Materials Question

[Ray-Vigo]

I've encountered a number of different fedora materials over the years. The three most common seem to be:

fur felt-- this is the good stuff and quite durable. My Stetson is fur felt and, although somewhat dirty at the moment, has held up very well. These seem to have a set structure but an inherent softness to them while holding their shape well.

hard structure wool felt-- these hats are made from wool felt but have a hard structure to them. They seem somewhat harder fur felt. It doesn't seem to hold up as well as fur, but actually seems like a nice option for an everyday hat you can take on the subway with you and the like. If it gets lost or damaged it's not a great financial loss. The structure on these seems quite hard, with a wool felt fuzziness to the outside. Sometimes the brims on these aren't 100% perfect snap brims (they sometimes almost feel like the same consistency as cardboard?). My question on this material is: are most "wool felt" hats made today like this?

soft hat wool felt-- I'm not sure quite what this is called (is this the "lite felt" I've heard about?). These hats have a certain floppiness to them and are quite soft (some crushable?). My question on this material is, is this the same thing as "lite felt", or is this something else? I actually have a fedora made of this material and like the softness of the hat to some extent. The brims on these can be "snap" but seem pretty soft. It seems a bit itchy sometimes around the very edge of the sweatband in some conditions too. What percentage of hats today are made from this material?

As you can probably see I'm not a material snob-- I actually see some virtues in the lower cost wool felt materials in terms of being able to take them with you on a bus or subway or on a trip. I'd hate to lose a $100+ Stetson a lot more than I'd hate to lose a $30 wool felt hat. I'd love to have nothing but fur felt hats, but I will say there are times when you don't want your best hat on (the public bus or subway can be a dirty place sometimes!).


Thanks for humoring my questions.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Welcome the the Lounge, Ray'.

Good questions.

I'm not a hat snob either. While fur felt is my preference, I have several wool hats and enjoy each of them.

To address your questions -

You've got a handle on the fur felt, it seems. By the way, some of mine are 'beaters' and I like 'em all dirty, but it does increase the life span of the hat to brush out that dirt on occasion. Usually western stores sell these rough orange sponges for this purpose. I like how they work.

"Hard wool":
The wool hats that I have which are loaded with stiffener are western hats or, for instance, my Akubra Snowy River. I haven't encountered a fedora/snap brim this way but I'm sure they're out there. It is stiffener imbued into the wool and over time and with handling it breaks down a little and the hat becomes more flexible, for better or worse. Are "most" made this way? Who's counting? [huh]

"Soft wool":
I'm not sure about "Lite Felt" but Flex Felt (crushable, with a good 'memory') is in this category, however it doesn't 'own' the category. (There are "Lite Straw" hats by some of the same manufacturers as today's wool hats but that's another kettle of fish.) Yes, these soft woolies are great, knock-around hats. I've had some for years and they are old friends who have been through a lot and still hold up fine. Yes, they can be itchy though. "Percentage" of today's hats made this way? What are you, some kinda' numbers fiend?! lol

Some of my stiff wool westerns:

Some of my soft wool hats:

 

[Naphtali]

I have been informed that there's fur felt and there's fur felt. I am pleased with the compromise between flexibility and brim firmness of my Borsalino fedoras as I was unhappy with the stiffness of my Akubra Federation. My friend Jimmy Harrison, a custom hatter in Darby, Montana, told me the pure beaver fur felt he uses is inherently stiffer than the rabbit fur felt of my Borsalinos. And that stiffness will remain firm -- sorry -- regardless of weight of beaver fur felt. He uses different weights for Western hats and fedoras, and, yes, his new fedoras are less stiff than new Western hats. He says the stiffness will moderate with use, though.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

Welcome the the Lounge, Ray'.

Good questions.

I'm not a hat snob either. While fur felt is my preference, I have several wool hats and enjoy each of them.

To address your questions -

You've got a handle on the fur felt, it seems. By the way, some of mine are 'beaters' and I like 'em all dirty, but it does increase the life span of the hat to brush out that dirt on occasion. Usually western stores sell these rough orange sponges for this purpose. I like how they work.

"Hard wool":
The wool hats that I have which are loaded with stiffener are western hats or, for instance, my Akubra Snowy River. I haven't encountered a fedora/snap brim this way but I'm sure they're out there. It is stiffener imbued into the wool and over time and with handling it breaks down a little and the hat becomes more flexible, for better or worse. Are "most" made this way? Who's counting? [huh]

"Soft wool":
I'm not sure about "Lite Felt" but Flex Felt (crushable, with a good 'memory') is in this category, however it doesn't 'own' the category. (There are "Lite Straw" hats by some of the same manufacturers as today's wool hats but that's another kettle of fish.) Yes, these soft woolies are great, knock-around hats. I've had some for years and they are old friends who have been through a lot and still hold up fine. Yes, they can be itchy though. "Percentage" of today's hats made this way? What are you, some kinda' numbers fiend?! lol

Some of my soft wool hats:

I guess the "stiff" wool felt I had in mind is embodied by a lower end Bailey fedora I picked up awhile back. For a lower end hat it was nice looking and fit well-- something I could wear about without fear of losing a truly top shelf hat. It is wool felt but very structured-- more so than my Stetson fur felt hat. I wonder if they constructed it similar to a western hat with a good deal of stiffener. I'd been wearing the soft felt hat mostly and so the Bailey hat was quite a bit different because of its hardness.

My soft felt hat is one made for a local store called "Hats in the Belfry"; it looks a lot like one of the soft felt fedoras you pictured above (the two hats I have quoted in the box above this). Are those the same brand and style or something else?

 

[Ray-Vigo]

Pardon the second post here but the Bailey hat I got is called the'

"Bailey Gangster"

It has a rather stiff structure out of the box. Will it (as I suspect) soften a bit with wear? I don't mind the stiffness on the whole, though if it were a touch softer it would be even better.

I hear for a lower end hat it's very popular and the light grey color with black band looks nice, I think.