Hat 1
I am constantly striving to find the best Panama hat bodies to use for Penman Panama hats. I have been very fortunate to acquire a very limited amount of Cuenca hat bodies which were produced to the same specifications as Brent Black of The Panama Hat Company of the Pacific. These are truly special hat bodies that I have had the pleasure of handling and working with. The hat bodies have undergone a special process to make them softer than most Panama hats that are available in todays market. I would even venture to say that these Cuenca hat bodies are perhaps of a comparable weave count to some of the Montecristi that may be available today.
$675.00 plus shipping, Includes a Penman hat box and Penman Lapel Pin
Montecristi Semi Calado Hats
Another variety of Montecristi hat body for Penman Panama Hats is the Semi Calado or partial open work/weave and is highly sought after but rarely seen . These Semi Calados hat bodies are also woven from the same paja toquilla as the liso weave MonteCristi. The labor intensive process is performed by carefully choosing and preparing the paja to be turned into usable straw to weave a Montecristi body. Each semi Calado is woven by hand and takes many hours to complete. I have a small number of these beautiful hat bodies currently in stock. These semi calados will range in the 500 plus range weaves per inch and are extremely well woven. This will make a truly unique and special hat for someone!
$1000 plus shipping, includes Penman hat box and Penman lapel pin.
Hat 2
$500.00 plus shipping, includes a Penman hat box and Penman lapel pin.
$725.00 plus shipping, Includes a Penman hat box and Penman Lapel Pin
Hybrid Fur Felt Straw Combination Hat
Here is the best of both worlds - a hat with the durability and coverage of fur felt and the light weight of straw which is perfect ventilation for a hot day. The crown of the Hybrid will use hat bodies woven from Cuenca, Ecuador using the same weaving material of Paja Toquilla straw. The paja hat bodies are also hand woven while using a somewhat quicker method minus the wooden stand and a different weave type known as a Brisa weave. A Bisa weave is an open weave which equates to having a small space in between the weaves and allows for better ventilation in the crown of the hat. That is why I have selected this type of straw hat body for the hybrid hat. It makes for a much cooler crown, which is then combined with the fur felt, making a very unique stylish hat.
$425.00 plus shipping, includes Penman hat box and Penman lapel pin.
Welcome to the Penman Panama Hats page. Due to the demand and requests from my customers, I am now expanding my sales into the world of Panama hats. I will be stocking hand woven Panama hat bodies from the coastal area of Montecristi to the highlands of Cuenca, Ecuador.
All the Panama hat bodies will be hand blocked, sewn and flanged, as you are accustomed to with my other felt hats. I have coordinated the appropriate sweatband to complement the paja toquilla straw and will use nothing but the finest vintage or vintage quality ribbon available.
Due to the nature of Panama hats, I will not be able to have standard offerings. Why, you may ask? With fur felt there is always excess body available to work with, which allows for blocking the crown to almost any height. This permits the brim to be cut to almost any size desired. With straw, it's a different ballgame. This will limit what can be achieved in the length of the brim along with the crown i.e. taller crown shorter brim along with the reverse. I will have variety of Panama hat body offerings and you, as the customer, will have the opportunity to choose from them to see if I can make you a truly custom Panama hat.
Please take a few moments and look over the straw hat bodies I have and then send me an email at info@penmanhats.com. Then we may begin to design and build your special
Panama hat together.
Not Available until spring 2024
Panama, Montecristi Hats
Montecristi hat bodies are hand woven from the Carludovica palmata plant or more commonly known as paja toquilla. Our Montecristi hat bodies are exclusively being sourced from Brent Black of The Panama Hat Company of the Pacific. The paja are carefully chosen and prepared to be made into straw through a very laborious process. Each hat is woven by hand which takes many hours of bending over a wooden stand with the weavers chest resting on a pad of some sort while weaving the Montecristi body. The type of weave on a Montecristi is known as a Liso weave which is Spanish for flat or smooth. The bodies which are currently in stock will range from 200-300 weaver per square inch and are nicely woven. The Montecristi will make a surprisingly light weight hat which constitutes for a wonderful warm weather hat.