BOOK REVIEW: The Art of the Hatmaker by Optimo Hats Chicago | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Kirby Allison

The newest must-have reference piece for the well-dressed gentleman, Optimo Hat's new The Art of the Hatmaker book is a true masterpiece. The 325 page book gives the reader an in depth look at Optimo’s quest to make the world’s finest hats.
For the past three years, Copenhagen-based design studio Ehrhorn Hummerston has been been researching and photographing the clients, craft and culture of Optimo. The result is a visually stunning book which celebrates Optimo’s first 25 years in business. The book tracks the birth of Optimo on Chicago’s southside, from founder Graham Thompson’s apprenticeship with legendary Hatmaker Johnny Tyus to the current day.
Years of research & memories have been condensed into The Art of the Hatmaker - illustrating the incredible amount of work that goes into making an Optimo. It is as much a comprehensive history of hatmaking as it is a glimpse inside Optimo's legendary commitment to producing the finest hats in the world.
From the weaving of the legendary Montecristi straw in Ecuador to the felting of fine furs in Portugal to the custom molds in London - all the efforts honored in the Optimo workshop are too memorialized in the book.
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📌 Book Review: The Art of the Hatmaker by Optimo Hats Chicago
00:00 The Art of the Hatmaker
0:53 About Optimo Hats
04:11 Kirby's Hat Collection
08:08 The Art of the Hatmaker Review
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[@the.christian.gentleman]

The way you wear your hat…. Indeed. Choosing a hat that suits your character,personality, and style IS a lost art. Think Frank Sinatra & Sammy Davis. The right hat distinguishes you from the crowd always - and - always gets a ladies eye. It’s old school Charm! There was a time when all men wore a hat when they stepped out side-and tipping your hat to a lady was a sign of respect. All things from a time long forgotten, BUT desperately needed in current society.

[@paulmcgee1867]

So often they don’t suit and can be too large like Kirby ‘s but I have never seen one suit him better than that first very pale silver belly felt?

[@charlesbleile5282]

As a youth in the 50s and early 60s, I observed every man wear a hat outdoors. I even wore a hat or cap to school. That all ended with the immense popularity of the Beatles. Their long hair was imitated in the US and Europe. Long hair and hats don't go together well. A hat on top of a Beatles hair do causes "Bozo" hair on the sides. When I graduated high school in 1963 there were a dozen hat shops in Cincinnati, now, Batsaks is the only one left.

[@the.christian.gentleman]

@@charlesbleile5282 Thank You for sharing a piece a History from your era about manhood- we NEED soooo much more of this. Manhood is being canceled and marginalized- as a result young men are lost in more ways than one

[@nathanthomas8184]

What about pimp hats they had a unique style?

[@alantinoalantonio]

Thank you very much Kirby for highlighting such craftsmanship and tradition from so many disciplines. Godspeed, Old Boy!

[@NicholasIngel]

We absolutely love your teams work

[@paulmcgee1867]

And some of the information given is correct !

[@benjaminblakemore9704]

WOOOWWW 😂❤ ABSOLUTELY AMAZING KIRBS, BRAVO OPTIMO!!! SUPER SWAGGY

[@harrynelson9203]

That book looks amazing, the hats are absolutely stunning 😍😍👌🏻👌🏻❤️❤️🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@teenoso4069]

In the UK, at one point wearing a hat was a legal requirement

[@poozizzle]

I believe it !

[@sirrandolphnettleby3114]

Stunning hats.

[@TH.W]

I got this book right when it came out. Beautiful work, just like the hats themselves.

[@benjaminblakemore9704]

Your so cool kirbs, 😎 great awsome video mate

[@kakhabertukhashvili9367]

Kirby, you're an epic man!

[@benjaminmentat8272]

Fantastic hats, really like the subtle just right style of these. Just beautiful photography in that book too. Thought I'd (brazenly) mention another hatter, since there's probably only a handful in existence- Brandon Wise out of Venice, CA "The Wise Hatter". Completely handmade, extremely dedicated maker (and my good friend). Long time fan Kirby!

[@frothybeaver4869]

Graham is a great guy and optimo is a great chicago small business

[@francisheperi4180]

I don't own one but my favourite is the homburg... very class conscious, certain styles of men's hats, in England, when hats were ubiquitous.

[@mljones99]

Kirby looks like a gangster! love it

[@dumpsterahoy9236]

Thanks KA

[@poozizzle]

I have some of my dad's hats, i wear them all the time.

[@caseyjonesbklyn5796]

Great video

[@fflipao]

Hello from a fan! I love your interviews. It would be great if you make a video of The Mayfair Gallery. All the best!

[@henryshawn1628]

Honestly, for me, the best hat manufacturer will still be lock an co I mainly where hamburger and cylinders and a dream of mine would definitely be to one Day go to bespoke cylinder, meet at the lock and Co

[@Bigwave2003]

I hope your travels take you to Optimo Hats in Chicago. It would make for a fascinating video.

[@geneking4864]

Great job. I'll check out the website................

[@Kenny-yl9pc]

Wow really interesting as an avid reader myself I would love to read that book.

[@BM-qn6fg]

Likewise, as an avid reader and lover of hats this seems the perfect combination for my next read.

[@kakhabertukhashvili9367]

About hats, there is nothing about hats without pipes!

[@NicholasIngel]

First in

[@supersonique001]

Did I actually hear Kirby say something to the effect that 'having them all would be too much!!!!????' this coming from the man who has more suits than Jay Leno has cars! LOL. One day I expect to see Kirby highlighted on the TV show 'American Greed' LOL. narrated by Stacey Keach wearing a Fedora !

[@douglasdietz7503]

Kirby, I've been looking for a homberg. Although I have found several makers that produce them, none are in the right size or the level of quality I'm looking for. Optima is terrific, but wearing a hat in the $1500+ price range is a bit obscene for my look. BTW, although watches in the Rolex range are wonderful, l choose not to wear them for the same reason. Any homberg suggestions?

[@mikebirch6913]

Hello sir, which shoes or boots would you recommend for the wetter weather we are now experiencing in England?

[@loveja1234]

17:20 What a handsome chap in the book! Do you know him Kirby?

[@theoisaac9948]

👍 👍 💯

[@gavindadds4414]

Into Spring now and already getting into high 20's and 30's celsius in Australia. Our Sun can be absolutely brutal, so there has been somewhat of a revival in Panama hats, especially amongst older guys like me who don't have as much hair on top these days. I believe one of the big reasons hat wearing, especially in the US declined, was because JFK didn't wear one. Being such an influencer other men of his generation followed suit.

[@theofarmmanager267]

We are on the UK but spend a month or so each year in our house in NSW. So, I agree about the strength of the sun and I wear a hat almost constantly when outside. I do wear summer hats in the UK on the occasion that the sun comes out and winter hats more frequently. The decline in the wearing of hats in the UK seems to date from before the 60’s. If you look at photos and videos of London in the 1910’s, everyone was wearing a hat. 1920’s, everyone. 1930’s everyone. 1940’s mostly (although service people had to); 1950’s, younger people were less likely to wear a hat; 1960’s, only older people. I’ve heard that the increasing length of men’s hair is a reason as hats spoil the coiffure of longer hair. It seems a forlorn hope that, in my lifetime, the wearing of hats by men becomes more than a curiosity. I’m afraid that the styles of clothing and hats favoured by KA are an anachronism and, outside of very limited areas of the West End of London, would be the subject of derision.

[@ocean911]

Car roofs began getting lower and lower in the mid to late 20th century so men could not wear a hat while driving. So, once in the car men found it annoying there was no place to safely and conveniently stow their hat while driving.

[@master-barber]

I see the hats you most speak of are fedora’s. A person with a long neck suck as myself, I feel fedora’s accentuate my long neck so I wear newsboy hats. What are your thoughts?

[@florentlago2236]

Optimo hats looks great, but a bit surprising Kirby, that with all your trips in London, you've never been to Lock & co.... Or may be a future subject for a video?

[@monochromebluess]

I am sure Kirby did visit Lock’s when in a walking tour with Tom Chamberlin which is within his video catalog. Trying on the hat measurement machine etc.

[@kakhabertukhashvili9367]

Kirby, let me give you an inspiration for the next series, do something about pipes, you know Sherlock, sometimes a pipe tells more a person than..., you know Rene Magritte, "This is not a pipe," exactly, this is not a pipe. So, the next story comes about pipes. Do not forget Monaco, and where is Cuba, where is Cuba videos?!

[@fidasadi9014]

مرحبا لماذا لاتأتي الى المملكة العربية السعودية وسنرحب بك بكل تأكيد لان قناتك جميله ونفصل لك الثوب السعودي ونلبسك الشماغ اعتقد انها فكرة رائعة وستحوز على رضاء المتابعين وستكون المشاهدات عاليه اضمن لك ذلك تقبل مروري❤️🇸🇦

[@paulmcgee1867]

Hat departments were bigger than the shoe department as everyone wore hats! 😂

[@charlesbleile5282]

Sorry Kirby, but a felt hat with a rolled over and stitched brim is a sign of a cheap hat. You see this all the time on wool felt hats. A ribbon bound brim or even a plain edge brim looks better on a fur felt hat.

[@aeptacon]

do you have another recommendation?

[@jls1337]

@kirbyallison I'd love to see a video collaboration between you and Kevin (@quadrogong1111) one of the most knowledgeable guys in the country, when it comes to hats.