NOW AVAILABLE IN THREE CUSTOM BRIM SIZES: 2", 2 1/4" or the Classic 3" !

Because of the stunning and dramatic poster for Michael Mann's recent feature, "Public Enemies", most people think of Johnny Depp, in his starring role as John Dillinger, wearing his dramatic gray Fedora.  Truth is, he actually wears that fedora in only a few scenes! Actually, his hat of "choice" is a classic Italian Boater, which has a much more "dramatic" involvement in the film, since this is the Boater that Dillinger was wearing when he was gunned down in front of the Biograph Theater.  In fact, supposedly, one of the last instructions given to his "assassins" by FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, was: "look for the man with the black-banded Boater".

Baron Hats has always been proud of our association with Johnny Depp, and therefore were honored to be asked to once again make a hat for him -- this memorable and infamous Boater. Upon completion of principal photography on "Public Enemies", we were able to procure the hat we made for Depp and now display it, along with other Johnny Depp creations, in our Hollywood Hat Museum in Burbank.

We call this Baron exclusive classic Boater, inspired by the one we made for Depp, "The Biograph". Unlike the Boaters that were made in Italy in the early 19th Century, in the rigid, thick "paglia cotta" technique, these are the more modern authentic "user friendly" versions that were popular in the 1930's. They are exact replicas of the more breathable and pliable straw-weave versions, those worn by the most stylish of Chicago celebrity Mobsters, as a sign of their wealth and personal panache.

Made of hand-woven pure Tropic Palm straw with the special overlapping "awing treliage" pattern, these genuine Italian Style Boaters are hand-shaped using the original blocks obtained by Master Hatter, Mark Mejia. They are then finished with the original "Dillinger" black grosgrain extra wide hat band. The "Biograph" sits much more comfortably on your head, and like a favorite pair of jeans or boots, slowly forms perfectly to your head's personal shaping, unlike the inflexible early 19th Century version.

This  classic Baron Boater is made with the traditional 4 7/8" crown and can now be custom ordered in three popular brim sizes! Check below in the "Brim Size" field in the "order box", and have your Boater crafted in either a 2", 2 1/4" or the Classic (and hard to find) 3" brim!

Each hat also includes an engraved leather sweatband. It also comes with our special Lifetime Guarantee, and a signed and numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

The "Biograph" can also be ordered with our FlexPay payment plan. That's three easy monthly payments with no interest or service fees!

So for those who want to show off their own inner wealth and "personal panache", there is no better hat than this classic! Wear it with pride, but we do recommend you "look both ways" before crossing the street in front of the local movie theater!

Interested in the classic "Barbershop Quartet" red and black stripped classic version of this Italian Boater (also available in the three brim sizes)?  Check out this much requested hard-to-find original at our Baron "Boater Italiano" order page.

Please Note: The body's of these "Biograph" Boaters are hand-woven for us with harvested Tropic Palm, and purposely left in their natural colorings. Therefore each Boater will be slightly different in the shading of the natural "sand-bone" coloring than the one pictured.

These custom made to order Boaters take between three to five weeks to complete. If you need the hat before then, please e-mail us so we can discuss other options to see if we can rush the hat to you before then.