Straw vacation hat recommendations

One of my favorite weaves for mildly warm days is a Milan weave



Also the higher the weave count on Montecristis the hotter they are, I solved this by getting these, the one with the taller crown came from Panama Bob, it was then blocked by Art Fawcett, the other one is by Art Fawcett.





Oh and don't be afraid of Cuencas, more bang for the buck, the brims do not get as wavy as they are a little more durable without a lot of stiffener added.

I think you chaps in America are somewhat spoilt for choice when is comes to good grade panama hats. Of course in England its very rarerly warm enough to wear a panama but still nice to own one for holidays in the sun. The two that are considered better quality here in the UK are Christys (see red tube) & Olney (see blue tube) but I doubt they would bench mark very well against a Montechristi but they do the job. Here are mine (both are folders)-

Thanks so much for this thread. I've been looking to pick up a nice panama like OP. The information here has been most helpful!

TenorClef said:

I think you chaps in America are somewhat spoilt for choice when is comes to good grade panama hats. Of course in England its very rarerly warm enough to wear a panama but still nice to own one for holidays in the sun. The two that are considered better quality here in the UK are Christys (see red tube) & Olney (see blue tube) but I doubt they would bench mark very well against a Montechristi but they do the job. Here are mine (both are folders)-

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Tenor, thanks for posting those photos. I love the bashes in those hats. Very comfortable looking and I think very British looking which is a good thing. A gent dressed in a nice, lightweight linen suit and sporting one of those hats would be right at home on a Mediterranean beach I should think.

I think one thing many chaps overlook is keeping the crown of a straw hat high enough. These hats are worn in some very hot and humid weather here in the States. I live in the middle of the States and it is nothing here for it to be 40-45 degrees(90-100F) in mid summer. You need some room in the crown area for your head to breathe a bit. Yours are about ideal I think. Thanks again.

Cheers, Todd

Goorin Bros has some nice straws the last time I checked...

http://www.goorin.com/shape/straws-panamas

I got the stingy Nogal dark from jj bag center. Love it!