Vintage sizing queries

[gekisai29]

It seems as if the inner circumferences on vintage run smaller than the same size, i.e. 7 1/8 on modern. Is this so, is it because of shrinkage(or something else), & either way, about how much can one reasonably stretch the size with a simple stretcher? Thanks for all feedback.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I think the sizing always varies between hats and hatters... leather reacts differently to different conditions as well. I have vintage 7 1/4 that are larger and some smaller some modern 7 1/4 that are larger and smaller... same issues today as they had back then. It's not like buying a Allen Edmond's Broadstreet in a 10 e this year and buying one ten years from now where it will fit the same... hat leathers always vary.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I've found that just wearing a hat, if it has a nice leather sweatband, will make it conform to my head after a while. I do have a stretcher, but I've been very gingerly about using it. "Gently gently catchee monkey," my ol' Dad would say.

 

[Fedora]

Yeah, that use to drive me crazy. Some hat charts show a 7 1/4 as fitting a 22 5/8 head circumference. Others show it as fitting a 22 3/4 head, and I ever saw one that listed a 7 1/4 as fitting a 22 7/8 head. How they could come up with these variations has to be attributed to madhatters disease. Mathmatics unlike sizing charts never vary. The American sizing is arrrived at by dividing the head circumference by pi. 22 3/4 divided by pi equals 7.245. If you round up the 4 that is followed by the 5, you get 7.25, or 7 1/4.

Of course the leather sweat can shrink as well, even if the hat is not worn, but is subjected to high humidity, followed by a lower humidity, especially if subjected to this for years sitting in a closet, or hanging on a rack. Only rarely would you ever see a hat shrink at the opening under normal condtions.(not the leather, but the felt itself) The brim makes the opening very stable. Fedora

 

[gekisai29]

How did you get over it? The only good thing i can see from this chaos is ot keeps me from buying too many hats... hmmm is that good? Any wai is there a consensus that strtching approx. a quarter inch is doable?

 

[thefedorastore]

1/4 total should be fine with steam and gentleness, and time. Do do it all in one shot. Steam it, crank it a couple of foot pounds and let it sit. Then repeat when it cools and dries. Keep the stretcher in it, or it will return to it's natural size. Many recommend against stretching 1/4, but I have never had a problem, and it really hasn't affect the brim. In fact, on an old hat, it has put the "snap" back in the brim, or the curl if you wish. Just my thoughts.