What is a western hat?

[baronvoncatania]

Due to a another post I have to ask, How is a western hat different from a cowboy hat? No disrespect intended, I'm asking because I'm from the socialist state of Massachusetts and I would just like to Know.

Thanks

 

[Fox Mike]

I too wondered about that. I have various 'western style' hats that many people call 'cowboy' hats. What differentiates one from the other?

 

[Slenk]

LBJ Stetson

 

[Pat-inCO]

How is a western hat different from a cowboy hat?

A "Western" style hat can be worn by anyone, a "Cowboy" hat is worn by a cowboy.

 

[Pal Val]

If it has a tall crown and a wide brim, it's a western hat. If it has a tall crown, a wide brim, mud, scrapes and sweat all over, it's a cowboy hat.

 

[WIL TERRY]

US wranglers prefer the style hat wore by Tom Sellect in QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER.
STAR OF THE WEST is my prefered hat.
RESISTOL far outsells Stetson here on the Northern plains.
But you can still bet your John B.

 

[stevemb]

Mine are western hats then. I live in NE Ohio and don't even like horses. Well, they made it clear that they didn't like me first. An interesting thread. Am glad that was cleared up.

 

[Fox Mike]

If it has a tall crown and a wide brim, it's a western hat. If it has a tall crown, a wide brim, mud, scrapes and sweat all over, it's a cowboy hat.

OK, thanks for clearing that up for me. I now know that I have some of each.

 

[BearBio]

When I was researching my "persona" for CAS, I was surprised to find out that westerners and cowboys wore a very wide variety of hats. A particular surprise was regarding "Prince Alberts" (Homburgs). They were very popular during the 1870-1900 period in the western towns (Think Seth Bullock on "Deadwood"). Derby's were also popular. A little later, it was fedoras.

 

[graygun]

Due to a another post I have to ask, How is a western hat different from a cowboy hat? No disrespect intended, I'm asking because I'm from the socialist state of Massachusetts and I would just like to Know.

Thanks

I know a guy who grew up in Woburn;he lives near here now. We worked on a contract at a local base for 11 years.

 

[6gun]

High quality hats made from Beaver fur felt, Stetson or Resistol make the best, can be bought at western wear stores in the west, do not confuse them with cheap novelty look a like hats made or wool or other cheap materials.

 

[huntsman22]

stetson and resististol make their share of wool and cheapies, but do offer some good stuff.......

 

[Bob Wright]

I believe it was my post that started this whole thing.

In my definition at least, a western hat is what you might wear on Sunday or to some nice event, wedding, or funeral. The cowboy hat is less dressy, often times can't be worn in an automobile or pick up truck. The cowboy hat is usually the "ten gallon" hat.

This is a western hat:



Bob Wright

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well in Texas we call them Cowboy hats. Maybe we should call them Southwestern hats.
One of the first made by JB was "The Boss of The Plains" Look it up for the story.
I think what all those Country Western Singes wear are Western hats.

I call this a Cowboy hat. Has quite a bit of Gunpowder on it :wink: Don't have any pictures of my others.

 

[BearBio]

I'm the one in the hat!

 

[huntsman22]

In Colorado, there has to be cows involved for it to be considered a 'cowboy hat', elsewise it's a western, truck driver, or 'play cowboy' model. This one has some powder residue, also......
you have to click the vid.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

I'm the one in the hat!

And let me ad those are some mighty fine Cowboy Hats

All Hat and no cows. I did all that Cow Punching crap on my Grandfather's ranch to last me a life time. Well hell I guess it has :wink:

 

[Fox Mike]

I believe it was my post that started this whole thing.

In my definition at least, a western hat is what you might wear on Sunday or to some nice event, wedding, or funeral. The cowboy hat is less dressy, often times can't be worn in an automobile or pick up truck. The cowboy hat is usually the "ten gallon" hat.

This is a western hat:



Bob Wright

I have one of JB's in white for summer and black for winter that are my 'go to meetin' and dress up covers. The others I own have 'personality' if you know what I mean.

 

[6gun]

stetson and resististol make their share of wool and cheapies, but do offer some good stuff.......

Yes sir the higher the X's the higher the quality 30X is a fine hat, use to be hat crown, brim and creased for different rodeo events, all my hats are 7 3/4" crown 6 1/2" brim with bull rider crease, the shorter crown hat crease like in Bob W's Avstar we use to call the roper crease.

Most good western hats use to come open crown which means no crease on the crown and would be creased to buyers taste, now days looks like the makers are just shipping most new hats with the roper crease and few open crowns any more I don't know what's up with that did they forget old western tradition or what?. :?

I worked in a western store when I was in high school and rodeoed weekends is how I know about hats I was the best hat shaper around, after graduation I Rodeoed full time till into my mid 20's.

 

[Robes]

I get my hats here....http://www.mackeycustomhats.com/
In the summer, I wear a Montana. The brim is so wide,....I can sell shade :mrgreen:

Depends on the time of the year which hat I wear..... Here is a "Rancher" in palm leaf..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiMWSBSSURQ

 

[Ruger36]

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u652/ruger36/002_zps1beafe80.jpgIMG http://rs1326.pbsrc.com/albums/u652/ruger36/006_zpsebb2fa5a.jpg~c100 The light brown hat is a Biltmore /Canadian, The darker brown a Schafer / Oklahoma, The off white a Rand / Montana

 

[Busterswoodshop]

Just because a hat has more X's doesn't necessarily means it's a better hat.
The more X's means the tighter the weave of whatever material the hat it is made from.
For instance a 4X pure Beaver hat is a much better hat than a 10X Beaver blend hat made by the same company even though they are the same color.


As far as a western hat VS a cowboy hat goes.
I guess it would depend on how high you wear it on your head.

 

[6gun]

Just because a hat has more X's doesn't necessarily means it's a better hat.
The more X's means the tighter the weave of whatever material the hat it is made from.
For instance a 4X pure Beaver hat is a much better hat than a 10X Beaver blend hat made by the same company even though they are the same color.


As far as a western hat VS a cowboy hat goes.
I guess it would depend on how high you wear it on your head.

No that's not correct 4X has a very low content of beaver fur not even close to pure beaver, weave mean nothing in fur felts furs are blended not woven, the tighter weave the more X refers to stray hats they are woven, we are taking fur hats here.

The “X” markings in a felt cowboy hats indicates how much fur content is included in the fur blend used to make the cowboy hat. The more fur blend used to make the cowboy hat, the higher the “X” marking for that cowboy hat.

A 2X hat has the lowest content of fur felt for a cowboy hat - a 100X cowboy hat has a much higher content of fur felt. Fur felt cowboy hats are also available in 200X and up.

The price of the hat is also reflected in the “X” content of the felt cowboy hat. The difference can also be "felt" in the feel and look of the cowboy hat.

A 2X felt will have a rough and stiffer feel and look and cost less vs a 100X which will have a soft silky feel and look at a much higher price.

 

[Ruger Packer]

Y'all that come to Tulsa for the BIG Wannamacher gun show should check out Drysdale's Western Wear next time you come to town. Its located 2 miles east and a mile south of the Fairgrounds. They'll sell you a hat and shape it to your liking while you wait.

 

[jimbo1096]

I'm just downright jealeous 'cause I never looked good in a hat!

 

[Busterswoodshop]

Just because a hat has more X's doesn't necessarily means it's a better hat.
The more X's means the tighter the weave of whatever material the hat it is made from.
For instance a 4X pure Beaver hat is a much better hat than a 10X Beaver blend hat made by the same company even though they are the same color.


As far as a western hat VS a cowboy hat goes.
I guess it would depend on how high you wear it on your head.

No that's not correct 4X has a very low content of beaver fur not even close to pure beaver, weave mean nothing in fur felts furs are blended not woven, the tighter weave the more X refers to stray hats they are woven, we are taking fur hats here.

The “X” markings in a felt cowboy hats indicates how much fur content is included in the fur blend used to make the cowboy hat. The more fur blend used to make the cowboy hat, the higher the “X” marking for that cowboy hat.

A 2X hat has the lowest content of fur felt for a cowboy hat - a 100X cowboy hat has a much higher content of fur felt. Fur felt cowboy hats are also available in 200X and up.

The price of the hat is also reflected in the “X” content of the felt cowboy hat. The difference can also be "felt" in the feel and look of the cowboy hat.

A 2X felt will have a rough and stiffer feel and look and cost less vs a 100X which will have a soft silky feel and look at a much higher price.

If that is the case what is the difference in a Stetson 4X straw hat and a Stetson 10X straw hat in the same style ?
Is an ACCME 20X hat of the same quality as a Stetson 20X hat.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Straw hats don't even apply to the X rating.
The best hat X is 100% belly skin beaver and no rabbit had to die :wink:

I'll take a 1930s 5x Carlsbad crease Stetson Please

Isn't the internet wonderful.


Felt Quality Guide


Go to any hat shop or westernwear store and look around. You’re bound to come across a bevy of hats with different “X” ratings. XXX quality. 10X beaver. But what does it all mean?

I sell a lot of vintage hats and a question I get all the time is, “What would you estimate the X value of the felt as?” It’s a simple question with a not-so-simple answer.

Photobucket

X value depends on age
Over the years, there has been significant “X Value Inflation”. An example: In the 1930s, Stetson’s top of the line X value was a 5X. 5X got you an undyed pure beaver hat of the highest order- the kind of hat given as presentation pieces, and selling, when new, for about eight times (or more) what a standard fur felt Stetson would have run. These days, Stetson’s comparable offering would probably be the 100X El presidente, which retails in the neighborhood of a thousand dollars. It’s not that the hat is 20 times better quality than their old top of the line, it’s purely inflation.
And if you compare apples to apples- the same manufacturer with the same X rating, but from different years, you may be in for a shock. I have had 7X Stetsons from the 1950s which have beautifully dense and soft to the touch felt, and 7X stetsons from the 1970s which are rough and porous.

X value depends on maker
The X rating system is not consistent maker to maker. A vintage XXX Stetson is not the same quality as a vintage XXX Resistol is not the same quality as a vintage XXX Portis. Some makers used Xs, others used Stars, but the idea is the same. For a given year and a given maker, the system can be useful. A new 10X is a better and more expensive hat than a new 3X from the same maker. But with no real industry oversight, no “Felt Hat FDA” to answer to, there’s nothing to prevent a company from putting forward a hat of inferior quality and marking it 3X to go up against 3Xs of other companies. To defend against this “X Undercutting”, other companies have to raise their X values to reflect what other companies are making, and next thing you know, you get sometimes extreme, and uneven inflation.
Another high priced example: Stetson’s thousand dollar offering is a 100X. Larry Mahan’s thousand dollar offering is a 500X. Is the Larry Mahan a better hat? Maybe, maybe not. Is it 5 times the quality of the Stetson, and therefore are you getting some kind of amazing deal on it? No.

X value depends on product lineup
Stetson makes hats marked 2X all the way up through 1000X. What does Stetson have to say about what their X’s mean? Not much at all. The X value really depends on what a particular company decides to mark the bottom and top qualities as, and then how they decide to break that down.

X value depends on marketing
2X beaver quality? That sounds okay, right? Must have some good beaver content in it. Well- no.
2X beaver can be a completely wool hat depending on the company and year. No beaver content, no fur felt in it at all.

X value is different straw vs. felt
You can buy a 10,000X Straw cowboy hat new for under $200. Not that it really means a whole lot in felt, but as both felt and straw hats use an X rating system, it would seem that it’s the same system. Unfortunately, it’s not. It’s a different system, equally arbitrary, and equally meaningless outside of individual product lines.

The X system can be useful in some ways, though. If you’re buying new from a particular maker, you can use it to compare models. Similarly, if you know how to accurately date vintage hats, you can use it somewhat similarly. But generally speaking, when buying vintage hats, it’s more of a distraction than an asset when talking quality, especially for beginner collectors, people who buy primarily modern production hats, or people with a background in western hats.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Do you know why cowboy hats are turned up on the sides?







So you can fit three in the front seat of a pickup truck.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

 

[6gun]

Do you know why cowboy hats are turned up on the sides?







So you can fit three in the front seat of a pickup truck.

Back in the 70's that joke was so you could fit four in a pickup, either pickups shrunk or people got fatter.