Sizing Questions - Vendors, can you help!

[Jonny Whip Crack]

Hi everyone. I hope this hasn't been covered, but I'm facing a little confusion. I have several fedoras that I have purchased, with different sizes due to metric system and so forth. I have an AB that I got off ebay and I was told it was a size 60cm. I have a couple Fed IV Deluxes and a Todds costumes HJ that are also a size 60. The AB is a little lose that is touches the tip of my ears, while the the other two seem snug. I've measured my head with a tailors measuring tape, and without tightening, it ends up being a perfect 23 1/2 inches above the eyes. Add an 8th of an inch, and you have 60cm. I do realize every vendor is different.
MY CONCERN is that I have 2 Adventurebilts on order from Steve from 2007, and I'm now concerned that they will be too tight. I measure over and over again and it's a 23 1/2, but the size 60's (technically 23 5/8 inches )I own in FED IV and HJ fit great, but the 60cm AB is a little loose. From anyones experience, should I have made the orders to be 23 5/8th and live with loose rather than tight in my AB's?

Second question, when vendors use their sizing blocks to form the hat, is there any taking into account the leather sweatband that are sewn in to possibly reduce the size?
Just throwing it out there.

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on the subject.


Cheers
Jonny

[BendingOak]

If you gave Steve your head measurements and not a hat size your hat will fit perfect.

The ones you are talking about Todd's , HJ and Akubra are all off. Don't use those charts use this one.


cm = inches US size


49 cm = 19.29 inches 6 1/8
50 cm = 19.68 inches 6 1/4
51 cm = 20.08 inches 6 3/8
52 cm = 20.47 inches 6 1/2
53 cm = 20.87 inches 6 5/8
54 cm = 21.26 inches 6 3/4
55 cm = 21.65 inches 6 7/8
56 cm = 22.05 inches 7
57 cm = 22.44 inches 7 1/8
58 cm = 22.83 inches 7 1/4
59 cm = 23.23 inches 7 3/8
60 cm = 23.62 inches 7 1/2
61 cm = 24.02 inches 7 5/8
62 cm = 24.41 inches 7 3/4

To answer your 2nd questions. The blocks used are bigger than what the persons head measurements are to account for the sweatband. The thing with a handmade custom fitted hat is that the sweatband is cut to size and the hatter should have more than just a few sizes.


I'm 23 inches. Going by the chart I'm in-between sizes. I can't really buy off the rack. If I was to buy a hat I would go to a handmade custom hatter like myself or Steve or Marc and just give them my head measurements.

[DR Ulloa]

Steve takes your head measurement and cuts your sweatband to size. So, if you told him, 23 1/2 inches, your sweat will fit you perfectly. Don't worry, he knows what he is doing.

Dave

[Jonny Whip Crack]

Thanks for the speedy responses guys. If my memory serves me correct, I remember Steve also saying that he makes his hats a few hairs larger than the size requested to account for minor hat shrinkage and propper forming. I may be wrong. I'll just wait for the first one to arrive and see how it fits, and if there are any problems, I'll simply talk to Steve, remedy and have correct for my second hat. I guess that's the problem when you collect fedoras from multiple vedors, from different countries and corresponding sizes.
Thanks again.
Jonny

[Fedora]

Yes, I think all of us here who make hats, use the personal measurement method to insure a good fit. The trick is to measure the head 3 times, and provide all three. Sometimes you get different numbers, and doing it 3 times lets us know what to make the hat. (we get an average of the 3 and use that for the size)

Charts for sizing vary SO MUCH, that they are useless for hatters. It makes no sense, but just go online and see how they vary from hatter to hatter. It must be due to poor math, or mad hatters disease. So, always go with the head measurement, using a good seamstress tape(cloth, or plastic).

The chart I originally started out with goes like this...

7 1/8 is 22. 5 inches
7 1/4 22 3/4
7 3/8 23
7 1/2 23 1/2
7 5/8 24

I got it online, and then noticed the next site had totally different sizes for each hat size! So, I started using head measurements.

In my experience, Akubras run large, and HJs run small. At least for my head size. The Akubras seemed to be designed to shrink up to fit the head though. All of mine started out loose, and within a few days, the sweat shrunk em' up to a perfect fit.

Now, most sweatband leathers will shrink just a bit once you perspire in them, so, I add 1/8 an inch to my hats so the hat won't give you a headache in the future. Most folks don't own hat stretchers, and hat stretching is not offered anymore by dry cleaners. But, I did not always do this. I only did it after I noticed my own sweatbands would shrink around 1/8 an inch after a few "sweats" in the warm months. So, you have to size your hats with your sweatband in mind. Perhaps some sweatbands don't shrink, but I have yet to see one that did not. I thought the roo hide ones Marc uses did not, but they eventually did, it just took alot longer than roan to do so. More info than you wanted, but I can't keep it brief. Fedora