Newb looking for some advise

[Tarkus]

Hello folks. I am totally new to the concept of wearing a hat, but it's a look I always liked (never really understood why most men stopped wearing them). In any case, I finally decided to give a hat a try. I went into a hat store in Brooklyn and just asked the guy to recommend some hats that might look good on me. I ended up with a Borsalino Mattoni I (it also says Trionfo so I'm not sure exactly which is the model). I posted a link to the hat below.

In any case I was wondering if some of you folks might have suggestions for other hats in that type of style. I believe Borsalino is a very good manufacturer, but I don't know what other companies have a reputation for making great hats. I generally wear the hat with suits for occassions. Any suggestions on manufacturers and specific hats would be very much appreciated.

While I live on the West Coast (LA) I will be in Manhattan in a few days and if there are any good hat stores in the city of which you are aware some info in that area also would be helpful. Thanks so much in advance for any advise.

Hal

P.S. If you are not familiar with the hat I own, here's a link.

Mattoni by Borsalino

 

[Feraud]

Does your hat have a 3 1/4" brim as noted in the link?

JJ Hat Center in NYC is worth a look.

 

[Tarkus]

Does your hat have a 3 1/4" brim as noted in the link?

JJ Hat Center in NYC is worth a look.

That's the store where I purchased the hat so I would say yes.

 

[RBH]

Nice looking hat, I dont usally like such a wide brim [2 3\4 what I like the best]
Akurba makes a fine hat, I would think the Federation or Campdraft would suit you well. When you can post a photo of the hat on and it will better serve us as to what may look good on you.
After you find the type and style you like the next step would be to get one of the hatters on the Lounge here to 'fix' you up with a lid!

 

[Tarkus]

Nice looking hat, I dont usally like such a wide brim [2 3\4 what I like the best]
Akurba makes a fine hat, I would think the Federation or Campdraft would suit you well. When you can post a photo of the hat on and it will better serve us as to what may look good on you.
After you find the type and style you like the next step would be to get one of the hatters on the Lounge here to 'fix' you up with a lid!

Do you happen to have any links for those? Thanks.

 

[RBH]

Do you happen to have any links for those? Thanks.

Hope this helps...
The Federation

http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi/products.cgi?view=58&returncat=Fedora+Hats&returnpage=0

The Campdraft

http://shop.valleycountry.com.au/catalogue/category1/category13/category54/product334

 

[Tarkus]

Hope this helps...
The Federation

http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi/products.cgi?view=58&returncat=Fedora+Hats&returnpage=0

The Campdraft

http://shop.valleycountry.com.au/catalogue/category1/category13/category54/product334

Thanks for the links. Those are the type for which I'm looking. Any more suggestions out there?

 

[tandmark]

Hi folks,

Welcome to the Fedora Lounge, Tarkus!

Here are some other links for hats that might be in the right ballpark:

http://www.milechai.com/judaica/huckel-black-hat.html

http://www.millerhats.com/italian_index/index.html

http://www.hats-plus.com/detail.aspx?ID=91

http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi/products.cgi?view=59&returncat=Fedora+Hats&returnpage=0

They're all fedoras with fairly wide brims. I'm guessing that you're looking for similar sorts of hats.

The fourth link is to the Federation Deluxe. RBH already suggested the Federation, but the Fed Deluxe is just one notch up from there.

The first one listed is the Huckel Villavacencio, sold by MileChai in Denver. If you're going to be anywhere near NYC, you might be able to find this very model of hat in one of the hat shops that caters to Haredi and Hasidic Jews. MileChai gets theirs from a hat shop/importer in the town of Monsey NY, Monsey Milan. You could do worse than to look them up.

Cheers,
Mark

PS: What an unusual nick. You wouldn't happen to have a brother named Randy, would you?

 

[Tarkus]

tandmark, thanks so much for that information. Okay, I'm in love with that Biltmore hat. All the colors look great. This is led me to a few more questions that hopefully folks can answer.

1. How consistent is hat size? My Borsalino is 7 3/8ths. Will other brands fit the same? Or is 7 3/8ths in one brand different from other brands?

2. Are there general rules for coordinating hat color with suit color? For example, I love the Driftwood and Black Oak hat colors in that Biltmore hat. With what color suits could you wear something like that?

3. Do most of you guys buy hats online or are there some great stores around that sell these hats? I guess there's also a vendor forum section where various hatters sell their wares.

Specifically for tandmark. On the second link was there a particular hat you had in mind?

Thanks again for all the great information thus far! Hopefully you folks can share some more insights.

Is it me or is that Biltmore really a sweet-looking hat?

 

[tandmark]

Aloha,

1. Hat sizes aren't always as-marked. It might be possible to use a cloth tape measure to double-check that the circumference of your head and the circumference of the hatband match. Or you could always just try a hat on and see if it'll do.

For eBay hats, try to do the tape measure thing. For hats in a hat shop, just try them on. For hats bought from an online hat shop, you'd probably just try them on, and return them if they don't fit.

Oh, and some hats will be slightly too large when they're brand new. Akubras are like this. They'll shrink down perfectly with a few days of use, but it's still something you should be aware of.

2. Matching hat & suit colors? I'm not convinced. Besides, most "real" hats come in neutral black or grey that ought to go with just about anything. Get out a couple of hats, try them on after you're in your suit, see which one looks best, and wear that one.

3. I've bought about half my hats online and half from brick-and-mortar stores.

My online hats have come from HatsDirect.co.au, MillerHats.com, TheFedoraStore.com, MikeTheHatter.com and a few others. Locally, I tend to go to Byrnie Utz in downtown Seattle.

What city are you closest to? Surely there'll be a few Fedora Loungers in that city who will be able to suggest shops you could check out.

4. On that page with all the different hats, the ones I was thinking of are all almost the same, just with different hatbands: http://www.millerhats.com/italian_index/italian2.html. Notice though that the pictures and descriptions of the ones with the feather & leather bands have been swapped, so if you ever want one of them, be sure to get Miller to confirm your choice!

5. If I don't get that Biltmore sometime this year myself, it'll be a miracle of self-restraint. lol

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Tarkus]

Thanks everyone, especially tandmark. I ended up getting the Biltmore in black (just goes with more suit colors I own). I got it with the feather since it looked cool and you can remove it if so desired.

I got it from Hats-Plus. The guy I spoke with was extremely nice and spent a lot of time with me talking about hats. Hopefully, it's the proper size, but he'll work with me if there's a problem. Thanks again for all the inputs. I'll see how this one looks and then start working on my next hat.