Your opinions?

[Shawn F.]

I am in need of a nice Fedora or Homburg within the next 2 weeks if possible. I have been looking online for quite some time but have not found one yet. I was hoping to get some personal opinions on what you guys think would match or look good with the suit I will be wearing. The suit is a charcoal with lighter grey pin striping (narrow pin striping) and I will be wearing a black shirt, shoes and a black tie with some red and grey in it (Pictures coming soon). I was thinking of a black fedora with a grey band or grey fedora, grey band and red feather.
Any opinions on this?
Also I am a small guy, I am about 5 foot, 8 or 9 inches but skinny as heck (115 pounds soaking wet with a rock in my pocket) so I cannot have a huge brim or tall looking hat or it wont look right on me. I was thinking maybe 2" brim tops but height I do not know. Any opinions on this? I know my head size is around 22" so a size 7 or 7 1/8 will work.

Thanks a lot for any info or suggestions!

 

[monbla256]

I'm bias'd in the direction of an Akubra and two models come to mind....

.... that would probably work well for the ocassion you have in mind and after.
Though both have a 2 1/2" brim, I think the proportions of both these hats would work well for you. The first is an open crown hat and you would have to crease it yourself, but this is not hard to do, just some steam from a pot on the stove or a teakettle. Both these hats come in a Charcoal Grey with bands to match. 1st) : an Akubra Sidney:

Next an Akubra Stylemaster and it has a matching bound brim and is pre-creased:

Both of these hats are pure fur felt ( rabbit) and are available here in the US from David Morgan up in Seattle within 4 days of your order. You CANNOT go wrong with and Akubra IMHO

 

[jlee562]

From that description, we're actually pretty similar in size. I have some wider brimmed fedoras that look sharp with a suit. Unfortunately, no pictures to share. The thing with taller crowns is that these days, they tend to be anachronisms, in that most folks wear shorter crowns because that's what's mostly available. Personally, I think I like fine in a taller crowned hat.

Ah, actually, ok, I have one picture, but it's one of those arm length dealies:


That's an Akubra Federation IV, which has a 2.75" brim width (on the front and back, shorter on the sides [2.5"], aka dimensional cut). Not the best pic because of the arm's length thing, but there are plenty of Fed IV pictures around. I have worn that hat with a grey more casual styled H&M blazer, but the last time I did grey suit, with black shirt and shoes, I did wear a black hat, my Penman fedora ala "Public Enemies"


That having been said, I can certainly relate to a bit of "hat anxiety" over tossing in a wide brimmed hat. I'm more often found with a stingy brim.

The Akubra Stylemaster has a 2.5" brim, and David Morgan (no affiliation, they're just the USA Akubra distributor) has them in stock in Carbon Grey (the same color I have on in the picture above). I shouldn't think that 2.5" would be "too wide," but that also kinda depends on the shape of your face as well. Stetson has a lot of hats that have 2 3/8" brims as well.

 

[carldelo]

Well, I'm the same height, definitely not the same weight. I've owned a Sydney and a Stylemaster and sold them both, as the brim looked too big on me. I would worry that you might look like an umbrella in one of those hats. I suggest a 2" to 2-1/4" brim. I have two Stetson Ashlands, with a 2-1/4" underwelt brim. The fold and stitching of an underwelt gives the brim some body, so it won't be prone to rippling. It has the classic Stetson teardrop crown:
http://www.bencrafthats.com/product.php?pid=253&subcname=Stetson

There's also the Saxon, which has a 2" welted brim, with a center dent crease rather than a teardrop. It comes in more colors:
http://www.bencrafthats.com/product.php?pid=255&subcname=Stetson

I steer clear of black hats, as I find them funereal. For the outfit you mention, I would opt for a Caribou gray Ashland with black ribbon, or the Saxon in dark gray, which appears to have a dark gray ribbon.

 

[danofarlington]

I am in need of a nice Fedora or Homburg within the next 2 weeks if possible. I have been looking online for quite some time but have not found one yet. I was hoping to get some personal opinions on what you guys think would match or look good with the suit I will be wearing. The suit is a charcoal with lighter grey pin striping (narrow pin striping) and I will be wearing a black shirt, shoes and a black tie with some red and grey in it (Pictures coming soon). I was thinking of a black fedora with a grey band or grey fedora, grey band and red feather.
Any opinions on this?
Also I am a small guy, I am about 5 foot, 8 or 9 inches but skinny as heck (115 pounds soaking wet with a rock in my pocket) so I cannot have a huge brim or tall looking hat or it wont look right on me. I was thinking maybe 2" brim tops but height I do not know. Any opinions on this? I know my head size is around 22" so a size 7 or 7 1/8 will work.

Thanks a lot for any info or suggestions!

Personally I am wary about too much of one color. Wearing all that gray stuff, and putting a gray hat on top of it, might be just too much gray. Carldelo pointed out that black hats are funereal, which I definitely agree with in my own case, but it's not out of the question for you--maybe you'd look good in a black hat with that suit, who knows. Actually I think it would look pretty severe. To be on the safe side, you might also consider an off-white type hat to contrast with all the dark clothes. Just a thought.

 

[Shawn F.]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and info guys! I am going to see what I can find on Ebay or on here that may fit me and look good. I just bought a Dobbs fedora on Ebay for only $16.00 shipped to my door. It's black and size 7 1/8 with a red feather (which will match my tie) but it looks to be worn out a bit. I really bought it to just make sure 7 1/8 isn't too big for my head. I figured $16.00 is cheap enough to try out and even if it does fit and is wore out looking I will use it for occasions when I may get dirty or working on my cars (which is just about every single day). I already wear a hat now just about every single day and have always had tons of hats since I was probably 8 years old. Guess I will start building up a nice collection of Fedoras, Homburgs, Bowlers, etc.

 

[Shawn F.]

jlee562, that first hat there looks good on you man. Not sure what color it is or that suit but my suit looks just like that with the more narrow pinstripes like it but in Charcoal. I really like that hat! Are you as skinny as me do you think at only 115 pounds? haha If so then I may have to go with that one.

 

[EggHead]

I have the Sydney in charcoal (pictured above). While I am a little taller and heavier than you, I find that 2.5" brims are good. 2.75" are about max for what I would want to wear in the city. Sydney is a good, comfortable hat, but charcoal color and black ribbon do make it too dark for my tastes. I am wearing it today with my light gray London Fog raincoat and it's fine (not too striking), but I am seriously thinking about replacing the ribbon with a lighter shade of gray than the color of the hat and going from 1" to 1.5" width.
With your charcoal suit, charcoal Sydney (or any other charcoal/black hat) would be too strikingly dark.
BTW, charcoal color on a Sydney is almost black in real life.
My 2cents.

 

[dwebber18]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and info guys! I am going to see what I can find on Ebay or on here that may fit me and look good. I just bought a Dobbs fedora on Ebay for only $16.00 shipped to my door. It's black and size 7 1/8 with a red feather (which will match my tie) but it looks to be worn out a bit. I really bought it to just make sure 7 1/8 isn't too big for my head. I figured $16.00 is cheap enough to try out

That's the same thing I did since I don't have any hat store at all local to me. I bought a hat I thought I'd like on ebay so I could try out style and size and it helped me to determine what I liked. Granted that hat wasn't it I resold it and got my money back. To me its a good way to try out size and style without much of an investment and you can always resell it and recoup some if not all your money; assuming you don't have anything locally like me.

 

[jlee562]

jlee562, that first hat there looks good on you man. Not sure what color it is or that suit but my suit looks just like that with the more narrow pinstripes like it but in Charcoal. I really like that hat! Are you as skinny as me do you think at only 115 pounds? haha If so then I may have to go with that one.

The color is Akubra's "Carbon Grey," the suit is black. I'm a pretty skinny dude, less than 110 on most days.

 

[danofarlington]

I am in need of a nice Fedora or Homburg within the next 2 weeks if possible. I have been looking online for quite some time but have not found one yet. I was hoping to get some personal opinions on what you guys think would match or look good with the suit I will be wearing. The suit is a charcoal with lighter grey pin striping (narrow pin striping) and I will be wearing a black shirt, shoes and a black tie with some red and grey in it (Pictures coming soon). I was thinking of a black fedora with a grey band or grey fedora, grey band and red feather.
Any opinions on this?
Also I am a small guy, I am about 5 foot, 8 or 9 inches but skinny as heck (115 pounds soaking wet with a rock in my pocket) so I cannot have a huge brim or tall looking hat or it wont look right on me. I was thinking maybe 2" brim tops but height I do not know. Any opinions on this? I know my head size is around 22" so a size 7 or 7 1/8 will work.

Thanks a lot for any info or suggestions!

Photos of someone in a dark suit with a light-colored hat could probably be found on this website by searching on TheJauntyOne. He lives in France and wears suits with some light-colored hats. Then you could see in advance how it goes together.

 

[jlee562]

I also posted this in the what hat are you wearing today thread, and although the blazer is kind of obscured by my scarf, this is a grey blazer with the same grey Akubra from the previous page.

 

[Shawn F.]

Looks slick, I like it. Once I get back from Vegas and California in a few weeks I will order one. I just received my Dobbs fedora from Ebay that I only spent a little over $16.00 on and it's in nicer shape than I thought. Dusty and shape is a little out of whack but I am working on cleaning it up and getting the brim fixed up nicely. Inside is in like brand new shape and the size
(7 1/8) is perfect. I thought I was a size 7 but glad I didn't go with a 7 since 7 1/8 is a touch on the smaller side but works.
Pictures are soon to come!
I am bidding on a Richman Brothers hat in darker grey right now as well so hopefully I win that.