Fairly low bowler and a woolfelt one (it is a dustmagnet). I bought it for the rather lovely liner it has. What can you do?
It is an old one and it does show its age here and there. French (or maybe Belgian) in origin. Meteor isn't actually the brand, but the quality.

Lovely bowler, Stefan. Is that a box bow?

 

[steur]

Lovely bowler, Stefan. Is that a box bow?

Thanks you, Randy. It's not a box bow; just a very simple straight bow keeper.

 

[steur]

I promised you this one when I posted it first in the "what hat are you waiting for" thread. So here it is.
Berteil fedora in ardoise (slate) colour. It was sold to me as blue, which it is not, but in certain light it does have some strong blue tones. Not a big deal: the colour is lovely. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. The felt has a wonderful hand but it is somewhat thicker than my other Berteil hats and it weighs 118 grams. The styling and proportions have "Borsalino" all over it, but it is the other way around of course. Berteil was first and taught Guiseppe Borsalino how to do it properly. He paid attention.

 

[steur]

Here's an interesting one. Bought this as a Morreton in blue. When it arrived it turned out to be full of surprises. First of all it turned out to be a camber style hat, somewhere in between a homburg and a fedora. These were quite popular it seems in France. Then it turned out to be not a size 56, but a size 55. The sweatband on it was almost rock hard, so stretch to be expected there. Another surprise was that it wasn't a Morreton at all, but a Mossant. Both the swetband, the label and the original crown patch underneath the liner all say Mossant. The Morrteon liner was sewn in later it seems. Disappointing? Not at all: Mossant is a better maker than Morreton and the felt is great. The colour is even better: called Bleu Oxford by Mossant. It so happened I still had a Mossant lying around on which the felt was beyond saving, so it donated the sweatband to this one. The pics show the original one though. Long story, but here's the hat (part I).

 

[steur]

And part II

 

[steur]

More French hats, all of them Mossant. I took a chance on a cheap lot of hats last week and this week they came in. The ones I'll post here all came from a retailer in Paris, called Biset, Boulevard de Rochechouart (best not try to pronounce that if you're not French). Apparently and as we'll see they had the policy to date-stamp their hats (I like them already). Couldn't find anything about this retailer, but I have the idea they didn't make it through the war. The hat lot was four hats all from the same gentleman with the initials M.M. and what I think is the last one came from Sools, not from Biset.

Mossant fedora in black (noir). Size 58 with the raw edge brim at 5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Unlined and with the Biset crown patch inside. Dated 7-7-1939.

 

[steur]

Second one.
Mossant fedora in blue (bleu très foncé). Size 59 (all the hats belonged to the same man, so must have fit his size 58 I think). Raw edge brim at 5cm and the crown at 11 cm at the center dent. Unlined and date stamped 29 november 1936.
Lovely hand to the felt and a great dark blue colour.

 

[steur]

Third one.
Mossant fedora in a heather grey (no name for the colour, because most of the label is missing). Size 58 with the overwelt brim at 6,8cm and the crown at 11,5cm at the center dent. This one is lined and dated 24 november 1934. It does has some small nibbles, but not too noticeable on the heather felt.
Not counting that they are not my size, this hat lot was quite the find.

 

[steur]

The streak of dated French hats continues. I bought this Brosson hat as a size 58 for a trade. Turned out to be a size 56. The newspaper that was under the sweatband had the date of 13th november 1943 on it, so I'll take that as the date for it.
Laubin homburg in blue grey (colour is called "oriental" on the label) for Brosson of Toulouse. Size 56 with the bound brim at 5,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Laubin made hats for Sools as well. The factory was based in the Savoy region in Pont de Beauvoisin since 1787 (!). They closed doors in 1955. A well made hat with a very nice hand and excellent finishing. Has a piece of corrugated band between the sweatband and the felt, like some other brands do as well. Not something you see on French hats. Weighs 115 grams.

More about the history of Laubin was posted here: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/french-hats-and-makers.36690/post-2765064

 

[Rmccamey]

Tirard GrandRaid fedora in a grey-blue (almost looks purple in some lighting conditions) colour called "Ceylon". Size 56 with the bound brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. Very lightweight at only 78 grams and with vent-holes in the sides of the hat. The ribbon looked like felt on the seller's pics, but it looks to be folded and stitched grosgrain ribbon. I like these lightweight hats a lot and I tend to buy Tirard hats if they look halfway decent because they don't come around very often. Tirard was one of the first ones to go under in the post-war hat decline, so their hats are more difficult to find.

Here's an interesting one. Bought this as a Morreton in blue. When it arrived it turned out to be full of surprises. First of all it turned out to be a camber style hat, somewhere in between a homburg and a fedora. These were quite popular it seems in France. Then it turned out to be not a size 56, but a size 55. The sweatband on it was almost rock hard, so stretch to be expected there. Another surprise was that it wasn't a Morreton at all, but a Mossant. Both the swetband, the label and the original crown patch underneath the liner all say Mossant. The Morrteon liner was sewn in later it seems. Disappointing? Not at all: Mossant is a better maker than Morreton and the felt is great. The colour is even better: called Bleu Oxford by Mossant. It so happened I still had a Mossant lying around on which the felt was beyond saving, so it donated the sweatband to this one. The pics show the original one though. Long story, but here's the hat (part I).

Second one.
Mossant fedora in blue (bleu très foncé). Size 59 (all the hats belonged to the same man, so must have fit his size 58 I think). Raw edge brim at 5cm and the crown at 11 cm at the center dent. Unlined and date stamped 29 november 1936.
Lovely hand to the felt and a great dark blue colour.

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Very unique colors, Stefan.