I picked up this Bailey of Hollywood Mannes while on vacation and couldn't be happier. I own a lot of styles of Kangol's, but this was my first Bailey hat. I wish there were more reviews on Amazon for Bailey hats. It is very difficult to know how any hat is going to to fit ahead of time since you usually can't go to the mall and try them on. I normally wear a 7 3/8 in New Era baseball caps and this Mannes in Large fits me perfectly. If you're 7 1/4 or 7 3/8, I would say Large is good.

First off, the hat looks great. The pattern looks a little busy if you're looking at it online, but the brown looks really good in person, in my opinion. A little busy, but not too busy. However, I saw the olive green one too, and didn't care for it at all. I think all of the colors available must have a 3-color weave to them with one of the colors being the dominant one.

The hat is fairly breathable. It's made of plastic polypropylene (yes, really) but it doesn't feel cheap. If anything, the material helps it retain its form really well. The brim is stingy, so you can wear it up all-around like a pork-pie hat, or you can wear it with the front-part down, like a fedora. It just kind of snaps into place. The plastic polypropylene is denser than you may think, but obviously more breathable than anything of cloth/with a lining. Since you can wear it easily as either a pork-pie or a fedora, it's almost like getting two hats in one.

For travel, it says it is packable/ crushable. I personally haven't tried that out yet, but I have seen that it seems to pop right back into shape. I don't really want to mash the hat to test that part out! But given the shape (ie, it's not a driving/flat cap), I probably wouldn't pack it in a suitcase.

I have tried on the Bailey of Hollywood Billy but thought something about the fit was off - it was a little too big/roomy. To me, this Mannes seems a bit shorter in terms of the height/headroom compared to the Billy. The Mannes is not overly tall in terms of the rise/height of it. If you had a really big/tall high-rising head, I worry that this might not fit you well.... All in all though, a very cool hat. Definitely recommended. I'm hoping they eventually make plain colors, with no patterns, because I would buy those too.