Recently, hatter David & Young reached out and sent over a couple of their David & Young hats for Spring 2013. While I’m not much of a hat wearer, I figured it’s worth a shot to give these a look and report back.
First of all, the reason you don’t see them on me is because they are simply too small for me. I asked for the largest size possible (I wear a 7 5/8ths or so), and they sent over a size “M/L,” but they can’t sit on my head properly at all. Keep that in mind if you have a similar head size. They’re fine for Maria, and we toyed with having her model these for y’all, but that isn’t much help. Maybe we’ll do another post if there’s enough demand?
Anyways, back to the actual review. Off the bat, one thing kind of threw me off–you see those “D&Y” labels on the hats shown above? Well, those are stickers. There are larger versions of those inside the hats…and those are stickers too. While I always appreciate clothing with a lack of obnoxious branding (which these hats certainly meet), putting woven stickers on even the inside of the hat seems, well, cheap? Either the point was it’s supposed to be removed, or D&Y just doesn’t care that much about branding their products. Either way, it’s theoretically fine with me.
Let’s take a closer look at each hat individually.
The Braided Pork Pie Fedora
The David & Young braided pork pie fedora has a light brown top with a dark brown ridge. The band running around the circumference of the hat feels like a ribbon of some sort, and it has a loop on one side (shown) so you can put something manly in there like a cigar or something (just kidding).
The construction is solid, but certainly not world class or anything. I do like how it has a lot of ventilation in the sides and top, and extensive scientific testing showed that wind can indeed pass through it. This feature will make it nice for summer days, keeping your head from sweating up a storm like in a baseball cap. Of the two, this one is certainly my favorite, not counting on the price. The David & Young website has this running at $36–yikes. That is a bit steep for me, but if you have a smaller head and you’re really into hats it might be nice score. For the rest of us, I suggest waiting on a sale.
The Feathered Panama
I have no idea what the actual name of this hat is, because I can’t find it anywhere for sale. That also means I don’t know what the price is. Nevertheless, this hat is an ivory-wheat color (is that even a thing?) with a flat, floppy brim that comes out about 4 inches. It, too, has the same wrap-around ribbon, but this one has…holy feathers Batman! I’m no feather expert, but I think the most of these feathers are real, as in actually from birds. I have my suspicions about the spotted one, but overall they seem pretty legit. If they’re fake, then they’re good fakes–which should count for something.
The quality is similar to the pork pie fedora, and so I would assume the price is similar as well. The brim is a tad bit on the wide side for me, and paired with the feathers we’re nearing on Kentucky Derby territory. It’s definitely Southern-influenced, which I can appreciate, but this is not a hat for everybody like the first one might be. It takes a particular guy to rock something like this (sort of like seersucker), and if that particular guy is you, I say go for it.
—
Overall this sampling of the David & Young hats for Spring 2013 are pretty decent for the price. If you’re looking for an upgrade from that nasty baseball cap you’ve worn for a decade, and your head size is (at least) smaller than mine, I think these options from D&Y could be up your alley.
