Stetson Downs is a good hat?

[ectopistesm]

4" c-crown.
2 3/8" snap brim.
1 3/8" grosgrain ribbon hatband.

Made of: 100% fur felt.

Bonded leather sweatband.
Grosgrain ribbon hatband with "Stetson" logo woven label side tab.

Color: Black.

tryed to fiend some topic here but no one is talking about this hat...
120 usd is a good price? if not what better hat with similar caracteristics i can find on ebay? (i live in brazil then i need someone that sells worldwide.

 

[Doctor Strange]

The Downs is a low-end fur felt hat, and Stetson's quality isn't what it used to be. It's an okay lid, but you'll be better off with a fedora made by the Australian company Akubra. They are better made and much tougher. I've bought internationally from both of these dealers - and so have hundreds of others here. (Everything Australian is less expensive - both prices and shipping - but they have far less fedora styles in stock.)

http://hatsdirect.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?group=Fedora+Hats

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/displayproduct.asp?page=5

For example, the Stylemaster is a better hat for a similar price.

 

[ectopistesm]

The Downs is a low-end fur felt hat, and Stetson's quality isn't what it used to be. It's an okay lid, but you'll be better off with a fedora made by the Australian company Akubra. They are better made and much tougher. I've bought internationally from both of these dealers - and so have hundreds of others here. (Everything Australian is less expensive - both prices and shipping - but they have far less fedora styles in stock.)

http://hatsdirect.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?group=Fedora+Hats

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/displayproduct.asp?page=5

For example, the Stylemaster is a better hat for a similar price.

i know about akubra, the sad thing is that i cant find stylemaster or bogart on ebay, the problem with those dealers are the shipping price: 50 usd to brazil and the customs (they dont declare as gift and dont declare a low value), if i buy from those dealers one bogart for example will be 300 usd (hat + shipping + custons)

 

[Doctor Strange]

An in-stock grey (and I have one: it's a very dark grey that looks black in anything less than blazing sun) Stylemaster at Everything Australian with shipping to Brazil was just quoted to me at about US$135. You still have customs to pay, but surely it can't come out to $300.

 

[Landman]

If you don't want to pay shipping from Australia then look at the Akubra Sydney from David Morgan Hats. It is the same hat as the Fedora from the Australian sites except it doesn't have a wind trolley. It comes open crown too. In my opinion, a much better hat than anything Stetson is putting out now.


Oops, sorry, I didn't realize you were in Brazil until after I posted this. You still might want to look at that hat though.

 

[ectopistesm]

An in-stock grey (and I have one: it's a very dark grey that looks black in anything less than blazing sun) Stylemaster at Everything Australian with shipping to Brazil was just quoted to me at about US$135. You still have customs to pay, but surely it can't come out to $300.

customs here: 60% + 20% icms: 80% it will be 250 usd + or -
Falcon park custom will be 310 usd with customs, better i think....

 

[Doctor Strange]

Wow, that's brutal.

 

[Kbobrex]

To actually answer your question, I have had a Stetson Downs for just about a year now. It was my "first" fedora in a long time, and it got me back into wearing hats. Since getting the Stetson, I have gotten an Akubra Campdraft, an Akubra Banjo Paterson, and a mid-grade Panama. I wear the Downs most days to work, as it is the more "dressy" of the hats I have. It has held up just fine, and has gotten more comfortable as I continue to wear it, just as the Akubras have. I like it because I can wear it in the traditional style, with the front brim snapped down and the rear snapped up, or I can wear it "down all around" for a less dressy vibe. It is a "smaller looking" hat than either the Campdraft or the BP, and is actually pretty versatile in that regard. I have gotten as many compliments about it as I have about the other hats.

I have read the prevalent opinion here that Stetson is not what it used to be, but I don't have any truly vintage hats to compare. I have a black amish style open crown black fur felt hat that I got in 1975, but it is a different animal altogether from my other lids. As to durability, I must confess that I have listened to the concerns about modern Stetsons expressed here (perhaps too much) and have not intentionally worn it in a downpouring rain, as I have done with either of the Akubras. I expect, however, that it would hold up just fine for daily wear for a long time. However, the Banjo Paterson, being Akubra's Heritage felt, will take anything that mother nature can send it, and if I know the weather will be bad I tend to wear it before any other.

The Stetson is comfortable, has softened up but still looks good and holds the factory bash that it came with. I spent considerably more than the price you mentioned to buy mine new in a hat store here. As I said, it was a re-introduction to hats for me, and while I wouldn't spend full retail on a hat again, I felt it was worth it (and fair to the vendor) to pay for the time and education that I got in the process of trying and buying the Stetson at the store.

Unless you plan on really beating it up, I expect that you would be happy with this hat.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[ectopistesm]

To actually answer your question, I have had a Stetson Downs for just about a year now. It was my "first" fedora in a long time, and it got me back into wearing hats. Since getting the Stetson, I have gotten an Akubra Campdraft, an Akubra Banjo Paterson, and a mid-grade Panama. I wear the Downs most days to work, as it is the more "dressy" of the hats I have. It has held up just fine, and has gotten more comfortable as I continue to wear it, just as the Akubras have. I like it because I can wear it in the traditional style, with the front brim snapped down and the rear snapped up, or I can wear it "down all around" for a less dressy vibe. It is a "smaller looking" hat than either the Campdraft or the BP, and is actually pretty versatile in that regard. I have gotten as many compliments about it as I have about the other hats.

I have read the prevalent opinion here that Stetson is not what it used to be, but I don't have any truly vintage hats to compare. I have a black amish style open crown black fur felt hat that I got in 1975, but it is a different animal altogether from my other lids. As to durability, I must confess that I have listened to the concerns about modern Stetsons expressed here (perhaps too much) and have not intentionally worn it in a downpouring rain, as I have done with either of the Akubras. I expect, however, that it would hold up just fine for daily wear for a long time. However, the Banjo Paterson, being Akubra's Heritage felt, will take anything that mother nature can send it, and if I know the weather will be bad I tend to wear it before any other.

The Stetson is comfortable, has softened up but still looks good and holds the factory bash that it came with. I spent considerably more than the price you mentioned to buy mine new in a hat store here. As I said, it was a re-introduction to hats for me, and while I wouldn't spend full retail on a hat again, I felt it was worth it (and fair to the vendor) to pay for the time and education that I got in the process of trying and buying the Stetson at the store.

Unless you plan on really beating it up, I expect that you would be happy with this hat.

Good luck in your decision.

thanks for the review man.

In the end i will order one akubra bogart from everything australian...
awesome store.

 

[Landman]

That's a nice hat and you will like it. It is hard to go wrong with an Akubra.

 

[ectopistesm]

That's a nice hat and you will like it. It is hard to go wrong with an Akubra.

Ordered, but its out of stock, there will be a delay (1-2 weeks).

Anxious hehehe

 

[Dronak]

tryed to fiend some topic here but no one is talking about this hat...
120 usd is a good price?

I see you've already made a decision, but I'll comment anyway. Your description (which I didn't quote here) sounds exactly like the hat I just got, except mine's gray; two pictures of it in are the new hat thread a few pages back from the current end, if you're curious to see it. I think I have heard what Doctor Strange said, that the Stetson Downs is a lower-end fur felt hat, but that's perfectly fine with me. I didn't really want something very expensive and high-quality. I was looking for a good hat, one that's better than what I already have (low-cost, stingy brim fedoras), and I think this qualifies. I can't say how good it is from personal experience though, because I've only had it about 2 days. But it seems nice and Kbobrex's post indicates that it should hold up well, so I'm hopefully that it will be good. Mine cost almost US$150, so $120 seems like a good price to me, but I'm certainly not an expert.