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Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:06 pm
by BendingOak
Take a look at the following 3 links.

http://www.hatsdirect.com/help/size.html

http://www.hornetshats.com/hatsizes.php

http://www.toddscostumes.com/indy/HJ%20 ... fedora.htm



lets take 7 3/8 US size for an example.

- hats direct, has it at 23 1/4 inches
- so does hornets hats 23 1/4 inches

- Todds has it at 23 inches


I know what you are saying. Go with the first 2 ( hats direct and hornets hats).

Now lets take a size 7 US sizes.

- hats direct says it's 22 1/2 inches
- hornets hats says it 22 inches
- todds says it's 21 7/8 inches

yikes.

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:10 pm
by jnicktem
Hey Oak, how many inches is a 7 5/8?

haha, just kidding. You can never trust those hat sizes.

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:20 pm
by The Librarian
Ah you can't go wrong with actual measurments. My Penman fits like a glove. Much more comfortable than my 7 5/8 Federation III Dlx.

Marty

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:42 pm
by crismans
The Librarian wrote:Ah you can't go wrong with actual measurments. My Penman fits like a glove. Much more comfortable than my 7 5/8 Federation III Dlx.

Marty
The same with my Penman. It had a small (let me emphasize small) gap at the sides when I first got it (which is head shape, not size) but has now molded to fit me perfectly.

Now if I could only get it to stop eating my brain! :lol:

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:21 pm
by The Librarian
crismans wrote: Now if I could only get it to stop eating my brain! :lol:


Mine tried that. It died from malnutrition.
:lol:

Marty

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:49 pm
by theinterchange
What about this.. I measured my head and it comes out to 7 3/8 but I CANNOT wear the size, I'm 7 1/4ish.. and after repeated measurements, it comes out exactly the same, saying I SHOULD wear a 7 3/8.

Randy

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:55 pm
by The Librarian
theinterchange wrote:What about this.. I measured my head and it comes out to 7 3/8 but I CANNOT wear the size, I'm 7 1/4ish.. and after repeated measurements, it comes out exactly the same, saying I SHOULD wear a 7 3/8.

Randy
What you have to tell the hatter is how many inches or cm your head measures.

Marty

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:01 am
by DR Ulloa
The Librarian wrote:
crismans wrote: Now if I could only get it to stop eating my brain! :lol:


Mine tried that. It died from malnutrition.
:lol:

Marty
My hat swore off brain once it tasted mine...something about "bad juju."

Dave

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:01 am
by darthbish
Answer's easy...

Hatsdirect are right
E.o.S.. :D

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:04 am
by DR Ulloa
Not when you are custom ordering a hat they aren't. You need to give exact measurements. I don't know why someone wouldn't just measure their head and provide that measurement ](*,) . It just seems natural to me.

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:56 am
by darthbish
They...(Hatsdirect)...seem to know the products they sell pretty well.
I wouldn't hesitate to give them a measurment, and take their advice as to what hat size it'd be.

This whole thing begs a question in my mind though....
Does a custom hatter take any shrinkage into account when they make a hat??

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:12 am
by The Librarian
darthbish wrote:They...(Hatsdirect)...seem to know the products they sell pretty well.
I wouldn't hesitate to give them a measurment, and take their advice as to what hat size it'd be.
Exactly what I've been saying. You give them a measurement, not a hat size, and THEY decide what size of their hat you wear. I have a Fed and I gave them a hat size from their chart. It was too big. Sent it back for the next size smaller. After shrinking a bit, it's now snug but not uncomfortable, except when compared to my Penman.
But since the size chart is theirs, wouldn't their choice of hat size be the same as the one I chose from their chart?

Marty

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:24 am
by BendingOak
I add a 1/8th of an inch.

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:26 am
by BendingOak
BendingOak wrote:I add a 1/8th of an inch.


The point of me making this thread isn't to say who's right and who's wrong. It's to show why I ask for head measurements and not hat sizes. ](*,)

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:18 am
by Fedora
This variance in one brand being a certain measurement and another being another for a specific head size is probably due to the mad hatter disease, either that, or they were poor mathmaticicans. :lol: The way the american sizes should work is you divide the head circumference by pi. That gives you the hat size. And this should be consistent from hatter to hatter.......but it ain't! :lol: So, the only way to buy a custom hat is by supplying the head measurement. I suggest to measure 3 different times, one inch above the brows, and send all 3 to the hatter of your choice. With that said, I add an extra 1/8 an inch to compensate for future shrinkage. Unless the customer does not want it, and specifies this with the order. I can't think of much that is more annoying than a hat that it too tight. They give me a headache. Fedora

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:44 pm
by Alathea_Squared
I just emailed them and Deb and I discussed my head size in CM. Ive owned a 59 Fed before (an older one) and it was a bit loose. She said that a 59 fed based on my current measurements of a hair over 58 cm should be right on with the widely discussed .5 cm difference here or there. Ill go with what they said, and since my hat shipped yesterday I should have it soon to see the results.

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:10 am
by BendingOak
I think contacting the person you are buying a hat from is the best thing to do and like Steve said. Give them your head measurements and let them size you up.


Can everyone understand why giving a custom hatter a hat size off of one of these charts doesn't really help. the custom hatter is cutting the sweatband to fit you. One chart you could be 22 1/2 inches, 22 inches or 21 7/8 inches.

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:30 pm
by Indy35
I just did this with Marc to verify the proper size of Henry to get . Like you've all mentioned above and i mentioned to him; i've got five hats all the "same" size and yet some i need foam all the way around, half way around, none at all... you get the point.

Its insane and makes me very nervous when purchasing a lid online.

Head size is everything. ;) ;)

Re: Why I take head measurements and not hat sizes

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:46 pm
by BendingOak
One of the big difference in a factory of the rack hat and a custom made one.

The best way to deal with this is to tell the company you are buying from your true head measurements and let them decide where you fall.

If you give Marc your true measurement, the hat will fit perfectly. He's very good.