Recent content by truffaux

The leather bands certainly make the hat grippier in the wind - but I really don't enjoy the sweaty head experience

I think they are mostly made true to size - it's hard to tell what has happened to a hat over a 70 year timeframe - it is the movement after the event that interests me. It is a puzzle I have been unravelling for 20 years - all this helps

One other thought is how are you measuring your hats?

I think the answer lies in the amount of usage the hats get - most Australians will wear the same hat for 20 years - they are not collecting them. We also have a strange fixation on wearing rabbit fur hats (Akubras) in 100 degree weather. I don't think anyone else in the world would be that...

It is possible that it is weather related - I live in a land of extreme hot and cold weather. It is also probably because most of my hats are Panamas and they are more prone to shrinkage. My European hats are pretty consistent - the main issue tends to be with the leather inserts in my customers...

I have a couple of band blocks - but i have 100's of hats. Stacking isn't good for them, but room is always a problem. The reality is that if your using hat jacks and band blocks, you really bought a hat that was a bit small. If they are vintage then fair enough, but new it is just poor...

You are right about the much older hats - all the ones I have from the 40's to 60's hold their true size. I think it is because they have been stored in hat boxes - which is the only way a hat really survives that long. The ones I have hanging on my wall, are all shrunk.

I have done so too - but it is a pain doing it.

Hi Mark - I deal with this all the time. Your Panama will shrink over time, so a little more room is a good thing. All you need to do is put a spacer underneath the back of the hat band. I use window foam for all the hats I ship - it has a sticky side, so will stick to the inside of your hat...

I deal with this an awful lot in my everyday life as a hatmaker and no one really talks about it. Every hat will end up shrinking in the end - so when you order one, makes sure it has a little extra room to allow for this, insert a foam spacer and then all will be well. Panama hats shrink pretty...

I know their work well - they are a discount Panama hat shop - you get what you pay for. When looking at the weaves Brisa is the airiest and cheapest, Cuenca is a specific weave (strong, dense and fine) and Montechristi is its own thing. A lot of the time a Montechristi is advertised as such...

This happens sometimes - the straw fibre has snapped - your best chance is to snip it off with a pair of scissors, or even better, side cutters. Then you could put a dab of household silicon on the inside of the hat to hold the break together. Then all will be well and you will never notice it.

Shipping hats to Mozambique, Nashville and Oslo right now

I am wearing my all-time favourite Panama the New Yorker. I have a ridiculous amount of Panamas and this one is always jumping onto my head.

The easiest way to repair a cracked Panama hat is to run a bead of silicone on the inside of the hat where the crack is. It is sticky so you can push the loose fibres from the outside inwards. Then the breakage will stop and you will save your hat. I have done it hundreds of times and it rocks...