Starter Fedora

TAutry · Apr 15, 2014

I'm looking for a good quality, fur felt fedora. Is there a particular brand or maker I should look at for a starter fedora? Also, do you buy hats online or in stores?

fedoracentric · Apr 15, 2014

By "starter" what do you mean? It might mean something different to different people.
Is a low price the key factor?
Do you want only new, or used (vintage)?

Also, are you sure of your hat size? If not, it might be best to go to an actual store and get some personal service so you can learn about how a hat should fit, or what fit you find most comfortable.

TAutry · Apr 15, 2014

I guess starter for me would be in price. I've read on here that fur felt is more durable in rain and weather than wool felt, so that's why I specified fur felt. I haven't seen any hat stores where I live in North Carolina. With my medical stuff going on, I am in Raleigh frequently. If anyone in NC, knows of a good store in the Raleigh area I'd like to know. My hat size is a 7 1/8. I'd be open to new or vintage, depending on price. Since I have the stingy my wife got me and the Panama, I'm probably set for the moment.

The stingy isn't a bad hat. It seems well made considering what it is, but I know it won't hold up to weather very well. I'd like to get an idea of what to look for and where to look for something better. I went to an Orvis store and really didn't find anything. They had a couple of wool felt pieces, but neither in my size. I also found them to be too floppy. I think I'd like something with a little more stiffness to it.

Doctor Strange · Apr 15, 2014

In a case like yours I generally recommend the Akubra Stylemaster. Outstanding quality for the price, and the style looks good on nearly everyone.

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=535

1mach1 · Apr 15, 2014

+1 That is a very good suggestion. Akubra hats are of very good quality, hold up in the toughest elements, and you can't beat the price.

T Jones · Apr 15, 2014

Akubra's probably the best bet for the money...or, occasionally, loungers may have some nice vintage hats for sale as well. You may want to check the classified thread.

gtdean48 · Apr 15, 2014

Orvis, in the catalog, only shows a modern HatCo Stetson Stratoliner & a buffalo fur felt (more outback than fedora) along with some wool crushers.
LLBean still shows the Moose River hat by Stetson.
Cabelas has the 3 Forks by Stetson which is close to the Moose River & the Muzzle by Stetson (another outback) which is cheaper.
All of these are $150 & up, so not sure you'd consider those as a "starter" hat.
Akubra is always a good start....

casechopper · Apr 15, 2014

In your hat size and with the importance you're placing on price I'd look to ebay for used hats. You can get some pretty nice deals in your size.

facade · Apr 15, 2014

TAutry said:
I'm looking for a good quality, fur felt fedora. Is there a particular brand or maker I should look at for a starter fedora? Also, do you buy hats online or in stores?

If you want to go vintage one "trick" I can suggest is to search for "cavanagh edge" on EBay. These edges were almost exclusively used on better quality hats and are not available on modern hats. So by selecting a hat with a cavanagh edge, even a complete novice can end up with a quality vintage hat.

DanO · Apr 15, 2014

Great tip Facade, TAutry just surfed the Bay with "Cavanagh" there are some super looking lids on there.

job · Apr 16, 2014

We did have two hats stores in N.C. called The Hat Lounge but they closed up shop about a year ago.
Send a pic of yourself. It may help with suggestions.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

TAutry · Apr 16, 2014

Thanks Guys! I'll take a look at the Akubra and try Ebay. I'm kind of in the looking and learning phase.

TOuten2 · Apr 17, 2014

I'm in NC too, and you're right about the lack of quality stores. Keith Christmas owns Alexander Hats in Charlotte. He's knowledgable and can get about whatever you want. If you get used that needs work, he can help with that too. I also have a couple of stylemasters from Akubra. Great hats for the money. I've also bought a couple of quality hats from the classifieds here without issue.

Tim

Spats McGee · Apr 17, 2014

I'll also concur with the suggestion for an Akubra, particularly the Stylemaster. I bought one as my first fur felt fedora about 5 or 6 years ago. Then I promptly bought another. While I wound up selling the first one, I still have that second one, and it still gets 3 or 4 days a week on da noggin.

Edited to add: Hey! I just hit 1,000 posts!

TAutry · Apr 17, 2014

job said:
We did have two hats stores in N.C. called The Hat Lounge but they closed up shop about a year ago.
Send a pic of yourself. It may help with suggestions.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

Hi Job- We're practically neighbors. I work at Campbell University and have a very good friend over in Sanford who is a winter fedora guy. He's a Campbell alum and found an orange wool felt fedora that is sort of his apparel trademark. He's retiring from Lee County Schools in a few weeks and will be doing some teaching at CU.

TAutry · Apr 17, 2014

Tim- Thanks for the tip on the shop in Charlotte. I very rarely get over that way, but it is nice to know there is a resource, especially for looking after older hats.

LoveMyHats2 · Apr 17, 2014

If you are looking at a few different hats, eventually it will just come to you what one to buy. I would think other than eBay, the suggestion for the Akubra hat is perhaps the smartest move to make. The price is not going to make you pass out, the hat is going to give you some nice looks, and the hat would be something you can wear no matter what the weather is, and it will hold up much better than some other hats. I am sure than if many individuals knew about the Akubra hat line, before they got off in buying what ever they could grab up, a great deal of people would have probably picked the Akubra for a first or second hat. They make several styles of hats, and if you do know your hat size, you can find out from reading about the Akubra hats here on the lounge. You may need to find out per your hat size, how the Akubra hat may fit snug or loose. You can actually ask or seek out that input here. Some hats do tend to "fit" a bit different at times than what your actual head/hat size may be. A general rule of thumb is, buy a bit loose. In time is will sort of shrink down to fit you much better. If you buy something new and it is already on the "tight size" then you have to deal with learning about hat jacks, etc. No matter what, read and learn as much as you can and if you are in need of more info...well...here you are! LOL!

TAutry · Apr 18, 2014

"A general rule of thumb is, buy a bit loose. In time is will sort of shrink down to fit you much better."

Thanks for the advice. I'm curious about the line above. So, a quality hat will shrink to fit rather than stretching some? I would have thought that, especially in warm weather that sweating in the hat would cause it to stretch out some. Can someone please enlighten me.

TheDane · Apr 19, 2014

Heat makes a hat shrink. The worst thing you can do is to leave it in the back window of a car on a sunny day. You can easily loose a size or two that way. Hats do shrink to fit ... to a certain degree

TAutry · Apr 21, 2014

Well, I did it . . .

I went for the Akubra Stylemaster. I ordered the Acorn color just a few minutes ago from David Morgan. I decided going with a U.S. seller made sense for me, just in case there was a sizing or other issue.

Thanks you all for your recommendations.

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