elopeLord of the Rings The Hobbit Gandalf Costume Hat for Adults and Teens

I'm a wizard, Harry!

This is a great costume piece that really captures what has to be one of the most iconic props of all time. The picture posted by the seller does NOT do the hat justice. The hat they nailed, advertising not so much. At $28 it was a purchase that left me feeling I had gotten something really good for the money:Good size - 16 3/4” across the brim & 15 1/2” tall; synthetic faux-felt but not overly thin (looks like felt from three feet away); decent stitching; reinforced brim with the right amount of floppiness/stiffness; Velcro band inside for size adjustment; cone filled with stuffing and supported by a wire that is easily shaped to achieve the wizard’s “battered hat” look you seek; wrinkles quickly dropped out using a steamer.This may be as close to THE hat as you can get without going for a handcrafted felt deal costing hundreds. Spouses be warned. Buying will likely result in your loved-one popping around corners wearing the hat and saying things like,”Keep it secret! Keep it safe!” or “Fool of a Took!!” Seriously, I challenge anyone who is even a bit of a fan of the Lord of the Rings to put this thing on for more than five minutes without quoting Gandalf (books or movies). And I am not even that much of a geek*.... No, really....There are some potential drawbacks to the design for those with a very, very big head. The hat might end up looking like a ladies’ sun hat with a crumpled cloth cone coming off it because the fabric will stretch and show the shape of the dome of your head. For those with tiny heads, the cone of the hat would be unsupported because the batting doesn’t reach all the way down to the crown of the head, leaving the top to flop around a bit despite the wire. I think that there is a work-around for the small-headed. The lining could be opened easily and a loose pillow stuffing inserted to fill it out a bit. I am on the smaller-headed side for men (hat size 7 1/8 to 71/4) and it is not a problem, I just include this as a caveat for those getting toward the ends of the cranial circumference bell curve.This is a great part of a costume in the way that most people in the US wear costumes. I think that if you are going beyond that - LARP’ing in the rain for example - this probably would not hold up to a great deal of punishment for all that it is well-made for the price.Bottom line: Highly recommended!-*For the truest geeks out there, take note: this is a grey hat. The description of Gandalf in the beginning of Tolkein’s, The Hobbit, and again In The Fellowship of the Ring, describes the wizard as wearing a blue hat....

The quality on this hat was better than I expected (I own a few Elope-brand hats), it was the best price (around $20 USD) I could find on a hat I wanted to "re-work" for a costume project.I was NOT a fan of the interior wiring, on mine, it did not seem to hold a "stiffness" pose very well as depicted in the picture. This wasn't a huge deal for me and I just opened it up and removed the wire (the wire itself is actually a decent, insulated piece so if someone DOES have luck with theirs working the way I assume it is intended, it should last for awhile and should not cause any "sharpness" or "poking through" issues). I thought removing the wire would necessitate more stuffing, but this ended up not being the case for me and it holds it shape just fine. Color is good, fabric is good and the exterior of the hat itself is QUITE large.My only complaint MIGHT be the interior size for the head. As most Elope hats, there is a good quality Velcro extension, however I don't have a particularly large head and I find I need to leave it open to wear the hat all the way on my head. You might need some experimenting on positioning to wear it for a larger head. The weight of the stuffed part of the hat meant that if I wasn't wearing it pulled down over my forehead, it felt like it could fall off (and this was both before and after removing the wire).Because the fabric is a reasonably good quality mix of softness and stiffness to hold a shape, it's not very breathable and will get warm pretty quickly, which is not so bad for an inside, air-conditioned costume event, but less comfortable for an outdoor summer ren-fair, for example. With a wig AND the hat, you are probably going to be sweating a lot.Previous to starting my alterations, I have worn the hat in public several times to test it's durability and how it wears, and gotten lots of compliments.

I have spent too much time and energy looking at wizard hats, and if you're looking for a "classic" style, this is as good as it gets until you go to Etsy to get something custom made.Pros:Sturdy construction, quality material. It does NOT look or feel like a cheap costume hat."Classic" Wizard look, with wide brim and a point. It has a little stuffing in the top and some armature wire to help give the shape you want.Adjustable interior hat band helps it to fit my tiny head. Default size snugly fits my wife's giant head.Cons:Hat brim is sewn from 2 parts, creating a seam across the middle of the hat.Brim does NOT have armature wire.Material used on interior hat band is a little scratchy.

On a whim, I decided to buy this hat. Just for fun.The hat is everything I expected it to be. It has some wires of some sort up in the tip to help keep it shaped and wizardy-looking, so that's neat. It's well sewn and a solid felt-type material. Keeps the head warm. Most importantly, it looks right. If you wanna up your wizard game, it's a quality, affordable option. :)About sizing, I have a biggish head (XXL hat size typically), and it just barely fits with a buzz cut. Not uncomfortable, but somewhat tight. It leaves a good mark. I marked "fits as expected" because it's about what I've come to expect from 'one size fits all' hats. It does have an adjuster inside, but I don't use it (and it doesn't bother you if you don't). That said, I'd prefer it be larger, especially since it has an adjuster. Oh well, it's not like I wear it every day. :)