Dumb Hat Question - Hat Noob

[Mojopresley]

Alrighty, I have the hat bug (oy)...Bought my very first hat two weeks ago, a nice black Bristol Wallabe from JJ Hat Center in Manhattan - awesome place to go if you are a hat noob. Now I've got a Panama Bob Extra Fino on the way, and my eye on some vintage fedoras.

Question is, when a hat is shown with the size as "7/8", what size is it? I've read everything I can on hat sizes, and sizing correctly, but I haven't found anything that explains that size. Does it merely mean it's a 7 7/8? Or is there some other mystical joo joo involved here that us new hat initiates are just not told until after we are officially hazed and left in a pasture to awake with dew on our faces and dung.....oh wait, that wasn't how you get initiated as a hat wearer, that was....um, nevermind.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

7/8 could be a size 6 7/8 or a 7 7/8 I hope this helps. Welcome

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Best to ask the seller what the inner circumference of the hat is, then you can go here to figure the size...

http://www.hatlife.com/headsize.php

 

[photobyalan]

And if it's a vintage hat, I should think it's far more likely that it's the 6 7/8 variety.

Welcome to the lounge! I lived in Columbus for a few years, up in the Grandview area. But that was almost 20 years ago. (Yikes!) Every time I go back, I can't believe how much more sprawl there is.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Mojo,
Do I understand your question correctly? Are you asking where the 7 3/8 comes from as the size? As in, is it the width, or some other measurement that equals 7 3/8?

European sizing is more straightforward; a simple circumference.

BTW, if that is indeed your question, I have no idea what the answer is and would appreciate someone else answering it for me.

 

[photobyalan]

American hat sizes are, if I'm not mistaken, the circumference of the head in inches, divided by Pi. Therefore, a 23 1/2" head would require a size 7.48 (or 7 1/2) hat.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

American hat sizes are, if I'm not mistaken, the circumference of the head in inches, divided by Pi. Therefore, a 23 1/2" head would require a size 7.48 (or 7 1/2) hat.

Wow! No kidding. That is so scientific. I am impressed. Thanks.

 

[Sardou]

Okay . . .

American hat sizes are, if I'm not mistaken, the circumference of the head in inches, divided by Pi. Therefore, a 23 1/2" head would require a size 7.48 (or 7 1/2) hat.

That's what I came up with while pondering this question a few weeks back. But it makes me wonder why that's a useful number. In effect, it's the diameter of a round hat of a given circumference. But (finished) hats aren't round. Did this approach to sizing begin as a way to standardize blocks or capellines? Or something else "upstream" of the finished hat?

Do I recall that UK sizes are different by 1/8" (so US 7-5/8 = UK 7-1/2)? Why? And old Italian sizes were yet something else. Anyone know what those numbers refer to?

Sigh. Such a rich variety of figures to contemplate. And none of them about to join me for a cocktail.

Sardou

 

[Twitch]

This may help

 

[silverHalo]

Italian Sizing info

For all those who were curious about the Italian sizing I do believe that it is actually called "Punti". This website is the only know reference on the web that describes this system. http://www.hatsuk.com/hatsuk/hatsukhtml/bible/hatsize.htm

Hope this helps!

 

[photobyalan]

... it makes me wonder why that's a useful number. In effect, it's the diameter of a round hat of a given circumference. But (finished) hats aren't round. Did this approach to sizing begin as a way to standardize blocks or capellines? Or something else "upstream" of the finished hat?

Finished hats aren't round, but a circumference is a circumference, whether it's round or oval or, like me, sort of egg shaped . A hat of the correct circumference can be shaped to conform to any head of the same size. But no amount of shaping is going to make a hat of the wrong circumference fit, the hat would need to be stretched or shimmed (if that's a correct term to use) to the proper circumference to fit.