Re: Stetson Nostalgia vs UN-bashed Indiana Miller

Posted by GCR from spider-tf044.proxy.aol.com on March 30, 2000 at 01:29:43:

In Reply to: Stetson Nostalgia vs UN-bashed Indiana Miller posted by Reggie on March 30, 2000 at 00:00:06:

: Which hat is better? I think the Miller looks better, but I fear the name Biltmore. A friend of mine had a black fedora made by Biltmore. It was brand new when he bot it. It was very flimsy and light. He got cought in the rain once and it shrank and the brim warped. It was fur felt. I heard someone in this forum say that when they shaped the Miller with cold water it shrank. Is the Miller light and flimsy? How will it handle in rain? (I live in Olympia WA The Evergreen State. I dont have to tell you what makes our plants Evergreen!)

Personally I don't own a Nostalgia, so I can only speak for the Miller. The Miller is NOT light and flimsy, it's VERY high quality. I ordered my first and took a cold-water spray bottle to it to shape it. There was no distortion or shrinkage after the hat dried, and it looked pretty damn good. The only problem was that I had recieved the wrong brim width. At that point I had already bashed it, so I bought another. The second one came with all the correct measurments and I bashed it dry except for the front pinch which I wet sparingly in order to get the proper Raider's style "knife-edge" look. I wet the crown on my old Miller and waited for it to dry back into it's orignal "derby" shape to be bashed again (this time ToD style) and was very surprised to see how much it shrank. Now, I fear the possibility of getting stuck in a rain storm with my new Miller. I am looking into something called hat-protector that Steve mentioned, hopefully this will prevent any major shrinkage in the future and help to keep the hat water replent. As for the brim, I took a hot steaming iron to mine in order to tone down the extreme snap brim it is supplied with, and I have had no problems with the brim warping. With the right treatment, I'm sure the Miller is still a better choice. Not to knock the Nostalgia, but it is not regular to find a high crown Nostalgia that would fit the Indy hat specs as well as the 5 5/8 inch open crown Miller. In Stetson's defense however, I have owned a Temple and it never shrank, in fact, it was the xact opposite, the more I wet it and re-shaped it, the more that damn taper went away. I'd say go with the Miller, and invest in some Fedora Scotch Guard or something, then you shouldn't really have a problem.
-GCR

PS- Now that I think of it, I have worn my miller during a few snow storms, and have had snow melt all over it, and it has not had any problem with shrinking as of yet...so who knows?

Follow Ups:

Re: Stetson Nostalgia vs UN-bashed Indiana Miller MF 18:14:53 3/30/2000 (4)
- But the larger brim size is the correct size! Steve 18:26:04 3/30/2000 (3)
  - Re: But the larger brim size is the correct size! MF 19:07:04 3/30/2000 (2)
    - Re: But the larger brim size is the correct size! BILL BUTCHER 20:18:28 4/03/2000 (1)
      - Re: But the larger brim size is the correct size! MF 01:29:56 4/04/2000 (0)
I agree with GCR, 100%(nm) Steve 08:08:24 3/30/2000 (0)

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: : Which hat is better?  I think the Miller looks better, but I fear the name Biltmore.  A friend of mine had a black fedora made by Biltmore.  It was brand new when he bot it.  It was very flimsy and light.  He got cought in the rain once and it shrank and the brim warped.  It was fur felt.  I heard someone in this forum say that when they shaped the Miller with cold water it shrank.  Is the Miller light and flimsy?  How will it handle in rain? (I live in Olympia WA The Evergreen State.  I dont have to tell you what makes our plants Evergreen!)

: Personally I don't own a Nostalgia, so I can only speak for the Miller. The Miller is NOT light and flimsy, it's VERY high quality. I ordered my first and took a cold-water spray bottle to it to shape it. There was no distortion or shrinkage after the hat dried, and it looked pretty damn good. The only problem was that I had recieved the wrong brim width. At that point I had already bashed it, so I bought another. The second one came with all the correct measurments and I bashed it dry except for the front pinch which I wet sparingly in order to get the proper Raider's style "knife-edge" look. I wet the crown on my old Miller and waited for it to dry back into it's orignal "derby" shape to be bashed again (this time ToD style) and was very surprised to see how much it shrank. Now, I fear the possibility of getting stuck in a rain storm with my new Miller. I am looking into something called hat-protector that Steve mentioned, hopefully this will prevent any major shrinkage in the future and help to keep the hat water replent. As for the brim, I took a hot steaming iron to mine in order to tone down the extreme snap brim it is supplied with, and I have had no problems with the brim warping. With the right treatment, I'm sure the Miller is still a better choice. Not to knock the Nostalgia, but it is not regular to find a high crown Nostalgia that would fit the Indy hat specs as well as the 5 5/8 inch open crown Miller. In Stetson's defense however, I have owned a Temple and it never shrank, in fact, it was the xact opposite, the more I wet it and re-shaped it, the more that damn taper went away. I'd say go with the Miller, and invest in some Fedora Scotch Guard or something, then you shouldn't really have a problem. 
: -GCR

: PS- Now that I think of it, I have worn my miller during a few snow storms, and have had snow melt all over it, and it has not had any problem with shrinking as of yet...so who knows?

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