Hi,

I am looking around for a top hat (preferably silk, or one that looks professional) and have seen lots and lots on the Internet. I just don't know which one to buy. I am looking for one around £30-40 and this one
http://www.magictricks.com/accessories/tophat.htm seems to be the most popular on the internet (although it does say that it is very small).

There are others however that still look really good (like http://www.magicmgmt.com/magicshop/collapsibletophat.html and http://www.themagicwarehouse.com/general2.html)

Which of the above looks the best in your opinion?

If anyone owns any top hats or knows anything about any that might be good, any help would be great!

I'm thinking about doing card manipulations into the hat, so it would have to look good on and off my head!

Thanks.

Sam

P.S. forgot to mention this one! http://www.bobjamesmagic.com/merchant2/m......8-00-000

The ones from magictricks.com and bobjamesmagic.com are the same hat and Bob James wants more for his. The other two sites won't open.

Cheers!

Sorry, the link should be http://www.themagicwarehouse.com/general2.html

It should work now! Any reviews/which one to get?

Thanks.

Sam

Has anyone had any experience with any of these top hats? How have they worked for you? Which one do you think would look the best on stage?

ANY help will be extremely useful!

Thanks.

A good top hat is going be $200

Norm Neilsen magic will sell you a top qyality one.

Dube makes a decent felt one for around $80. For silk, you're talkin 2-300. You can save some money by buying wholesale and selling the ones you don't need on ebay.

Hi

Go to a wedding outfitters and buy an old one.

Paula

You can buy felt ones at stores that sell or rent formal wear.

Regan

Lucy and I have paid from $80-$240 for the good ones. Even good used ones will cost you close to $100. How you store it and how it has been stored is very important.

As a promotion note, I find that a top hat will get you press when other things fail.

Bob
Magic By Sander

Under $100 and you get what you pay for!

As an aside, I hope you were kidding about wearing it; magic has a cheesy enough image already!

A top hat is ONLY worn with white tie and tails. It is NEVER worn with a tux (except by really bad magicians!).

And that is not an opinion; that is a FACT!

Peter,

You are right again! Unfortunately, I have run across fashion editors for newspapers that did not know white tie from black tie. Of course, here in the USA it is common to find tux rental shops that think colored tailcoats are still formalwear. Maybe they think they are both costumes?

The only time I ever wear a top hat is when Lucy and I are out on the town for a white tie event. I've never worn one on stage. (I have used them for props. But they were handed to me.)

I have found that at press interviews, it is one of those things that the reporters have never handled and like to get a chance to do that. The longer they play with the hat, usually the more coverage you get!

We hit a source of top hats in Canada about two years ago that actually made a market in used and wrong size top hats. She had some real deals. We met her through eBay. I changed from AOL (Almost On Line) to BellSouth and lost all those old emails (my motivation to finally fire AOL). There may be a way to track her through eBay.

Enjoy!

Bob
Magic By Sander

Bob Sanders writes: "I changed from AOL (Almost On Line)."

Now, THAT'S truly funny!

Peter I am going to have to disagree with you on that. I would have to say what if it fits your style, and it will work for you, go for it!
I work with a ten year old and he is the only kid that goes good in a top hat. He wears a black tuxedo and a red tie and his stage character is far more superior with his hat, rather then not. Please don't generalize about people being "bad magicians" if they do wear something...

Jeff

Hi:

The one I'm wearing in this picture costs about $75. It's called a "Caroler's Hat".

Oliver

I bought a used one and I was just practing pulling stuff out of it and it like fell apart. I was so angry, the hat had like been glued together.

And which one are you?

(I'm sorry, but that was too good of a straight line to pass up!)

Cheers!

Quote]
On 2005-04-14 23:06, PyroJeffNic wrote:

Peter I am going to have to disagree with you on that. I would have to say what if it fits your style, and it will work for you, go for it!
I work with a ten year old and he is the only kid that goes good in a top hat. He wears a black tuxedo and a red tie and his stage character is far more superior with his hat, rather than not. Please don't generalize about people being "bad magicians" if they do wear something...

Jeff
[/quote]

Peter is correct. Top hats are for white tie (formal tails) dress.

Entertainers are pretty sloppy about combining formal dress with costumes. A case in point is myself with silver costumes even made by Raffinati, cut like a formal tail suit. That does not make it formal white tie accepted by the sophisticated of this society. (I have experienced the works of ignorant writers who didn’t know that. But they don’t write me checks either!) There are shows where that is definitely inappropriate and I make the adjustment to fit the occasion. (I keep at least three good white tie suits for that specific reason.) Fortunately, we have destroyed the evidence of some of the things I have worn on stage as costumes in the last forty-seven years. I Hope! (Learning experiences can be embarrassing stuff.)

I think that the important part here is to never embarrass your talent buyer, agent, and host by showing up on stage in inappropriate dress for the occasion. "Costumes" at formal white tie gigs are usually out of place. "Costumes" are fine in their place. The key is to know the difference. Don’t cross the line.

Wearing white gym socks with a suit in a comedy act is acceptable. Doing that on a job interview, everyone will wish you had slept late and stayed home. It is disrespectful of social standards and is evidence that you don’t belong (fit) there.

What you wear will not make you a "good" or "bad" magician but it will make you a good or bad "fit" for the occasion. That will also affect your career as effectively as being a “bad magician”.

I don't wear hats indoors period! Although I was raised as a real cowboy, only saddle tramps, rednecks and field hands were unsophisticated enough to wear hats indoors. (Real cowboys do not accept them as equals.) Entertainers abused that behavior for the masses, but to real cowboys it is still disrespectful of those around you. Hollywood is not a reality show. It is a fiction for those to be separated from their money. Knowledge of social standards is certainly not a requirement.

I do not hold the same feelings about food workers wearing hats indoors. Health requirements insist that they do that to keep their hair, etc. out of your food. This is true in surgery too. It is out of respect for you, not disrespect for you. It is also done where appropriate and is inappropriate elsewhere.

Remember that the public laughs at many performers for many reasons. The public sees many of them as jokes! Paying entertainers is not the same as respecting them.

What is your long-term plan? If it will require that the audience and talent buyer respect you, you’ll have to earn that. Offending them won’t do it. If gaining their respect is necessary to you in being a “good” magician, in the long-run you’ll have to respect their rules. They make the rules. And they decide if you are a “good” or “bad” magician!

Good Luck!

Bob
Magic By Sander

Contact Pegani in Denmark at http://www.pegani.dk he can get you what you want.
He has a contact in Germany (I think) who will make the tophat (colapeble) to you size. that's any color (even with patter I beleve), any size in silk with metal spring and silk lining. All hand made. OK so it will cost you if you want something extra but a standard black one might go for £150 plus shipping.

Stanyon,

I'm the "dummy" in between the figures

Oliver

Ba-Dum-Bum!

Cheers!