Other men's hats that look better than hats have the right to look include the homburgs from Biltmore of Canada, known as The Classic and The Golden Pheasant in velour fur felt. The Biltmore Jazz takes its place in this exalted company, as a fully-lined, sporty dress pork pie hat designed with a telescope crown. The snap brim lets you fine tune your look, and wear the brim snapped down or turned up. For extremely formal wear, though, you may need The Mad Hatter from Scala, a wool felt top hat, or the sublime rendition of Charlie Chaplin's derby, the fur felt Bowler from Christys' of London.

When you're on the run, it may be time for The Foldaway. This fur felt fedora from Christys' is a rollable, packable hat. Christys' also has a marvelous traditional Trilby on hand for your head: it's a rich look, but not ostentatious (although it could made so, perhaps, with a paisley silk cravat). Borsalino comes through with a handsome corduroy rex, its lightly quilted lining keeping you as snug in your walking hat as a you-know-what in a you-know-where.

You might say that the sheer number of dress hats for men we have available is slightly excessive, but when faced with styles as varied as the swank Hi Roller (a TLS fedora in lambskin) and Scala's wool felt hats like the racy Zoot with lotsa attitude, The Godfather Homburg (a classic men's hat with even more attitude) and The Scala Derby, a consummate replica of that traditional stingy brim, you'll see why it's just impossible to draw the line.

Look at the western flavor we've got, for instance, with some hats from as far away as Australia, like the handmade Snowy River, a fur felt western dress hat from Akubra Outback Hats, and The Akubra Boss, an outback hat with a snappy Aussie front. Then there's others made in the USA by Stetson, including that nostalgic fur felt fedora holdover from the '30's, The Stetson Temple dress hat; The Fur Felt City, a fancy-wear fedora with satin lining; The Fur Felt Downs, a fedora from their Hats Royal collection; the classy sueded Dexter, with its conservative look in a larger headwear silhouette; The Weekender, fancy enough to wear to a more casual dress event; The Stetson Cashmere Blend Felt Fulton, a handsome pinch front fedora; and The Ghurka, a bound edge hat made from a blend of kangaroo fur and wool felt. We can never not have Stetson's fur felt Open Road, the iconic hat made most famous by LBJ. It's western elegance at its finest.

Wouldn't you know that Biltmore packs another punch altogether with their Eleganza Soleil Sporty Dress Hat. First, the name is impossible to say without tripping; secondly, you'll note that this hat has a bit more texture than most, because the hairs are not clipped as closely as they are on smoother headwear. As if that's just not enough perfection for you, Biltmore Hats also presents The Rosellini Luauro (another hard-to-say, yet masterful example of men's dress hats) and The Tyrolean Dress Hat, authentic in its suede fur felt profile (complete with badger brush). Finally comes the knock-out with The Polar Canadian Suede dress fedora, a nearly stingy, raw-edged brimmed hat suitable for everything from Sunday best attire to dressy business appointments. Cool beans. Nice hats.

By now, you're probably too tired to read all about the glorious Edward VII, the Stacy Adams wool felt homburg or The Rocker, a pork pie hat also issued by the good folks at SA, but perhaps you'd like to consider The Stacy Adams Wool Felt Debonair, fast becoming this season's favorite fedora or maybe their traditional (but never stodgy) Dapper Dan stingy brim dress hat with center dent.

So. Ready to order?