When I first opened the box, I was disappointed in the color. It was darker than I hoped. "Taupe" means gray with a touch of brown. This was closer to charcoal.

It is a very comfortable hat, but there are design compromises to allow the crusher capability - no crown liner to speak of, and a very soft band that can take regular deformation.

You have to roll the hat properly (youtube has advice on this). I have been pleasantly surprised so far how well the hat recovers from getting rolled and stuffed in a rollerboard week after week. It does get a little droopy, but seems to come back rather well from all the abuse. I will have to see whether it can hold up over the long haul.

Rakish, stylish, and the quality is there. If it dies, I'd probably replace it, even at the stiff price.