Tall crown trilby?

[ninjabathy]

Sorry to start yet another question thread. I can use the search function, I promise, I'm just new to all this hat stuff and am advice (and hat) hungry at the moment!

I just bought a (very) cheap Jaxon Crushable Blues Trilby in grey (that looks green in most lights) just to see if stingy-brims suit me, and they seem to. The only problem with it is that I had to rebash the crown to actually get it to stay on my head rather than just sit on top of it, so it's now my fiancee's fave hat (I converted her.. YES!!)! I know it's probably not the best quality (understatement) hat, but maybe I just have a very tall head or something. All my western hats (by Stetson), and Akubra fedoras fit perfectly. Are Trilbys supposed to sit high, or can anyone recommend a Trilby or stingy-brim with a tallish crown that still looks in proportion? There's nowhere really local I can go just to try some out...

Promise I won't ask anymore questions for a while! Thanks everyone!

 

[nickn5]

Hi there,

You might try and nip into the nearest Marks and Spencer's store - the larger ones at least always seem to stock a small range of trilbies. My first ever felt (wool) trilby hat came from there, and got me started here.
I don't think it has a particularly high crown, but at least you can try before you buy.

Otherwise, if you're in York, Chester or Shrewsbury, the Hat Company branches stock a range of fedoras and trilbies.

In London there are other shops, though I don't know any to recommend personally as I've not been there for years.

N.

 

[ninjabathy]

Thanks, Nick! I never thought of good ol' M&S! At least I can see if I've got a freakish head or something there. I might still find they all fit fine, and then order a short one off the net though... I'd still love to know whether there are any with highish crowns..

To give some idea of my head shape on a standard hat which you all seem to know, here's the bash that fits my head perfectly on my fed4 deluxe; the centre dent just touches, or is a few millimeters off my crown (I'm sorry I don't have a tape measure to measure my crown height or I would..). Thanks again.

 

[Dewhurst]

To answer one part of the question: Yes, a Trilby is usually meant to sit up a pretty distance on your head. It shouldn't look like it is too small and getting stuck up too high, but there will usually be good chunks of distance between the base of the brim where the sweatband meets your head and the tops of your ears in a typical Trilby.

Of course, you could just be a conehead, as you feared!

If the dent in the crown is basically suspending the hat around your head and there is plenty of wiggle in the sweat band area then you may need to stuff the band or even get a smaller trilby. Then again, if this is an inexpensive trilby, you may not have the luxury of choosing sizes by 1/8th of an inch difference. So... yeah...

 

[nickn5]

Then again, if this is an inexpensive trilby, you may not have the luxury of choosing sizes by 1/8th of an inch difference. So... yeah...

Heh, yes that's one thing I forgot to mention about the M&S wool felt trilbies. They just come in sizes S, M, L. Just have to try them on.

N.

 

[ninjabathy]

Dewhurst... The second part of your answer is EXACTLY what happened. It just sort of rested on my head and wiggled about lol What I did was stuff under the sweat band all the way around with that insulation stuff that hatsdirect sent me with my fed4, and then rebashed it so I could pull it down to just off my ears where there is no vertical curve in my head... with the crown with a centre-dent, the hat just kept sliding up on my hair because the band is cloth...

I went to Hatt on Jermyn st. in London today, and he actually sized my head - I came out at 57, but all the hats I tried on (although they looked great) felt loose... like they'd just blow off in a gust. I want it to be stuck on my head like my feds, but maybe that's just not the trilby thing. I've just ordered a Brown Fed4 in a 56 that I know fits great, and I'm going to try to trilby-ise it by cutting down the brim etc. I'll post results when I get it as long as I don't wreck it!

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm coming to the conclusion that I just don't really like the feel of trilbys!

 

[Dewhurst]

In the past, when purchasing a trilby, I have very often had to purchase a size smaller than I normally would in order to make it set correctly while others have fit perfectly (Christy's trilby, for instance).

I suppose it will also depend on where you like your hats to rest. A lot of people these days like them to rest very close to the top of their ears, and your typical trilby simply won't do that.

An interesting thing about "sticking" the hat to your head so it won't fly away. Leather sweatbands are practically immovable if you lotion your forehead (especially useful during winter time, when dry irritated skin becomes a problem).

 

[ninjabathy]

Dewhurst, thanks man! You've given me some fantastic advice there! I think I must be one of those "new breed" of low-hat-wearers; I really like it on firm and use adjustable hat-bands on all my westerns to get that. I do a lot of walking in all weathers and primarily I use a hat to keep my head warm (who'd a thunk?). I used to just wear bandanas. They go OK with my leather stuff, but not so great with my suits for work; that's why I love hats - they go with anything!

I'm going to stick with Akubra I reckon as I think it's a risk buying a trilby online due to the variation in fits. Also, many cheaper ones (which I would want as a tester) don't come in precise sizes or specify hat band material. I am quite keen on the Akubra whippet... that's got a leather band and what looks like quite a high crown from the pictures. I can always order one and send back if it doesn't fit, and I'll ask the company for advice first!

Thanks again for all the invaluable advice, Dewhurst. Cheers.