Old Mill Merchantile
In between hitting the books the last few weeks I've also been busy buying straw hats for the coming warm weather. Even though they're not really cool anymore (but is a gentleman either),the Boater or Skimmer depending where you're from is the classic summer hat. They were worn pretty much from the early 1880's until the 2nd World War. I was'nt sure how it would look on me so at first I got a cheaper panama straw version. Fortunately, it looked and fit well so I made the jump to a higher quality hat.
I bought a Scala from Old Mill Merchantile on Ebay. It was only $48, but it was heavier. The downside however it's flexibility caused the brim to be angle down a bit when worn. The flexibility does make the hat stretch to fit if you got a size a bit too small. I did keep the hat because it is snug enough to wear on a windy day.
The hat was not what I wanted so I decided to spend the big money and ordered an Italian hat from Hats Plus. It is much stiffer than any other of the hats I got before, but I do love it. It's thickness makes the hat a bit heavy so it may take a bit getting used to. Almost all the modern boaters come with a blue and red tri-stripe band,so if you don't like it you can change it to whatever you like. I made mine a black 2 inch grosgrain and is easy to do.
I have just ordered a cheaper quality boater that has just become available from Village Hat Shop. It's only $30 and I plan to wear it when it is 90 degrees or more mainly due to it's marked lightness versus the standard boater.
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