What Hat Are You Wearing Today ?

[drmaxtejeda]

Optimo Week - day 3

This is the first Optimo I ever bought. I got it on Poshmark, and I paid too much for it. I was so excited to get it. I thought it was going to be a slam dunk, and then we just... didn't care for it out of the box. It was a huge disappointment. My wife said.... "ummm maybe you just aren't a hat guy." I was like "hold my beer". 50 hat's later, I win lol.

If you hook a tape inside the sweatband it has a 3" brim - measured from the ribbon, 2 7/8", which was wide for me at the time. I also just can't get it to snap down into a shape I like. When I snap it down it feels, I don't know, frumpy or something. I think the thin brim ribbon prevents it from taking the shape I want. And, it's a 60, which I thought I needed at the time. In new hats, I can wear a 59. I prefer a 59.5, and bump it a little long if I can get it.

I have since resolved my differences with this hat. I like a clean black hat. The felt is amazing. I wear it brim up and I like it fine, and the 60 doesn't annoy me as much as it once did. If I want to I can put a couple cork strips in it, but I can get by without it.

I plan to bring this one to Optimo later this year and talk about it, at least.

This one might also be their "Manhattan", but if it is I don't know what to call the taupe hat I posted yesterday, because they behave very differently. We shall see.

Optimo black fedora
View attachment 799178 View attachment 799179 View attachment 799180

Hi! Except for my Melusine, which they made better back then, I've found that Optimos with the newer yellow liner are better than the white liner they used some years ago.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

OK, I'm in NJ! I brought about 16 of my best hats with me, so I can ship them to buyers from here.
I am wearing this Stetson Clear Nutria right now...
I will post more info and pics in the Classifieds. I just wanted to tell you guys on this thread, because I've noticed most classified adds aren't about hats anymore.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Nah, anybody with poor decision-making skills and maybe a smidge of OCD can do it lol. Impressive isn’t the word I would use. 2/10 would not recommend. : )

In my humble opinion, in most cases you can get better bang for your buck elsewhere. That having been said, I would say the quality of felt and finishing on an Optimo hat rivals anything I’ve seen from a modern hat maker.

When the first one annoyed me, I was pretty much guaranteed to get another out of righteous indignation. A couple of these I got good-to-phenomenal deals on, and I could flip them if I wanted to.

One little addendum to this Optimo Week thing - I ordered a couple feathers from these guys - came in today. Not really a feather guy, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have a couple hanging around - I'll sit with it for a minute and see how I feel about it. I ordered small ones on purpose - these things are tiny lol. I'll get some shots of them on a hat at some point.

flash/no flash - Optimo feathers

 

[Blare]

G.A. Dunn and Co of London.

 

[alanfgag]

OK, I'm in NJ! I brought about 16 of my best hats with me, so I can ship them to buyers from here.
I am wearing this Stetson Clear Nutria right now...
I will post more info and pics in the Classifieds. I just wanted to tell you guys on this thread, because I've noticed most classified adds aren't about hats anymore. View attachment 799259
View attachment 799260 View attachment 799262 View attachment 799263 View attachment 799264 View attachment 799265 View attachment 799266 View attachment 799267

What a beauty. Will you be traveling through the states on your visit?

 

[alanfgag]

A favorite old Knox Excellent finely woven straw boater from a shop that was located in the old Pennsylvania Station.

 

[Judgmentalist]

A favorite old Knox Excellent finely woven straw boater from a shop that was located in the old Pennsylvania Station.


View attachment 799297


View attachment 799301


View attachment 799300


View attachment 799299


View attachment 799298

Yep - that’s a cool one. Just started keeping my eye out for one of these.

 

[jba972]

Optimo Week - day 3

This is the first Optimo I ever bought. I got it on Poshmark, and I paid too much for it. I was so excited to get it. I thought it was going to be a slam dunk, and then we just... didn't care for it out of the box. It was a huge disappointment. My wife said.... "ummm maybe you just aren't a hat guy." I was like "hold my beer". 50 hat's later, I win lol.

If you hook a tape inside the sweatband it has a 3" brim - measured from the ribbon, 2 7/8", which was wide for me at the time. I also just can't get it to snap down into a shape I like. When I snap it down it feels, I don't know, frumpy or something. I think the thin brim ribbon prevents it from taking the shape I want. And, it's a 60, which I thought I needed at the time. In new hats, I can wear a 59. I prefer a 59.5, and bump it a little long if I can get it.

I have since resolved my differences with this hat. I like a clean black hat. The felt is amazing. I wear it brim up and I like it fine, and the 60 doesn't annoy me as much as it once did. If I want to I can put a couple cork strips in it, but I can get by without it.

I plan to bring this one to Optimo later this year and talk about it, at least.

This one might also be their "Manhattan", but if it is I don't know what to call the taupe hat I posted yesterday, because they behave very differently. We shall see.

Optimo black fedora
View attachment 799178 View attachment 799179 View attachment 799180

I believe this is a Manhattan bc of the bound brim. The Chicago model has an underwelted brim, or at least mine does. The bound brim matches the image of the current Manhattan models too.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

What a beauty. Will you be traveling through the states on your visit?

Not a lot, really. Just day trips near Dunellen, where my son lives.

 

[VoodooSan]

G.A. Dunn and Co of London.

View attachment 799293 View attachment 799294 View attachment 799295 View attachment 799296

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! Gorgeous, Joe.

 

[DaveProc]

Akubra Squatter Open Crown
Finally getting some much needed rain.

 

[Blare]

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! Gorgeous, Joe.

Thanks Mark!!!!

 

[Ent]

Rather colder in Tassie at two degrees Celsius. Hat is a custom rabbit felt

 

[Judgmentalist]

Rather colder in Tassie at two degrees Celsius. Hat is a custom rabbit felt

View attachment 799369 View attachment 799370 View attachment 799371

Nice! The shot with overcoat is very cool. I want to get one of those weave ties in the last picture - is that a grenadine?

 

[TimmyV]

Here's one of my favorite light weight felt hats. The Dunlap Wanderer.

 

[RickP]

Im jealous of you and your cool weather..... last two days weve had 104 f and a heat index of 118. An absolute oven outside. A bit of a break today and tomorrow with a "cool" front....supposedly only in mid 90s

Stetson Bristol hemp today for the coffee run.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Optimo Week - day 4

This is one of my favorite hats. I love it beyond all reason. It's also probably one of the least practical hats I own, because I don't know how often I will be able to manufacture opportunities to wear a stark-white felt hat.

It's also probably the hat I overpaid for the most.

When it popped up on eBay, I figured I should let it sit. Then I figured I might never see another one. I sent three offers, all of which auto-declined. After the third I just texted the seller, "lol." This was a bit of bad form on my part; mea culpa, but I was amazed at the apparent unrealistic expectations, and walking away. I figured, maybe this will help this guy actually sell the hat to the next person that doesn't deliberately p iss him off. : )

By the way, if you ever want me to overbid, set a really high auto-decline. Sometimes I get obsessed with finding the cutoff. It's a character flaw for sure.

The seller texted back and said he'd set it wrong and told me to resend the offer. I probably should've waited a few months and I could have save a few bucks, but I REALLY didn't want to lose it if the right another crazy person came along, so here we are.

The felt is unbelievably soft. It shapes effortlessly, and I love just running my hands around the brim, coaxing it into the shape I want. Of course I have to put on a hazmat suit first.

Oddly, this is also the only hat I own that has a bit of a funky smell when I first take it out of the box. The box and hat are both pristine. It goes away after a little while, so it's just a minor annoyance. I'm gonna chuck some baking soda in the box and see if that fixes it.

I'll probably send this one back to Optimo for a maintenance service at some point. For my nerves, I need a certificate that says "this hat is perfect" lol.

Optimo Capone - now I gotta go put this thing back before I get some air on it lol

 

[Judgmentalist]

Here's one of my favorite light weight felt hats. The Dunlap Wanderer.
View attachment 799425 View attachment 799426 View attachment 799427 View attachment 799428

I like these hats with this extreme rake front to back.

 

[fabiovenhorst]

Cury