vintage vs. custom

[mayserwegener]

There also appears to be a bias against custom / small production hat makers (Bittner, Zapf, Hutkönig, Brömme ) making traditional alpine (or influenced) style hats.

 

[Lefty]

I think that's more a matter of taste.
I don't believe in some sort of anti-Alpine faction, but I suppose that's what they want me to think.

(different mountains, I know)

 

[Jauntyone]

There also appears to be a bias against custom / small production hat makers (Bittner, Zapf, Hutkönig, Brömme ) making traditional alpine (or influenced) style hats.

Hear, hear! Fight the conspiracy!

I love tyroleans! How can we get hold of these hats?

 

[Slim Portly]

For me it's a combination of factors.

First and foremost is price. I can no more afford a new custom hat than I can afford a trip to the moon. A modern custom hatter is not going to drastically adjust his prices down just to do me a favor, and no matter how much I shop around I'm not going to find his hats for a significantly lower price. They cost whatever they cost, and that's that. However, thanks to OFA... er, I mean eBay <>, there is the very real likelihood that I will find a vintage hat in perfect condition (or near enough) for a price that I can not only afford, but I can afford without even blinking. Currently the best hat that I have ever so much as touched is a vintage Royal Stetson that I picked up for less than fifty samoleons. For me that's two good meals out on the town, or less than a dozen trips to Starbucks.

If I wanted the same hat made for me today I would be looking at over three hundred bucks, which means I would have a choice between a new hat and paying rent. (No, my rent isn't three hundred bucks, but three hundred out of what I do pay for rent means I'm living in my van down by the river). Also, I cringe every time I read a post from a fellow Lounger saying that they are still waiting for a custom lid a year (!) after they ordered it, so throw in the fact that the Stetson was delivered three days after I paid for it and it's a no-brainer.

The second factor is personal taste. Take a look at that amazing car owned by Forgotten Man. If I owned a brand new Lexus, my friends might congratulate me on the purchase, but no one who came to visit me would be asking for a drive around the block, and no one would be posting pictures of themselves standing next to it, and I think we all know why. A well-preserved item of a certain age has a gravitas that no brand new item has. I am not remotely squeamish about wearing a hat that someone else once wore, any more than I would care about living in a beautiful mansion that was lived in by someone else fifty years ago. I am honored to wear an old hat with pride, to give it a new life and new respect, to allow other people a chance to appreciate it.

No question about it. Old over new for me.

Now if tomorrow I inherit a million dollars from an unknown benefactor I can guarantee you that I would be ordering a few custom lids from some of the hatters mentioned previously in this thread. But I can also guarantee you that I would still be searching auction sites for amazing deals on the beautiful hats of yesteryear. And why not? They are out there, they are for sale, they are affordable, they carry with them a sense of history, and dog-gone-it they make a man look good.

 

[gtdean48]

No doubt you can get a good vintage hat & have it rennovated for less than a custom. Now are the 2 comparable? Depends on you & only you. For me, the question is rennovate or buy an Akubra new? I bought 2 new & left 2 vintage in the box to deal with later. I have some lids that I had rennovated years ago when it was only $35 plus shipping, now it's $75, $85 & up plus shipping to rennovate. I am a hat wearer not a collector. The hat has to wear well, fit & look good on me, next is the felt quality which attributes to wearing well & looking good as well as lasting. I have custom 100% beaver western hat that is my favorite & most expensive. Someday I'll have 100% fedora as well, but like my western, I have quite a few alternates that get worn regularly that all put together don't cost as much. A custom is something you treat yourself to, when you buy it & every time you wear it, but like boots & jackets, I need more than 1! I will have 1 real good 1 of all of them as I can save up for them. It is nice to have goals! gtd

 

[Matt Deckard]

In regard to vintage versus new custom, check out this thread.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=6981

 

[shortbow]

Slim, ya been reading my mail.

 

[scooter]

Vintage or Custom?

Curious to know what others think, but cost being of no issue, would you prefer a vintage hat or a hat made to your specifications by one of our esteemed custom hatmakers?

 

[Yeps]

I would probably go with custom, possibly to the specs of some awesome vintage hat, but more likely in a personal style arrived at with much consultation as to what would compliment my face shape and body type. No fancy ribbon work though, I don't really like those. I much prefer simple bows.

 

[billyspew]

Both, is cost were no issue.

 

[The Good]

Well, let me give you an example of what I think. It depends, but for what I needed in order to achieve a certain look, a modern production hat (as far as I've seen) would not cut it, and I didn't care to spend too much to go custom at the moment:

I have since converted a vintage Stetson hat, a St. Regis homburg, into the shape of the picture above. The brim may be slightly narrower, but it's good enough for what I was hoping to do with it; replicate the hat in Le Samourai, accepting even some minor imperfections.

This is how far I've managed to get. Not exactly the same, but a very similar style.

Sometimes the benefits of vintage is that you're able to get the style you want at a cheaper price than custom. But custom made hats can be easier, as well. It just so happens that an identical-enough hat for my needs was floating around eBay at the moment, and I bought it.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

If I found a vintage hat that met my needs style-wise, I'd wear it. I find that ordering custom, as well as from the Stetson outlet meets my needs. I also own an off the shelf Beaver Brand.

Later

 

[Guttersnipe]

Kind of apples and oranges -- and I don't mean the whole vintage vs. custom quality debate either -- to me, one of the great joys of all things vintage is the discovery of finding a favorite something that you never even knew you liked in the first place.

Example: I thought for a longtime about having a custom made, cattleman's crease open road copy with lots of bells 'n' whistles I'd dreamed up. Then I happened across across short-brimmed open road clone. I've ever seen one like it, before or since, and I never would've thought to dream up that feature . . . turns what I had looking for the whole time was a stingy brimmed western, I just didn't know it until I saw it!

 

[Tomasso]

I would choose custom if only to keep the craft alive.

 

[scooter]

Interesting observations, keep 'em coming, fellas.

 

[John in Covina]

If cost were not an issue then I would get a custom hat done for me for the following reasons:
It will be made to my specific head, to my specific design and color combination.

Now I own some nice vintage fedoras and they are just awesome to have but:
the supply is limited to what is on the market
add the limitation as to being in my size, the selection shrinks
may not offer anything that I want
or if there is hat i really like it may need restoration which adds to the time and effort involved.

 

[coble]

i'd have to go with custom. Because i like my hats to have there own style to them. I have bought vintage, and have no problem with vintage, but for me personally,and this is my own feelings. I can't find what i'm looking for in vintage, so for me its easier to get it custom made. There's usually a certain style with brim, or if i want an open crown. Also i like my hats to fit my own personal style, and personality, as well as my face, and certain specs in the hat itself. Which length of brim, how tall of a crown, ribbon width, is it bound or raw edge, or does it have a welt edge.
Now again, i do love vintage hats, but as of late i've found what styles i like, and unfortunately i can't find that in a vintage hat. It all comes down to specs, and certain things that i want to make my own.
No matter what you choose, just always remember, if your going to spend the money for either vintage or custom. Make sure its something that your going to wear, and somethng that fits the clothing you wear. In other words, make sure it fits YOU.
All of us on here have our own style, even if loads of us have open roads, Blacksheep custom hats, or VS, or stetson, borsalino, we all do something different to that hat that makes it us.

 

[Garrett]

custom hats I've owned were ok but If you find a vintage hat in your size and style nothing else comes close. There is a special feeling one gets when finding,acquiring and wearing hats from yesteryear. The best part is the hunt.

 

[jlee562]

Custom. Don't get me wrong, I love my vintage hats. I wouldn't trade my Resistols for anything. But, my custom from Black Sheep hat works, for example, is a hat that only I have. The had dyed custom color felt, the ribbon, the specs, make it unique, and if you're going to get a custom hat, it might as well be unique!

 

[Blackthorn]

Custom, given the world in which I live. If I were Johnny Depp, I'd just have one of my butlers offer a thousands of dollars for a pristine vintage hat of my taste and rare size. But given my pocket book, I can get a modern copy from Art Fawcett for $385. No contest......custom.