Christys' Hats--Any Opinions?

[pejsek]

After an unreasonably early encounter with a minor form of skin cancer, I've become an inveterate wearer of hats. Over time--and perhaps because I live in less-formal San Francisco and don't work a job at an office--I've come to favor wool and wool tweed trilbys (the major exception being the loden green fur felt hats Habig once made for Brooks Brothers). I have a couple of the Lock wool hats which I like well enough. My recent favorite has been a dramatic wide-brim forest green/brown/cream large check trilby made decades ago by the mysterious J.S. Wilson, London for Robert Kirk. (I made the mistake of wearing this hat to England last summer, prompting the passport officer to ask if I'd come for a spot of pheasant hunting.) Yesterday I received my first Christys' hat in the mail. It's a vintage Donegal tweed trilby with a very nice orange feather. My impression is that Christys' made a very fine hat. In comparison with the Lock and Wilson hats, the Christys' tweed is perhaps a little softer and the sewing on the brim may be a little finer. It's a really beautiful hat and it got me to wondering where Christys' stood among the English hatmakers. Below Herbert Johnson, I'm sure, but still.... Any Christys' hat wearers out there?

 

[Professor Branestawm]

I have a brown wool felt trilby, and am expecting to acquire a fur felt one at some point. I believe Christy's hat are extremely well made, given the price; they look good, fit well and keep the rain off.

They may have stopped being produced, however. Certainly Christy's hasn't got an internet presence and I've seen articles suggesting that the hatter may have gone into liquidation. At the moment there are a lot of their hats still available but they may not be around for ever.

 

[Ed13]

I don't know where Christy's ranks but I do have a panama which I really like.

 

[jml90]

Okay I'm not on the vintage bus but that's where they say to go.
I say go with Akubra from
www.hatsdirect.com
or
Miller's (Biltmores) from
www.millerhats.com

 

[whoopee]

I am not a hat expert but my Christie's bowler is one of the nicest I've ever beheld.

 

[LabelKing]

I have a derby and it's quite nice.

 

[dopey]

I have a bellman's cap they made for the old Astor Hotel. The gold braid is exquisite.

 

[pejsek]

I've long wondered if really fine braid didn't meet its end with the Hapsburgs.

 

[MrSmith2U]

Gentlemen Hatwearers

I do believe my Christys' trilby was acquired from Simpsons of Piccadilly in the early 1970s. Or it could quite possibly have been from Fayad's place. Whichever, it is indeed a fine article and has seen me through many a tempest. Worn at the correct angle, I could spend three times as much today and not feel as good as I do under its perky prominence.

Smith.