Looking for my new hat, recommendations wanted

[generalFROSTY]

It's been years, but I'm finally going to "retire" my AB Henry. The crown has tapered over the years and wear is starting to show at the pinch.
I have a hand made Beaver from Northwest Hats that I keep as a dress hat and won't distress it for gearing up, but also because the crown height is slightly too tall for my head shape.
My Akubra gray fedora has the perfect look for my head shape but always refrained from purchasing their brown version because I didn't like the dark color of the felt and the ribbon color.
I discovered that the Coyle's Uptowner might have been my next best option but I see those are currently no longer offered.
Long story short (too late) I'm looking for a rabbit fur felt hat, white liner, screen-correct brown color felt (on the lighter side) and has the shorter crown like an Akubra so I don't look like I'm wearing a chimney on my head.
I know some hatmakers tailor the crown height custom to look right for an individual's face/head shape but have been out of the loop on COW for so long that I'm not familiar with current options.
Recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[teneas]

It's been years, but I'm finally going to "retire" my AB Henry. The crown has tapered over the years and wear is starting to show at the pinch.
I have a hand made Beaver from Northwest Hats that I keep as a dress hat and won't distress it for gearing up, but also because the crown height is slightly too tall for my head shape.
My Akubra gray fedora has the perfect look for my head shape but always refrained from purchasing their brown version because I didn't like the dark color of the felt and the ribbon color.
I discovered that the Coyle's Uptowner might have been my next best option but I see those are currently no longer offered.
Long story short (too late) I'm looking for a rabbit fur felt hat, white liner, screen-correct brown color felt (on the lighter side) and has the shorter crown like an Akubra so I don't look like I'm wearing a chimney on my head.
I know some hatmakers tailor the crown height custom to look right for an individual's face/head shape but have been out of the loop on COW for so long that I'm not familiar with current options.
Recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Steele and Jones does a great job of tailoring the crown/hat to match the wearer. Garrison Hatters has impressed me lately when it came to his hats.

I LOVE my Penman hat by all means, but the crown is SA, so sits taller on my head than the others.

[Mulceber]

You could very easily have your AB Henry reblocked - if you don't feel like sending it back to Marc, there's plenty of people stateside that would be happy to reblock it - David Garrison, John Penman, Steve Delk, etc.

If that's not your cup of tea, I put my vote in for HJ - it's rabbit, it has a screen accurate color and a white liner. If you order it on the shorter, "new" block, that should avoid the stovepipe effect. Also, their lead times right now are unbelievably short and they have free shipping.

[Arch Stanton]

I have a hand made Beaver from Northwest Hats that I keep as a dress hat and won't distress it for gearing up, but also because the crown height is slightly too tall for my head shape.

I wish people with Northwest hats would post pics of them.

My Akubra gray fedora has the perfect look for my head shape but always refrained from purchasing their brown version because I didn't like the dark color of the felt and the ribbon color.

With about 20% use compared to my other hats over the past 8 years or so, my Fed IV Moonstone has taken on the perfect embodiment of an Indy hat, albeit the wrong color. The Moonstone is so floppy compared to the other colors. I don't know why. If it were brown my search would be over. It doesn't even work as a Clipper. That distinction goes to my Carbon Grey. But the Moonstone sort of works for a Crystal Skull train hat.

[generalFROSTY]

You could very easily have your AB Henry reblocked - if you don't feel like sending it back to Marc, there's plenty of people stateside that would be happy to reblock it - David Garrison, John Penman, Steve Delk, etc.

If that's not your cup of tea, I put my vote in for HJ - it's rabbit, it has a screen accurate color and a white liner. If you order it on the shorter, "new" block, that should avoid the stovepipe effect. Also, their lead times right now are unbelievably short and they have free shipping.

I looked into the HJ, didn't see anything on their site indicating options for crown height. My hat size is a 56, not sure if the block shape is adjusted for smaller sizes...

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Mulceber]

Their facebook page has more details. Their standard is a 5 1/2 inch crown, but they also have a 5 1/4 inch crown that they made.

https://www.facebook.com/Herbert-Johnso ... 921150110/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[generalFROSTY]

Their facebook page has more details. Their standard is a 5 1/2 inch crown, but they also have a 5 1/4 inch crown that they made.

https://www.facebook.com/Herbert-Johnso ... 921150110/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How would I best measure a crown on an existing hat I own to determine how a new one may look - is it from the brim to an open crown?

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Mulceber]

Yeah, open up the crown and then stick a measuring stick next to it and eyeball the height. If it's an AB Henry, the height should be 5 1/2 inches, although taper may have lowered it. So I guess if you're looking for a lower crown, HJ's "new" block (5 1/4 inches) would be an improvement. You might even ask them if you could get a 5 inch crown, as the pics I've seen of their 5 1/4 inch crown looks a lot like the AB Henry, at least to my eye.

[generalFROSTY]

Yeah, open up the crown and then stick a measuring stick next to it and eyeball the height. If it's an AB Henry, the height should be 5 1/2 inches, although taper may have lowered it. So I guess if you're looking for a lower crown, HJ's "new" block (5 1/4 inches) would be an improvement. You might even ask them if you could get a 5 inch crown, as the pics I've seen of their 5 1/4 inch crown looks a lot like the AB Henry, at least to my eye.

Thank you for your valuable input!
I just have one of those heads that is suited for a specific shape of hat.
My AB Henry was my first; the brim looked super wide on me, almost like a cowboy hat, so I really gave the sides extra curl to subdue that effect.
My gray Akubra Fed4 Deluxe looks absolutely perfect on me in every way - so much so that when I ordered a yellow "Tracy" fedora from Penman, I specifically asked for it to be made on an Akubra block shape, so that one also compliments my head and face.
I won't be returning to Penman for my new Indy, and I'm seriously considering the HJ - now it's all about how does their shorter crown version compare to the look of my Akubra, which is what I'm after.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Mulceber]

Interesting: I would have thought that an AB Henry and an Akubra would have the same brim dimensions and a similar block shape. Was the Akubra a different type of brim? In any event, any custom hatter you order from (including HJ) could very easily reproduce the brim shape/dimensions on that Akubra. The crown might be a little tougher to reproduce, as I'm not sure how extensive a collection of (functional) blocks Jack@HJ is working with, but by fiddling with the crown height they could probably produce something you'd be happy with.

It also might be worth just going for an Akubra in brown, although my gripe with Akubra has always been that their brown has gray undertones, when the Raiders hat should have some reddish undertones. I guess it all depends on how serious you are about SA color. (Full disclosure: I've never owned an Akubra, so I can't say first hand - I just know that every one of the many photos I've seen on COW has looked like a muted, gray-ish brown instead of a vibrant, reddish brown.)