Straw Boaters

[twobarbreak]

Hey all, I wondering if anyone is into collecting Straw Boaters (Skimmers).
I would like to know what brands to look out for....
Thanks!

 

[Smyat]

Hey all, I wondering if anyone is into collecting Straw Boaters (Skimmers).
I would like to know what brands to look out for....
Thanks!

I had a chance to buy one of Harold Lloyd's a few years back. Bidding went too high for me.

I don't know how wearable a style they are any more, even for serious classic hat fans. Very specific, dated look - even more period than bowlers, I think. Do you wear yours or just collect them? From your user name, are you perhaps a Dixieland or barbershop player or aficionado?

 

[besdor]

I started to collect them years ago when they could be bought on Ebay for a few dollars. Since then the prices have gone up but not too much. The good thing is that because they were made stiff, the hats lasted. Look for interesting brands that arent as common. The hats were made by dozens of companies during the 1920's and 1930's .
The most commond ones will be from Stetson and Dobbs .




Steven

 

[twobarbreak]

Yea, I've come across a lot of various "brands" including the more common names like Dobbs.
They are very interesting because of their dated look, but thats perhaps the reason I like them. This Photo from the lates 1930's is a nice way to wear a Boater , which i'm attracted to...
http://www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/ww2/1939/images/christian.jpg

 

[twobarbreak]

Do you wear yours or just collect them? From your user name, are you perhaps a Dixieland or barbershop player or aficionado?

well, I wear everything I collect,however I don't wear Boaters regularly but i think I'm going to start, For the past 6 or 7 years i wear a Cap (newspaper boy style). I burned up Vintage ones wearing them until I discovered Ralph Reynolds hand made what he calls "Zazu Pitts Caps", (named after his Grandmother) which are amazingly authentic.

Ralph is washboard player, brother to John Renoylds ,Both well known in the Traditional Jazz world.

I'm the director for the California Historical Jazz Dance Foundation. Look up my user name on youtube for some of my Vintage Clips.

 

[Vintage lover]

I myself have recently been considering getting myself a Boater. But I am still unsure as to what color of band to get.

 

[twobarbreak]

I myself have recently been considering getting myself a Boater. But I am still unsure as to what color of band to get.

yea, thats a hard decision. as it seems you have a choice of colors that represent a team or area , or colors that in fact match an outfit...

with that said...i think a few boaters supporting all of the above

 

[Vintage lover]

Well, I am definatly going to wear it to and from Florida. Over to Florida, I will be wearing a linen suit, red tie, and on the way back, a dark blue double brested coat, white pants, and red tie. I am worried about being mistaken for a member of a barbershop quartet.

 

[twobarbreak]

Well, I am definatly going to wear it to and from Florida. Over to Florida, I will be wearing a linen suit, red tie, and on the way back, a dark blue double brested coat, white pants, and red tie. I am worried about being mistaken for a member of a barbershop quartet.

I'd love to see Pictures on how you put your outfit together!

I wear my boater with just about everything, even Dickies pants and shirts.

Its not hard to avoid the dixielandor Barbershop look of Suspenders, Bow Ties , and 70's Polyester Pants....

 

[John in Covina]

In the regular straw boaters, not the Venitian types, aren't there also different brim widths? The one I tried on needed to have a wider brim for me.

 

[twobarbreak]

In the regular straw boaters, not the Venitian types, aren't there also different brim widths? The one I tried on needed to have a wider brim for me.

yes, there are different brim widths as you noticed...which can effect the look you want.

 

[twobarbreak]

2 different Brands i like...

 

[DominusTecum]

I get a lot of "Hey, are you in a barbershop quartet?" comments when I wear mine. It's vintage and a bit battered, which gives it a little character, I think. It still doesn't help things with the barbershop look though; folks don't care what else you're wearing: if you have a boater on, and any kind of other clothes more decent than jeans and a t-shirt, you automatically exude the "20s dandy" or "barbershop" aura. On the other hand, the younger people who don't know about barbershop quartets just think it's an interesting hat, and I've gotten lots of compliments from these.

It definitely has a certain flair to it, that's for sure!

 

[carouselvic]

Boaters

My boater is a Stockbridge Comfort-Fit. It is of the highest quaility. The patina is honey brown color. I where it every 4th of July.

 

[Will]

I myself have recently been considering getting myself a Boater. But I am still unsure as to what color of band to get.

I recommend black as the dressiest.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

I wish I could carry one off! Head is just too damn pointy. But, there's always Leon...

 

[Matt Deckard]

I wrote up a whole treatis on Boaters once... got lost in another version of the Lounge.

All the major companies made them back in the teens and 20's. Started out as a hat that the enlisted sailors would wear... boaters. Later became sporty for the blue blazer college set... I have a few and wear them periodically.

Need to break them out more often. I think the last time I wore one was walking around Sea World...

As for brands.... Well if you find it and it looks good on your head then you should buy the hat.

They still make pretty good looking ones in Italy which are sold at some hat retailers in the US... now will they catch on as a trend? We have to start that trend my friend.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Inow will they catch on as a trend? We have to start that trend my friend.

I actually saw a fair number of boaters in New York over the summer. One on a young man in Union Square, one on an old man on the Upper West Side, one on a middle-aged man in Midtown.