Welcome to the lounge, Erik. A fine example of English hatmaking from its heyday by the looks of it. Christys' these days does not come anywhere near that quality. I'm looking forward to your other hats already.
The lines of a bowler (English) or a derby (American) vary by the styles of the day more than geographic location. It is possible to find a match on either side of the pond. That being said, if you read through this rather long thread you will see some similarities, usually in crown height/shape and the tightness of the brim curl. Over the 150+ years of this style just about any variation you can imagine has been in vogue. Welcome to the lounge.
Nice find, Erik. Good looking hat. From the pictures however I doubt that this is actually a bowler. The slight indentation that can be seen on the second picture, the ribbon and bow and the liner make me think this is an open crown homburg hat. I think you could easily put a center dent in that felt. A good thing in my book: I love homburgs.
Well, there you go, Erik. It happens more often than you think and I have landed a few hats for a low price that way. Demand for bowlers is not high and they usually sell for low prices. If you can spot if a hat is in fact not a bowler then you might get lucky. Bowlers do deserve more praise however, because the craftsmanship that goes into them is incredible.Steur – this is exactly why you should always hang out with the very best. What a game changer! All it took was the mildest of karate chops on the crown – and voilá, a homburg! You were so right! When I saw it it was obvious, but I never would have guessed. Thanks a lot!
And also to you, Redfokker. Actually, I have read through the whole thread, starting in July. Seeing all the beautiful pics and reading the expert comments like yours is actually one of the main reasons my distanced interest in bowlers have spun a bit out of control. Waiting for a 60's Dunn from somewhere in England as we speak. My only grief is they don't suit me that well, to be honest, but I suppose it's first and foremost a question of attitude and attitudes can always be worked on
+ 1 on that Stefan. Bowlers have sadly gone out of "fashion". Let us bowler lovers try and bring it back.
I seem to have missed this one before. It's a great hat, Steve, and from an excellent English maker too. Moores did make great hats.
Looks pristine, Erik. Nice find. Not a very early one, because it doesn't have the G.A. in front of the Dunn name. My guess would be early to mid sixties for this one. Dunn kept using quite elaborate liners even in their later hats.
It would be an interesting study to look at the evolution of Dunn & Co. logos. My new gray bowler has a different look than this one does.
Dunn&Co seem to have had a wide variety of liners. The one in your bowler is the same as my Dunn homburg which dates from the seventies, except for the red side.
