Roll Up and Travel Panama Hats
Robert Redford wearing a Brent Black Roll-Up Panama Hat while directing The Legend of Bagger Vance Robert Redford photo © 2001 DreamWorks, LLC |
Want to look just like Robert Redford?Maybe you should get one of my Premium Roll-Up Panama Hats. Mr. Redford looks pretty good in his. Of course, he could probably hang a toilet seat around his neck and look so good it would launch a new style. He chose to turn the brim down all around. Most people just snap down the front. Either way, it’s a great looking hat. You needn’t be directing or starring in a feature film to wear this hat. Even I look pretty good in one. Robert Redford does not endorse any product, including my hats. But that is Robert Redford. He is wearing my hat. I hope he enjoyed my hat as much as I enjoyed his movie. |
Premium Roll-Up Panama Hat For Men and Women
I’ve been offering this hat for years. It’s a better grade Genuine Panama Hat, hand-woven in Cuenca (Ecuador) with a woven-edge brim.
The style is a classic Optimo. In Ecuador, they call it the Colonial or the Natural. This is probably the original Panama hat style.
Shaped in Ecuador, finished by hand in Hawaii. The black grosgrain bow is shaped by hand. Bow and ribbon are sewn by hand, as is the inside band.
Available in 11 sizes. Wear it with the brim turned down in front, or turned down all around. Roll it up, or not. Your choice.
PRICE Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$275
extra charge for extra-large sizes
BRIM
2 ¾ to 3 1⁄8 inches
CROWN
About 4
¼
to 4
¾
inches
(to the top of the ridge)
SIZES
21 ½, 21 7⁄8, 22 ¼, 22 5⁄8, 23, 23 ¼, 23 ½, 23 7⁄8, 24 ¼, and 24 5⁄8 inches. Not Available In Custom Sizes
SWEATBAND see choices
Cotton Twill is the standard sweatband.
RIBBON see choices
Black—1 1⁄16 inch
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Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat For Men and Women
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Robert G. and the Step Pyramid of Zoser in Egypt. Robert is the one wearing the hat.
Okay, okay, I finally gave up. I yielded to public pressure. It was pretty obvious from all the calls that a lot of you really, really wanted a Montecristi hat that you can roll up. And you want it to look like a classic Panama hat. And you want it to cost less than the other Montecristis. You’re right. It’s a good idea. Here it is.
What’s different about these, compared with the Roll-Up Panama Hats above? Plenty.
- These are hand-woven and finished in the Montecristi area, not Cuenca.
- Montecristi hats are lighter and thinner than Cuenca hats.
- The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats are blocked by hand, instead of on a hat press. Hand-blocking gives them a more lasting shape under duress (such as rain).
- The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats are available in custom sizes.
- The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats come with a black cushy, cotton twill inside sweatband. Very comfy.
What’s different about these, compared with the hand-blocked Montecristi Optimos in the main Men’s Styles section?
These are hand-woven and finished in the Montecristi area like those in the Men’s Styles section. But these are a lower quality weave. Hence the lower price.
These Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats are shaped by hand in the same classic Optimo style, on the same wood blocks as the others. But these don’t get the same lavish attention and time. Less time, lower price. (Well, that was the theory when I introduced these. The reality is that I just can’t bring myself to do anything half way. So these get just as much blocking time as the others.)
The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat has a hand-sewn black grosgrain ribbon and bow outside, just like the non-roll-up Optimo. Inside, there’s a soft, cushy, absorbent cotton sweatband instead of leather (you want to roll it up, right?).
If you want a Montecristi, and you want to roll it up, but you still want it to look like a classic Panama hat, this is your hat. Portable shade. Weighs about 3 ounces. Makes a somewhat different impression than a baseball cap.
If you want a finer weave roll-up Montecristi, I’ll be happy to make one for you. Just choose a quality/price level, and I’ll make it with a cloth sweatband instead of a leather one.
The higher quality option has been even more popular than I expected. A lot of you really do want a rollable Panama of legendary Montecristi quality. So, for those of you who want the very best:
PRICES Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
PREMIUM
$375, $500, $600, $700, $850, $1000, $1500
SUPER-PREMIUM
$2000, $2500, $3000, $3500, $5000
RARE TREASURES very limited availability A $25,000 hat? Really? How Fine Are the Finest?
$7500 to $25,000
BRIM
2 ½ to 3 1⁄8 inches
Wider or shorter by request
If you leave it up to me, smaller size hats will have smaller brims, larger hats will have larger brims.
CROWN
4 to 4 ½ inches
(to the top of the ridge)
Taller or shorter by request
For proportion, I generally make larger size hats with taller crowns than smaller size hats.
SIZES
21 3⁄8 to 25 ¼ inches
54.3 to 64.1 cm
SWEATBAND see choices
Cotton Twill is the standard sweatband.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 1⁄16 inch black.
Montecristi
Roll-up Optimo
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The $1000 Roll-Up Travel Hat For Men and Women
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A $1000 Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat would have to be The Ultimate Roll-Up Travel Hat. The Bee’s Knees of Travel Hats. The Ant’s Pants of Travel Hats. The It-Doesn’t-Get-Any-Better-Than-This Travel Hat. The—well, you get the idea.
Perhaps best of all, it’s a subtle self-indulgence in ultimate luxury. When you’re driving a Rolls Royce, everyone knows you’re driving a Rolls Royce. For some, I suppose that’s the point. It’s not subtle. But when you’re wearing a $1000 Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat, all anyone else knows is that you’re wearing the finest Panama hat they’ve ever seen. You’ll hear “Nice hat” a lot. Every now and again someone (usually worth meeting) will focus a knowing eye on your hat and ask “A Montecristi?”
Marcie Polo™
- Wobbly Brim
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- Up Brim
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- Down in Front Brim
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- Sort of Flat Brim
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Marcie Polo is the great, great, great, great, great, great—well, she’s really great—granddaughter of Marco Polo. Like her illustrious ancestor, she knows how to travel. And she knows a good idea when she sees one.
Marcie wanted a high quality women’s travel hat. Asked me to design it. Said the Optimo just didn’t suit her. She wanted a classic Montecristi travel hat she could roll up: lose the crease, lose the dome, keep the black ribbon, something a man wouldn’t wear but not the least bit frilly or fussy.
She asked for something with classic styling, a hat she could wear to the Prime Minister’s garden party. She insisted it also must be ruggedly practical, a hat she could wear on a camel crossing of Tunisia with Sahara temperatures soaring to sauna levels.
She didn’t say if she intended to ride the camel to the garden party. I didn’t ask. With Marcie, just assume the outrageous and you’ll be right more often than not. She’s fun to watch.
For those of you with more normal travel itineraries, you will find the Marcie Polo™ hat perfect for climbing Maya ruins in the midday sun (but must you?), then again for savoring fresh shrimp at sunset (better). For shopping in souks, for dancing beneath the stars at Stonehenge. Or just hanging out by the pool.
Golf hat? That works.
It goes where you go. It does what you do. And you always look good together. Can a mere hat be better than a husband?
Marcie says Marco would have given me an “attaboy” for this one. An “attaboy” from Marco Polo. That would be very cool.
Since you probably looked at the pictures of the hat before you started reading, I don’t exactly have a Voila! moment here. As you can see, I chose classic simplicity. No creases, no dimples, no dome. 11⁄2-inch black ribbon, bow centered in back, loops tacked down for travel stability, brim 23⁄4 to 3 inches (shade) or 31⁄4 to 31⁄2 inches (more shade), inside sweatband of cotton twill. Everything shaped, sized, and sewn by hand. The brim is artfully distressed. Or not, if you prefer. Choose from: Wobbly, Up, Down In Front, Sort of Flat. The hat pictured has a 3-inch (7.6 cm) brim. Same hat, different brim styles.
Wobbly—Artfully distressed. Un-smoothed. First, I smooth and flatten the brim. Then I steam it and mess with it. No two alike. Confident, coquettish, casual.
Up—Smoothed and curled. Gentle upward curve all the way around. Like a nice big smile. A happy brim. Optimistic with a touch of schoolgirl flirtatiousness.
Down In Front—The front of the brim is turned down. The rest is up. A little more serious, a little more mysterious, a little more imperious. You will define which is which, and which is you.
Sort of Flat—I take out the curl. But it won’t stay flat. It will acquire attitude. Yours. Put it on and stuff happens. If there’s a seatbelt handy, you might want to fasten it first.
PRICES Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
PREMIUM
(regular brim width) $375, $500, $600, $700, $850, $1000, $1500
(wide brim width) $550, $650, $750, $900, $1100, $1500
SUPER-PREMIUM
$2000, $2500, $3000, $3500, $5000
BRIM
(regular brim width) 2 3⁄4 to 3 inches
(wide brim width) 3 1⁄4 to 3 1⁄2 inches
CROWN
3 1⁄2 to 4 inches
SIZES details
21
1⁄8
to 24
1⁄4
inches
(53.7 to 61.6 cm)
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is cotton twill.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 1⁄2 inch black.
Marcie Polo™
Wobbly Brim
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Marcie Polo™
Up Brim
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Marcie Polo™
Down in Front Brim
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Marcie Polo™
Sort of Flat Brim
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Text and photos © 1988-2022, B. Brent Black. All rights reserved.
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