Hello, lounge...new here and have a few questions

[Tomcat]

Well, I was finally able to get into here...

I was interested to find this message board and delighted too. I love fedoras and I wear them often.

The best one I have, I guess, is a Stetson Open Road from the 50's. It is 100 percent beaver and when I bought it, it had never been worn. It was open crown and I had to shape it myself, which I thought was pretty cool.

But the hats that I wear the most are Akubra. I have never spent the money to have a hat custom made, but I may someday. I never have in trouble with my fedoras and I wear them when Its appropriate or when I just feel like it.

The reasons that I like my Akubras are that they are great hats. The only thing that I could have against them at all (Not that I have anything against our best friends, the Aussies) is that I usually try (as I proud veteran) to go American made if I can.

So here is the question that I have? Is there any fedora made in America these days that is any good (and I don't mean a custom made hat). I haven't found one. I would buy one if it were avilable. What about these:
http://www.baileyhats.com/dress/fall/fall_p2.html

Bailey hats, does anyone know if they are any good?

If I could find an American made hat as good as my Akubra, I would buy it. I don't think they exist anymore, though.

Some more things about me, just so you will know:

I'm 33 and raising my daughter all by myself.

My hat size is 7 1/4

my other hobbies include fitness, cartooning, playing guitar, and women (which cost me more money than my hats, more pain than my workouts, more joy than cartooning, and more challenging than playing guitar).

I will try to get some pics on here if I can, but I may not be able to for a while.

Its very nice to meet all of y'all (yea I am from the deep South). You seem like a classy bunch. :cool2:

Tom

 

[Tomcat]

Thanks for the reply, Old Hat. I too have had a couple of modern Stetson hats. What I don't like about them (along with the poorer quality felt) is that the sweatband didn't even line up even with the felt. As anyone else had this trouble with a new Stetson? It just doesn't look right. The ventage Stetsons are so much better.

I have had a few Akubras and I don't think there is better hat for the price out there.

I do wonder about the new Stetson modern line. They seem way overpriced, but I would like to see one just to examine the felt quality and see how it is put together. If they are a step up, despite the price, then it may be a good sign.

I like it that Stetson is concentrating on its fedora line again, I just think that it is making a mistake my overpricing. They should cut the price in half. I f they do that and the hats are good quality, then they will make a bundle on them, I think.

What do y'all think about the new Stetson line? Would you wear any of them (and I don't mean the tattoo hats).

I like these two:

http://www.stetsonshop.com/MOD/SS04/12.html

http://www.stetsonshop.com/MOD/SS04/11.html

 

[Tomcat]

Yea, I had seen that hat and thought the same thing you did. Still, I am an optomist so I would like to see one up close. My hope is that they will have a few features that will show that they are moving in the right direction. It is just a hope. I doubt that they will be a nice as a Akubra you can buy new for $80.

If anyone lives in New York, you might wanna stop in and look at one and give us a report.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Welcome to the forum, Tomcat. I am one of several fedora-wearing women who frequent the site. I, too, have a love for fedoras and have had two custom made for me. Soft and beautiful.

There are a lot of Akubra aficionados here who swear by the hat. I have one Akubra, a white Snowy River, which probably is the hat I look best in. It is a little hard for my taste, but is a great hat. The Indiana Jones crowd seems to be going for the Akubras, too, as a more economical way to find a close-to-the-real-thing Indiana Jones hat.

I have purchased a few fedoras from a local Southern California shop. You can see their hats at:

www.thevillagehatshop.com

They have their own brand of fedoras, I have their black Bogart fedora, which I love, also a Jaxon Iconoclast, and a Stetson Weekender.

Some folks here get their vintage hats, which many seem to love the most, off of Ebay and at other auction or vintage sites. And we have some hatmakers on the site, inlcuding Art, who has a neat looking vintage shop I wish was closer to me.

So you have lots of options besides custom hats, and, if you decide to go that way, we have recommendations for those, also.

What part of the South are you from?

karol

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Whoops, that's www.villagehatshop.com

karol

 

[Tomcat]

Hey K.D.

I think that Biltmore makes the VHS hats for them, but I could be wrong. They are good hats and I used to have one. I have found Biltmore to make good hats, but still not as nice as Akubra.


I am from Louisiana, but I live in Mississippi right now....I am in the process of moving again, but I am not sure where. I will know soon.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

New here too...

Howdy Y'all,

I believe Biltmore Hats (Canada) are really good for the money. I have a few. I prefer 2 5/8 inch bound edge brims with a teardrop or "C" crown. I have tried the Stetsons and find them a bit stiff and thick. I have a Peter's Brothers fedora from Fort Worth. Nice hat, really stiff, almost unbendable. Joe Peters calls it bullet proof. I've got my eye on a Guerra (Italy) Bogart. Really nice tight soft felt. Other than Fedoras I wear Ivy eight points, and Cuffey Ascots. Miller Hats is about 20 minutes away from where I live and they carry an extensive line of Biltmores, Guerras and Borsolinos.

 

[gcollins]

American made hats? Dude, any hat you see that says made in the USA is just an illusion, so you are best to give that one up if you want a nice hat. Go global, brother, and accept it...and you don't have a choice anyway--even with custom hats. Every hat body, many of the ribbons and ALL liners (and possibly sweatband) that go into the crappy US factory-made hats are made outside of the USA. And the hats made in Oz have at least 90% of the materials cost made outside of Oz itself. The bodies will be made in Portugal or Eastern Europe.

Just get yourself a nice brim and don't worry too much where the final assembly is done. Besides the materials....If it's a production hat made in the USA by any brand you recognize as historically American, I can guarantee you that it is made on a production line comprised primarily of foreign workers.

Welcome to reality, my man. Wear that nice brim!

 

[Slicksuit]

my other hobbies include fitness, cartooning, playing guitar, and women (which cost me more money than my hats, more pain than my workouts, more joy than cartooning, and more challenging than playing guitar).

Tom

LOL! I like that breakdown.

Welcome to the board, friend!

Are you seeing more fedoras now than before in the 'deep south'? Or are cowboy hats still the primary non-ballcap hat worn?

Many Akubra dovotees on this site... I'm considering that for my next purchase.

 

[Canadave]

...Not that I have anything against our best friends, the Aussies)...

Huh? What's your definition? :cry:

David

Welcome, btw.

 

[Slicksuit]

Canadave - I think he's referencing the fact that Australia is the second biggest ally, after Britain, in the manufactured war with Iraq.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Hi, Tomcat -- Yes, someone researched the Village Hat Shop hats and they are made by Biltmore, which I believe is in Canada. I certainly like my Bogie more than the Stetson that I bought there.

I have another, older Stetson, from 1984 that was made for the Indiana Jones series. It's OK, but does not look that much like an Indy hat to me. The Akubra ones look better as well as the custom ones.

My favorite Stetson is my Silverbelly "Gus" cowboy hat.

karol

 

[Tomcat]

American made hats? Dude, any hat you see that says made in the USA is just an illusion, so you are best to give that one up if you want a nice hat. Go global, brother, and accept it...and you don't have a choice anyway--even with custom hats. Every hat body, many of the ribbons and ALL liners (and possibly sweatband) that go into the crappy US factory-made hats are made outside of the USA. And the hats made in Oz have at least 90% of the materials cost made outside of Oz itself. The bodies will be made in Portugal or Eastern Europe.

Just get yourself a nice brim and don't worry too much where the final assembly is done. Besides the materials....If it's a production hat made in the USA by any brand you recognize as historically American, I can guarantee you that it is made on a production line comprised primarily of foreign workers.

Welcome to reality, my man. Wear that nice brim!

Yea, I understand what you say is true...I try to buy American, but I know that it is kinda hard to do these days, so few things are really made here anymore. Its just a sad fact of the times we live. I don't want to get into politics here very much (please let's don't). I like Mr. Bush as a president and I think he is a pretty good guy. One contention I have with the administration, however, is how we support so many tryrants all over the world (the economy of China for instance) buy buying things not made here, meanwhile we are supposed to be fighting tyrants worldwide. I understand the economic reasons behind this and I know how people in the US would whine and complain if they had to suddenly start paying a little more for American made products that we can get so cheaply from other countries (especailly since we seem to have forgotten how to make things like a good hat for instance in this country at a price that the average man can afford). I know that the president alone can't be blamed for this, but he is the guy at the top and sometimes I wish he would do more to promote manufacturing in the USA. I just can't help but think that there will be a price to pay for this someday. So I will wear my Akubras proudly...btw...contrary to popular belief, the Brits ain't our number one ally..it is the Aussies. They have been on the side of the US, even when the Brits haven't at times and they still know how to make a nice hat.

 

[Tomcat]

LOL! I like that breakdown.

Welcome to the board, friend!

Are you seeing more fedoras now than before in the 'deep south'? Or are cowboy hats still the primary non-ballcap hat worn?

Many Akubra dovotees on this site... I'm considering that for my next purchase.

Actually, I think people tend to wear hats more here in this part of the country than other parts and I have lived around. I moved back down South in 2003 and it seems weird, but I seem to notice more fedoras here than I remembered. The weather has been bad here over the last couple of weeks and everytime I go to Walmart (yea, I know how redneck that maked me sound) I see several fedoras. Most are somewhere between a cowboy hat and a regular fedora, but I am seeing more of them. I wondered if it was just my imagination at first, but I have been taking note. Everytime I go anywhere where there is a crowd, I see some. Most are on men in their early 40's. ANd I have noticed that most are wool, but I am seeing more felt. I think people kept their fedora here much later than in other parts of the country. I can remember a lot of them in the 70's when I was a kid. There seemed to be less as time went on, but now I am seeing more. I don't really understand why. They are not the really nice dress fedoras that I have seen in pictures here for the most part, they look more Aussie.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I, too, am beginning to see more hats, and, like you say, Tomcat, they are mostly hats that are a cross between a fedora and cowboy hat; lots of cheaper wool Aussie-look hats. Mostly worn by middle-aged men. Lots of women here now wearing Tilley-style hats. Men, too. And a few fedoras. Lots of ballcaps but I never count them.

We have a small hat store in downtown San Diego that I frequent (called The Hat Works). They have mostly fedoras, now, whereas just a few years ago, it was almost totally cowboy hats. I asked the guy running the shop who was buying the fedoras and told me he sells them mostly to Hispanic and African-American men.

Just a few miles east of San Diego, you are in horse country and cowboy hats prevail as do real working cowboys. If I wear my "Gus" cowboy hat here in San Diego, I get stares. If I wear it in El Cajon nobody bats an eyelash.

But, people are wearing hats and fedoras are making a bit of a comeback I believe.

karol