Language Barriers: Trilby vs. Fedora

As an American living in the UK, I have noticed quite a difference in the English language used here compared to our version in the US.  You catch the tube not the subway.  You put on trousers not pants.  You grab a pint with mates not a beer with buddies.  And of course you watch the football instead of soccer. 

Indiana Jones Trilby or Fedora?

 As hatters we have run into a few problems which arise from this difference in language.  Our company first noticed that UK based websites were calling the Indiana Jones hat a trilby instead of a fedora. This was contradictory to everything we had known as American hatters.  In the states a trilby hat is a short brimmed, cut and sewn hat that is more like what Sean Connery wears in the 3^rd Indiana Jones movie than what Harrison Ford wears.  So of course we were perplexed as to what to name this classic hat on our UK site HatsandCaps.co.uk. 

Many evenings were spent looking at what other sites were calling trilby hats and what they were calling fedora hats.  Unfortunately, we noticed that it seemed to be at the companies’ discretion.  There is no guideline, or industry standard when it comes to this.  We would meet with different hat manufacturers and each had their own opinion on the matter. 

We have had this same naming issue with many hats.  In the states flat caps are ivy caps.  Baker boy hats are newsboy caps.  Fancy dress hats are novelty hats.  All we were hoping to do was create a site which was easy to use and navigate, and instead we couldn’t even decide what to name our categories and products.

As of now, we still have no clear indication that there is an objective definition as to what a trilby should be and what a fedora should be.  So, we made up our own definitions.  That’s right; we put our foot down.  Now at HatsandCaps.co.uk we are saying, “trilbys are 2 inches or less, fedoras are over 2 inches bottom line.”

Some may ask “Why did you choose this random length of 2 inches?”  As an internet company we have to try and market our hats to the public the best that we can.  But as hatters we also want to hold on to some traditional industry lingo.  We couldn’t bring ourselves to name a big brimmed hat (the Indiana Jones hat) a trilby, it seemed contrary to what we had learned from many years in the business. 

That is it.  We leave it at that.  If you have hard proof that can show us a trilby is x and a fedora is y, then we will gladly change our product names.  Until then, we are staying with our own made up terms and hope that the world follows.  Don’t get us started on whether or not it is a bowler or a derby. 

Hats & Lingerie, A Perfect Mix.

As hat wholesalers, our staff here at Village Hats gets inquires from businesses in many different areas (Not always hat stores).  Some people call looking for fancy dress hats, while others are looking for classic styles like trilby hats and flat caps.  Well we just got pictures from one of our customers: Agent Provocateur (www.agentprovocateur.com) a lingerie store who used our top hats in their store displays and we have to say, everything came out looking great.  It might not be what most people wear when donning a top hat, but as hatters we always love seeing a classic style expanding in to new territories. 

Take a look at our top hats, Wholesale top hats, and wholesale hats: 

As you can see from these pictures, you don’t have to be in the hat business to buy from us.   

 

 

 

EU site: http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/

US site: http://www.villagehatshop.com/

The Making Of A Jaxon Basque Beret

We here at Village Hats www.hatsandcaps.co.uk are always on the lookout for the highest quality hats.  For sometime we searched for a factory that could supply us with the finest quality basque berets.  Well we found it.  Here are some photos from the factory which show the process that each one of our Jaxon Basque Berets goes through before arriving here at our Wembley warehouse. 

This is a very old fulling machine, but it still works. (Remember, our European factory where the Jaxon Beret is manufactured is 149-years old.) A fulling machine is synonymous with a felting machine. This is the method by which the wool is condensed.

 

 

We still use the wood moulds, in combination with new machines.

 

 

 

 

 In this part of the process a mould is placed in the beret. This is done one by one before putting them in a huge oven to give them the shape they have.

 

 

 

 

The oven.

 

 

 

 

 

The berets all stacked together will soon have a sewn leather band and lining.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shearing machine.

 

 

 

 

 

Here berets are checked one by one. Any non-woven thread is taken out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After inspection the finished berets are boxed and shipped to us here in Wembley, then to your doorstep.

 

 

 

 

There you have it, an classic style made with the finest materials and traditional machines.  Interested in buying?  Take a look at the Jaxon Basque Beret, or take a look at all of our berets, or our wholesale berets.

Where to find a Borsalino Hat in the UK

When we first started this website (www.hatsandcaps.co.uk) last September, we had a few customer call up and ask “Where can I find a Borsalino Hat in the UK?”

Before we get to the answer of that question perhaps we should provide some history on Borsalino. This is from one of our owners Fred Belinsky: “Many consider Italy’s Borsalino Hat Company the finest hat maker in the world. In business since 1857, the name Borsalino is synonymous with a fedora style hat that is associated with an elegence and style that is purely southern European. Borsalino however makes a wide variety of hats and caps in felt, straw and cloth. Their fastidiousness for detail, great materials and styling is true for their entire line. If you like hats and caps, you may want to introduce yourself to Borsalino.

They will be celebrating their 150th Birthday next year and they are very excited about it. We saw the Factory in 2 steps: from the old wood bins of rabbit fur being felted into sheets of loose felt, to very end where 1 woman tapes up the boxes that arrive into our stores.

Borsalino hats may be expensive, but there is a reason behind the cost. The Employees are very proud of their work and they have every right to be, each hat is made with such care and attention, it’s truly amazing. They have been in business for 149 years, let me repeat 149 years! So if you have a customer interested in a Borsalino hat, make sure they know that the hat they buy is of the utmost quality.”

Now back to the question, Where to find a Borsalino in the UK. We were not able to help our customers for some time, because no one seemed to sell these great hats online. Well, last week we received our first shipment from Borsalino for our summer ’09 order, and Borsalino did not disappoint. We are now carrying beautiful light weight flat caps and straw trilbys and fedoras from Borsalino. We also got one style of their fantastic panama hats.

Hats of the Famous

Famous Hats

There is a new exhibition opening at the V&A next week that is dedicated to hats.  This exhibit will display hats made for and worn by many famous people throughout history.  You can see hats worn by queens, movie stars and rock n roll stars, as well as styles from the worlds top milliners.  This article explains it all:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/4623039/Celebrities-hats-go-on-display-for-London-Fashion-Week.html

We are hatters, and love it when celebrities make a fashion statement with a unique hat.  Here are some of our own favorite famous hats:

 The Queen in a Formal Hat:      Madonna’s Cowboy Hat:

                          

 Depp’s Pirate Hat:                                  Indy’s Fedora Hat:                                                 

                                                    

The Blues Brother’s Hat:                       Golfer Sam Snead’s Hat:                

                                                         

Flava Flav’s Viking Helmet:                      The Godfather’s Hat:

                                       

  Brad Pitt’s Flat Cap:                         Samuel L. Jackson’s Kangol:

                                    

     Slash’s Top Hat:                           Charlie Chaplin’s Bowller Hat:

                                    

  Ella Fitzgerald’s Formal Hat:                 Jacky Kennedy’s Pillbox:

                                     

 

 

So if you are in London, go check out this great new exhibition for hat lovers.  If you want that famous look come see us at http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/

 

Stetson Hats, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

One of our goals when starting this hat business (www.hatsandcaps.co.uk) here in north London was to supply some of the best hats in the world.  That is why we order from the best hat manufacturers around.  We carry styles from UK manufactures such as Christys’ Hats and Kangol, and from US companies like Bailey Hats and Stetson Hats.  With Stetson specifically we feel that we have brought in the best selection in the UK.  What we didn’t realize was that many UK companies are calling their cheap, poorly made hats stetsons. 

We are here to set the record straight.  Stetsons are high quality hats that do not go for under £10.  When you go to google’s shopping section and type in stetson, a lot of the stuff you see is low quality.  We want you to know that the real Stetsons are of the highest quality in the world and are worth the extra money.  Don’t be fooled by the low prices, most of the hats labeled stetsons are really quite bad.  We imagine that these companies are using this famous name to trick people, or trick the google search engine which delivers results to users.  Because of this, we feel the term Stetson is not what it is in the US where the brand is from.

We hope that by selling the genuine article, we can give Stetson the recognition it deserves here in the UK.  We carry authentic Stetson Hats in many styles.  From their famous cowboy hats to trilby hats and fedora hats, Stetson makes high quality hats.  So don’t be fooled.  If you see the term stetson used with a hat for £9.95, it is most definitely a bogus, low quality hat.  If you want the real deal, give us a call, we can help you out.

Navigating The Hat Business

Dealing with the guys in the hat business is not unlike the story of the two rival businessmen who run into each other at the Warsaw train station.  “Where are you going?” says the first, with a touch to the brim of his fedora hat.  “To Minsk” replies the other.  “To Minsk, eh?  What a nerve you have! I know that you are telling me that you are going to Minsk because you want me to believe that you are going to Pinsk.  But it just so happens that I know you really are going to Minsk.  So why are you lying to me?” 

 

Actually, my guess is that our industry is not as deceptive as most.  First of all, our products are rather benign.   No reason to lie and cheat about the nature of hats (contrast us with the tobacco industry, for example).  Furthermore, I suspect that the small size of our trade keeps us somewhat more personally connected than people are in large industries.  Does the size of a community have a bearing on the incentive to maintaining one’s good name?  I think it does (although some of our hat fellows must be the exception that proves the rule). 

 

At the risk of sounding like a lecturing old grandfather, I’d like to address the young guns who have recently entered the world of the hat business.  Your major stock in trade is your reputation and nothing will serve you better long-term than developing one for integrity.  In the case of The Village Hat Shop, it is a fact that many hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent with vendor “x” rather than with vendor “y” on the basis of this issue alone.  Multiply our single experience by that of others in the trade and it is clear that this can, and often does, make for the difference between success and failure. 

 

And as the Warsaw train station story illustrates, you might as well just tell the truth.  No one will believe you either way. 

 

Fred Belinsky

The Village Hat Shop

Hello UK!

Welcome to Village Hats blog.  We are a new hat company to the UK, based out of Wembley.  Our website is HatsandCaps.co.uk.  We also have our own line of hats Jaxon Hats.  Feel free to check out the website jaxonhats.com to see what we hope to achieve with the line.  The articles that appear here will be about our venture in the UK.  We hope that you find them helpful and insightful about everything involving hats.  To start you should know that we sell all types of hats and have been selling hats in the US for 28 years at VillageHatShop.com.  We have many different style by many major brands in the hat industry.  Take a look at our hats by style and our hats by brand.  This blog is not for us, but for you to find out about hats and to let us know what you think of the site.  if you have questions about the products on our pages or if we will be getting new products in the near future please contact us at cs@hatsandcaps.co.uk. 

Thanks for reading.

Village Hats

HatsandCaps.co.uk