ULTRAFINO Carter Fedora Panama Hat for Men & Women - Natural Straw Summer Sun Hat - Beach, Wedding, Outdoor Activities
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DESCRIPTION
About Ultrafino The Panama hat is a finely woven hat made out of toquilla palms on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. The finer the weave, the finer the hat. A hat that is considered to be of Ultrafino grade contains at least 600 weaves per square inch and takes about 6 months to make. When the company was started in 2003 the first hat ever sold was an Ultrafino grade Panama Hat. The name Ultrafino had a certain feeling of excitement, uniqueness, and quality. We wanted all of our products to radiate the same feeling of owning an Ultrafino grade hat. And so began Ultrafino Panama Hats. Ultrafino means ultra-fine in Spanish and it has become the raw definition of the company. Everything we do is aligned to the name. We strive to provide ultra-fine service while providing ultra-fine quality hats. However, we do this without putting social responsibility aside. Ultrafino purchases directly from the weavers, cutting out the middleman and allowing us to pay the weavers more to support their families. We strive to provide fair wages and conditions for those who make our hats, to treat them as the valuable part of the company that they are. We do not see them as workers, we see them as talented artisans. And we see us as promoters who help share their art with the rest of the world. It is one of Ultrafino’s goal to create a company where everyday purchases can have a positive impact on the world. Especially, to the Ecuadorian communities where the artisans live. The Future The core values of Ultrafino are trust, integrity, quality, and social responsibility. We believe it is important to know where your money is going and who is benefiting from your purchase. Our goal is to provide high-quality headwear while improving the lives of those who made the product. Weaving is an art that is unfortunately dying. We at Ultrafino feel passionate about the conservation of this art. The introduction of automated machines and the push for lowering cost is what is destroying this art. By continuing to show demand for handwoven Panama Hats, Ultrafino gives incentives for the weavers to continue weaving and continue showing younger generations how to weave. Effectively, this is the main reason hand weaving is still around and why it will continue to be around. Ultrafino was founded on the idea that every hat has a history, and if you listen closely it will tell you of the hands that carefully crafted it. We do not sell hats, we sell works of art with stories and rich history behind them Read more
FEATURES
Straw
Made in the USA and Imported
Snap closure
light-weight
Woven in Ecuador
Sun protection 50+ UPF
HAND-FINISHED IN SEATTLE, WA: We are a small family business making these hats by hand using the same methods that have been passed on through our family for generations. Each style is made in small batches with careful attention to detail. This enables us to guarantee that every design detail is crafted flawlessly. We take great pride in our ethical and sustainable manufacturing processes. Everyone we work with is treated fairly and paid a living wage.
FREE 30 DAY HASSLE-FREE SIZE EXCHANGE: Hats are difficult to purchase online. Just like shoes, it is important that your hat is made to your correct size. Our hats are custom-made to ensure the best fit. Part art and part science, we've nailed a fit that is flattering for all head types.
REVIEWS
I just received this hat and it was not what I expected at all. When I opened the hat box, I found it upside down, with a foam band around the ribbon to keep the hat slightly raised so that the brim was not touching any part of the box. The hat was wrapped in paper and inside a plastic bag. Ultrafino really packed the hat well. I carefully unpacked the hat and got it in my hands. Wow! I am used to seeing people wearing straw hats that are made with thick, stiff, heavy straw. The straw on this hat is so thin and fine. The top of the hat is plenty stiff enough to hold its shape and yet the brim is very soft and flexible. The brim was shaped perfectly and the packaging kept it that way. The weaving of the straw looks to be flawless. I cannot find any imperfections and I looked closely. I have found no sharp pieces of straw. I thought a leather head band would be better, but the soft cloth headband is very comfortable. The hat is so light that it feels weightless when I put it on. I was expecting something much thicker and heavier. What a pleasant surprise!This is my first straw hat. I have never been a hat person before, but I started shaving my head on 2011-July-4 and managed to get through the summer with a couple of caps and plenty of sunscreen. Then came fall and I found that I needed something to keep my head warm. I decided I needed something with some style to go with my black leather trench coat, so I ordered a fur felt Indiana Jones Fedora from Scala. I am getting so many compliments on that hat that I decided to start shopping for a straw hat to keep me cool when the warm weather gets here. I looked at a lot of hats and decided that the Gatsby was a really nice looking hat. The pictures here do not do this hat justice. It is much nicer than I ever expected. It is almost winter now, so I placed it back in the box, but I can hardly wait for warm weather, so that I can wear it with pride.If you are considering this hat, all I can tell you is "Buy it!." You won't be disappointed.Now, I just have to find a nice feather to add to it. Maybe several, so that I can swap them out.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++UPDATE: After owning this hat for a year, I felt the need to add that I am just as happy with it as the day I got it. It has kept my head cool in the summer and it is so light-weight, that I tend to forget that I have it on. The stretchable cloth headband turned out to be very comfortable and much better than a leather band in warm weather.To the reviewer talking about all of the compliments, he was not kidding. Everyone notices the hat and compliments it. If I had a nickle for every time I have heard the words, "Nice hat!", I would have enough money to buy another one. ;-)I don't usually do this, but I feel as if I must review my entire experience with this hat, rather than just the product itself.First, the hat. Yeah, it's okay, but it definitely ain't "120 bucks nice." I was expecting more when I opened the package. Frankly, I got a much better hat in the US Virgin islands for about 20 bucks.Secondly, the paper it was wrapped in had a heavily perfumed smell. This was a huge turnoff for me. I have asthma, and when I receive a product that's wrapped in perfumed paper I get sick. So "sick" was instantly what I got.Okay, I decided to overlook that bad first impression and try the hat on. EPIC FAIL. Although my husband had measured my head with a measuring tape, exactly where the hat would sit above my ears, it was MUCH too small. My head measured 21.75 which was EXACTLY one of the size selections. But the thing sat on the top of my head and was nowhere near the right size. I had a conversation with someone at the seller, and they told me I should have ordered a Medium. WTF... a Medium is at least once inch bigger.Their sizing chart is messed up... and my feeling is that the seller should have provided me with a pre-paid label with which to return it. Had they done so, I would have probably reordered the hat. What they did instead was to send me return instructions that say I have to send it back USPS PRIORITY MAIL, with delivery confirmation, and insure the package. So the return will cost me about 15 bucks or more. I was going to just send it back regular mail and insure it, but if it got damaged I was afraid they'd try to say that I didn't follow return instructions. Also, if you don't have the box it came in and you want to return it, you have to use a plain, unmarked box. Who has those just laying around the house? If you're like the rest of the world who shops on line, you recycle your incoming boxes by reusing them to send your returns out. The thought of potentially having to BUY an unmarked box to use made me bristle, and I was glad that I didn't have to do that.All in all, I WAS going to reorder this when I come back from a trip, but I have decided against it. If I get another hat that's the wrong size, because THEY told me to order a Medium, I don't want to go through this hassle again.Warning to anyone ordering this... Ultrafino's sizing chart is whack, and you'll be forced to eat it if you end up with something too small.I am miffed... because I buy A LOT of stuff on Amazon, and 99% of the vendors will pay for your return shipping if it's because of their error. This one won't.The hat just isn't "special" enough to justify all this aggravation.Caveat emptor.Nice looking brim. Considering they are handmade the sizes seem to be all over the place. Might be better to go a size smaller and get a hat stretcher to fit to size.I bought this hat in 2012 and loved it. Recently during some work around the house I banged it up a tore a hole in the crown. So I tried to reorder the EXACT SAME HAT. It arrived a few days ago and I was disappointed right in the box. The color is almost white rather than the mellow straw color of my first one. The sweat band is cloth and porley fitting. The original had a leather sweatband with 3 fine around the circumference seams plus the seam attaching it to the hat. The new one has a cheap piece of black cloth only attached to the hat. It doesn't properly conform to the hat so it flops down making it impossible to size it using folded paper in the sweat band like I usually do. The two small self adhesive sizing pieces it cam with are totally useless. Finally it is way too big and feels noticeably lighter than the first one even though it was twice the price of the original I am highly disappointed. My hat search continues but this brand is off my list.This is a fine, comfortable hat. The 7-3/8 (my usual size) was just a hair too large, but the hat comes with size extenders and I already have a bunch of those anyway, so it was a cinch to fix. The profile is very much like the display photos. The crown may be a bit shallow for some folks, but for me, it's perfect and it rests right above the tips of my big ears. I have a couple of old Panamas that I got directly from Ecuador years ago that have an even tighter weave, but they cost as much as this back in the day and would be twice as much today. I'm bringing it with me to Vegas this weekend, so I can rock bourbon and cigars in the casino in style.
