The London Lounge

So-- I just got my first decent straw hat from Delmonico's in New Haven yesterday. A nice Panama with a 2 7/8" brim, and in their largest available size: 8 (64 Euro).

Great style; too small.

Does anyone have an idea for where to get something like this made to order? Is it impossible to get decent fit without showing up to Chicago, or New Mexico, or wherever, in person?

Thanks

Graham of Optimo Fine Hats visits NYC regularly.

http://www.optimohats.com/

Browse their "hats events" link for upcoming trunk shows ... in the past, Oxxford NY hosted Optimo and Graham.

Hope this helps.

Art Fawcett (who is active on Fedora Lounge) will send you a measureing device and do the whole job over the phone (you'll have to be pretty specific about what you want though).
I've never used him as Optimo is within driving distance, but he has a good reputation (I believe Will has used him with good result)

Thanks, both.

E-mails sent.

yachtie wrote:Art Fawcett (who is active on Fedora Lounge) will send you a measureing device and do the whole job over the phone (you'll have to be pretty specific about what you want though).
I've never used him as Optimo is within driving distance, but he has a good reputation (I believe Will has used him with good result)

I have used Art Fawcett and can recommend him. The measuring device works perfectly. I got my hat body directly from one someone who works with Art on the blocking and trimming (I will look for the website and post it) or you can just have Art order everything (I think).

I have established contact with Art as well as Optimo and will see what happens.

Not really a suggestion, however should you ever find yourself in Ecuador (or Colombia), fly to Manta, in the province of Manabi, and hire a car to Montecristo, a town overlooking the Pacific where the best Panama hats are made. There is a shop right up the street from the church, with a very high step, that handcrafts the outrageously expensive ones you can pass through a man's ring. If I told you the prices, you wouldn't believe me.

Cap it off by lunching on ceviche (and drinking a Pilsener) in Manta before catching the flight back to Quito or Guayaquil. Or Bogota.

whyescalar wrote:Not really a suggestion, however should you ever find yourself in Ecuador (or Colombia), fly to Manta, in the province of Manabi, and hire a car to Montecristo, a town overlooking the Pacific where the best Panama hats are made. There is a shop right up the street from the church, with a very high step, that handcrafts the outrageously expensive ones you can pass through a man's ring. If I told you the prices, you wouldn't believe me.

Cap it off by lunching on ceviche (and drinking a Pilsener) in Manta before catching the flight back to Quito or Guayaquil. Or Bogota.

Thanks for the hint although I doubt I will make it there in the near future. However, I was wondering whether there are nice Panama hats in San Juan or Aruba...

There is also Brent Black Panamas on the web - just search the name and they do many different styles and all grades - they even have those mentioned above in the finest grades which, yes, could set you back tens of thousands of $US. But they have good quality at affordable prices too. I was going to say 'reasonable' prices - but who is to say that a very high price should not be set upon the demonstration of fabulous skill in a useful trade - especially since we now have some footballers - earning did I hear right? GB£300,000 a week - fifty years ago (when football was a sport and not basically another commercial entertainment), they were paid living wages.
NJS

Here is a post I did about sourcing a hat from the site I mentioned. I had it blocked by Art Fawcett. I never finished the story in the post, but the hat turned out lovely. It is a very fine hat, though, and one word of advice. You don't always want the finest Panama. The finer the hat, the tighter the weave. It has less airflow then a coarser weave and thus wears a little warmer. It is also more cloth-like than straw like and a bit floppier, especially with a larger brim. As a result, I wear the less nice one shown in my post as a daily hat and the nicer one only when extra elegance is called for, e.g., to a wedding or lawn party or other fancy event.[/b]

Dopey,
Where are the pictures?
NJS

Point taken on the straw. I also like the appearance of the cheaper ones. When I most worry about the finenness of a straw hat is when I am least likely to be wearing one. Hypothetically, anyway. I've never owned one before.

The Montecristi I've commissioned from Optimo in Chicago is of the $450 or so variety-- I think that's 21 or 22 on their quality scale.

Don't know what our man on the West Coast has in inventory, but it was less expensive than that.

storeynicholas wrote:Dopey,
Where are the pictures?
NJS

There are some in the linked thread.