What kind of face/body can pull off a high crown?

[Feraud]

It's not like I can try them on before purchasing one, so all I've got is you fine folk.

Dumbjaw, you can handle an Akubra Federation Deluxe and the Adventurebuilt before you purchase!
If you decide to make a trip to Bencraft Hats in Brooklyn you need to pass through Manhattan. I am willing to meet you and bring both hats for you to review.
Heck, I might even make the trip to Brooklyn to browse the Bencraft shop. I could use another cap.

 

[GoneSolo]

Finding my first vintage lid was a pretty daunting task. Mainly because of the fact that you cannot try on the hat (ebay) and there are no vintage shops where I live. I think I bought two hats before I really found the crown height and brim width that I was looking for as well as the overall style of the hat. Go to a place that has hats and try some on. If you find something on ebay that is at a reasonable price, ask the seller questions and ask them to send you additional pictures that can tell you more about the hat.

 

[jimmy the lid]

...I'm not interested in repeatedly exchanging hats overseas until I get it right due to the shipping costs.

The visit to Bencraft sounds like a great idea -- there's really no substitute for trying on a variety of hats to see what looks good and what feels right for you.

As far as saving on overseas shipping costs, you may want to check out
noggintops for a fairly nice selection of Akubras a bit closer to home. I have had very good experiences with these folks.

Cheers!:cheers1:

 

[MattJH]

Dumbjaw, you can handle an Akubra Federation Deluxe and the Adventurebuilt before you purchase!
If you decide to make a trip to Bencraft Hats in Brooklyn you need to pass through Manhattan. I am willing to meet you and bring both hats for you to review.
Heck, I might even make the trip to Brooklyn to browse the Bencraft shop. I could use another cap.

The members of this messageboard are something else, let me tell you! Thank you, Feraud -- very generous. I just may take you up on it. In the meantime, I'm going to visit a few local hat shops in Philadelphia, just because I only live about 20-25 minutes outside of the Center City limits. Hopefully a few of them are outside of the S/M/L/XL mold. Hat shops that sell Baileys and Jaxons and New York Hat Co. hats are a dime a dozen.

 

[Orgetorix]

Check out Burlington Coat Factory

The members of this messageboard are something else, let me tell you! Thank you, Feraud -- very generous. I just may take you up on it. In the meantime, I'm going to visit a few local hat shops in Philadelphia, just because I only live about 20-25 minutes outside of the Center City limits. Hopefully a few of them are outside of the S/M/L/XL mold. Hat shops that sell Baileys and Jaxons and New York Hat Co. hats are a dime a dozen.

If there's a Burlington Coat Factory in your area, you might stop in there and see what they have available. BCF normally has a selection of fur felt hats that, while not super high quality, are inexpensive and not bad for first hats. I've gotten a couple of H?ºckel hats that are quite nice for $30-40. I put pictures of one of them on pages 3 and 4 of this thread.

 

[MattJH]

If there's a Burlington Coat Factory in your area, you might stop in there and see what they have available. BCF normally has a selection of fur felt hats that, while not super high quality, are inexpensive and not bad for first hats. I've gotten a couple of H?ºckel hats that are quite nice for $30-40. I put pictures of one of them on pages 3 and 4 of this thread.

Good 'ol Burlington Coat Factory! There are four within a ten mile radius of me because I live in Burlington City, NJ, where the company first started. In fact, the very first Burlington Coat Factory is within 2 miles of my home.

One of the things I've noticed about BCF-sold hats (Hockel, Tonak, Addams, etc.) is that they're all fairly misshapen. I think I just have to keep on top of their inventories until good ones come in.

There's a very soft, nice light-gray fur-felt Hockel in one of the BCFs noted above in just my size (a 61cm Hockel fits me perfectly), but it's almost too soft, so the brim is actually floppy. I know I could invest in stiffener and put a good amount of time into shaping it properly, and I might. The same hat has been there for months.

 

[PeeWee]

Here it is:

http://www.millerhats.com/hatcare_index/hatfaces.html

I think the chart fits me to the "T". I have a long narrow face and the teardroped Miller Indy 351 with a 2 1/2" brim is the hat for me.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Dumbjaw, I think the most important question you should ask yourself is, what kind of hat will you comfortable wearing? The points mentioned above are just guidelines, and most are based on the individual poster's preference. If you find yourself more comfortable with a lower, tapered crown, buy it because you will wear it. Same goes for a wider brim or a narrower brim. If you don't feel comfortable with a high, straight-sided crown, you may just find yourself not wearing the hat. On the other hand, it may be that you will get more comfortable with a hat in general, and then you can move to a higher crown. My point is, it's your hat, so get what you like, and not what you feel like you should buy.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

This is my highest crowned fedora, I think:

 

[Joel Tunnah]

Tony, great hat. Coincidentally, I think Art is making its twin for me right now. Is the bow a rust color?

 

[vonwotan]

My two cents - another consideration is height and build. I think the guidelines from Miller Hats are quite helpful, but like any good recipe, needs to be adjusted for the person, and differences in the ingredients. What I mean by that is an individuals height, body type, posture and coloring are factors; and, that the hats detailing, color, taper, bash, etc. all can make a hat work for that individual. That's why I am so glad to see custom hat makers still making beutiful hats.

I don't know whether the recent focus on hats by Hollywood and apocryphal stories in the NY Times will be good or bad in the end - good for the makers? who know for styling and prices? Stories about Brad Pitt "bringing back" hats would discourage me were they not already an important part of my wardrobe.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Tony, great hat. Coincidentally, I think Art is making its twin for me right now. Is the bow a rust color?

Thanks! The ribbon is kind of a coppery-bronzey color. It looks almost metallic when the light hits it. I found a Dobbs Homburg in the color scheme and loved it, and started hunting for a fedora in the same colors. I found this one and it's probably the hat I wear the most these days.