Club Obi Wan

http://www.optimohats.com/

I just got word from another member that Optimo Hats has just (finally) finished work on a new website and I think it looks pretty good. I know the majority of members here don't know too much about them but they were top dog around here before Steve started making the AB's. So, if you have an open mind and really enjoy fedora's, check out the site to see what they have to offer. I've also heard that they've gotten in their new fall felts but I haven't been in or spoken to them in a long time. Gotta get over to check them out soon.

More expensive than what the majority is used to? Yes.

Is it worth the price? I think so if you are into vintage style hats, including the Indy fedora.

Like I always say, it's better to have more vendors than not.

Thanks, nice professional web site. Makes me want to go and buy another hat.

How many times have you gone to a hat web site and it says This site is under remodeling and you check back months or even years later and it says the same thing. I bet they never paid the web master or coders? Makes you wonder.

How many times have you gone to a hat web site and it says This site is under remodeling and you check back months or even years later and it says the same thing. I bet they never paid the web master or coders? Makes you wonder.

I've told Graham several times over the years that if they'd only fix the site, they'd get more sales for sure. Everyone here was asking for a web address when the hats were hot and they didn't really have one. So many people are concentrated on looking on the web that they don't even want to pick up the phone anymore to do business one on one.

I wonder if they'll see a jump in sales from the website?

It looks fantastic. I like how we can now finally see some of the myriad of styles that Graham can make.

I started out as an Indy guy, but once I took a gamble on getting a different hat from Graham, I found that I am actually a Hat Guy, and an Indy is just one of the hats that I like.

Simply for the sake of those who want an Indy hat but likely won't ask about it if they don't see pics or mention it on the website, it'd be nice if in the "Custom Hats" section they could do just that. It'd be nice to see images of the custom hats they make. It seems, as far as the average Indy fan goes, if they don't see a pic of it, they won't inquire, and may continue to look elsewhere.

I agree the new site looks a lot nicer than the ond one. At least they mention a starting price for their hats, which is something I don't recall on their previous site design. Still a bit salty for me, personally, though.

bink

binkmeisterRick wrote:Still a bit salty for me, personally, though.

bink

Their hats have sweat stains on them?

No, they're made to drink margaritas from.

bink

It seems, as far as the average Indy fan goes, if they don't see a pic of it, they won't inquire, and may continue to look elsewhere.

Well, we all know this is not a shop for the average Indy fan. They can do any hat you'd like, including the Indy hat, so I'm sure that they'd not hold any hat to an 'exclusive' like other sites do and the site would not reflect that.
Also, there are pictures of custom hats right there on the site, in the same section you mentioned as well as the felt section, Bink. Did you miss them?

I would like to see more pics of individual hats they do as well and I can only see that more on the site would bring them more business. I also think the pics could be a little more clear as they appear kind of fuzzy to me. In any case, it's Grahams call and it looks like he's fully satisfied with the site. Maybe in 3 years they'll update it again.

I've had this Indy Brown Optimo for almost two years. I had one of those meter high Coke bottle banks full of spare change and that's how I could afford it. To this day, because the liner is sewn in and the ribbon is sewn on with no visible stitching, I have not altered it much, except adding stiffener to the brim and giving it the "Swales Cut".


A very nice hat. Cheers to Mr. Rundquist, wherever you are.

Nice pic. I've also had the same hat for the same ammount of time, plus the Toht fedora and my Pecan, which is my #1 Indy hat. I had a PB first and them went straight to Optimo so I haven't ever owned any other hats although I think I've seen every other offering in person for comparrison...except a vintage HJ.

Dakota, I was wondering, in your personal opinion, how does the vintage HJ felt compare to the Optimo in the pic and how close is the color? I was told by person who owns both (supposedly) an original hat from Raiders and the Indyborwn Optimo, that the Indybrown is closest in color to the original hats? I've never been shown picture comparrisons or seen a vintage HJ so I wouldn't know. Can you give me your insight on the two?

I wish I had a Raiders vintage hat. What I have is one that didn't make the LC production. Ordered by Lucasfilms, but never picked up. It has slightly thinner felt than the current HJ. The original owner, Steve Ferguson, told me by email that he had two Raiders era hats (he originally had 6 altogether) and the felt was similar to the one he sold me, but had less red, and that would make it close to the Optimo Indy. I think the current HJ's color must also be pretty close. Maybe if that feller Fedora's talkin to comes through, we'll finally find out. My oldest Poet is from 1972, but was originally a shag Poet and the color is a little darker , but does look good in bright light. They are all rabbit and none has the vintage feel that the Optimo has. I imagine Fedora's thinnest pure beaver has the same (or better) quality. I'm gonna hafta get an AB, I recon. Meantime, maybe I can take some comparison shots of what I have and post them.

Agent5, I did see the pic with the custom hats lined up, but nothing that looked like an Indy hat. I only say that because the majority of those looking for an Indy fedora want to see pics.

bink

Agent5, I did see the pic with the custom hats lined up, but nothing that looked like an Indy hat. I only say that because the majority of those looking for an Indy fedora want to see pics.

I gotcha now. I thought you meant that it would be nice to see custom hats in general, then I looked at the site and there they were. Now I understand you mean a pic of the Indy hat. I suppose it couldn't hurt but I think the Indy people have made up a fairly small portion of their business. It seems that they have a decent ammount of repeat customers who started here on this board though. Only God and Rundquist know how many Optimo's he has by now :

binkmeisterRick wrote:Agent5, I did see the pic with the custom hats lined up, but nothing that looked like an Indy hat. I only say that because the majority of those looking for an Indy fedora want to see pics.

bink

I posted this field test way back in 2003 on my IndyBrown Optimo.
** I have deleted my Optimo pictures, here as else where. I didn't realize this would cause a controversy. Now, I know better. **
-Sergei

Thanks for the pics, Sergi! That's a nice looking hat!

I understand that Optimo doesn't specialize in Indy hats. I'm sure it's only a drop in the bucket as far as the typical business they do, though it's nice to see a representation of their offering here. There's a lot of variety out there (and a range of quality and price to boot) for Indy hats.

Sergi, do you mind me asking what you paid for your Optimo? Assuming they use the same felt blend now as for your hat, I'm curious to know if their price (starting at $425 according to their site) has gone up since then. Heck, for four bills, I'd want it to be pure beaver, though if it's anything like Agent5's, the felt still felt good to the touch.

bink

That is a very nice looking hat. Great post with a lot of pics. Thanks.

I didn't know that, Sergi. Thanks for the info!

bink

I got my Optimo in the summer of 2004 and it was $395 as well. I got the Indy Brown and had it reblocked and shaped by Fedora. I got my HJ from Pagey only a few months later, and my AB from Fedora a few months after that and between those two I haven't been wearing the ptimo very much. I'm actually considereing (heavily) sending the hat back to Optimo to have it restyled and have them put a brim treatment on it. The felt is awesome, such a nice soft, lightweight felt, but it's not suitable in my mind for an adventuring hat. My AB has that fairly well covered. And my HJ is perfect for a Beater/Costume hat, so I need a dressy brown hat, and that's where I think the Opimo excels.

All their hats are custom and the starting price is for any felt hat that is in the current basic blend.

My Optimo Indy.







After a few years, some camping trips, being rolled up sat on rained on dirted on and left in the car.

Like I always say, it's better to have more vendors than not.

It is affordable. All you need is a three foot Coke bottle full of spare change. Anyone can buy one. It's a no brainer.

agent5 wrote:Like I always say, it's better to have more vendors than not.

No disagreement there!

If it is the same source, is it the same blend? From what I remember Graham uses fur he himself provides.

I remember another hatter claiming he had the same felt as Optimo and that he had been to the same factory where Optimo's felt was made and that turned out to be bunk. I hope you are correct Steve and I hope you can produce hats up to Optimo's standards, the more competition, the better quality gets all around.

The finish, durability, stitching and blocking is even and makes the Optmo hats look and feel like they are assembly line made in the 1930's.

I hope to see the newer AB at the summit.

Optimo has a new web site.

From what I remember he provides fur (not felt) he himself provides.

I'm all for Steve getting better materials and better skills. I want hatters to return to the mainstream.

Yeah, that's what I heard.

From what I remember he provides fur (not felt) he himself provides.

Could be, although it seems to be a lot of trouble to do so. But, I know of a western hatter who sent processed beaver fur to my felter and they made his western bodies out of that fur until it was used up. He said it was the finest felt he ever saw. I can find out as soon as Manuela gets back once the factory opens back up. I will ask her if I can do so, to see if this is a service available. But from what I have seen of this company, they would probably do so. Heck, they are so versatile in other areas, like custom colors. It is very apparent why Optimo uses this company as one of their suppliers for felt. You can specify exactly what you want. I bet you could even send a vintage blend body to them and they would replicate it in looks and color. They are the most versatile felt company that I have come across. Fedora

Mattdeckard wrote:From what I remember he provides fur (not felt) he himself provides.

Gotcha. That makes more sense to me if he's providing the fur to a felter to turn into hat bodies for him.

I'd also love to see more quality hatters come to the forefront again. Maybe a time warp's in fashion.

bink

Wow. What a nice set up Graham has. He is without a doubt a complete hattter. I just now saw his new website with all of the nice pics. Very well done!! This guy has become wealthy off of hats!! Fedora

I have 2 Optimo's, I just posted some pics of one in the Last Crusade style. The other one is in London gray. Both excellent hats put together with excellent materials and craftmanship. Actually in regards to the ribbon and maybe other features, I suppose I should say craftwomanship, since I believe Marlene is the one who does the ribbons.

I also have at this point 1 Adventurebilt, not an Indy style at all, but just a 40s style black fedora made from 100% beaver Winchester felt. True it's raw edged, but so are my Optimo's. Steve hit every specification I had given him right on the mark. Like I said in my review I was very very happy.

Now that Steve will be offering a lighter weight felt that will come from the same supplier as Optimo, I'm anxious to see how they turn out and how it compares to what they send Optimo.

I have fedora's from both vendors without any stake in either. But as I compare the slight differences in the Optimo and the Adventurebilt, I would have a hard time justifying paying an extra $375. for the Optimo. But that is something everyone will have to decide for themselves.

This is a capitalist society and competition is good for us buyers. I don't feel obligated to pay over twice as much for an Optimo just so he can stay in business, sorry but I just don't. I know he has a higher overhead than Steve and has to pay for other people that work for him, but again I feel that's his problem.

If Steve can provide a fedora that's 98% as good as an Optimo and I can get it $375 cheaper, well I'm sorry but I would get the Adventurebilt. That little 2% difference just isn't worth another $375 to me.

I'm glad Optimo has a following, he has built a very stable business long before we at Cow and the fedoralounge ever heard of him, so I don't think he is dependent on us to stay in business anyway.

Steve is filling a nitch that needed filling and many, many people that never would be able to afford to get an Optimo now have the opportunity to get a fedora that is very close to being on the same level as an Optimo. More power to him.

regards fedoralover

Thanks, FL, I think you hit a lot of my sentiments nicely.

bink

Can't wait 'til the summit to see the hats.

Guys, we all just need to share a large pint. Jerry's buying!

bink

I think there's room for everyone to play in the same sandbox together.
_________________

I agree. Just as long as you don't pee on my leg, and tell me it is raining. Fedora

Ah, Steve, The Outlaw Josey Wales sort of rears his head again, eh? High regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:Ah, Steve, The Outlaw Josey Wales sort of rears his head again, eh? High regards! Michaelson

"Nothing beats a fine piece of hickory." -Oh, wait, that was Pale Rider.

"There's no basement in the Alamo?!"
Oh, wait, that's Pee Wee Herman.

bink

"Endeavor to perservere." Oh, and I'm not an Optimo fanatic. I just have the one. I'm not even an Indy fanatic. That's too harsh a word.

Michaelson,

I'm glad they put you in the corner before you were able to get the shotgun, again.

Well, ya gotta take time to reload the shells, so it was time well spent. 8-[
Regards! Michaelson

Hey! When did I become the guy that has to dive behind his desk?! I'll gladly pass that baton back to you, my friend.

Mike

Now you know why I hide under the Plymouth. To many spinters from the desk with the birdshot, don't cha know?

Regards! Michaelson

Ah, Steve, The Outlaw Josey Wales sort of rears his head again, eh?

Yeah, but my favorite is still what the indian said to Josey in regards to that piece of rock candy he had in his pocket. "It's not for eating. It's for looking through". Or something like that.


Guys, I will allways try and do the right thing when I cross the line. I am self censoring when I know I am out of line. But you moderators know me, and if it does not happen soon enough, please do the right thing and delete and lock. Just don't ban me!! I need a 12 step program in regards to the hat business, that is, to change the things I can, realize some things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference. Or something like that. I re-read my first post after several hours, and I was sounding almost like you know who. But only in the areas that I found out he was telling the truth about. He was right, you know. But I certainly never want to exhibit his demeanor. I will always be a fan, first and foremost, and I need to take this hat deal a bit less serioiusly. The trouble is, I am for the little guy. And, it is so hard for lots of folks to shuck out big bucks for a piece of felt that is high quality stuff and not the disposable felt found in many hats. And up until I started doing this, and Art Fawcett started using the same feltmaker as me, you could not buy the top drawer felt unless you wanted to hock your car. Now Art specialized in vintage hats, with all the trimmings, and he only gets 275 for a pure beaver hat. He and I are of the same mindset. But, perhaps it is because we both come from the construction industy, he a talented, and artistic stone worker, and me a cabinetmaker. Working men who are used to rubbing elbows with laborers and folks who sweat for their money.

Like I stated earlier, I like the new site Optimo has. I like their hats. They turn out really nice factory made hats. But, they are not handmade. Optimo is a new sort of shop. You take the mass production equipment that was only used in large hat factories like Stetson, and you put a set in a small shop. You make factory hats, of a better quality and fit than normal factory hats, but identical to the methods and equipment used. Not a bad thing, as this is the only way you could make and sell the number of hats that he sells each year. He is super successful in what he does. But, he is not like the small custom shops of yesteryear. Where the small custom shop do exist now is in the western hat market. Now, those guys do it just like me. By hand, using nothing more than hatter tools. And this is a contunuation of a long tradition. Those small custom western shops are tearing into Hatco and Serratelli, in a big way. And that is a trend that will continue, eventhough the big hat producers try to make it difficult for the small hatters by consolidation of sources like ribbon manufacturers. The basic ribbon sold by Schiff is bad ribbon. But, you can have hatgrade grosgrain run in a special run by them, if you buy 7000 yards. 48 cents a yard. Do the math. A small hatter can't afford the good stuff, only folks like Hatco. This was planned out my friends. I have been lucky enough to find vintage grosgrain and petersham, but that will all be gone by next year. Marc has found a source in the UK and it looks promising, as we only have to buy 1500 yards to get the good stuff. Thank goodness for the internet!! There is just so much interesting stuff about the hat business that I love to share with you guys. I think it is a good thing to be well informed. Sometimes you make folks mad. I will continue to inform, because I was one of you before I was one of them. I will just make a superhuman effort to do it in tactful and professional way. regards, Fedora

Serial Hero,
My point in that thread was to show how silly some of the fans come off to me. Steve knows that. I wasn't in the least bit bashing his product. I've seen it and was impressed. The Optimo people were the minority at first but now thats all changed. The majority can now see what good felt is like compared to what was being offered around here as standard for years and also for those who had not seen any of the Optimo's. Not to say that the other hats didn't have their place, it's just that these felts were on another level and now everyone knows what the Optimo people had been talking about for a while.

Like I said, without a doubt, Steve has filled a void in the Indygear world and good to see his main focus is on getting better in all aspects. That can only be good for the community and the hat industry as a whole. Healthy competition can only benefit the consumer more and I'm all for that!

Well, I'd like to thank both sides of this discussion for being gentlemen and resolving the issue without major moderating interference.... although believe me, we were discussing it... It's nice to see that we can still conduct our selves cordially.

Your welcome. I want nothing but. I feel we should all be able to fully discuss pretty much anything here pertaining to our hobby and do so in a truthful, yet adult and civilized manner, without feeling the mod's brainwave activity telling each other telepathically that something is amiss around here and that it's time to get to the pc to ready the panic button. We can have major differences but at the end of the day need to put that aside and all be friends. The community. I still feel bad that this could not have been so in the past. Some people just want to hold grudges and just I can't understand it. I keep thinking to myself, 'It's just a hobby, for Chrissakes. I can get over it and so can you!". But unfortunatly, some people can't. What can you do?

Glad that was not the case this time and that we can discuss things like adults.

Optimo hats are very assembly line in appearance, though assembly line from the 30's. They look and feel like vintage hats and are far removed from anything you find on a shelf today. Alot of custom hatters today are un-uniform in appearance. You look at a hat from Gary White and it is definately a custom hat and no two are the same.

Optimo makes custom hats, how much more does Graham have to do to make them "handmade"?

You know, I was reading about how much a stickler Milano was in regards to quality. Once he could not longer get his dress bodies from South Africa, he used Portugal. That says alot about the felt being very vintage like. Optimo certainly choose a great supplier for his felt dress bodies. And, as far as I know, Optimo is only one of a very few who does use this felt. I think a large part of the Portugal business is dress felt, but I could be wrong on that one. In conversations with their rep, she stressed how dismayed they were that the felt industry had fallen so far behind in staple quality. Of course, she was talking about big factories like Hatco, I assumed. I just wish my felt supplier would expand their dress body selection to offer a 75 gram dress body with zero stiffener in the crown. I prefer to use American products for my own hats, but will outsource if I have to. Fedora

I hope that Fedora can keep up with the orders and keeps enjoying himself so that we have AB’s for a long time to come.

That's the real trick, isn't it? To really enjoy what you do. The community as a whole can only benefit from it.

Hear hear! High regards! Michaelson

Serial Hero wrote:agent5,
I know you were in no way bashing his product. My point was just that your posts about Optimo sound just the same a Bink's and others do about the AB.

You didn't know Agent5 and I are the same person? It's a schitzophrenic thing. You wouldn't understand.

Agentbink

prairiejones wrote:Agent5,
I respect your right to voice your opinion and feelings. THat is what I want to hear are opinions. If I had read opinions in early June, I wouldn't have blown$60 on a Dorfman.
By the way, please throw an Italian Beef sandwich in the direction of Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY?!? I can't believe I haven't run into you in a Cigar shop somewhere or at least spotted another fedora running around

We should get together and do lunch and a stogie sometime!