All our handcrafted headwear products are crafted within the UK by our teams of specialist trained and skilled craftspeople.  We are always seeking to recognise and train new talent to keep the heritage of handcrafting hatting knowledge and expertise alive to ensure these endangered skills do not die out throughout the UK.

We work closely with our carefully selected suppliers for our ready-to-wear headwear ranges which are sourced to only the very highest quality available from our UK and European collaborators. Our Panamas are handwoven by highly skilled artisan weavers in Ecuador and handfinished in the UK.

We recommend that all our customers have their head size professionally measured in our London shop or take this measurement themselves at home.  Please do not simply order your Herbert Johnson hat in the size you may be accustomed to wearing for other brands, as we cannot guarantee the accuracy of other brands hat sizes.  Please always ensure you order the correct size by following the instructions below.

For hats, simply place a string or flexible measuring tape around your head just above your ear and across the mid-forehead, completely circling your head.  Hold the tape firmly, but not too tightly.  Measure your head exactly where you want the hat to sit on your head.  Measure in centimetres.  If your measurement falls between sizes, round up to the nearest half centimetre or available size. It may help to either do this in the mirror or have a friend to help for accuracy.  It is advisable to repeat this process to ensure your measuring technique is yielding accurate results.  Follow our Illustrated How To Guide for further information.

To get the perfect fit, we suggest ordering your hat as a custom order, when available, sending your exact head measurement details to 2 decimal places to our workshop team and we will craft your hat to fit.  If you are in any way unsure of which size you should order, please contact us for advice.

For some items on the website, tailored sizing advice is provided on the product listing, please check the specific advice for each product on the listing.

Hats in our Traditional or Military Headwear Collections including top hats, bowler hats, military and equestrian hats, please contact the makers directly for more information.

No. Although some other brands online may offer this advice to their clients, when ordering from us, please follow our Measuring Guide and our hatter will craft your hat regardless of style chosen to fit your provided exact head measurement in centimetres & millimetres. Contact us for further information and the best fit advice as required.

All brands vary in their advice but when ordering from us we advise clients to order their hats crafted to their exact head measurement in centimetres. It should not be necessary to size up an order for reasons of future shrinkage concern and this is not something that our clients have been experiencing with our handcrafted headwear.

Please be aware that all our handcrafted hats are made in-house by our team using only the very finest quality felts and components available in the industry. We work closely with our raw materials suppliers to ensure the best possible performance and our hatters employ the very best traditional hatmaking techniques to craft our hats to build in strength, quality and longevity at every stage. Part of these processes involve the pre-shrinkage of all our felts to ensure the best possible resistance to further shrinkage in future.

The quality of our headwear combined with proper after care should ensure many many years of enjoyment.

We use graduated hat blocks to craft all our Poet hat styles which ensures that all the hats specifications are scaled correctly across the entire size range.  So the exact specifications for the Poet hat for crown height and brim width will depend on which size is ordered. 

However at an average size of 59cm, the hat will be blocked to an open crown height of 5.5 inches.  Once this hat is shaped/bashed, this will give a front pinch height of roughly between 4.25”-4.5”.  This size would normally have its brim cut to an even 2 7/8ths” (front & back).  If its an Indiana Jones Poet style being crafted with a dimensional brim, this will have a further few mm’s cut from each side of the brim to make the ovoid shape (approx. 2 6/8ths” on the sides).

To check the expected long term availability of any products that are currently marked as 'Sold Out' or 'Please Enquire', contact us to inquire.

Yes, we like to call this our #yourhatyourway service!  All of our products are individually handcrafted so we can create bespoke features to suit your style and needs.  If you would like to customise any of our products or create something completely bespoke, please feel free to email us and we will be happy to talk through all the options with you and provide you with a quote.  Please note that due to the item being custom it may take a little longer to create and source any materials as required but our hatter will keep you informed throughout the process.

We also offer an embossing service for all our leather sweatbands as well as many other bespoke options - this could be a great idea for gifts as it really gives that personalised touch! Discover more about our Bespoke Hatting Services and How To Create A Custom Hat Design via the links.

UPDATE: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WE HAVE PAUSED ALL NEW CUSTOM ORDERS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Standard orders for our handcrafted hats come as standard with the embossing details as listed on the product on the website. Custom Embossing options may be possible when available as a custom order only. Please see individual products for full standard specifications and options for custom embossing. Custom Embossing is not available on any pre-made items from our Paratus Collection.

If the Customer wishes to add custom embossing to their hat, please contact our team to create a custom order. Please note that a maximum of 4 upper case letters is possible at £10 per letter.  You can also include up to 3 dots and 1 dash in addition at no extra charge. Additional information or preferences can be added to the Notes Section for your order at checkout.

We offer a choice of foil and position on the sweatband (check each product for corresponding standard options or enquire for further information). Should you wish to enquire about any other format of embossing including a preference for gold, silver or blind embossing instead, please contact us. 

Please note that any custom changes made to our products that differ from our standard listing, including custom embossing, will mean that this item will not be eligible for return or refund under normal circumstances.  Please refer to our Returns Policy for more details.

UPDATE: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY PAUSED ALL CUSTOM EMBOSSING SERVICES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

We often get asked by clients if our old 1980's satin style liners with old style branding and shop details printed on them may still be available now to install in their modern HJ hats to replicate the original movie hats liners of the time.

Please note that the brand has made many changes to their liner options from the materials used, the qualities, the logo branding colours and style have all changed continually over the years with changes of shop location, company owners and suppliers. You will notice that the 30 plus hats featured in each Indiana Jones film show little consistency in their liner options installed at the time, even featuring different ones for hats used in the same movie, presumably the hatters using what they had available at the time to fulfill such a large order for each movie where there was also overlay with shop locations and changes in supplies.

These upgrades and changes have continued as you might expect from any business and where today HJ have returned to our signature blue and platinum logo design featuring our current brand details on a premium quality handmade liner. It is neither possible (due to trading-standards law) or desirable to reproduce and insall old style liners featuring any non-current brand details into a modern hat. Please be aware that using old company details and addresses is in direct violation of the trade description act law and therefore we would not be legally able to install any outdated details into any modern product. This would not be permitted and we have moved away from the use of this type of poor quality satin liner in favour of our upgraded handmade modern ones which offer the best comfort, experience and longevity in line with the ethos of the highest quality handcrafted headwear we create.

Although we do not hold records of any items or purchases made with us prior to 2016, our team may be able to tell you some more information about your item. To find out more, please send detailed photos of your hat showing the outside, inside and any details of your item and email these to us via enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk

We are pleased to provide a worldwide delivery service.  The courier we use is DHL.  For those who may prefer, collection of your order from our London shop may be possible on request and can be arranged if you place your order directly with us by email

• Our hats are carefully packaged in simple white hat boxes within a cardboard postal box for dispatch internationally.
• We ship worldwide with DHL.
• We calculate delivery costs based on the weight of each product and country to which the item is to be shipped.
• Postage costs may be included in the purchase price for some items.

UK delivery is approximately £15.90 and International shipping is automatically generated by DHL which can be seen when you carry out the order and add an item to your shopping basket.  This is dependent on the weight of the product and the country shipping is required to.

*Disclaimer: Some of the weights may appear different due to the packaging requirements of the product for international transportation.

Please note that all prices shown on our website are inclusive of UK VAT.  If you are ordering from outside of the UK, the VAT tax will be removed automatically at checkout for eligible clients. For International orders, please expect your local customs office to charge Duty and Tax at the applicable rate for your country.

• All prices shown on our website are inclusive of UK VAT.
• VAT Tax will be removed automatically at checkout for eligible international orders.
• If you are ordering from outside of the UK please expect your local customs office to charge Duty and Tax at the applicable rate for your country.

We ask that great care and attention is taken to ensure you order the correct size and style you want and that you are happy with the details of your order prior to completing it.  We recommend having your head measured professionally in our shop but if this is not possible, we ask that customers follow our clear instructions on measuring at home.  It is the clients responsibility to ensure they order the correct size and style that they want.

On receipt of your order, if you believe your item has a fault or is damaged in any way that is not of your making, please contact our workshop straight away to discuss the issue.  Many minor issues can be easily corrected by the customer themselves under proper instruction from our hatter so please always do contact us first if there is anything concerning you about your purchase.  If you request to take the matter further, your item will need to be assessed by our hatter directly and a report will be sent to you to discuss.

If on assessment it is agreed that the damage or fault you reported is apparent and that we are liable, we will arrange a replacement or refund as requested.

If it is clear that the damage the item has sustained is the fault of improper care and handling on the part of the customer, the item will not be eligible for refund.  Any repair services needed will be quoted for and will be carried out on the agreement by the customer and at their cost.

If you place an order which includes any custom bespoke options, we are unfortunately not able to receive your product back as a return for refund as these cannot be resold.

In cases when the customer has placed an order and then changed their mind, it is at the companies discretion whether we agree to cancel and refund the customers order depending on what was ordered and at what stage the order has reached in production.  It is the customers responsibility to consider their purchases carefully before placing their order and to contact us straight away should this situation arise.

If a request for a return, replacement or refund is agreed, we will provide you with our returns address to send your item to us or we will arrange to have your item collected from your address depending on what has been agreed.

Please contact us directly to discuss any issues or potential returns.

Yes. We offer a wide range of repair and refurbishment services for most headwear types and all brands. For more information navigate here.

For all Civilian Headwear and general enquiries, please contact the Herbert Johnson team directly via enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk. 

Additional information can be found through our contact page. You can also direct message us through our various social media pages.

• General Enquiries : enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk
• Civilian Headwear Enquiries : enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk
• Traditional Headwear Enquiries : military@swaine.group
• Cap & Fabric Headwear Enquiries : military@swaine.group
• Military Headwear Enquiries : military@swaine.group
• Swaine General Enquiries : enquiries@swaine.group
• Media/Supplier Queries : Enquiries@swaine.group

Our main Hatting Workshop (Civilian Hatting Dept.) is located in the Midlands UK and this is where all our Handcrafted civilian hats are made and then distributed to our clients or to the Swaine stores. At present, this workshop is not officially open to the public. However, contact us via email to enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk and our team may be able to arrange a special visit appointment for you directly when possible.

The Military Hatting Department team and workshop is located at the New Bond Street Swaine London store. This workshop is open to visitors by request via the store.