My most expensive hat was about $250. I'm careful with it.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
I have to wear my hats low on my forehead

According to Jerry Hall, that is a socially accepted practice:

A thumb high above my ear and a finger above my eyebrow. I don’t want to be Deputy Dawg but I don’t want it touching my ear either. And then across the eyebrow? That’s a cowboy thing, a little social thing. No man can see what I’m looking at unless I want him to see my eyes.



A watch cap I had made in bison wool was about a hundred bucks. Some of my shoes are fairly high as well, but when they hit a decade old, the cost becomes significantly cheaper than the cheap shoes which fall apart.

Reading over the thread last night I guessed $1,200. Handmade does not come cheap. Bespoke shoes and suits especially.

I would be looking at a fishing hat with the flap in the back to protect your neck. Stetsons are too hot in the summertime and you want a light weight cloth hat.

http://www.cabelas.com/categor...g-Hats/103919580.uts

They also make a sun protection supplement for your skin:

http://www.lifeextension.com/V...em01938/Shade-Factor

Show us some photos when it arrives.

Grew up after JFK's going hatless broke the then-current fashion requirement of men wearing hats essentially all the time. Have never lived in cowboy hat areas where the fashion lives on.

So, for me, it's baseball hats as functional eyeshading where necessary. Thus to answer the question, my historical per-hat spending has never really gotten past very low two digits.

Now, if things changed and I had to for medical purposes, as in the OP, I'd get a nice one and pay the going rate.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
I don't think some may understand the price of a custom hat.

I could go cheaper, but then again, it's like my new Ford Escape that's on order... as in my last one, so I am going big and it doesn't break the bank.
I am blessed that way.

Personally, I have never worn hats my whole life cuz they never fit and won't stay on.

Now I have to wear a hat because the medication I am on has left my skin sun sensitive and I break out.... enter the hat.
If I have to wear a hat, I might as well enjoy it as much as I can.
Leastwise until somebody steals it. It's gonna look that good.

I don't seem to have a problem forking over a thousand dollars on another firearm, so I figured why not a quality hat instead.

If you want it, and can afford it, what other justification can there be?

In these parts, it used to be normal for a prosperous man to have as part of his "uniform" a Stetson of highest quality, very expensive. Giving one as a gift to someone you owed a favor to, or hoped to receive a favor from, wasn't unheard of, either.

It isn't so much so these days, because of car seats, mostly.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
I can't remember exactly how much but I spent around $150 for a Stetson beaver hat many years ago. It's still like new. Admittedly I don't wear it much anymore.

Jim

Yeah, I paid about that much for a Bailey about 25, or so, years ago, then promptly spent another $250 for a turquoise and silver hat band.

Might have worn it 3-4 times after we got back here from Arizona. Actually toying with the idea of wearing on my trip to Idaho. I will need a hat to protect my face from Rosacea.

Around $150 for a 6x Resistol in belly silver. It was for uniform wear (required in Class A, optional in Class B) and I babied it while I had the job.

Thankfully it doesn't scream "uniform" so in the 25 years since I left that job, I've gotten plenty of wear out of it.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
I went with the top of line in the material aspect, it's a mix of beaver and mink.
Stunning really.
The color is a dark grayish brownish black.

I am not am willing to post up the price.
And yes, more than anyone has posted so far.

The store is Greeley Hat, brick and motar.
They had five long rows of hats to look at, each row going up gets progressively more expensive.

I never should have asked to see the ones at the top, 11 feet up off the floor.
Then I decided on their top of the line and do custom made from scratch.

I'll have to run down and see the place. I contacted them a few years back about a hat, then ended up going another direction. I still get occasional emails and newsletters from them. Sounds like a great store.

I have always tried to have two good hats--a black and a silverbelly. I've worn Resistols for 40 years and my silverbelly hat is a Resistol. I saw a deal on my black hat that I couldn't pass up--it's a Seratelli 10x and has been OK, but I'll probably replace it with Resistol Black Gold, unless I'm tempted away by visiting Greeley Hat Co.

I have never had much luck with straw hats. In order to stay on when outside horseback, they have to be pretty well mashed down on your head. Very little give to a straw hat and the result is a headache.

ETA: I really had no idea that custom hat makers added mink fur to their highest quality hats. Curious as to what your hat would have cost with just a high percentage of beaver alone. Do you know?

Sounds like you're feeling better, lbj; I certainly hope that's the case.

I was visiting Paul's Hat Works in San Francisco in the mid 80's when I saw a guy contemplating two Montecristi Panama hats. One cost $1800 and the other was $5000. I remember it cost about the same as the newly introduced (to America) Hyundai excel. I was totally shocked.

We've got a custom hat maker in a little town just north of me. Up until now I've never had the nerve to go in but you might have pushed me over the edge.

IIRC, 1K isn't all THAT much to spend on a nice hat. I've seen several custom makers that blow that number away. Heck, just because I haven't spent that much yet doesn't mean I wouldn't spend it on a nice hat, especially if SWMBO wasn't performing oversight on me. I think custom anything is a lifetime investment, so buy once cry once.

Post us up some pics when you get it.

Handmade custom 100% beaver.
Rocky Mountain Hat Company in Fairplay, Colorado.

My most expensive is a MacKenzie from Hills Hats of New Zealand.

http://www.hillshats.co.nz/col...ns/mackenzie-oilskin

quote:

Originally posted by LoungeChair:
I was visiting Paul's Hat Works in San Francisco in the mid 80's when I saw a guy contemplating two Montecristi Panama hats. One cost $1800 and the other was $5000. I remember it cost about the same as the newly introduced (to America) Hyundai excel. I was totally shocked.

I have a Montecristi Panama (from Ecuador, of course) that was my father-in-law's. If you had to buy it now, it would cost in the $1000 to $1500 range. The weaving is incredibly fine and evenly done, all done by hand, as is all the other finishing work. There aren't 20 people in the world who do that weaving.

Unfortunately, the hat doesn't fit me.

So you see a difference then. I did too.
Darn that top shelf.

Hmmm, a Hyundai Excel, a Yugo, or a hat...
I will take the hat.

I've got 2 custom hats dating back to my cowboy action shooting days. The first one is my black one made by D Bar J out of Las Vegas. It's a low crown with a slight bell, wide brimmed design. Think of something that the Earp Brothers may have worn in Tombstone and you would be close. It's more of a formal hat and being black it doesn't get worn outside in the summertime. They hand measured my head and built the hat using their "Long Oval" pattern.

The other is my light tan one made by Colorado Mountain Hat Company out of FairPlay, Colorado. It's a telescoped crowned wide brimmed hat. It's more of a "working hat" with a braided horsehair band and stampede straps. Back in the late 1800's, hat styles were a regional thing often coming from functionality. In the southwest, low crowns and wide brims were popular. The wide brim to shade the face and the low crown to minimize the build up of hot air in the hat. Mine was custom measured using their, "Fitterer". A strange contraption with multiple pins like you described that is used to make a pattern. It is by far the best fitting hat I've ever owned.

Yes, they were expensive, but not near what you paid, mine are no doubt a lower quality felt. A quality hat if taken care will last a long time. Being custom fit it won't blow off in the wind. I've got one of my dad's Stetson straws that I break out every now and then. I wish I knew what became of my grandfather's silver belly Stetson.

My grandfather lived with us growing up and would take frequent trips out to California to see the other branch of his family there. Being set in his ways, he refused to get on a plane and always took the train. I still have memories of taking him to Union Station in Denver, the high ceilings, ginormous arched windows, heavy wooden high back bench seats and the crappy cafe in the corner. Taking the train was an event for him and he had to dress appropriately. It was always his silver belly Stetson and light blue whip cord suit. Quite the contrast to the shorts and flips flops that most people wore on my Southwest flight up to Denver last month.

I remember dressing up as a child in the late fifties and sixties when traveling by train or plane.

I spent around 60 or so for a leather BC Australian style hat. And around 50 for a felt style from a hat shop in Phoenix.

I'm familiar with the hat shop in Greeley. As I recall, they have made hats for presidents....at least George Bush, I believe?

I've also been in this hat shop in Billings, MT, and I think they use the same head measuring apparatus. Pretty funky device.

http://www.randhats.com/