Back in the late 80's earlier 90's when I was in college is about the time I started to prefer fitted caps. That's all I've owned since, and now that I shave my head clean, fitted caps are the ONLY way. They look nicer, fit overall better, and are more comfortable. Long live fitted!! 👍
I started buzzcuting my hair recently because my hairline is gone, the fitted caps especially the classic retro style made out of wool compliment my head shape and really makes my outfits stand out. People say I look 10 years younger. Lol
I'm actually kinda glad to see the demand decline. I've been sick of the alternate colorway/side patch trend for a while. Perhaps vendors will start to back off and go back to patchless caps with classic colors. Or maybe dig more into the minor leagues. Hat Club, for example, used to drop a lot of great classic minors caps. It's a rarity these days. All about "collections." I miss being excited about this hobby.
I don’t mind the different color ways as much as I do the side patches. So are just dumb and only on the hat because they wanted it to have a side patch
I do agree with the side patch stigma. I don't believe every fitted cap is required to have a side patch to be a good and decent quality hat. I feel the less it is integrated, the more appreciated they become.
I think a big part of it is Hatclub putting out garbage, and Topperz not shipping to US anymore. Hatclub selling out hats is what caused people to go to other stores and buy hats there to fill the void. Being that Hatclub has hats sitting it causes the domino effect to stop.
I love fitteds butt I just got exhausted trying to keep to with all the drops. I felt like I was on a hamster wheel. Now, I only go for what really moves me. And a lot of times, once I get past that initial first sighting of a drop, I realize that I really don't even like the hat that I was rushing to buy that much. Like it will be nice, but I can pass on it. The crazy part about the hat market is that you don't really get enough time to sit on it think about whether you REALLY want it because it's the thought of it selling out before you can make up your mind that gets you to make the impulsive purchase
All of your comments ring pretty true for my recent experiences as well - hats might look exciting on first glance, then you start to realize that maybe you've already got one or more slight variations on that colorway or design. Thanks for the comments.
I don't think it's so much a supply chain issue... I think a lot of vendors like HatClub have just been producing mediocre or bad caps. Myfitteds has never failed to sellout within minutes, or even seconds. The NFL caps will never work, people are too emotionally invested in football to wear hats of their rivals.
You are exactly right about the NFL fitteds not working. Me and my coworkers talk about it all the time. We will throw on any baseball fitted. But it's blasphemy to throw on any NFL team besides the one you root for
I think you are spot on regarding NFL caps/teams - emotions run deep and that makes a lot of sense. Supply chain issues were a real issue during late 2020 and 2021 - it's why some Clink Room preorders took up to 15 months to fill (and they even have a distribution connection with Hat Club). I would also say that MyFitteds has been equally guilty of some bad designs, but they seem to have created consistent demand through what I might call perceived scarcity and FOMO exclusivity. Thank you for the comments.
@@dreinthe616 HI Dre. You were definitely right and I was wrong regarding the supply chain issue. All of the sudden shortly after I commented on this video, I started seeing a lot more good hats sitting around at several vendors. Even Myfitteds is starting to have unsold stock piling up, and some of those are good hats. However I think the fact that Myfitteds and several other vendors are now selling their hats for $69-73 with shipping, that's also causing a lot of people to think twice before they buy. And with inflation continuing, I think a lot of people, myself included, are looking at their hat collection and wondering how many more hats they really need at $70 a piece. Anyway, just wanted to follow up with you. Take care brother.
Don't worry about views, your content is unique compared to a lot of other hat youtubers. If you include things like pick ups, future hat releases and things like that you could add a new dimension to the channel
Good video very informative but I personally do not see a decline in stopping my fitted hat addiction It will always be “ON TO THE NEXT ONE” salute to everyone I hope health and wealth plaques you for eternity… PEACE! ✌🏼😎
One main part is saturation not exclusive anymore cause everyone has the recipe if you love fitted caps you gonna love and appreciate them regardless thank you for shouting out nyc for the recognition you hit this video down to the tee great break down
Yes, NYC historically has a certain kind of cultural creativity, and that was definitely a spark at the beginning... but as you said, everyone has the "recipe" now. Thanks for the praise!
This is good news. I love wearing hats. But the prices are getting ridiculous. i only buy when I can get discounts. Either employee discounts, promo codes online or sales online or Ebay. And I've done very well. But also, I like wearing the 9fifty's aka snapbacks as well. I typically have a bald head but do tend to grow out my hair at times in the winter. So snapbacks are the way to go sometimes for the adjustments. But let the bubble burst. $45-$75 for a hat is no good. thats too much. I always wait and at least 85% of the time, I find the hat months later at a cheaper price.
Hey Great Video! The bubble is bursting mostly because they are only now trying to play catch up to the renewed interest in fitted caps. The popularity exploded in 2020 into 2021 but at that time there was Covid and supply chain issue caused hats to be more rare. Now that they can make enough hats for demand they are over producing. There’s also some very bad hats being made. I’ve seen several hats go on sale at HatClub for instance. I do feel like the bubble has burst for sure. More and more hats are sitting more and more often.
Seems like a combo of over saturation and rising prices are allowing ppl to be more picky and keeping ppl from buying as many. HC caps used to be $42 and shipping was only $5.
Good video. I think the fitted cap market normalizing is healthy. A bunch of Hat Club drops just sit, same with Lids HD--and they should sit. Lids can easily flood their stores with anything not sold online though, so they can manage it. Many of the designs aren't as unique anymore (meaning they're rehashed) while some are just flat-out hideous. Sneakertown fitteds are $60 before tax, shipping/handling. Technically, we're in a recession so that's another factor in the declining sales. The run-up also was likely fueled by tremendous liquidity. The U.S. printed more money in the last two years than its previous 100 combined. That's staggering.
Great commentary, thank you... on that note about liquidity/cash - it does seem that there is a lot of money moving back toward experiences and services over the physical goods that were favored during most of the pandemic.
There's definitely a major market saturation now. I think Lids capitalizes more on the same concept as a shoe drop, not necessarily the product specifically.
I wouldn't worry too much about the sale of fitted's declining. I remember in the mid 2000's when they had so many variations and remixed hats to the point it got ridiculous. Then somewhere around 2010-2012 everyone stopped wearing fitted's and moved on to snap backs. I didn't see people wearing fitteds' up until maybe 2018. The point is fitted hats survived the snapback phase, the trucker hat phase and the dad hat phase. I don't think they are going anywhere. I also regret getting rid of my fitted collection smh I'm starting back up now.
Wear what you want I don't care for trucker hats or fitted hats snapbacks are my favorites I like doing things nobody else doing anyway we shouldn't all hace to feel as if media is holding mental guns to our heads saying wear fitted hats cause nobody wears snapbacks or trucker hats much anymore it is what it is man way I see it idgad what style is popular only reason o started liking snapbacks is because it was something diffrent to me at the time then I started to stop wearing hats cause balding than dad hats and fitted hats started bowing up everywhere from rappers to your local thugs no cap i prefer the snapback cap cause I like it i wish more people would like because they like and not cause it's quote on quote the wave.not like we're getting a pension bonus
10 years ago or 11 I used to pay 25 bucks to 27 for my fitted caps now I got to pay 42 bucks that’s made in China ridiculous I can get a cap off Amazon Similar to fitted caps Buy a patch off eBay and put any logo on it
New Era just pummeling me with emails concerning these goofball editions. Talk about market saturation🤦♂️Need more updates dre, such quality content. BTW, side patches are cap wreckers.
Well having watched I believe all your videos you’ve covered the matter of the fitted cap market plateauing. It sounds like the moment has arrived. As someone with 1000+ caps the thrill is lost upon receiving notices of the latest collections. They’re frequent; they’re predictable- a pop culture-inspired colorway, an undervisor design, a sidepatch, and now selling for $50-$60. I would hope the cap manufacturers might try to capitalize on the concept of “less is more”. Continued success Doug. Always enjoy your fitted cap videos. ✌️
Yes, it's ironic that the relentless cap releases through this time period actually tempered my excitement in creating new content - but I'm hopeful my "production schedule" resumes with new energy once some balance is restored!
Thanks for another great video, Doug. Many of these oddly-colored caps may make their way to secondary stores, which is where I buy many of my caps to save money. Which brings me to a channel video idea please. What if you spent a morning hitting your local stores like Ross, Burlington, etc., and photograph caps and tell us in a video what you find since you know more about what you see than we do. Trash and Treasures! Side patch caps, atypical logos, a series that failed, and the like. Show us if you find deals, or if you find caps to beware of. You get the drift. It’s just an idea, though. Thanks for your content. 🧢
Totally agree, I think we'll see plenty in the bargain bins in 2023. Not a bad idea for a video theme either, although I probably don't circulate in enough brick and mortar stores to catch those very often... and I hope you noticed that I took your last suggestion for a video about other hats (non-baseball) in my collection! Thanks for the comments
Sneakers have also cooled off considerably over the past handful of months. Similar, imho, to sneakers. Some of the newer colourways just suck. Seem to have exhausted their creativity. Perhaps more a macro phenomenon happening? I know lux watch resale markets have cooled also. Btw. New subscriber and absolutely love your current and past content.
Lids Hat Drop actually has a window from Friday - Monday to buy the hats. They’ve been doing this for a while now, they announced it on live. Almost every drop sells out, other than a few teams and sizes. Those are being held back for future LHD stores. Lids Hat Drop out of everyone has been selling out almost every drop.
I think side patches are great, but not always necessary like you said. Side patches also allow companies to charge a few bucks more. What do you think about MLB/NBA/NFL on field caps starting to catch on to the colored UV trend? MLB Father’s Day and all star game caps this year had unique UVs
I think UVs in complimentary (or team) colors would be a good thing for any caps in any league, that's probably what I'd most like to see. A royal Golden State cap with a yellow UV, Navy Tigers with the orange UV - all with no side patches - would be examples of caps that I would definitely buy, thanks.
It's funny because the lids access pass this pass doesn't work on lids but it works on lids hat drop. That's something I'll never understand due to the fact that they're both the same company but one refuses to honor the discount that you pay for by yearly subscription.
It's definitely strange, but I actually talked about this in a video I did about Lids HD and the Saturated Market. Because of Lids online business being owned by Fanatics, they probably surrender a substantial portion of revenue to Fanatics. I'm betting that Lids HD, because it is a separate site, is not governed by the Fanatics ownership at all - so they can give the Access Pass discount and still claim the rest of the revenue on each cap sale. They probably do a lot better financially on Lids HD, even giving the 20% off the top!
Plus if you miss out on a hat you really want that’s hyped usually it’ll restock later on from somewhere else like hatclub has been restocking a lot of their drops from 2+ years ago lately with bigger stock
through the last 2 years, i have purchased about 900-1110 Side patches hats roughly ( add or minus to that figure ) . What ive noticed is that this year, especially april onwards i have slowed down tremendously ( almost towards purchasing 1-2 or zero MLB fitteds per month ) and have shifted almost solely to clink room hats ( especially after receiving almost 100 of them from my pre-orders that back dated from the whole of last year. Moving forward, i think ill solely be going for clinks unless there are batches of new fabric/ colors/ logos for MLB hats.
@@inthendwealldie guess how I started ? By joining the group during covid to sell whatever hats I had because I wanted to clear some stuff , ended up staying and doing wayyyy more damage then intended 😂. I didnt even ended up selling any at all haha
Me from the UK, I have seen recently something I have never seen before here in the UK. I have seen New Era hats on sale, also specialist Hat shops are very rare in the UK
I actually don't mind them if it's the only way I can get a certain design, they're just not my preference. The plastic band always wants to make the cap "round" as you would expect, but because I can shape a fitted more to my "long oval" head shape (as I've mentioned in a few vids), that is far and away the best cap style for me. I did post a 9Fifty review a few years ago ICYI... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y06WilnEPsA.html ...thanks
Will continue to follow regardless of what the market does. I’m here for you because I enjoy the content. I refuse to buy hats with side patches. Won’t do it. I want the original design, simple logo, nothing else. Not going to do it.
some this is true and some of it is there a lot ugly colorways coming out lately too ,and with so many places releasing it’s so easy to pass on ugly stuff and not settle and get what you want
Couple things, I’m a sub from the beginning and always will be Doug. Learned some great info on cap care and shaping, which I am forever grateful for. On some of these custom caps, I’m burnt out on them. No lie, I own my share of side patched wacky colored Mets caps. It’s getting out of hand now though. The side patch has become the billboard to the whole thing. Some of these color schemes looks like a kindergartner picked them. But, great content as always sir.
Yea tell that to everyone at myfitteds dude sells out everytime & the resellers for a hat have ridiculous prices people wanted 500-800 for a boston fitted hat inspired colorways by the necco candy
There will still be vendors and collections for this style of fitted that can have continued success, but the point of the video was that the overall market will get smaller, and there's probably a lot of collections that will fail commercially in the near future because of the cap saturation and creative exhaustion.
Side patches are tough but shouldn’t be an automatic inclusion on every design. Random crazy colorways should be truly limited to a few times a year and ANY OTHER SPORT THAT ISN’T BASEBALL DOESN’T NEED A FITTED CAP… it’s supposed to be PPE and part of a functional uniform… not simply a fashion accessory.
The EU new era ban tanked hats a lot I feel. It was nice having that freedom, it really sucks that that’s a thing now. Lot of stores are over-saturating the market with weird colors and have them made by countries with bad manufacturing. Everything’s been done it seems, and stores are just looking for the next hook/inspiration.
@@dreinthe616 you did a good job summing everything up in this video. Really made me think about why I think the current state of hats seems stale right now
Some drops are just not good. Like the Dogtown hc collection. If it was the hc fashion crossover collection sitting, then I would be concerned. Some drops are wack and that's normal. All the ones you showed I passed on except the t-dot collection which I liked. All the others I didn't like at all.
When there are so many vendors tapping so many themes for collections, the probability for more 'flops' like Dogtown goes up, and so will the frequency. I've noticed just these past couple of weeks that the large vendors are starting to limit the number of teams in their collections, which is another way to try and reignite demand, thanks.
hat club NFL caps have always completely sold out with in 10 minutes of release. No shout at getting a Houston Oilers hat if your not there right away.
Need a mariners Cooperstown the Griffey Jr draft retro color yellow m Trident Kansas city plain royal grey under brim maybe series side patch ne and a white sox grey under brim with that 05 series patch would love them to do some more NHL stuff again even tho think they lost the contract would love a 90s Nashville predators logo like I had back 2011 Tampa Bay san Jose shark with broken hokey stick would love some more NCAA stuff too
I don’t know if you’ll see this but is there a way to fix the button on the top of a fitted cap from being slanted forward when your wearing it. I’ve noticed with some of my hats but not with others.
I have that on a few caps too, but unfortunately don't have a good way to fix it... the angle is really set by the way the front two panels are joined to the back four.
Probably because everybody of the monopoly topperz and my fitteds has. Just ordered the woods stomper for my Pops hope he likes it. P.S the Dogtown release from hatclub was by and large a flop.
When there are so many vendors tapping so many themes for large collections, the probability for more 'flops' like Dogtown goes up, and so will the frequency. There will of course still be some vendors and collections that will be successful, I just don't think these kinds of caps can continue with the same market size that we've seen from 2020-22, thanks.
So true... it's almost all embroidery now, but even within the past couple years of Lids doing these, they were still using separate patches on their bigger in-store collections.
The fact that you only talked about 2 vendors who have been releasing trash the last two months is sad. There’s so many more “smaller” vendors dropping absolute heat. This is the biggest boomer hat vid I’ve ever watched.
I was not making a video about what great designs may or may not be coming from the smaller vendors right now, but rather trying to capture what happens when everyone wants to cash in by following the formula that's been established. I watch a lot of smaller vendors on IG and elsewhere, and I've given credit to them in prior videos for blazing a creative trail when we first saw this style variant emerge. The 'boomer' reference was unnecessary, since a) I'm not one, and b) I'm no fan of anyone that tries to create generational conflict on social or elsewhere.
Everyone complaining about patches is a little girl. We paying up to $70 for some hat releases I expect a couple extra patches to make it feel worth it 💀
Regardless of how you value the patches, I think you're making that statement when we've already past the market peak. I'm not sure how you're going to feel about some of these caps - or the $70 investments - in another 12 months or so.
I can do without the colorways and under visors. Most of the time the look awful and I scroll right past. I would like to see classic, alternate, and throwback logos make a comeback in the original colors too.
Yes, I think there's a lot of room for creative expression by using the full palette of primary and complimentary colors from any team's history (along with their throwback logos in some cases).
I only buy KC and storm chasers hats and this has been the worst year in a decade for new hats. The storm chasers hats were unavailable all year and the drops that include KC blow. I have over 200 5950's so it's whatever but i usually grab around 30 a year because i buy multiples and this year i think I've gotten around 5. Had KC been included in every drop this would've been my most expensive year yet. I'm either way on patches