Hats – Brands & Makers

I don’t rank hat makers on a single ladder. A brand is a tradition – a material lineage, a country, a way of doing things – and you understand a hat better by knowing which tradition it came out of than by asking who’s “best.”

Stetson is the benchmark. Founded 1865 in Philadelphia; the “Boss of the Plains” set the silhouette that became the archetypal American cowboy hat, and the name is used colloquially as a synonym for one. It’s the most culturally significant hatmaker in U.S. history – the American brand the others are measured against – and it originated the X-factor grading system that the whole industry still leans on. It closed the great Philadelphia factory in 1971 and lives on in Garland, Texas under Hatco, run on an employee stock ownership plan, which I like: the people who block and finish the hats own the company.

Resistol is Stetson’s complement, not its competitor. Founded 1927 in Dallas – the name is “resist all” weather – and famous for the patented Self-Conforming sweatband that molds to your head over the first few wears. Both are Hatco-owned now, but they play different roles: Resistol reads as working-cowboy and rodeo authenticity, Stetson carries the broader cultural range. My actual buying guidance: at the same X-rating, choose between them on fit preference, not felt quality – the Self-Conforming band is the real differentiator. And I have a soft spot for “The Resistol Pure,” which opts out of the X game and just labels itself 100% beaver belly. That honesty is worth more to me than a number.

Smithbilt is the Canadian tradition. Founded 1919 in Calgary; originated the white cowboy hat in 1946, and the Calgary White Hat has been handed to visiting dignitaries by the mayor since 1949 – one of the longest-running civic welcome traditions in North America. It’s the principal Canadian Western maker, and I keep it distinct from the American houses rather than lumping it in.

Borsalino is the European peer. Founded 1857 in Alessandria, Italy; widely regarded as the finest fur-felt dress fedoras in the world, and one of very few makers that handles every step in-house. The Italian dress fedora is its own thing – lower crown, narrower brim, softer pinch, lighter and finer felt – so it reads more refined and understated than an American fedora of the same grade. (On the Casablanca Bogart hat: whether his was actually a Borsalino has been contested among collectors, so I leave it there rather than claim it.)

Akubra is the odd one out, deliberately. Australian, founded 1874, and it holds a place in Australian identity comparable to Stetson’s in America – with the crucial difference that Akubra is made almost entirely of rabbit fur felt, not beaver, and uses no X-factor at all. It grades by named line and material instead. It’s the cleanest example of why I think in national fur traditions.

Adam Hats is personal. Founded 1924 in New York by Elias Lustig; its whole thesis was the democratization of the fedora – boardroom looks at a working-man’s price, anchored at $2.95 across a couple thousand authorized department stores. It sponsored Joe Louis and ran the Madison Square Garden fight broadcasts (“I go for a man who wears an Adam hat”), which also makes it one of the few American hat brands with real significance in mid-century African American style. I own the domain and a collection of the pieces, so I have a stake in keeping that story straight.

How I actually tier makers: by material tradition and by honesty, not by prestige. The brands I trust most are the ones that tell you what’s in the hat – explicit fiber percentages, or a named material – instead of hiding behind an inflated X. My own naming convention reflects the respect: the full company name including “Hats” on formal reference (Stetson Hats, Resistol Hats, Smithbilt Hats), with phrase-brands like The Last Best West exempt.

One thing about my own shop: Bernard Hats no longer makes custom hats. The focus now is vintage and heritage archival; custom Western commissions are referred to The Last Best West, the craftsman partner behind many of the film-hat replicas. Knowing where I stop is part of knowing the trade.