Safari Edition Genuine Panama Hats
Hand woven. Hand blocked. Hand finished.
As finely woven as some of my Montecristi hats.
I love these. True, they are not Montecristi Panama hats. True, I am a hat snob, a total Montecristi nut case. But I really like these. They are genuine Panama hats, hand woven in Ecuador, hand blocked – by my hands. The weave is usually nice and even, the count is comparable to some of my Montecristi hats.
These are dyed a color I call “Cocoa”, because calling the color “Dirt” doesn’t sound very alluring. But, fact is, these hats must be the color of a lot of different kinds of dirt, and some foods, because my personal hats still look good after many years of adventures.
“Cocoa” colors vary somewhat from dye lot to dye lot, and they never look quite the same on my computer monitor as they do when I just look at them. Whatever color they may be, they have become more and more popular every year. My clients love these. Many have several.
Safari Edition hats are all hand woven, all with woven brim edges. All hand blocked and hand finished. Custom sized. Many ribbon choices.
About Safari Edition
WEAVE COUNTS
These are not your normal Cuenca hats. Much finer weave than the normal factory-made Cuenca hats you might see in hat shops and department stores. Also they are what is called a liso weave type, which is the same weave type as Montecristi hats. Most Cuenca hats are what is called a brisa weave type, which is a faster, easier, cheaper type of weave. My SE hats have comparable weave counts to some of my Montecristi hats. Yet even with the same weave count, hats woven in Cuenca are thicker, fuller, heavier than their Montecristi cousins. So they are sturdier, tougher. These are firmer than most of my Montecristi hats. Definitely not soft and cloth-like. But they are hand blocked and hand finished, just like my Montecristi hats.
About Safari Edition
BRIM WIDTHS
The brim style you see on the Kentucky Smith® SE, the Mombasa SE, and the Bahama Beach SE is called an “adventure brim.” First, I make the brim flat all around, then I shape it to dip down in front and back. When viewed in profile, the brim makes a nice arc.
An “adventure brim” could be anywhere from 2.5 to 4 inches, or even wider. It is the shape, not the width, which defines the adventure brim.
As a brim gets wider, gravity becomes more interested in it. The wider the brim, the more gravity will want to pull it down and change its shape. I do put some stiffener in my adventure brims, but stiffener has limits.
Adventure brims generally hold their shapes well from 2.5 to about 3.5 inches. A 4-inch brim is a lot of brim to keep smooth and nicely arced, as gravity, wind, etc. have their way. But it is certainly possible, and I’ve made a lot of SE hats with extra-wide brims.
For anyone with a hat with an adventure brim, I definitely recommend my Brim Arc Form. The wider the brim, the more strongly I recommend it. If you’re a handyman type, by all means make your own and maybe save a few bucks. The important thing is to have this type form to maintain your adventure brim shape.
When you store and display your hat on the form, gravity works for you, pulling the brim into the shape you want. And you can iron your brim smooth and restore the arc shape as often as you wish.
You might also use a small firm throw pillow with a good curve.
Adventure Brim Widths
Short: 2 1⁄2 - 2 7⁄8”
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8“
Extra Wide:3 1⁄2 – 4”
NOTE: NOT ALL BRIM WIDTHS ARE AVAILABLE IN ALL SIZES AND STYLES AT ALL TIMES. BUT I TRY.
Safari Edition hats on safari.
Hand Blocked, Custom Sized
Safari Edition
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- COCOA
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Kentucky Smith® SE – Cocoa
For Men and WomenKentucky Smith® may not be as famous as that Jones guy from across the river in Indiana, but he wears a much cooler hat.
There are other differences. Kentucky Smith® maintains a tropical state of mind at all times, in all places. Almost like a religion. Makes Jimmy Buffett look like Nanook of the North.
In Tibet, Kentucky’s unusual wardrobe choices won him the awed respect of local lamas, who could clearly see the challenges of white linen and vintage rayon at 18,000 feet. Very Zen.
Naturally, he always wears a Panama hat.
The Kentucky Smith ® SE “Cocoa” is his choice for serious adventures in outrageous places. Places where a blackberry is still something to eat.
And in the city at night. He loves to wear one of his been-through-hell Kentucky Smith® SE hats when he parties. Chick magnet. Tell her the A1 Sauce stain on your brim is blood. From the Congo in ’03. Don’t say whose. Be brave.
Look at the photos. You can see for yourself you’ll be in the middle of some sort of adventure within an hour of putting it on. You’ll be the one whose hat everyone envies.
Tip Choose adventure partners with much larger or much smaller heads.
Warning When your Kentucky Smith ® hat arrives, don’t open the box! First, gas up your car, go to the ATM, put your attorney’s business card in your pocket, leave a note.
Okay, you can put it on now.
You may be mere minutes away from knowing exactly what Warren Zevon had in mind when he sang “Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money.”
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Cocoa hats are straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 3/8“ to 4 5/8” measured on side
- Wide Brim is 3” to 3 3⁄8
- Short Brim is 2 5⁄8” to 2 7⁄8”
- Extra Wide Brim is 3 1⁄2” or more
- Fine leather sweatband standard
- 1 7/16 inch Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
This is a serious hat
I wear one quite lot
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$525
Wide brim: 3” – 3 3⁄8”
$500
Short brim 2 1⁄2” - 2 7⁄8”
$550
Extra wide brim: 3 1⁄2” or more
Details
BRIM
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8 inches
Short: 2 5⁄8 - 2 7⁄8 inches
Extra Wide: 3 1⁄2 inches or more
CROWN
4 ½ to 4 3⁄4 inches
(measured on the side)
SIZES details
21” to 24 1⁄2”
(53.5 cm to 62.2 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8“
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 3⁄4“
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is un-dyed Chicory fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon is 1 7/16” Jamaica Brown.
SAFARI EDITION
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Marcie Polo SE
For Women, mostlyMarcie Polo has been “suggesting” this style for several months – a tough travel hat that looks good enough to wear to a royal garden party.
“Did I ever tell you about my safari with the Maharajah of Eyesore?” Marcie likes to travel.
It’s in her genes. Marcie is the great, great, great, great, great, great — well, she’s really great — granddaughter of Marco Polo.
Sometimes, like her illustrious ancestor, her travel is more off road than luxury resort. Naturally, she wanted a hat that looks great – as great as the Montecristi Marcie Polo style she designed. But maybe a little tougher, and definitely in the dirt-defying Cocoa color. Good idea.
“The Maharajah of Eyesore invited me to come stay at his palace while we safari around in his private jungles for a few days. As you probably know, his palace is the ugliest in all of India.”
Marcie favors brims wider than 3 inches, for the extra shade. She likes both the wobbly and the upturned brim. Which do you favor – under or over 3 inches? Wobbly or upturned? Most of the brims are close to 3 inches or wider.
Best ribbon colors? Dove Gray and Whiskey Brown are good choices. Maybe Chocolate Brown. Can’t go wrong with Classic Black. Parchment? White Sand?
Marcie continued, “Just as I was getting out of the taxi in front of the palace, the Maharajah’s favorite elephant, Daisy, came trotting up. The maharajah was perched atop Daisy in his elegant howdah.”
“Hey, Maharajah, howdah you do?”
The maharajah did not comment.
“Hey, maybe we can do a TV show about a maharajah puppet. The Howdah Doody Show. With a live audience of kids . . . we’ll call them the betelnut gallery.”
“Marcie, has anyone ever told you that you are not funny?”
“Yes.”
A few years ago, Marcie asked me to create the original Montecristi version of the Marcie Polo style, because she wanted a travel hat but didn’t fancy the Optimo. She loved the Montecristi Marcie Polo and has worn it to, from, and in more than 40 countries.
A few days ago, she asked me to make the same style – “the look is perfect” – in the Cocoa color. So, I did.
Marcie loves hers. She hopes you will love yours.
“I hope millions of people will wear these. They don’t even have to travel. They’ll look just as great getting out of an SUV while running errands in the neighborhood as they will getting off a camel while arriving at a wedding deep in the Gobi Desert.”
Millions? Marcie! Did you forget that I make these entirely by hand? One at a time. Millions? Maybe dozens. For a fortunate few.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 to 4 ¼ inches
- Wide Brim is more than 3 inches
- Regular Brim is less than 3 inches
- Cotton Twill sweatband standard
- Whiskey 1 7/16 inch ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
Regular Brim “Upturned” - $350
Regular Brim “Wobbly” - $350
Wide Brim “Upturned” - $350
Wide Brim “Wobbly” - $350
Details
BRIM
Regular Brim - under 3 inches
Wide Brim – more than 3 inches
CROWN
4 to 4 1/4”
Measured on the side.
SIZES details
21” to 23 3/4”
(53.5 cm to 60.5 cm)
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is Black Cotton Twill
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 7/16” Whiskey Brown
Safari Edition
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Classic Fedora SE – Cocoa
For Men and WomenMy most popular style (Classic Fedora) is also available in a Safari Edition. Yes, tickertape parades would be in order were it not for modesty and a sense of environmental responsibility. This is a hat you need to put on the short list.
Why would you want the Safari Edition rather than the Montecristi Edition? Good question.
Okay, I’ll help you out. They look great. Even though it is the same style, the Cocoa and Caramel colors are a completely different look. They probably hook up with a whole different section of your closet than the light-straw-black-ribbon classic Panama hat look.
Field tested in Hawaii. I made a couple of Classic Fedoras SE for myself. Put a wide black ribbon on one. A wide brown ribbon on the other. Cotton twill sweatbands in both. I’ve been wearing one or the other, sometimes both, about once a week for a couple of years. Who knows how many Mai Tai’s they have survived?
These don’t show dirt as much as traditional near-white Panama hats. I often reach for one of these when it’s windy enough that my hat might undertake unmanned flights, and landings in places where I wouldn’t want my hat to be.
I don’t coddle these hats like I do some of my Montecristi personal hats. Maybe I’ve been lucky. Maybe I haven’t abused them as much as I think. But if I have to choose one of these or one of my Montecristis to go banging around in the bush, or to put into an overhead luggage compartment, no contest, amigo mio.
No guarantees, either. I don’t recommend putting any hat into any overhead luggage compartment. Who knows what’s up there? Body parts maybe. Weapons grade plutonium maybe. No nail clippers.
I’m just saying: got a gun to my head, I go with the Classic Fedora SE.
As you can see, changing the ribbon color and/or width changes the look, changes the personality of the hat. And perhaps your own as well. Sorry, ribbons are not interchangeable. Choose your favorite color. Or order lots of hats.
Ordering six would not be considered excessive.
Not by me. It is possible to imagine, if one stretches the mind, that there may be some wife or husband somewhere who might consider six hats all at once to be excessive.
Fashion is like Physics. Some people just don’t get it.
Find perfect. Make a decision. Take a position.
You may quote me if it helps. Call it Black’s 12 th Hyperbole. Makes it sound almost indisputable. If that doesn’t work, play Randy Newman’s You Can Leave Your Hat On, and act accordingly. If that doesn’t work either, you’re back to choosing your favorite color.
Let me know how it goes.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 to 4 ¼ inches
- Wide Brim is more than 3 inches
- Regular Brim is less than 3 inches
- Cotton Twill sweatband standard
- Whiskey Brown 1 7/16 inch ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$500
Details
BRIM
2 5⁄8 to 3 1⁄8”
CROWN
4 1⁄2 to 4 3⁄4”
Measured on the side.
SIZES details
21” to 24 1⁄2”
(53.5 cm to 62.25 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8”
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 3⁄4”
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is un-dyed Chicory fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 7/16” Jamaica Brown.
Classic Fedora SE
Cocoa
Classic Fedora SE
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Safari Edition
Mombasa SE - Cocoa
For Men and Women
Mombasa. I’ve always loved that word. It sounds so exotic, distant, dangerous. Mombasa, you may recall, is a major port city on the coast of Kenya. If you were going to East Africa on safari a hundred years ago, Mombasa might have been where you got off the boat and began your journey into The Dark Continent.
You would want a good sturdy hat to shade you from the equatorial sun. A hat that also would look quite dashing in the flickering light of the evening cookfire.
The Mombasa SE would be a perfect choice. For both you and the Memsahib. Looks equally enviable on men or women.
Classic center dent crown. Choice of brim width. Straw dyed a dirt-defying cocoa color. Choice of ribbon colors. Custom sized for a perfect fit.
If you are a sensible soul who prefers to skip the safari-and-hot-sun stuff in favor of exploring the shaded veranda and libations at the lodge, I may join you on that shaded veranda.
Let’s start with a Tusker beer, well chilled.
Guaranteed Against Elephant Trampling
A Mombasa Safari Edition is so tough that I guarantee it will even stand up to being trampled by an elephant. The nice adventurous shape will be history, of course, but the hat itself will survive a good elephant trampling far better than you would.
Simply return your elephant-trampled hat, along with photos and/or video of the trampling event, and I will replace your hat with a new one. The better the camera work, the more cheerfully I will make your replacement.
City Safaris & Suburban Safaris
It is perfectly acceptable to look adventurous and dashing even when you are within five miles of home. Yes, even when you are in your own backyard, or on your own condo balcony.
The Mombasa SE is an adventurous and dashing hat. By extension, you look adventurous and dashing when wearing one. It’s easy enough to imagine you, Saturday to-do list in hand, journeying from place to place, wearing a Mombasa SE, looking adventurous and dashing, perhaps walking to the beat of native drums, as lions roar in your mind’s ear. Happens to me all the time.
Don’t be surprised if someone asks, “Hey, how’s the safari?”
To which you answer, “Safari sagoodi.”
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 5“ measured on side
- Crown about 4” measured in front
- Wide Brim is 3“ to 3 3⁄8”
- Extra Wide Brim is 3 1⁄2” or more (“Cocoa” mostly)
- Short Brim is 2 5⁄8 to 2 7⁄8 inches (“Cocoa” mostly)
- Fine leather sweatband standard
- 1 7/16 inch Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$525
Wide brim: 3” – 3 3⁄8”
$500
Short brim 2 1⁄2” - 2 7⁄8”
$550
Extra wide brim: 3 1⁄2” or more
Details
BRIM
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8 inches
Short: 2 5⁄8 - 2 7⁄8 inches
Extra Wide: 3 1⁄2 inches or more
CROWN
About 5”
(measured on the side)
About 4“
(measured center front)
SIZES details
21” to 24 3⁄4 “
(53.5 cm to 62.9 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8“
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 2⁄4“
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is un-dyed Chicory fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 7/16” Jamaica Brown.
COCOA
Mombasa SE
Cocoa
Short Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa Short Brim
Order Now
Mombasa SE Cocoa
Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa Wide Brim
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Mombasa SE Cocoa
Extra Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa Extra Wide Brim
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Safari Edition
Optimo SE – Cocoa
For Men and Women
The Cocoa straw and the Ivory ribbon were made for each other, yes?
Major fashion statement. Very tropical. Craves linen and silk. The classic Optimo dome
and
center crease evoke thoughts
of British ex-pats presiding over the warmer colonies. This particular look suggests
India
to my mind. What one might
wear after a hard day of Bengal Lancing.
Freshen up a bit, then swan over to the Officer’s Club for an India Pale Ale, or two. Or twelve. Sit near a window, with the light coming from your side. Side light shows off the center crease better than front or back light.
No matter how many compliments and free rounds come your way, do call it a night well before you are at risk of falling down and wrecking the hat.
I hope your first thought wasn’t: “Can I roll it up?” Yes. If you must. But it looks so crisply shaped, so sharply creased, so smoothly rounded, so…perfect, just as it is. Why risk it? You’ve made it this far in your life without rolling a Cocoa Optimo with an Ivory ribbon, maybe you shouldn’t tempt the Fates.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 1⁄4 “
- Brim is usually 3” or less
- Leather sweatband standard
- 1 7/16 inch Ivory ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
- This is a serious hat
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$500
Details
BRIM
2 3⁄4 to 3 1⁄4”
CROWN
About 4 1⁄4 inches
SIZES details
21 1⁄2 to 24 1⁄2 inches
(54.5 cm to 62.25 cm)
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is un-dyed Chicory fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 /7/16” Ivory.
Optimo SE Cocoa Optimo SE Cocoa Order Now
Safari Edition
- COCOA
Bahama Beach SE - Cocoa
For Men and Women
Another classic look. Another must-have style.
The crown shape is the same as my Monte Carlo – a traditional “telescope” crown.
The Adventure Brim is the same as my Kentucky Smith ® SE and Mombasa SE - flat but dipping down in front and back.
The main difference is the attitude. The Bahama Beach suggests rakish angles, more than the other two crown styles. Wearing it dead level is an attitude of its own.
John Steinbeck made these observations on hat angles and attitudes:
“Kino put on his large straw hat and felt it with his hand to see that it was properly placed, not on the back or side of his head, like a rash unmarried irresponsible man, and not flat as an elder would wear it, but tilted a little forward to show aggressiveness and seriousness and vigor. There is a great deal to be seen in the tilt of a hat on a man.” - from The Pearl.
Angles and attitudes vary. What will yours be?
NOTE: You will see in the photos that the Extra-Wide Brims are a different shape than the Wide and Short brims. The x-wide brims in these photos are more “cupped”. The brim edges lift up a little, compared to the others, which are Adventure Brims and are flat but dip down front and back. I can iron an x-wide brim as an Adventure Brim if you wish.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 3 5/8 to 4 inches
- Crown about 4” measured in front
- Wide Brim is 3 to 3 3⁄8 inches
- Short Brim is 2 5⁄8 to 2 7⁄8 inches
- Extra Wide Brim is 3 1⁄2 inches or more
- Fine leather sweatband standard
- 1 7/16 inch Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
- This is a serious hat
Prices
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$525
Wide brim: 3” – 3 3⁄8”
$500
Short brim 2 1⁄2” - 2 7⁄8”
$550
Extra wide brim: 3 1⁄2” or more
Details
BRIM
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8”
Short: 2 5⁄8 - 2 7⁄8”
Extra Wide: 3 1⁄2” or more
CROWN
3 3⁄4 to 4“
SIZES details
21” to 24 3⁄4 “
(53.5 cm to 62.9 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8“
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 3⁄4“
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is un-dyed Chicory fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 7/16” Jamaica Brown.
COCOA
Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa - Short Brim
Bahama Beach SE Cocoa - Short Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa - Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE Cocoa - Wide Brim
Order Now
Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa -
Extra Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE Cocoa -
Extra Wide Brim
Order Now
.
Text and photos © 1988-2022, B. Brent Black. All rights reserved.
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