How would you rate the Akubra Federation (regular) as a "dress hat"? I know that they are renowned for their durability, but would you wear one with a suit?
I've never seen one up close, so I don't know what the felt is like. I'm looking at one as a replacement for a HJ that I have but not too thrilled with. The colour and felt are fine but the brim/crown/ribbon aren't to my liking.
We had one member, Gater, wear his new Fed Deluxe to his own wedding, if that's proof enough. It's definitely a fine dress hat, and I've worn mine in dressy situations on many occasion.
The Akubra Fed makes a fine dress hat. My dad has a grey Fed that he wears with is suits all of the time. Its definitely a hat worth owning, be it for adventure or dress.
Works great as either a dress hat or an adventure hat. It all depends how you treat it. All fedoras are originally designed as dress hats/wearing with suits, its actually a deviation from convention for them to be used otherwise, popularised by classic movies.