OPTIMO FINE HATS: A Photographic Excursion

[delectans]

 

[delectans]

 

[delectans]

 

[delectans]

 

[gqmagic]

I like the one in your hand without the ribbon, its saying take me home with you! haha

 

[wine65]

Al,
You are killing me with these hats! Especially that Montecristi with the gray ribbon. Nice!!!

Steve

 

[bowlerman]

Al, you know your photographic talent is always admirable, but seeing Optimo's shop through your photos adds a particularly amazing sense of drama and organization that makes me thirst for a visit. Oh, just to be around those shelves! The photos of those long haired lids are rather enticing!

With what did you come home?

 

[Chepstow]

Al, You make me jealous! Optimo is a great place, a hat adventure, a place with so many fantastic hats in different shapes, I could not decide whatever I should buy.
I want all!
Thanks for the sharp and detailed photos, I enjoy them!!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Al so which one did you pick up?

 

[randooch]

I bet he left empty-handed.

 

[alanfgag]

I bet he left empty-handed.

... but not empty headed.

I love being able to visit Optimo with my wallet safely in my pocket. Thanks for letting us tag us along, AL.

 

[bowlerman]

Looking again, that rolled brim montecristi (teardrop homburg?) is scrumptious.

And only Optimo photographed by Al could make me lust after a red hat!

 

[jlee562]

Wonderful photos as usual Al, and a stunning Montecristi!

 

[hatophile]

I'm sooooo envious!

 

[delectans]

Great photos AL

Thank you kindly, Richard!

.....wow.....

Thanks, that is inevitably my reaction as well each time we visit Graham's shop.

I like the one in your hand without the ribbon, its saying take me home with you! haha

You have great taste, my friend. Even sans trimmings, it makes a compelling case, does it not?

Al,
You are killing me with these hats! Especially that Montecristi with the gray ribbon. Nice!!!

Steve

Happy to oblige, Steve.

Al, you know your photographic talent is always admirable, but seeing Optimo's shop through your photos adds a particularly amazing sense of drama and organization that makes me thirst for a visit. Oh, just to be around those shelves! The photos of those long haired lids are rather enticing!

With what did you come home?

Too kind, Jeff, thank you. Photos sadly do not do the hats or the shop justice, but hopefully provide a glimpse into a bygone world we all wish we had known. I came home with more indelible memories and oh yeah...a couple of hats. lol

Al, You make me jealous! Optimo is a great place, a hat adventure, a place with so many fantastic hats in different shapes, I could not decide whatever I should buy.
I want all!
Thanks for the sharp and detailed photos, I enjoy them!!

Manfred, my friend, I am glad you enjoyed the pics, but we need to convert your jealousy into the reality of an OPTIMO visit soon!

Al so which one did you pick up?

ALL OF THEM, Ed! :eeek:. No, not really lol I WANTED all of them, but picked up the Prototype Dearborn in Camel, seen in the last picture of post #90, as well as the untrimmed, pre-blocked Montecristi seen in the final photo sequence.

I bet he left empty-handed.

My hands were not the only thing empty when we left. lol

... but not empty headed.

I love being able to visit Optimo with my wallet safely in my pocket. Thanks for letting us tag us along, AL.

:drum: Yes, indeed. Wallet a little lighter, but head...just a little bigger!

Looking again, that rolled brim montecristi (teardrop homburg?) is scrumptious.

And only Optimo photographed by Al could make me lust after a red hat!

You should have seen that fuchsia number! The rolled brim is a 'Plantation', with teardrop crown.

Wonderful photos as usual Al, and a stunning Montecristi!

Thanks, Jared, for your kind comment!

I'm sooooo envious!

Perry, thanks, my friend!

 

[GamaH]

How do you get your pictures to be so clear? Who's taking them?

 

[DJH]

Exceptionally cool photos, Al.

I'm already looking forward to seeing how you get that new Montecristi finished off.

 

[randooch]

I would be most interested to learn about the particular artisan that laboriously created one of these hats. In the unlikely event that I could ever afford to purchase one, I would find that to be a fascinating added dimension to the experience.

In your visits to Optimo, Al, have you found any information regarding the weavers, their villages, their lives? I've heard that it takes a certain number of months to make a hat body of this caliber, but that's pretty much it.

I have an amazing rug that I purchased directly from the weaver in Oaxaca, and my appreciation of his craft greatly enhances my enjoyment of the rug. So it would be for one of these fine panamas.

Part of me hates to ask, as it would not surprise me to find out that the weavers live at a subsistence level of poverty, being exploited one hat at a time until they are too broken down to continue. Another more optimistic part of me wants to be wrong.

 

[daizawaguy]

What a great report!:eusa_clap

 

[cookie]

Sharp hat bro. Love that jacket - what material?