A visitor from the Powder Room...

[jitterbugdoll]

I recently started working at a vintage store that specializes in 1940s-70s furniture and kitsch. They do dabble in clothing though (mostly 1960s-70s stuff—not my style but very popular out here), and as I am vintage buff I get to price the items as I see fit. However, my expertise lies mainly in women’s wear, and the store actually gets a fair share of men's hats on a regular basis.

So, perhaps some of you can help me with a general dating and price guide (the Cliff Notes version, if you will .) I have a general idea, but I know that many of you are experts in the nuances of hats and I’d like to increase my knowledge.

Here’s a more specific question—we got in a chocolate brown fedora that I dated to the late 50s-early 60s (we have a customer we nicknamed ‘Mr. 1958’ who agreed with my educated guess.) It was labeled ‘Barlesoni’ and is in pretty good shape (the lining showed some wear, but the exterior was very clean and neat.) I priced it pretty low ($18) since the store is fairly inexpensive as a whole. But, does anyone have any input about the brand or style? Can we (should we) price it higher?

Thanks!

 

[scotrace]

Well...

That would depend on if it is my size.

Wish I could help!

 

[jitterbugdoll]

You know, I don't recall the size. It was on the smaller side though, as a very tall, sturdy gentleman tried it on and I thought it looked too small for him.

It has a short brim though, so I thought he would have looked better in something more in proportion to his build anyway.

C'mon now, I know your out there! Shed some light for me!

 

[jitterbugdoll]

Thanks, fedoralover!

I realize it's a very broad question, but since I've never really studied men's clothing I am somewhat at a loss.

The actual hat was in very good condition; the liner was dirty and had cracked slightly. It was definitely a stingy brim, too.

I will have to check the size again as I do not recall it (many styles of women’s hats can fit all head sizes based on shape, so I generally don’t pay attention to size!)

I don’t know what the hat market is like, but from working in this store have noticed that people snap up hats pretty quickly. So, perhaps they are more popular than I thought, or perhaps her prices are very low.

 

[fedoralover]

Oops, I moved this comment but guess I did it too quick so here it is again.

Well JBD, that's a pretty hard question to answer over all, as there are so many varibles. The brand you mentioned was kind of an off brand but probably still worth more than 18.00 if it fit certain criteria. If you look on ebay you will see that in general the larger sizes always go higher, (from 7 1/8 and up). Also the wider brim and higher crown fedora's will also go much much higher than the stingy brims. Wider brim meaning anything from around 2 1/2 inches and up, higher crown meaning anything around 5 1/2 and up.

Borsalino's are the premier vintage brand, and anything less than $100 for one in the specs just mention would be a steal. Stetson, Dobbs, Knox, Adam, Cavanagh were some of the more common higher end vintage ones, however I've noticed that on ebay anyway, people pay more attention to the "look" than the brand. Example: a wide brim high crown "Lee" fedora went for over $70.00 while a Stetson 100 went for $56. a while back. Lee was a low end fedora back in the day, while the Stetson 100 was top of the line. Most Stetson 100s will go for up to $400. even on ebay. But not that particular day for some reason. Go figure. I'm just guessing it was because the Lee was shaped more like an actual "Fedora" with the wide ribbon and the crown shape, While the stetson had more of a cowboy look. Some people don't know how to reshape them into a fedora look.

Also the shape of them obviously will be a big factor. Stains, moth nibbles, worn sweatbands, dirty liners, smells, will all detract from the price.

Vintage shops here are always very low in men's fedora's so most of the time they will charge around $50 to $60 for a nice one. The Law of supply and demand comes into play. If the supply is really high in your area and the demand isn't that great then of course you are in competition with other shops who may under cut your prices and you may end up with a shop full of fedora's that you can't move. So you may want to check out what other shops are selling theirs for and how much supply they have. Hope this helps some, and I'm sure others here will have other helpful tips as well.

regards fedoralover