What's new

Looking for a good beginner fedora

Hats are a wonderful things to wear. they actually serve a purpose...like keeping your head warm and protected from the elements....

rabbit or beaver in the winter and straw in the summer is the way to go.

Akubra is a great brand to consider for a commercially produced brand. A custom nowadays will run at least $250 and up. You will see names like Art Fawcett, Steve Delk and Optimo popping up for the custom hats.

I have a few myself...check out my gallery and you will see a few...plus Phil showed me this link, which I think is wonderful:

HOW TO WEAR A HAT
 
By all means, drop into David Morgan's and look around. Make sure you get fitted so you know your size. Akubra is indeed a great hat. The only drawback is that they are somewhat limited in color choice.

Stetson is coming out with some interesting lids based on their iconic hats of the past.

Check out the hat section of the Fedora Lounge; the tone and tenor of that community is similar to B&B. The Hat section is the most active, and the members who are active in there aren't as caught up in the whole vintage attire shtick as the ones who post in the other sections.

Good luck!
 
I have a Stetson which I think is a very nice hat. I liked reading Fedora lounge when I was researching hats, and I tried to join to ask about reshaping my crown, but they have a very annoying policy about not letting you join with a Gmail address, and I wasn't about to give them my work email, or create another address I won't use just to use an internet forum, so although they MAY be the best forum going about hats, I wouldn't say they are particularly welcoming since they wouldn't let me join based purely on the fact that my email address is a free service.
 
I have a Stetson which I think is a very nice hat. I liked reading Fedora lounge when I was researching hats, and I tried to join to ask about reshaping my crown, but they have a very annoying policy about not letting you join with a Gmail address, and I wasn't about to give them my work email, or create another address I won't use just to use an internet forum, so although they MAY be the best forum going about hats, I wouldn't say they are particularly welcoming since they wouldn't let me join based purely on the fact that my email address is a free service.

That kind of bugged me too, but I had an old AOL address that I had quit using and used that to sign up. Which is kind of funny, since AOL has been a free service for several years. I gather that the original thinking re the paid email addies was to ensure that the user is legit and not a bot or spam artist. A vintage-related forum isn't going to be on the cutting edge :laugh:

What would you like to know about reshaping the crown of your Stetson?
 
That kind of bugged me too, but I had an old AOL address that I had quit using and used that to sign up. Which is kind of funny, since AOL has been a free service for several years. I gather that the original thinking re the paid email addies was to ensure that the user is legit and not a bot or spam artist. A vintage-related forum isn't going to be on the cutting edge :laugh:

What would you like to know about reshaping the crown of your Stetson?

Yeah, when I asked about it they TOLD me it was to keep spammers out, but I would think having a civilized discussion about it with a Mod would show that I'm not a spammer or a bot, and the AOL thing is hilarious since AOL is rife with spambot accounts. Anyway, I've got several email addresses I don't use that probably would have worked, but that's just the thing, I don't use them, so why sign up for a board where I can't get email alerts without checking an unused email account. I belong to MANY discussion boards on varied topics, and I've never run into a problem with using a Gmail account. So if they want to make a big deal out of it I'll just move on. The whole policy is rather stupid, ad I think it does more to discourage potential users than it does to discourage spammers...

ANYWAY, I reshaped the crown LONG ago. Steamed the hell out of it over my tea kettle and reshaped it to a C crown which is my preferred shape. Somehow the point came out a little off center, but no one notices but me. Next time I do a thorough cleaning I'll steam it out and re-block it. at that point I might hit you up for pointers, or maybe even go over to fedora lounge and read the old threads without contributing.
 
Last edited:
+1 on the Fedora Lounge....as a side note, I just joined using a Microsoft Live free account, perhaps they have re-thought their policy as I had no problem at all.:001_huh:
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
A vintage-related forum isn't going to be on the cutting edge :laugh:
Hey! :mad3: We resemble that remark. I'm going to the telegraph office right now to complain!!
As far as manufacturers are concerned, I'm as lost as you are.

Over Christmas, I picked up a nice hat from Bailey's of Hollywood. They have a nice line of (I think) packable felt hats that go for about $50 each ... a nice, inexpensive way to see if you like actually wearing a hat, and then when you upgrade to the more expensive ones, you have a second (or fifth, or whatever it ends up being :001_rolle) hat for travel &c.

(AKA ... the Gateway Drug of the Hat Collector)
 
A vintage-related forum isn't going to be on the cutting edge :laugh:


The Mods are writing you up as we speak.....LOL

proxy.php
 
Hey, this may be considered a "vintage" forum software in some circles, but please don't change it to one of these new fangled BBPress "forums".
 
My first choice was the Banjo Patterson, I actually have two, one in their Fawn color the other a charcoal.

It is a bit on the casual side with the hatband made of the skin of a fish, looks good.

If you look some of their styles are very similar the difference being the ribbon(hatband). Some have the traditional wider ribbon band , some a much narrower ribbon. The difference makes for a totally different looking hat.

The Sydney, Stylemaster, Lawson Bushman are all nice Fedora types, and for the money you can't go wrong. Since you are close I would go in and see first hand. Where I am located I have to rely on the internet and their printed catalog.

If iheir in store service is as good as that over the internet or telephone you will certainly be pleased.
 
I finally found the fedora I want, but I'm unwilling to drop the coin on it right now.

The Borsalino Film:

http://www.bencrafthats.com/product.php?pid=454&subcname=Borsalino

http://www.jjhatcenter.com/film-by-borsalino-of-italy-p-2358.html

(Can you believe the price difference between these two places?)

For those prices I would check with Art Fawcett at http://www.vintagesilhouettes.com/

and get a custom made fitted hat. He sends a device to measure the size and shape of your head for a fantastic fit.
 
Top Bottom