Gentlemen,
Looking back at influential men in history, both fictional and real, one aspect that defines their image and personality is their hat. A few examples of this principle are: Indiana Jones, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Abe Lincoln. During the last few years a renaissance in fashion has spread through out the world and hats are once again an important, if not vital, part of male attire.
Whether you are new to hats, a baseball cap enthusiast, or an accomplished Dapper Dan, headwear is a classic way to step up your wardrobe. From the moment our doors opened hats have been the number one selling item. Currently the oldest hat we have in stock is a beaver top hat from 1893, complete with the leather hat box and photograph of the original owner. We have several top hats from the turn of the century and hats ranging from the 1910s to the 1960s. Our shop offers basic cleaning, ribbon replacement, sweatband replacement, reblocking (reshaping), and stiffening. Basic cleaning removes or eliminates most surface stains, evens out the color, and smooth’s the felt. With help and advice from Optimo in Chicago, and Paul’s Hat Works in San Francisco we can offer superior hat services to our customers at competitive prices.
At the most basic, there are cloth hats and felt hats. After that, things really start branching out. We tend to focus on felt hats at our shop, although cloth caps are definitely our favorite work hats. The most popular felt hat of all time is the derby, or bowler. It’s characterized by a rounded crown and exceptionally stiff felt. A close second would be the fedora, which didn’t gain popularity until the late 1930s. Fedoras have stuck around for one primary reason, personality. The relatively soft felt promotes personalization of the shape. Not only can the bash and pinch of a fedora be custom blocked to your face but over time the hat will take on characteristics and shape reflecting the life and style of the owner.
A few guidelines should be followed to decide which hat is appropriate based on where you are going and at what time of day. The rules were more ridged historically and in modern times comfort is the key. However, some rules of etiquette should be followed. For example, take off your hat during the National Anthem, weddings, funeral processions, and inside a theater. We encourage everyone to wear any classically styled hat at any time of the day, but straw hats tend to be more comfortable during hot summer days.
The right hat starts with personal style. Make sure the person wears the hat, not the hat wearing the person. Certain types of hats tend to look better on certain face shapes. Rounder faces tend to look better with a medium crown and a short ribbon. Long faces should start with shorter crowns and broader ribbons. Tilting the hat plays as much of a role as the shape itself, move the hat around on your head a bit to find the perfect position. Using our knowledge of men’s styles over the last 100 years, in combination with the wardrobe of the individual, we’ve been able to provide a dapper “lid” to nearly every customer that walks through our door. Everyone looks good in a hat you just need to find the right one within your budget.
Cloth caps are pretty self-explanatory, so we’ll focus on felt. Most modern felt hats fall into two categories, wool felt or fur felt. Wool felt is much more common for modern hats because it has a nice balance of durability, color retention, and price. Beaver or rabbit are the primary sources of fur felt and have the highest quality. They retain detailed shape much more easily and have far superior durability and color. There is a significant cost difference between the two types of felt. The highest quality fur felt, pure beaver, can cost a significant amount of money, but those hats become family heirlooms, holding their shape and color for generations. Knowing your budget and the different qualities of felt, provide the basis for finding your ideal hat.
Modern hats are typically made of wool felt. These are less expensive, geared toward people just getting into hats, or on a tight budget. Men seeking quality hats, vintage hats usually provide the best value. Vintage hats are almost always fur felt and made to a higher standard. Decades ago hats were not a luxury item but were a social necessity. Unlike the swiftly shifting fashions of today, gentlemen would purchase a hat with the intention of wearing it for decades. A similar quality hat from a modern hatter, partially due to the few number of modern hat makers, would cost several hundred dollars at least.
A few things to look for when purchasing a vintage hat: age of hat, condition of the leather sweatband, material of felt, color fading, and pay close attention to the hat maker. Some of the most famous hatters have time periods of lower and higher quality and dating the hat helps gauge the overall quality. Knowledge and experience are the two most important tools to use when determining the quality of a vintage hat. Before offering any of our vintage hats to a customer we determine the proper size.
Historically, hat sizes are determined by measuring your head front-to-back in inches, adding that to the measurement side-to-side and dividing by two. In modern times we measure the circumference in centimeters and refer to a conversion chart. Something to keep in mind, men’s physique has changed significantly in just a few generations. A size 7 hat was average in the 1930s, but today most men are a 7 3/8-71/2. Patience is a required virtue when hunting for the perfect hat, especially vintage. Finding your hat is only the first aspect in ownership and careful maintenance can be the difference between an heirloom and a memory.
Ideally you should keep a hat in a hat box with cedar chips and brush it off after every use. The primary enemy of felt is dust. Dust can get in between fibers, weakening the fabric and shortening the life of the hat. Limit touching the “show” areas of the hat, the crown and top of the brim. Oils from your hand can discolor the felt and also shorten the hat’s life. Keep in mind that these are guidelines to keep your hat looking new for a very long time. For minimal care, brush off your hat when it gets dirty, and keep it in the closet without bending the brim. If you don’t wear the hat very often, and don’t have a hat box (yet), you can keep it in a paper bag. Plastic bags can make your hat smell musty. Hats that have become damaged, or dirty, can be brought back to life with the help of a hatter. Not all hatters offer refurbishment services. Make a few phone calls to find a local hat shop that can help you out, or ship it to the hatter you trust the most.
Your hat is an extension of your style and personality, not a trend.
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Photos courtesy of: Kate Fancher, Peter Hamilton
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