Club Obi Wan

I did a search, and I know some are not to keen on Stetson Fedoras. I found a Sage green Stetson Temple and was considering it, but it's a pretty good chunk of change. Is it worth it?

I owned a Stetson Temple for a short period of time before I found COW and their FAQ on different hats. It wasn't a bad hat at all. I paid $130ish for it. I didn't experience the problems that seem to be common to them.

I would say for the price, you can find better hats that have more of the Indy look. The akubras come to mind as one in a similar price range.

That was my only real complaint about the Stetson; it just didn't look like an Indy hat, and that eventually drove me nuts. I ended up spending the extra money to get a Jimmy Pierce, and haven't regretted it. )

Brian

You can order a Stetson temple from their factory outlet for about $50. It'll get to your house in about a week. I don't have their number on me right now, but try a google search for it. I too have not had the problems others have talked about. I did make my own hat block and reblocked it myself to make it more Indy with good results. I've got an AB june order coming so it'll be interesting to compare...if there is any comparison.

Found it. Stetson Factory Outlet Store St. Joseph, MO. (816) 233-3286

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH STETSONS! It's not an Indy hat, per se, granted. But toe to toe with any other modern made dress ( factory )hat, it's just fine.

Thanks for the info. I do have a FED III, but I was looking to get away from Brown, and I'm not a fan of gray, so the Stetson Sage looked nice.

kiltie wrote:THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH STETSONS! It's not an Indy hat, per se, granted. But toe to toe with any other modern made dress ( factory )hat, it's just fine.

i have to disagree with you on this one and i'm sure my stetson temple couldn't put up much of a case for what i'm about to say (she hangs on a coat rack by the backdoor and is used on rainy days when i have to clean up after my dog).

she was cheap and came on an overnight package so at least this tells you that ordering from stetson's factory outlet is quick and efficient. the felt itself feels like hardened pasta.....smooth but you question if it ever came from a furry critter. if it is indeed felt (which it is), they have put some bizarre coating on it that i heard was some sort of powdered dye. if you're caught in a huge rainstorm with it, your face will run brown. if you're caught in a light rainstorm with it, your fingers will turn brown as soon as you take it off your head.

the pasta felt is not very cooperative with bashing attemps even with steam....and of course, your hands will turn brown with the cold water attempt so you're pretty much stuck with how it looks.....which is not bad for a dress hat. the secondary construction (sweat, liner, ribbon) is of good quality but the hat body is quite poor. $50 is about the right price for her but in no way is this hat a contender for anything else in the dress hat market. example - a stetson temple, if bought outside the outlet will run about the same price as a standard akubra.......this comparison would be about the same as a bungee rope vs. a morgan 455 whip.....sorry, but there is no comparison. my 2 cents....you don't have to take it

I had one of the older Stetson Temples, from 1984-'85. This was the hat that taught me a bitter lesson about steaming. It shrank into a ridiculous looking little bump of a crown, pockmarked with ugly bumps and wrinkles. It could not be shaped into anything remotely resembling an Indy hat. From what G and others say, the modern Temple has even worse problems. I've had some great quality Stetson hats, including licensed Indy fedoras, but unfortunately the Temple was not one of them.

Jack

eazybox wrote:I had one of the older Stetson Temples, from 1984-'85. This was the hat that taught me a bitter lesson about steaming. It shrank into a ridiculous looking little bump of a crown, pockmarked with ugly bumps and wrinkles. It could not be shaped into anything remotely resembling an Indy hat. From what G and others say, the modern Temple has even worse problems. I've had some great quality Stetson hats, including licensed Indy fedoras, but unfortunately the Temple was not one of them.

Jack

AWWEEE MAN!!! This is why you dont recomend steam?!?! Comparing an experience with a POS stetson compared to an Akubra (whitch is what kind of hat Gabrielle has) is not even in the same universe when it come to bashing...No wonder you're gun shy about steam.

Vegeta wrote:

eazybox wrote:I had one of the older Stetson Temples, from 1984-'85. This was the hat that taught me a bitter lesson about steaming. It shrank into a ridiculous looking little bump of a crown, pockmarked with ugly bumps and wrinkles. It could not be shaped into anything remotely resembling an Indy hat. From what G and others say, the modern Temple has even worse problems. I've had some great quality Stetson hats, including licensed Indy fedoras, but unfortunately the Temple was not one of them.

Jack

AWWEEE MAN!!! This is why you dont recomend steam?!?! Comparing an experience with a POS stetson compared to an Akubra (whitch is what kind of hat Gabrielle has) is not even in the same universe when it come to bashing...No wonder you're gun shy about steam.

You can shrink any hat with steam if you don't do it right and I was only giving Gabrielle the benefit of my experience with hats which goes back 25 years. I'm not the only one who does not recommend using steam and both you and Gabrielle are free to do what you want with your hats. She asked for advice and I gave it. That simple. I wish you'd stop riding me about it.

Jack

With all the advice, I seem to be back to an original problem. A nice sage/fern green hat, but not Stetson. Any thoughts?

eazybox wrote:

Vegeta wrote:

eazybox wrote:I had one of the older Stetson Temples, from 1984-'85. This was the hat that taught me a bitter lesson about steaming. It shrank into a ridiculous looking little bump of a crown, pockmarked with ugly bumps and wrinkles. It could not be shaped into anything remotely resembling an Indy hat. From what G and others say, the modern Temple has even worse problems. I've had some great quality Stetson hats, including licensed Indy fedoras, but unfortunately the Temple was not one of them.

Jack

AWWEEE MAN!!! This is why you dont recomend steam?!?! Comparing an experience with a POS stetson compared to an Akubra (whitch is what kind of hat Gabrielle has) is not even in the same universe when it come to bashing...No wonder you're gun shy about steam.

You can shrink any hat with steam if you don't do it right and I was only giving Gabrielle the benefit of my experience with hats which goes back 25 years. I'm not the only one who does not recommend using steam and both you and Gabrielle are free to do what you want with your hats. She asked for advice and I gave it. That simple. I wish you'd stop riding me about it.

Jack

I'm not trying to "ride" you about it at all....I was just trying to say that now that I know the reason for your hesitation that I understand. Sorry it came off that way bro.

Aztec wrote:With all the advice, I seem to be back to an original problem. A nice sage/fern green hat, but not Stetson. Any thoughts?

You might want to check out hornetshats.com. Their hats come in a wide variety of colors. Their Adventurer is the Indy model, but they have lots of other choices. You could probably find a better hat for less money than the Stetson there.

Jack

EDIT: Vegeta, understood, no worries-- I AM a little sensitive about steaming, not only from that dreadful experience, but others as well. But you are right, the better quality a hat is, the more resistant to these problems it will be. I just ain't willing to take too much of a chance, esp. with the more expensive hats.

eazybox wrote:I just ain't willing to take too much of a chance, esp. with the more expensive hats.

I don't blame ya brotha!!

I had a Steson Temple but it's now my girl's hat.

It's a nice hat, but not a very good Indy hat.

Wheres the hat???

Oh, there it is.

Your'e a lucky man Luke, and the Stetson Temple has never looked so good.

Weston

Luke Warmwater wrote:I had a Steson Temple but it's now my girl's hat.

It's a nice hat, but not a very good Indy hat.

Luke, No disrespect intended but THAT is a woman!!

And you, sir, are a very lucky man!- as am I and my wife agrees!!

HatsDirect sells another fedora called the C.E.O. that comes in a sage color....Bound brim edge...

Other than that...David Morgan sells Moss color Akubras (the 'Lawson' comes to mind)...

http://www.indygear.com/igvendors.html

Theres a small bit on the Stetson in the vendor section.

agent5 wrote:http://www.indygear.com/igvendors.html

Theres a small bit on the Stetson in the vendor section.

There are a couple of minor inaccuracies there. The Temple I owned had a dark brown ribbon, not black. Also, they were not originally sold after Stetson let their license expire; they were introduced while Stetson was still offering licensed Indy hats. Stetson's Nostalgia model was also offered during that time.

Jack

I was gonna go with the Temple before I found Magnoli...it's not a bad hat...but it's not an AB or Mag HJ

Check Aaron's blog at getahaton.com -- recently started carrying Temple in Sage. Also has Akubra CEO in Sage.