Size Advice Please - Vintage Hats on ebay

I've been wanting an Open Road or Stratoliner for some time now and have been watching ebay and even bid on some. I have owned various hats, including one Stetson 4X beaver Cattleman in size 7, from size 6 7/8 to 7 1/8. I currently have a cheap wool felt fedora (Pendleton) in size M. I have always just gone to the store and tried them on until I find one that fits. Obviously, one cannot do that on ebay. BTW, my head measures 22 inches.

My question is: Given the range of sizes I've worn, what size(s) should I bid on? I've read here of hats shrinking over time. Might a vintage hat have shrunk a size? How practical is stretching a hat? [huh]

Orvil Newton said:

I've been wanting an Open Road or Stratoliner for some time now and have been watching ebay and even bid on some. I have owned various hats, including one Stetson 4X beaver Cattleman in size 7, from size 6 7/8 to 7 1/8. I currently have a cheap wool felt fedora (Pendleton) in size M. I have always just gone to the store and tried them on until I find one that fits. Obviously, one cannot do that on ebay. BTW, my head measures 22 inches.

My question is: Given the range of sizes I've worn, what size(s) should I bid on? I've read here of hats shrinking over time. Might a vintage hat have shrunk a size? How practical is stretching a hat? [huh]

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I measure a 22 as well and I usually am pretty safe getting a size 7 in vintage hats on ebay.

bolthead said:

I measure a 22 as well and I usually am pretty safe getting a size 7 in vintage hats on ebay.

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I measure 22-1/4, a little less than an exact 7-1/8. I wear a 7-1/8 in modern hats, and an occasional 7-1/4 with a bit of stuffing.

I have only bought a few from eBay, but my experience thus far is:

1 Cavanagh 7-1/8 ---- too small
1 Dobbs 7-1/8 --- perfect fit
1 Stetson Open Road 7-1/8 ----- good fit, if not a tad tight...but it's still blocked in the western style. Hopefully it will loosen a bit when I have it fedora-ized.

Still waiting on a Mallory, a Knox, a Dobbs Rainbow, and a vintage Borsalino. Also expecting another Cavanagh.....we'll see if that one fits small also.
Okay, okay.....I've gone hat-crazy lately !!! [huh]

Not sure if these hat companies show a trend, but this is my personal experience. Will try to update this post as others arrive.

Regarding shrinkage.....I would suspect that a hat could shrink over 40-50 years if worn in the rain, left in a hot car, etc. Stretching can be done for felts....about a 1/8-1/4 size I think.....but don't try to stretch a straw.

Best of luck.

Hi Orvil -

I'm right in between a 59 and 60 cm (or maybe 7-7/16?).

Based on my limited experience, vintage hats aren't likely to have shrunken a size or more. I have a perfectly-fitting Royal Stetson long oval in 7-1/2, but some other 7-1/2 hats weren't very good fits until I'd shrunken them deliberately. Some of my 7-3/8 hats have been subjected to steaming and stretching, and after subsequent wetting and a lot of wearing are as good as ever.

I've deliberately tried to shrink good-quality 7-1/2 hats by a half size and they don't respond much. But sometimes just enough.

- Bill

This is a good topic...well, for me anyway. The actual size of vintage hats on Ebay concerned me a little bit and a major reason I was hesitant to bid. I finally decided to bid (and won) a couple figuring if the sizing is way off, I'll just put them back up on the bay with the size I find.

Hatdoc, please keep us informed of your findings.

Consider the bigger picture...

I found my hat-buying on ebay became a lot more rewarding when I came to understand size doesn't matter. Well, not literally, but not committing because the hat might not fit is a mistake. Out of my about-14-or-15 dozen auction hats, maybe 45-50% arrived as a good and proper fit, with another 25-30% sorta/maybe workable and the rest not at all.

For quite awhile I'd get bummed when the Whippet arrived way too tight and the Zephyr-weight much too big. But I realized that it was an easy matter to sell the ones that didn't fit, and try again.

It's kinda like fishing with a slot limit. The small ones and big ones go back, those that fit in the slot stay in the box. But you have to keep casting to keep catching.

Snrbfshn said:

Out of my about-14-or-15 dozen auction hats, ///

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!!!????
WoahHoah, ThankyouThankyouThankyou Snrbfshn, you have made me feel ever so much better about my measly 8 catches. I will hear of no more disparaging remarks from those who think I have too many hats. Do post some pictures of your warehouse sometime, please. I'd love to see that.

Wonderful analogy by the way, fishing with upper and lower limits. Captures the spirit of the thing perfectly.

- Bill

I've had the same varying size as you meaning 2-3 sizes work for me. But I have always found other articles of clothing vary greatly if you try them on too. You try 2 pairs of pants allegedly the same size, style and cut and one seems like it was sewn by drunken blind monkeys.

Two hats both sized 7 fit differently [huh] It's hard at times on Ebay but I'd suspect going with size 7 will be right most of the time as it has for me.

Remember that you've got a little wiggle room.
A perfect fit is always the best thing, but a hat that's a little off doesn't make it a throw away.
If the hat is a little small, you can buy a stretcher, read the threads on how to stretch, and how much is safe.
If the hat is a little big, you can read the threads on "stuffing" the sweat.