Greetings all... Does anyone know anything about this hat, the Dobbs | Fifth Ave NY - "Dayton / Bogart"? http://www.dadshats.com/dobfifavday3.html Is it "ok" as a Bogey-style replica?
2" brim. Do I remember correctly? Aren't you a tall fellow? Is this hat too small in scale for large guys (like us)? Looks nice on the model.
Bogie Hat Check out the Beaver Brand Fur Felt C Crown fedora listed under 'Beaver Brand' on the same Dad's Hats website. To me this looks a little more Bogart. Brim appears raw-edged but you can always have it finished.
I know that Lee Keppler has a bogart hat that is pretty good, and if you want to go the more expensive route, Optimo makes one close to spot on for Bogart in Casablanca using MK's info.
Ah - good point. I did some searching (handy function, that search) on the site and I came across the bit on MK's Optimo Bogart lid... Very cool - that looks the way to go. Cheers!
Go with the Optimo or Keppler (or vintage, if you can find one in your size). The Dobbs you referred to was my first hat ever. I really liked it until I had the misfortune to happen upon this site. It took me about two hours of reading through the archives to become the unrepentant hat snob I am today. The Dobbs is a typical, okay quality, modern hat. As far as the Bogart look, it's not tall enough, tapers too much and the brim is too narrow. Other than that, it's perfect!
Ha - that is exactly what happened to me! I have also noticed that a lot of the hats being made today aren't tall enough. My two HJ fedoras, although nice hats compared to some of the ones out there, are not as tall as I liked. I was in the shop in town that sells HJ hats and I tried on their "Indiana Jones" hat. I liked the height on that one.
Gotta put your lateral thinking cap on to find the right (tall/wide) one and be prepared to do some trimming... B T
Out of curiosity - where does one obtain the aforementioned Optimo or Lee Keppler hats? I can't find a link anywhere...
. Links to all the good hat makers and other great resources can be found on the links page of The Golden Era. See link at the bottom every page on this site.
... a few more questions re. Bogey-esque lids Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! A few more questions, if I may... I noticed that from the front, the Optimo and Keppler hats are very similar to the one Bogart wears. However, can you get the same "crumpled" type look at the back/top, like here: http://www.thegoldenera.net/images/hats/Bogart/Spade5.jpg That is where I see a lot of the Bogey-esque hats fall down. Maybe it has to do with the height of the hat or weight of the felt? I know that I tried to get the same C crown look on one of my HJ's but it didn't work all that well because the hat doesn't have the height. (it came out like yer man's tweaked lid here: http://www.regular-guy.com/images/Dans_Bogie1.jpg). There just isn't enough material to get that folded, crumpled look. I tried with one of the HJ "Indy" hats and they do have the height. That hat is an inch or two taller (and straighter) that the HJ's I picked up in Dublin. Last question - is the felt "floppy"? I was watching "The Big Sleep" the other day and I noticed that when Bogie first came into the hotel bar, he was holding his hat kind of tightly and you could see that it was rather soft/floppy felt... Cheers!
. My Optimo looks just like the Bogart photo from that angle. I will have to take a shot for you when I have a chance. Bogie's hat is a thin summer weight felt.
Yep, as MK said, thin felt is the key to that look. Very easy to achieve with vintage hats, but a bit more work with modern hats. Lee Keppler got my Bogart hat to look similar to that, but stiffener in the felt holds the "crinkles," as he calls them. My vintage Borsalino, on the other hand, does that just by shaping with my hand. It's very thin felt, but still retains the shape you give it. Brad
