Akubra Bogart in Carbon Grey review

Bamaboots said:

Moon, I respect your opinions on most matters hat related but that seems like an awfully contentious response to one opinion, light hearted or not, about one hat resembling another. JMO

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Doctor Strange said:

Very nice review! I have a Stylemaster - the exact same hat, but with a teardrop instead of a center-dent bash

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moontheloon said:

I often wonder why many companies name certain hats after people when those hats have pretty much zero characteristics of the hats worn by its namesake

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GLB Pro said:

Greetings everyone. I noticed that there is not at time of writing a dedicated review on this hat on this forum so thought I would post one:

My Akubra Bogart in Carbon Grey:

I've had this hat for about six months and really love it. It has a 64mm brim with bound edge, 38mm ribbon band, and a 120mm crown, measured to the highest point. If you measure the inside height, i.e. to the lowest point on the bash, the height is 90mm.

From the side, straight on:

As you can see the front to back crown taper is moderate. The brim can be worn snapped down in the front or snapped up all around. I much prefer the former. It's not really designed to be worn snapped down in the back as this produces a rather 'lumpy' back brim. Personally I find the proportions of this hat to be very pleasing to the eye, and it immediately looks good on anyone, even those with no experience of hat wearing.

From the front/top:

You'll immediately notice that despite the name it really does not look like the hats that Humphrey Bogart wore - the pinch is much less sharp and is really more on the sides of the hat than on the front.

From the front, straight on:

This picture shows the taper of the crown which is progressive and increases towards the top of the hat. I have found that because of this taper the bash cannot really be increased much beyond the factory depth - any attempt at a real 'Bogart' style bash results in the hat contacting your head on the inside.

The man himself:

As you can see the name is not strictly appropriate as far as appearance goes. However I think the Akubra namesake (especially in this colour) does a very good job of capturing the essence of Bogart's headgear - it's a great everyday Fedora-style hat that will instantly double your style and cool levels. I mean, just putting this hat on makes you feel like the man in charge. The brim is just the right size for urban use and despite being compact is large enough to clearly differentiate the wearer from hipster-types

From the back, showing the cigar-style crease. The centre of the crease is slightly raised to make room for your head:

From the back, straight on - again showing the compound taper to the crown:

Inside:

Fit and finish on this hat confirm to Akubra's normal high standards - I can't find a flaw anywhere! The felt is beautifully uniform, all the stitching precise and absolutely consistent. The lining is a nice touch and the leather sweatband helps to keep the hat on your head on windy days.

A note about the colour: Carbon grey is one of the most versatile colours I've found for a hat, and is something of a chameleon. As you can see from these pictures, during the daytime it does look medium grey and as a result matches with virtually any ensemble, although in my opinion it suits darker colours better. In subdued lighting or at night the grey appears darker, very much like the colour of pencil lead, and the black hatband becomes almost indistinguishable. This hat is thus a very good 'do it all' Fedora suitable for both day and evening wear.

From the top, an angle you don't see too often:

Another point to note, made clear by the picture above, is that this hat is shaped like an oval from the factory, and is thus suitable for oval-headed people such as myself. When I wear this hat there is no space at all between the hat and my head all the way around. My head measures exactly 58cm and this 58cm size hat fits about as perfectly as is possible, which I suspect may not be such a good thing when it begins to shrink as all felt hats tend to do. Right now though, it's almost an air-tight seal

If you're looking for a good first fedora this is definitely one to consider. The other option would be the Akubra Stylemaster, which is apparently the same brim with an identically-dimensioned teardrop-style crown. I have one of these on the way and will post a comparison at some point.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Bruno

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Eric D. said:

I'm new to the forum. Decided to add to my hat collection after many years. Interested in buying the Akubra Bogart or Stylemaster. However, I'm seeing conflicting information about the height of the crown on both hats. The post here says 12mm for the Bogart. A youtube review says the Bogart has a 10mm crown. A website in Texas says the Stylemaster has a 4-1/4 inch crown. The Australian hat shops say 9mm for both styles. I'm assuming they are referring to the center crown. Can anybody clear this up for me?

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GLB Pro said:

Haha yes there's a big difference between mm and cm!

I suspect all of these sources are correct - it's just how you measure the crown. As I said in my review, if you measure the height of the crown externally you get 12cm to the highest point on the crown which is the side of the hat. Measuring to the lowest point ie to back of the crown, gives about 10cm. Measuring inside the hat gives slightly less, about 9cm. 4.25" is about 10.7cm, also within these parameters. There is a slight radius where the brim and crown meet which can affect the measurement and the taper of the crown adds to the difficulty of getting a precise figure. Finally there are variations in dimensions due to production tolerances - no two hats will be exactly the same.

If you want more precise dimensions than these I think you will need to examine the hat in person.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Bruno

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Eric D. said:

Thanks Bruno. This really helps a lot. Also like the pictures of your hat. Think I'll get one.

Eric

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Doctor Strange said:

I'm curious why you think long ovals fit the Bogart better. The Stylemaster and Bogart are both circular (not oval *) hats, don't have dimensional brims, and are virtually identical apart from their different creases.

(* All the Stetsons I've had have been slightly oval, but all the Akubras are perfect circles.)

I wear both center-dent and teardrop hats, and I don't see that either kind generally looks or fits better or worse on me. Okay, I'm not a long oval. What would be different if I was?

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ScionPI2005 said:

Nice review, and a gorgeous hat. I love the color.

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PHIL1959 said:

Great review. I have a stylemaster in carbon and moonstone, i prefer moonstone, it goes with nearly everything,the carbon to me is just too dark.

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emigran said:

YUP...
BTW that Bogey picture I believe is his Tokyo Joe apparel

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