Now, I'd love to have a proper clipper hat (from Raiders) or a train station hat (from CS), but money has been tight lately and just can't justify spending big money on another hat.
I've been cruising the web looking for something decent, but, buying a hat off the internet is like giving a haircut over the phone.
So, I took a trip to the local mall this morning (Ontario Mills) and took a look around at the hat shop there (Zena Hats). They do sell alot of fedoras, but, most of them are either made by Dorfman Pacific (
) or Scala, Dorfman's "higher end" hats (slightly less ). They also have one full wall of beutiful Dobbs panama's, but, they were well out of my price range. 
However, one hat on the wall caught my eye. The Bailey's of Hollywood "Gangster" model.
Bailey is primarily a maker of inexpensive wool hats, however, they are made in the good ol' US of A and their moto is "The preservation of American manufacturing" (which was another reason I bought it). What I liked about this hat (besides being made in the US) is that the block is very straight sided and it has a center dent. They had one in stock, and luckily it was my size.
Although it is made of wool, the finish is much nicer than the other wool felt hats I have seen.
It is lined, but, the sweat band is made of cotton (which is nice on hot days as it actually absorbs the sweat). Plus, it is VERY comfortable.
After wearing it all day, the small side dents and uber loose front pinch (or lack ther of) was beginning to bother me. So, I pulled out the trusty garment steamer and went to work.........
(Sorry for the bad pics, I broke the screen on my camera last night and was sort of flying blind)
For comparison, here's a stock photo of the hat from the manufactures website;
I still need to tweak it a little and may eventually give it a dimensional cut (maybe a better ribbon/bow as well).
Personally, I'm extremely pleased how it came out, but I just wanted to see what you guys think about it. Did I do alright?
Hat specs-
Brand: Bailey's of Hollywood.
Model: Gangster
Color: Dark Grey
Brim: 2.5" all the way around.
Front height: 4.5" at crease (after re-crease)
Rear height: 4" at crease.
Side height: 5" at center.
Ribbon: Black, 1 5/8".
