French Hats and makers.

[Daniele Tanto]

Third and last black hat bought this year
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I left out the colored hats to dedicate myself to black in its variations for elegant European hats made before the Second World War or immediately after
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I really like that period for the construction and finishes which are extremely accurate
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Morreton Prelude, French made, "Qualitè de luxe" Imperméable (Waterproof)
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The size is 58 centimeters, or 7 1/4 in US. The felt is soft and extremely well finished
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The shape is classic for homburgs of that period.
The measurements are the gathered brims are 6 centimetres, the ribbon is 4 centimetres, the crown fully open is 12.5 centimetres
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Lightweight and unlined, it is the perfect mid-season homburg.

Another of the same hatter

 

[batankyu]

A very nice, old bowler with an exceptional liner - good catch! It's a bit hard to tell from the camera angles but it does not look like it has the deep flange, or cup, on the side brims associated with most bowlers. Based on the style of the size tag, and the drawstring and ****-joint sweatband, I'd say that is possibly a pre-WW II hat, maybe even into the 30's.

Unfortunately, I could not bring back the hats I purchased in Normandie to Marseille where I'm living, it's too ***bersome in the train, so they had to stay at my parents home. The bowler is currently sitting on an octopus plush in my bedroom. I only brought back the panama boater I came with.

However, I asked my mother to send me pics of the brim cup in order to compare its to the Borsalino fu Lazzaro bowler I purchased in 2023 which made its way to Marseille (see my post back ten here).

The french bowler purchased this summer has indeed a very flat brim...

The cup of my Borsalino fu Lazzaro is more curvy in comparison...

More pictures hosted on imgur: (EDITED to fix first link)
- Hats left in Normandie
- French bowler, brim cup
- Borsalino fu Lazzaro, brim cup

 

[steur]

I already have one of these, but at the price I couldn't resist.
Mossant Bayard in a blue colour called Orient. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6,5cm and the crown at 10cm at the front. Couldn't find anything on the retailer.

 

[steur]

Tirard Supra homburg in a dark brown colour called Cacao. Size 56 with the bound brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Lovely hand to the felt and judging by the liner it seems to be an older one. Not that you can find newer Tirard hats: they closed down in 1956 as one of the first of many.
Sold by Chapelier Au Grand Carnot in Paris. Could not find anything on them, but there is a Bistro called Le Grand Carnot, which is apparently very good

 

[steur]

Berteil homburg in a grey brown colour called Tourbe (peat) in the label. Size 59 (7 3/8 American) with the bound brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. All the quality we've come to expect from Berteil, though the maker of this felt probably is Mossant, as "tourbe" is a colour they used. Sold to me as black, but you'd have to be more colour deaf than me to think this is black.
Some taper to the crown side to side, but not as pronounced in real life as it looks on the pics.

 

[steur]

Going to need two posts for this.
Fléchet Haut Luxe velour fedora in black. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. A velour of the finest quality, that can compete with the best Austrian ones. Did not expect that to be honest; usually the French velour hats lack the softness of hand and density that the Austrian ones have. This one is different. There was a newspaper clipping behind the sweatband with a date of 1948 on it. The Art Deco style lettering on the sweatband has me thinking it could be earlier though.
Found some cool pictures of the retailer as well.

 

[steur]

Part II

Figeac is located in the Occitane (Occitanie) region of France. A very small town of less than 10.000. Several postcards were made of it in the past because of its historical centre however. And these show the distinctive corner buiding with the turret where madame Herpin had her hatshop. The earliest one is this one I think.

But several more are available. These ones with the name clearly visible.

It's not the only building of note in the town. The Halle (covered market place) is of note as well. It is still there today. In the picture below we cam see the chapellerie on the left at the far end. It may well be madama Herpin standing in front of her shop.

 

[Steve1857]

Part II

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Figeac is located in the Occitane (Occitanie) region of France. A very small town of less than 10.000. Several postcards were made of it in the past because of its historical centre however. And these show the distinctive corner buiding with the turret where madame Herpin had her hatshop. The earliest one is this one I think.

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But several more are available. These ones with the name clearly visible.

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It's not the only building of note in the town. The Halle (covered market place) is of note as well. It is still there today. In the picture below we cam see the chapellerie on the left at the far end. It may well be madama Herpin standing in front of her shop. View attachment 754560

What a wonderful find, Stefan, both inside and out.

Love the images, too. Very evocative of the period.

 

[steur]

What a wonderful find, Stefan, both inside and out.

Love the images, too. Very evocative of the period.

Thank you, Steve. From what I see on Youtube, the village still looks more or less the same.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Going to need two posts for this.
Fléchet Haut Luxe velour fedora in black. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. A velour of the finest quality, that can compete with the best Austrian ones. Did not expect that to be honest; usually the French velour hats lack the softness of hand and density that the Austrian ones have. This one is different. There was a newspaper clipping behind the sweatband with a date of 1948 on it. The Art Deco style lettering on the sweatband has me thinking it could be earlier though.
Found some cool pictures of the retailer as well.

A real fine Flechet in velour. I completely agree with your analysis of the fantastic felt Flechet used to build his "furry" hats.
I'm attaching a photo of a friend (size 57 cm.) of his, perhaps a little older, who is still in Verona....

 

[steur]

A real fine Flechet in velour. I completely agree with your analysis of the fantastic felt Flechet used to build his "furry" hats.
I'm attaching a photo of a friend (size 57 cm.) of his, perhaps a little older, who is still in Verona....
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Another beauty, Daniele. Love the sheen of it in the sunlight.

 

[Pellie]

Morreton in black.
Great hat. First i thought it was from 1974 according to the label, but that's the order number. I think this hat is from the end of the 50's, early 60's. Nice hand on the felt and good proportions. When you can grab some french hats, the quality is mostly high!!

 

[steur]

Morreton in black.
Great hat. First i thought it was from 1974 according to the label, but that's the order number. I think this hat is from the end of the 50's, early 60's. Nice hand on the felt and good proportions. When you can grab some french hats, the quality is mostly high!!
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Very nice, Marcel. Good shape to it.

 

[Pellie]

Very nice, Marcel. Good shape to it.

Thanks Stefan!!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Morreton in black.
Great hat. First i thought it was from 1974 according to the label, but that's the order number. I think this hat is from the end of the 50's, early 60's. Nice hand on the felt and good proportions. When you can grab some french hats, the quality is mostly high!!

Great catch, Marcel! One of the best you've shown us this year.
The hat is much older than you think. Given its shape and finish, and especially the handwritten paper label, it's certainly twenty or thirty years older than you think.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, hats completely different from this one were made in Europe.

 

[Pellie]

Great catch, Marcel! One of the best you've shown us this year.
The hat is much older than you think. Given its shape and finish, and especially the handwritten paper label, it's certainly twenty or thirty years older than you think.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, hats completely different from this one were made in Europe.

Wow okay, thanks for that information Daniele. I wasn't sure about the age. Pre war is always nice to find ;-)

 

[steur]

Mossant Bayard homburg in a grey colour called "gris africain" (african grey). Size 57 with the brim at a generous 6,5cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. It didn't want side pinches. Great hand to the felt and another one on the pile of classic coloured homburgs (I think I'm at about 30 of these), but the price was just too good and it came with the original box. Weighs 137 grams.
Could not find any information about the retailer.

 

[steur]

Part II

 

[Pellie]

Last one for this year: Fléchet in grey. Unfortunally the size 58 is much smaller, so it's a 57 or maybe 56. It doesn't fit me at all, so this one goes back on sale again. Nevertheless a nice french hat like always!

 

[Steve1857]

Part II

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Nice find, Stefan, especially with the box.