Fedoras

Men's Dress Hats: questions for buyer and seller.
There are a variety of styles of hats that fall under the category of Men's Dress Hats. The most famous is the Fedora which has a fairly wide latitude and parameters for dimensions yet still is a Fedora. If you have questions as to whether or not your hat is a fedora, visit some of the online stores and check the pictures to get a clue, because many sellers are calling hats a fedora that clearly are not! Homburgs, Bowlers, Derbies, Top Hats, Pork Pies, Alpine Hats and Stingy Brims are all part of the Dress Hat mix and you'll be better off getting your description right.
Fedoras and other hats were often made of a fur felt such as Beaver, Rabbit, Nutria along withsome exotic species, or syntheticand even can be a blend of furs. Fur felts are considered to be Better to Best in quality for hats. If you can be sure of the fur or blend be sure to list the information as it can really stimulate the buyers interest. Wool felts are much more a lower grade though serviceable hat. The fedora's cousin the Western or Cowboy Hat often listed the Beaver fur content as a series of XXXX's the more the better, but the grading was not consistant from maker to maker.
The quality of the felt, particularly fur felt will allow for cleaning and reblocking to get a crisp shape back to the hat BUT the charges for these proffesional services can be quite high. Also, the local hatter may no longer be local, so a buyer may need to send his new acquisition across the continent to get any restorative work or cleaning done by a reputable hatter, thereforeboth restoration and shipping gees into play in the value of that hat. Hat geponents such as sweat bands and ribbons or liners may need replacement which can really add to the cost of a vintage hat. Holes in the felt may not be repairable! Holes from handling such as at the pinch or the dreaded MOTH holes and divots can reduce the value considerably. Be fair: list and show in photos as best as possible all defects. Dirt and dust may not be too difficult to remove but smudges, oil and sweat stains and any damages must be listed and shown. Caution: untrained cleaning can damage a hat.
Smells or odors should be noted if not cured by a good airing out. You may try a refrigerator odor baking soda box inside a plastic bag with the hat for a few days. Just don't get the baking soda on the hat!
Pictures thatclearlyshow the details will help the prospective buyer. If you have a good camera to do "macro" pictures or can enlarge with a photo program, try to show all sweat band imprints, and liner details! Also check behind the sweat band for any tags or writing for more information, these bits and pieces can often mean a lot to a knowledgeble buyer. Styles of 'crests' and print style can help identify the time of manufacture. All of this info is good detective work to provide toyour target consumer!
Get pictures of the hat from top, bottom and sides showing the ribbon and bow. Try to get natural lighting to indicate the actual color of the hat. Clarity is much better than out of focus shots. Fuzzy shots make the viewer feel they are being used to hide defects. Don't clutter the shot with other stuff or busy backgrounds. PLEASE, restrain yourself, don't be artsy or cutsey with the pictures, let the hat speak for itself.
Your write up: Measurements and dimensions are critical for a true appreciation of the style and the most critical: theSIZE of the hat. Inches with fractions will work best in the USA. Describe the crown give a height witha front and back height. Describe the brim, measure the width of the brim, does it curl? Up or down. Is there a ribbon or some sort of binding at the edge of the brim?
Measure the width of the ribbon around the crown and say what color it is as accurately as possible.
Even if you do find a size tag it is good to measure as hatstend to shrink with age! Measure around the inside at the sweat band with string or a cloth or paper tape.
If the size tagindicates Oval or Long Oval list that info too!
21-3/4" = 6-7/8ths,
22" = a 7,
22-1/2" = a 7-1/8th
22-3/4" = 7-1/4
23" = 7-3/8
23-1/2" = 7-1/2
24" = 7-5/8
24-3/8" = 7-3/4
24-7/8" = 7-7/8
25-1/8" = 8
Check for a wind cord or wind trolley: a button and cord for attaching the hat to a shirt or jacket button to keep from loosing it on a windy day.
In the okay "Title" try to list: Style, Maker, Model Name, Color and Size!
In your write up list as much info as possible. Any questions that a collector may ask you, please publish as it is NOT priviledged information and will help you acurately sell the hat. Unless you have information as to the age of the hat, don't guess, hat styles were often revived such as in the 60's and later, soyou easily could be wrong.
Damaged hats or dirty hats may be restorable and just may bea rare,notable style or model! It could be worth listing, so let the collectors get into a bidding war over it.
If you have the box that goes to the hat, try to keep them together and offer as a set. Also the box may have more details about the hat or where it was originally purchased.
Good listings make for better buying experiences! Happy selling!