Grosgrain ribbon stock in St Leonards, East Sussex...

[Mr Badger]

We were down visiting friends in St Leonards over the weekend and went to a quite amazing haberdashers, Wayward, which had a vast stock of vintage buttons, material, etc, including a whole drawer full of deadstock silk / rayon grosgrain ribbon! Picked up four 1m lengths for £1 each! Apparently, last year they bought the stock from a long-closed French haberdashery...

The shop's a real treasure trove and, unusually, could prove an equally rewarding visit for both male and female FLers!

And here's the ribbon I nabbed – there was a wider blue ribbon but unfortunately it had some spotting:

Down the same little road is Xanadu, which had a rather large selection of proper (rather than 1980s tat) vintage men's clothes and accessories, including around two dozen boaters and other assorted hats, although they were all too small for me, sadly:

 

[barrowjh]

Nice grab on the ribbon, belongs on a hat to be built!

 

[Mr Badger]

Nice grab on the ribbon, belongs on a hat to be built!

Too right! Alas, my current between jobs status means that all I can afford is the ribbon at the mo'!

BTW, a French Ebay seller just listed a quantity of vintage French deadstock grosgrain ribbon that's very similar to the type that I purchased in St Leonards:

 

[tonyb]

That French eBay ribbon looks like nice stuff. If I were on your side of the pond, I'd consider buying it.

The ribbon in the initial post is likely of a high quality, but it isn't what we usually think of as men's hat band ribbon (with the possible exception of that pinkish stuff on the right). It has that scalloped edge, as contrasted with the smooth, "finished" edge typically found on men's hat bands. Your ribbon is sometimes called "French belting," by the way. There's no law that says it can't be used for men's hats, though, but know that doing so would be unorthodox. Me, I'm not particularly orthodox in most regards, and only mildly so in this one. So I say go ahead and use it.

 

[Mr Badger]

Hey tonyb, thanks for the info! The level of knowledge on the ol' FL never ceases to amaze! :eusa_clap

I kinda figured it wasn't totally 'on point' millinery grosgrain, but figured that (if we ever get a proper summer!) it'd be great to replace the ribbon on my natural and/or black Bailey Salems, my day-to-day hot weather headwear (I save the Stetson in my profile pic for special occasions), which are looking slightly spotted after several years of almost daily wear... in addition, over the winter, I picked up a decent blue & white seersucker suit so the striped band on the natural Salem just won't cut it with that:

And here's my Stetson straw again:

 

[tonyb]

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Love that jacket, man. What's the story there?

 

[Mr Badger]

Love that jacket, man. What's the story there?

Picked it up from the good folks at Flashback in Memphis about eight or so years back, here's the label:

 

[howardeye]

Sure would like a cup of coffee that Illy sign is advertising for on that store! I don't see any of that where I live unless I make it.