Stetson Temple

I have a black Stetson Temple that I wear for all sorts of occasions from formal to very casual with the brim turned down all around.
It's a great hat ,in my opinion, never had any concerns even in light rain. Heavy rain, if I must go out in it, I wear my Stetson Gable!
I like the Sovereign feel of the Temple and it allows me to very easily pinch the front a little tighter than how it comes from the factory with no steam at all and it stays in place fine.

I have a mink colored Stetson Temple that I wore almost literally daily from 2003 to around 2014. By that last date the hat was not in good shape; literally misshapen, missing its' liner, the sweatband began to crack and the band was wrinkled and so sweat stained that it had bleached to a lighter color. I semi-retired that hat and began to wear others. Last summer I was at both of the Stetson outlet stores and was able to add an additional 8 Temple to my daily rotation of about 25 hats. I do not think that I paid more than $50 for any of the outlet store hats last summer. I will comment that one cannot just order from the outlets as the hat tags may not match the actual size of the hat. You really have to go out there to try them on. I find the Temple to be an immensely satisfying hat. I must have upwards of 80 total hats and the Temple is prominent in my daily wear.

ptjoe said:

Hey Guys,
I love my Stetson Temple in black and I'm also in the market for a light colored hat.
I'm debating over the Akubra FedIV in Tawny Fawn or the Moonstone. The Moonstone has that bluish tint to it from what I can tell and i'm not thrilled by that.
The tawny is nice, but I don't know at this point if I want a hat in the brownish family.
I still like the Stetson Temple in light gray, which is the light gray color I'm looking for.
Delmonico now has the Temple in Alabaster, a very light color, looks like a white.
My Stetsons have held up great, if there is a chance of rain I take my Stetson Gable along with me, it's water repellent.
Your thoughts are welcomed.Thanks.

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I believe Delmonico's has the Temple in "EXCELLENT Quality" and on sale at 15%...
That light color sounds superb.

I have a Stetson Temple in Mink color. I bought it over 30 years ago at the Stetson factory when it was in St. Joseph, Missouri. It is a very good quality fur; Sovereign is the Stetson designation for it.

It has been worn in the rain, snow, sleet and blazing sun. I brush it with a horsehair hat brush now and then and it still looks new.

My guess the quality of the hat bodies was better back when I bought it.

I got a grey one, whatever the company name is for it, and I loved it. I should have kept it, but got into custom hats. But the Temple was excellent.

I had a gray ("Caribou") Temple from 2002 to 2016. I thought it was a great hat... until I started buying Akubras.



The Temple lost its shape after a couple of years of exposure to rain and snow. The sewing of the ribbon was sloppy. The sweatband leather felt like cardboard, and it ultimately hardened and wrinkled and became even more uncomfortable. My half-dozen Akubra hats all have more comfortable sweatbands and have held up to the elements with zero problems (some now going back as far as 2007).

I finally sold the Temple here and replaced it with a Northwest Hats custom "thirties gangster hat" in beaver, which at the time only cost me around $60 more than a new Temple was going for... and it's on a whole other plane of construction:



Now I'm not saying that my vintage-2002 Temple proves anything about today's samples of that model. But compared to the sixties and earlier Stetsons I had collected in my teen years - like the derby below - it was quite undistinguished.



I have owned lots of Stetson hats in my lifetime, and I have a very nice, almost 20-year-old Stetson panama I wear constantly in summer. I know we have lots of current Stetson fans here... But I would not buy a new, overpriced-for-its-quality Stetson hat now. Just sayin'...