Looking for hat information?

deadlyhandsome · Feb 11, 2020

Jerm said:
Ive never saw one in person, but every picture ive saw of them they just look like they sit really high on a head, are clunky, and boxy. I could be wrong and id love to see one in person

The “boxy” look is something a lot of us prefer as that’s how many of the hats made in the golden era were made. The tapered look of a lot of modern hats is a big turn-off to us. The good thing is they are open crown hats and you can change the way they look by changing the crease.

If you like tapered pre-creased hats you should check out the Akubra Stylemaster.

Jerm · Feb 12, 2020

This is kind of what I'm looking for. I have a new stratoliner and love it, but its to nice for what i want. The closest i have found is this Stetson and an akubra stylemaster. But the brims on david beckhams aren't stiff and poppy. Thanks for replys and photos of your hats

Jerm · Feb 12, 2020

This hat has a worn beaten look to it

Jerm · Feb 12, 2020

Jerm · Feb 12, 2020

deadlyhandsome said:
Sure, I get that preferences are personal. I wear lots of hats that others here wouldn’t ever consider wearing. However, low quality materials and construction is less subjective. For that price I think you can do better.

I think you’re the first person I’ve heard say the Campdraft/Open Road is “silly.” My only gripe with the Campdraft is that the crown is 1/2” lower than I’d prefer. Vive la différence.

I think its just how they wear them. I like an open road with a cattle crease. But when they're open they are to big for me. As for a stylemaster, its one of my options other than this stetson.

deadlyhandsome · Feb 12, 2020

Jerm said:
This hat has a worn beaten look to it

It’s become trendy to have a distressed bohemian looking hats. Several hatters have sprung up offering such services. These styles of hats aren’t very popular here on The Lounge. You can buy a used/vintage hat, you can commission a custom distressed hat, you can buy a hat and distress it yourself. You can get a hat and treat it rough, rub some soil into it, throw it in a dryer with some heavy items to beat it up. If that’s the style I was after, I’d spend some hours on eBay. They model in your photos might be sporting the latest fashion accessories, but I think that look will be short lived.

deadlyhandsome · Feb 12, 2020

Jerm said:
I think its just how they wear them. I like an open road with a cattle crease. But when they're open they are to big for me. As for a stylemaster, its one of my options other than this stetson.

Most here are just the other way. We tend to prefer taller crowns and wider brims of the golden era. That’s not to say there isn’t room for diversity: I have several stingy brims and some with quite modest crowns. As a general rule, those new to hats prefer modest brims and crowns, but with exposure and time they tend to go for wider and higher. We also tend to look for straight-sided crowns for a more boxy look. Of course there is a lot of variety here and I’m speaking in generalities.

The good news is the shorter brim and smaller crown hats are more plentiful and cheaper on the vintage market.

BIGG SHOW · Feb 20, 2020

Hello all,
Anyone have any info on the Stetson Barnstormer? Any pics? I read that it’s discontinued so I’m wondering if it’s worth picking on up while I can?

On another note, what’s the difference in felt stiffness varieties in Akubra Campdrafts? What are they called? Also, if I wanted to buy a Campdraft, is there a preferred online retailer? as always, any info is appreciated!
Cheers

deadlyhandsome · Feb 20, 2020

BIGG SHOW said:
Hello all,
Anyone have any info on the Stetson Barnstormer? Any pics? I read that it’s discontinued so I’m wondering if it’s worth picking on up while I can?

On another note, what’s the difference in felt stiffness varieties in Akubra Campdrafts? What are they called? Also, if I wanted to buy a Campdraft, is there a preferred online retailer? as always, any info is appreciated!
Cheers

Just a housekeeping suggestion: such questions are more appropriate for the Ask a Question, Get an Answer thread. You can also post to more specific existing threads. The Lounge, perhaps unlike other forums you’re used to, doesn’t encourage the creation of new threads when there are existing threads that can be added on to.

Two of the popular sources for Akubra hats are Everything Australian and Hat Direct/The Hattery. Both are very reputable retailers. Of them, only Hats Direct carry the Deluxe grade. More than the felt, I’ve noticed a difference in the quality of the leather sweatbands. There is a difference in the felt too, but it also varies by run etc. You can also try Hats by The Hundred, but I had a bad experience once and stopped using them.

I don’t know anything about the Barnstormer.

1967Cougar390 · Feb 20, 2020

BIGG SHOW said:
Hello all,
Anyone have any info on the Stetson Barnstormer? Any pics? I read that it’s discontinued so I’m wondering if it’s worth picking on up while I can?

On another note, what’s the difference in felt stiffness varieties in Akubra Campdrafts? What are they called? Also, if I wanted to buy a Campdraft, is there a preferred online retailer? as always, any info is appreciated!
Cheers

Here is a link for information on the Barnstormer from Stetsons website.
https://www.stetson.com/store/barnstormer-fedora-1.html

Steven

FedoraExplora · Apr 3, 2020

Hello everyone! I am super excited because I’ve bought three Fedoras in the past four days - Two of them are vintage but I’m not sure of year, style name. So I’m looking for some input as to what I might have here. One of them is a Stetson, it says “the sovereign” inside. I’ve read conflicting ideas as to whether that’s what the hat is actually called, or if that is the grade of felt that it was made with. Please me know if you have any ideas as to what style it is and if there’s a way to know the approximate year it was made. The other one appears to be made by a company called Barcelona. I couldn’t find a darn thing about that company on the Internet. Anyway please take a look at the photos here and I’d love to get some feedback on what you think! Thanks so much!

belfastboy · Apr 3, 2020

FedoraExplora said:
Hello everyone! I am super excited because I’ve bought three Fedoras in the past four days - Two of them are vintage but I’m not sure of year, style name. So I’m looking for some input as to what I might have here. One of them is a Stetson, it says “the sovereign” inside. I’ve read conflicting ideas as to whether that’s what the hat is actually called, or if that is the grade of felt that it was made with. Please me know if you have any ideas as to what style it is and if there’s a way to know the approximate year it was made. The other one appears to be made by a company called Barcelona. I couldn’t find a darn thing about that company on the Internet. Anyway please take a look at the photos here and I’d love to get some feedback on what you think! Thanks so much! View attachment 224719

I have a Barcelona! There are not many of us out there. I bought mine about 10 years ago on Ebay. I conducted an extensive search and found very little. But a search through corp records I turned up that is was a brand of a fellow named Paul (I forget the last name) It was a custom house out of Miami or S Florida. Mine is a hat from the 1970's. Barcelona was not around very long as a brand. It is of decent quality but not exceptional. I bought it as it was an unusual shade of brown and I liked the profile. The provenance of mine is that is supposed belonged to a Miami Mafia member of middling rank. My guess is that he adopted Barcelona as a name because it was close to Borsalino. It sounded European and somewhat exotic.

FedoraExplora · Apr 3, 2020

Wow! I’m amazed somebody has one, I can’t find anything about them on the Internet! I’m glad I only paid $15 for it. I haven’t received it yet actually. Haven’t received either of them yet so I guess it really remains to be seen Whether it was a good deal or not. I can’t wait to get them! Thanks for your reply!

GHT · Apr 3, 2020

FedoraExplora said:
Hello everyone! I am super excited because I’ve bought three Fedoras in the past four days - Two of them are vintage but I’m not sure of year, style name. So I’m looking for some input as to what I might have here. One of them is a Stetson, it says “the sovereign” inside. I’ve read conflicting ideas as to whether that’s what the hat is actually called, or if that is the grade of felt that it was made with. Please me know if you have any ideas as to what style it is and if there’s a way to know the approximate year it was made.

You can learn a great deal about The Sovereign by clicking on this thread. https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vintage-stetson-the-sovereign.25778/

FedoraExplora · Apr 3, 2020

Thank you for sharing that thread! I do believe I may have a 1970s Stetson Charger. It has the stingy brim and a braided band. I probably paid too much for it! She was originally charging 100 and I paid 75. Oh well, I think it’s beautiful and I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I bought it. I bought that Barcelona one because it was cheaper and I thought it would scratch the itch, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the Stetson. My boyfriend finally said “oh just buy the Stetson or you’ll never forgive yourself!” Lol!!

Hat and Rehat · Apr 4, 2020

FedoraExplora said:
Wow! I’m amazed somebody has one, I can’t find anything about them on the Internet! I’m glad I only paid $15 for it. I haven’t received it yet actually. Haven’t received either of them yet so I guess it really remains to be seen Whether it was a good deal or not. I can’t wait to get them! Thanks for your reply!

The thing about searching the internet is that occasionally you feel you've exhausted sources of available information, then you stumble through a portal and find more. Almost all of my searches led me to the Lounge so I signed up.

steur · Apr 4, 2020

FedoraExplora said:
Hello everyone! I am super excited because I’ve bought three Fedoras in the past four days - Two of them are vintage but I’m not sure of year, style name. So I’m looking for some input as to what I might have here. One of them is a Stetson, it says “the sovereign” inside. I’ve read conflicting ideas as to whether that’s what the hat is actually called, or if that is the grade of felt that it was made with. Please me know if you have any ideas as to what style it is and if there’s a way to know the approximate year it was made. The other one appears to be made by a company called Barcelona. I couldn’t find a darn thing about that company on the Internet. Anyway please take a look at the photos here and I’d love to get some feedback on what you think! Thanks so much! View attachment 224719

Welcome to the lounge and enjoy. There are members around here that know much much more about Stetsons than I do. The Barcelona is indeed likely to be one of those brands that chose a name resembling Borsalino. You don't see many of them around, but there is one on offer on Ebay right now actually.

FedoraExplora · Apr 4, 2020

Wow! I just looked and there are actually 4 Barcelona hats on eBay! Only one of them is felt, the other 3 are straw. But they are asking a heck of a lot more than I paid for mine! I guess that makes up for what I might have overpaid for the Stetson...

FedoraExplora · Apr 4, 2020

Wow! I just received my Barcelona fedora and, lo and behold, she sent me two for the price of one! Not too shabby for $15! The blue one is the one I bought. It is in beautiful shape and I love it. The brown they threw in - not in as great shape - but what the heck. Fun stuff! Still waiting for my Stetson!!!

belfastboy · Apr 4, 2020

FedoraExplora said:
Wow! I’m amazed somebody has one, I can’t find anything about them on the Internet! I’m glad I only paid $15 for it. I haven’t received it yet actually. Haven’t received either of them yet so I guess it really remains to be seen Whether it was a good deal or not. I can’t wait to get them! Thanks for your reply!

Yes, not many Barcelonas out there. Yours is a more casual style while mine is more classic fedora/trilby in a smooth felt. I really like mine and part of that is it is such an obscure regional brand.

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