When this hat was made in the early 1960s, it cost a whopping $100. Theses Stetsons came in custom leather cases and had the best pure beaver fur felt. Truly top of the line.
This one was cleaned and re-blocked by Art Fawcett before I got it. It’s a fantastic Borsalino, but it was always just a bit too small to wear it comfortably, so I let it go. Somewhere along the line, the brim binding had been removed.
A high priced hat when new, this Borsalino didn’t make its journey through time the best. ‘The sweatband had gone kind of crispy, the hat had lost its oval block and turned into a circle, and the mink fur felt had a weird greasy feel to it. When I got it, it had a fitted vinyl rain cover.
This Royal Stetson was made and sold in Canada. It has the Canadian style size tag and aquashed markings. The proportions are classic, and the sweatband is (in my opinion) the perfect shade of brown. It dates from the 1950s and I got it at a vintage shop in Kensington Market, Toronto.