Club Obi Wan

I picked up a Henry over the holidays and got my standard hat size, 58. I love the hat, but it seems to run larger than my other 58 sized fedoras . Is this common for the Henry? I've had to add some padding to he hat to get it to hold tight to my head and reveal it's shape.

Anybody else had this issue with the Henry or is it just me?

Best,
B

I wear a size 7 1/4 which is the ballpark of a 58. I bought a second hand Henry 58 and it fits loose on me as well. Now I have a couple of old stetsons in the same size 7 1/4 or 58 which fit nice and snug. I also have a fitted ball cap that says 7 1/4 but the actual cm is 57.7 and it fits like my stetsons. Different hatters have their own ballpark ranges. So the Henry is a 58 (and it may be a true 58) which is slightly too big. Thats why I placed an order for a custom fitted AB. Just so I can get it just right, and just right for me is a 57.7

I experienced the same thing with my Henry. It seemed a little large when I got it, I solved that with a little of the insulation foam like you receive with an akubra. I've had mine about year now and it has shrunk and fits very nicely now without the foam, however I leave it in. I just prefer a slightly snugger hat.

Yes- my 60 Henry is actually a little bigger that my 61 Uptowner and WAY bigger than my 60 HJ.

Yup. I have 58 that is bigger than my FED III. I have had it for a year and it has not shrunk. I guesss I'll have to use the foam trick.

Mighty_Draw wrote:I experienced the same thing with my Henry. It seemed a little large when I got it, I solved that with a little of the insulation foam like you receive with an akubra. I've had mine about year now and it has shrunk and fits very nicely now without the foam, however I leave it in. I just prefer a slightly snugger hat.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
I'm a solid 7 1/4 in all my other hats, but wonder if I shouldn't have gone with a 57 in the Henry. We should make a note of this phenomenon some where at COW as people are looking for hats.

Mighty Draw,
You say yours shrank. Did it do this on it's own or did you do something to it?
My Fed IV shrank a bit on it's own, but I'm under the impression that because the Henry is a nicer hat it's not going to shrink.
Am I wrong?


Digger4Glory,
I envy your solution indeed;)

Enjoy the heck out of that AB when it comes around.

Thanks all,
B

I have experienced the same issue with my Henry as well. I am a size 22in, slightly long oval, and 22in converted into centimeters is 56cm. So, I ordered a size 56, thinking that it will fit perfectly since I have two other hats that are this same size. When it arrives though, I am very displeased to find out that the hat is so large that it sinks to the tops of my ears. I was forced to load the hat with paper towel strips behind the sweat and have worn it quite often in hope that it will conform to my head and shrink, but no luck so far. Despite this little detail, I love my hat and am very happy with my purchase, but I'll continue with the test to see if the fitting of the hat improves with frequent usage.

Bdgsi11 wrote:I have experienced the same issue with my Henry as well. I am a size 22in, slightly long oval, and 22in converted into centimeters is 56cm. So, I ordered a size 56, thinking that it will fit perfectly since I have two other hats that are this same size. When it arrives though, I am very displeased to find out that the hat is so large that it sinks to the tops of my ears. I was forced to load the hat with paper towel strips behind the sweat and have worn it quite often in hope that it will conform to my head and shrink, but no luck so far. Despite this little detail, I love my hat and am very happy with my purchase, but I'll continue with the test to see if the fitting of the hat improves with frequent usage.

I'm very much in the same boat with you here.
It's too big - plain and simple - but the hat is SO nice and so much nicer than my Fed, I can't give it up.

It is somewhat comforting to know I'm not alone in all this;)

B

Let me jump in here.

First you can't go by other brands sizes. I have yet to see one company that has their sizes spot on except for one. The henry's do run a tad larger than what they should be. Again I will state that I ask for head measurements so I can size you up. I will never take a hat size for a Henry or one of my custom/handmade hats. If you go to a few different sites and acth up their hat size charts you will see they never matched. This bugged me so I made my own starting from scratch. Thats right I did the math. Scary as that sounds. Then I had Marc Kitter double check my work.


cm = inches US size


49 cm = 19.29 inches 6 1/8
50 cm = 19.68 inches 6 1/4
51 cm = 20.08 inches 6 3/8
52 cm = 20.47 inches 6 1/2
53 cm = 20.87 inches 6 5/8
54 cm = 21.26 inches 6 3/4
55 cm = 21.65 inches 6 7/8
56 cm = 22.05 inches 7
57 cm = 22.44 inches 7 1/8
58 cm = 22.83 inches 7 1/4
59 cm = 23.23 inches 7 3/8
60 cm = 23.62 inches 7 1/2
61 cm = 24.02 inches 7 5/8
62 cm = 24.41 inches 7 3/4

Well, I followed John's advice when ordering my Henry. I measured out at exactly 57 cm (go figure). I rechecked multiple times to be sure on John's recommendation. When measured in inches on the same tape measure, it's just shy of 22.5 inches, so 22.44 is dead on.

In my military head gear I vary from 7 1/8 to 7 1/4 depending on the cover and who manufactured it. I had an Akubra many years ago (non-Indy) and that was a 58 if I remember right. (Loved that hat, sorry it got destroyed... )

When I get my Henry (hopefully soon ), I'll let you know how it fits so we can add to the sample size.

I didn't have to do anything to the hat except wear it, about a year on it fits pretty well. It might not take yours as long to shrink up and fit better if you wear it more than I have worn mine. I really only wear it maybe once a week or to do outdoor activities.

BendingOak wrote:Let me jump in here.

First you can't go by other brands sizes. I have yet to see one company that has their sizes spot on except for one. The henry's do run a tad larger than what they should be. Again I will state that I ask for head measurements so I can size you up. I will never take a hat size for a Henry or one of my custom/handmade hats. If you go to a few different sites and acth up their hat size charts you will see they never matched. This bugged me so I made my own starting from scratch. Thats right I did the math. Scary as that sounds. Then I had Marc Kitter double check my work.


cm = inches US size


49 cm = 19.29 inches 6 1/8
50 cm = 19.68 inches 6 1/4
51 cm = 20.08 inches 6 3/8
52 cm = 20.47 inches 6 1/2
53 cm = 20.87 inches 6 5/8
54 cm = 21.26 inches 6 3/4
55 cm = 21.65 inches 6 7/8
56 cm = 22.05 inches 7
57 cm = 22.44 inches 7 1/8
58 cm = 22.83 inches 7 1/4
59 cm = 23.23 inches 7 3/8
60 cm = 23.62 inches 7 1/2
61 cm = 24.02 inches 7 5/8
62 cm = 24.41 inches 7 3/4

Question, while we're on the topic of sizing....if I wanted an Indy hat, would it be recommended to also get a dif. size crown and brim depending on my face and size so that I'm not wearing specs for HF which look great on him but might look bad on me?

I'm 5'9 and have a dif. shaped face and head then HF (he's a long oval from what I've read). Therefore the crown always looks huge on me and the brim. Still possible to get the stovepipe look with a shorter crown or is it necessary for the look of an Indy hat to avoid tapering?

Wouldn't hurt to send a pic along for the hatter to take a look.

I gave John my exact head measurement for my Henry and he told me not to worry. I trust John in the size he chooses for me. Even if it feels a tad loose at first, based on what people are saying, these hats tend to 'shrink' over time (how and why does a hat shrink?)

BendingOak wrote:Wouldn't hurt to send a pic along for the hatter to take a look.

That's probably what I'll do and in all likely hood, once I'm back on my feet from being unemployed you will be that hatter, . I just know I have a round head with a square face...which means a hat designed for a long oval and a long face...probably and won't looks as good on me. No offense to any members on this site but the Indy fedora doesn't always look the best on everyone....and I want a hat that will be Indy but will also look good on me.

I know my experience with fedoras that are no where near the quality of an AB is that they do shrink....especially after a good raining......

generalFROSTY wrote:I gave John my exact head measurement for my Henry and he told me not to worry. I trust John in the size he chooses for me. Even if it feels a tad loose at first, based on what people are saying, these hats tend to 'shrink' over time (how and why does a hat shrink?)

taper = shrink. Search around here for threads on "taper" and you'll see why.

Also, the sweatband will shrink, too.

generalFROSTY wrote:I gave John my exact head measurement for my Henry and he told me not to worry. I trust John in the size he chooses for me. Even if it feels a tad loose at first, based on what people are saying, these hats tend to 'shrink' over time (how and why does a hat shrink?)

I did the same thing, and at this point I have no reason not to trust John's judgement. Regarding any "shrinkage" due to perspiration or precipitation, as John so aptly pointed out to me: "That's what a hat-jack is for."

jkdbuck76 wrote: taper = shrink.

That's not necessarily true of all hats, remember. Sure, if the hat is a stove-pipe, straight sided hat, then the taper is a sign of such things. But plenty of fedora styles are designed to be visually tapered, so don't equate all taper to shrinking.

Sorry.

Oh, no worries! We Indy fans are so focused on the stovepipe Indy fedora that it's hard to look at a tapered hat sometimes without thinking it's shrunk!

binkmeisterRick wrote:Oh, no worries! We Indy fans are so focused on the stovepipe Indy fedora that it's hard to look at a tapered hat sometimes without thinking it's shrunk!

This is very true.

Bartram wrote:I picked up a Henry over the holidays and got my standard hat size, 58. I love the hat, but it seems to run larger than my other 58 sized fedoras . Is this common for the Henry? I've had to add some padding to he hat to get it to hold tight to my head and reveal it's shape.

Anybody else had this issue with the Henry or is it just me?

Best,
B

+1 here! I should have gotten a size down; after a year, my Henry hasn't shrunk enough to remove the padding. I wonder if it can be reblocked a size smaller?

Baldwyn wrote:

Bartram wrote:I picked up a Henry over the holidays and got my standard hat size, 58. I love the hat, but it seems to run larger than my other 58 sized fedoras . Is this common for the Henry? I've had to add some padding to he hat to get it to hold tight to my head and reveal it's shape.

Anybody else had this issue with the Henry or is it just me?

Best,
B

+1 here! I should have gotten a size down; after a year, my Henry hasn't shrunk enough to remove the padding. I wonder if it can be reblocked a size smaller?

Yes it can be reblocked a size smaller. Marc did this with mine (which needed it due to my mistake ).

Regards, Geert

Who could reblock a Henry in the Us? Does penman hats have the block? Any one know? Reblocking to a smaller size sounds like a great solution for me.

B

It is just a tad (or a smidgen) too big so I put a little bit of left over Akubra window weatherstripping on the sides since I'm long oval. I expect it will shrink a little in time and I'll get to take out the tape.

Bartram wrote:Who could reblock a Henry in the Us? Does penman hats have the block? Any one know? Reblocking to a smaller size sounds like a great solution for me.

B

AFAIK, only the factory has that block. Marc reblocked mine on his Raiders block, which is a bit different from the original.

That being said, I do think Penman is your best option for now.

Regards, Geert