Fedoras for Dummies

I am ashamed to say that I do not own one fedora. I do love their elegance and style. So I would like to purchase a few. What is the best material to wear for hot, humid climate? I don't like the panama straw hat type. What is best for cold, NYC, Winters? Any information will be so greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Welcome, You've Come To The Right Place

May I highlight a good starting point? This thread has a lot of good information for the uninitiated. As does this one.

Personally, I wear felt year 'round and find that it gives me no problems in summer. [Note: I live in Florida]

I know you'll get differing opinions on this, just come to expect that around here.

Randy

theinterchange said:

May I highlight a good starting point? This thread has a lot of good information for the uninitiated. As does this one.

Personally, I wear felt year 'round and find that it gives me no problems in summer. [Note: I live in Florida]

I know you'll get differing opinions on this, just come to expect that around here.

Randy

Click to expand...

It really isn't all that bad to wear a felt in hot weather---as long as it is a lighter weight felt. Your feather weights are actually not all that bad in warm weather.
For a straw hat that is not a panama, you need to look at the milan or a decent leghorn straw. There are different styles of straw hat though so check the different shapes and see if an optimo or other shape might work in a straw for you. [huh]

I am a big fan of the Akubra Fed IVs. They are relatively inexpensive, high-quality-for-the-price hats. They are very often styled with Indiana Jones-type creases, but many members here crease them other ways, and they almost always look great (no offense meant - nothing is ever 100%). Look at HatsDirect.com for details regarding purchase and shipping details.

They come in two grades of felt: Imperial and Heritage, the latter being of higher quality and cost. I have and like them both. The Heritage is softer which is nice but its not a deal breaker as I like my slightly stiffer Imperial felt, as well.

http://www.jjhatcenter.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/nyregion/thecity/02hat.html?_r=1

It's a good idea to do some hands on. I recommend you leave your money at home on first walk through. There is no shortage of game out there so enjoy the hunt. We have vendor/advertisers here at The Lounge and they are reliable, honest folks but you do need to feel the felt and weight and see them on yourself.
tom D.

Ya know what? I neglected to notice that youre in da Bronx. Take a subway into the city and check out JJ Hat Center and Worth & Worth and try some on, as St.Ignatz suggested. Walking into places like that when youre really into it can make you stop and need to take a deep breath.

My first experiences with real hat shops were both worth and worth and JJ Hat center. Worth has what seems to be a smaller selection, but they can make something up for you since that's what they do. JJ had typical brands like Borso, Stetson, Biltmore and others. I liked both, but felt a little underserved at JJ, maybe it was too close to closing time, but they didn't really pull out stuff I was interested in after I told them what I was looking for. Once you see and feel a proper fedora then you can look online at other options since you will know your sizing and dimensions you prefer. Ask about material though, most of what you will find in store will be rabbit, nothing wrong with rabbit, I just preferred to have a beaver made since they were close in price. If you do want to go with a rabbit hat to save some cash look at Akubra, good quality, better price.

Senoreme,

All good advice, but I'll add this:

Find a friend or relative with good taste in clothes and ask them to come along with you hat shopping.

It's really hard when you're a hat newbie to judge what looks good on your particular head and body type. Someone whose opinion you 1) value, and who 2) has no vested interest, i.e., making a sale/profit in the hat, goes a long, long way toward insuring the hat(s) you buy will be keepers you actually often wear.

The two most frequent mistakes I've seen hat newbies make are getting in a big hurry and not shopping around enough and trying on a wide variety of styles and makes, and getting a relatively inexpensive wool felt or some synthetic-material hat, on the theory that you didn't spend much, so if you don't like the hat, so what. So don't get in a rush and go to as many hat shops to try on a bunch in person, and then buy a rabbit or nutria or beaver fur felt hat you'll have for practically if not actually the rest of your life.

I know I'll agitate some here, but do not feel obigated to buy a hat from a particularly helpful salesperson unless he has THE hat that's right for you.

I'm puzzled that you say you don't like the Panama hat type. There's nothing more comfortable in hot, humid weather, and many Toquilla fiber models are formed in virtually identical shapes to fur felt fedoras. Perhaps the ones you've seen looked wonky because of extra-wide brims or far-out ribbons. Reconsider Panamas as you shop; they make great tropical weather hats.

Jumping the gun here, but when it comes to 100% rabbit fur felt fedoras, the pre-creased front-pinch telescope-bash Akubra Stylemaster makes a good first-hat choice for many due to its moderate, 2 1/2-inch brim, which is bound, and its intermediate crown height with moderate taper. A classic fedora, it's just recently been offered by www.davidmorgan.com, near Seattle, for $135, but you can get several more different colors for somewhat cheaper if you order direct from one of the Aussie vendors, where Akubras are manufactured.

Hey, bro! Da Bronx! Welcome to the Lounge from another Bronxite!

AlterEgo said:

Senoreme,
Find a friend or relative with good taste in clothes and ask them to come along with you hat shopping.

It's really hard when you're a hat newbie to judge what looks good on your particular head and body type. The two most frequent mistakes I've seen hat newbies make are getting in a big hurry and not shopping around enough and trying on a wide variety of styles and makes, and getting a relatively inexpensive wool felt or some synthetic-material hat, on the theory that you didn't spend much, so if you don't like the hat, so what.

Click to expand...

Easier now than in the past. When I began buying and wearing fedoras, in the early to mid-80's, I knew no one who was into them, or knew anything about them. So I would just try putting hats on my head until I found something I liked well enough to wear, but nothing was ever what I thought of as perfect on me, at least in my eyes. But I came close a couple of times. I have an 80s shot of me in one of those hats. I have to find it.

I'll also add that being much younger, and having next to no money, finding a hat shaped as close to what I wanted was a coup, even if it was wool.

Back then, there were no full-crown fedoras that I didnt know I wanted so badly that I finally found after joining this forum.

So don't get in a rush and go to as many hat shops to try on a bunch in person, and then buy a rabbit or nutria or beaver fur felt hat you'll have for practically if not actually the rest of your life.

Click to expand...

Hat shops are few and far between these days. If I was a newbiehatwearer, I would indeed consider myself lucky if there was one within an a couple of hours traveling distance. As it was, when I started wearing them, I worked in NYC so they were right there.

You seem to be in fine hands here, so I'll just say that if you are in the Bronx, head over to JJ Hat Center on 5th and 32nd. If you are willing to spend the money, they will take care of you.

And of course, welcome to the lounge, we are glad to have you.

scottyrocks said:

So I would just try putting hats on my head until I found something I liked well enough to wear, but nothing was ever what I thought of as perfect on me, at least in my eyes. But I came close a couple of times. I have an 80s shot of me in one of those hats. I have to find it.

Click to expand...

I cant believe I actually found it. Me, circa 1986-ish, in a hat I bought in NYC:

senoreme said:

Fedoras for Dummies
I am ashamed to say that I do not own one fedora. I do love their elegance and style. So I would like to purchase a few. What is the best material to wear for hot, humid climate? I don't like the panama straw hat type. What is best for cold, NYC, Winters? Any information will be so greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

Thank goodness I misunderstood the title of this thread. I was afraid that one of my favorite brand names would have been labeled "a hat for dummies." Which one would that have been--Borsalino, Stetson, Akubra, Dobbs? Then wearing one of them would have made me a dummy. Now I realize I can rest easy.

My intro into Fedoras came last summer of 2009. I took a trip to Fairbanks Alaska. I purchased a Scala Classic (Indy style teardrop bash) in what is called 'Four seasons felt' Cheap, but man is it comfy! I wore it all summer and winter, and into this fall, untill I purchased a Biltmore Ark recently in Chicago. I will tell you, it gets muggy here in Detroit, but I was never uncomfortable in this hat. I also got tons of compliments, which is why I looked into a fur felt Fedora. I put my cheap hat on again today, just to compare how it looks. It actually looks real well. I will wear it when Im outdoors, and wanna bum around, keep my nicer hats for dress.

AlterEgo said:

There's nothing more comfortable in hot, humid weather, and many Toquilla fiber models are formed in virtually identical shapes to fur felt fedoras.

Click to expand...

I would actually put various sorts of caps made using light linens, cottons, etc., above most straw hats for hot, humid weather comfort. Still, I know what you are saying. Then again, the caps won't block as much sun if you're one of those... outside... people.

*shudder*