Sam, that sounds very clever and creative...I like it! (And I'd just hit the local thrift stores myself, looking for leather belts which might lend themselves to hatband projects...I found a nice, soft, tan 1-inch wide belt for
2 bucks which will have Tandy Leather silver conchos added and...
My "3 Akubras & a Stetson" post the other day morphed into a chat about the hats and hatbands seen in the early 1970's TV series ALIAS SMITH & JONES. Fellow Lounger Sam Craig mentioned maybe doing a Heyes hat replica, something I'd contemplated as well...except for the difficulty of replicating...
I'm pretty sure this picture of Archie and Gloria is from the short-lived spin-off series starring Sally Struthers in which Carroll O'Connor made a brief appearance. It aired in '82-83, after the end of ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE (a 2 or 3 season continuation of ALL IN THE FAMILY after most of the...
Yeah, the price on the Baron's Heyes hat certainly IS eye-popping!! Compared to some of the other replica hats they offer, the Heyes hat seems like an awful lot of $$ considering the hat style is really pretty basic, nothing tricky to make. I also think their hat seems too high in the crown and...
Hey, Sam! I just stumbled across this lady online who makes and sells a pretty exact replica of the Heyes hatband. She offers it as a finished band for $60 or a do-it-yourself kit for just $25 (both including shipping to lower 48 US states). She's got the correct conchos (no idea where she found...
Sam, I just accidentally discovered that Baron Hats will be making a Kid Curry replica hat, adding it to the rather nice (and expensive!) Hannibal Heyes hat they already offer. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that people of a certain age still recall ALIAS SMITH & JONES, which was a fun little...
Thanks, Sam -- glad you enjoyed these hats.
You're on target with the light-brown one -- I've been catching up on ALIAS SMITH & JONES DVDs recently, and this one was deifinitely inspired by the later hat Ben Murphy wore as Kid Curry.
Yes, I did see the cool Roy Rogers tutorial video on...
Thanks, Terry. It's really fun to do, like making wearable sculpture. When I first started lurking here at the Lounge, I didn't understand how some guys had accumulated a whole bunch of hats. Now I get it ;)
Not sure where to put this post since it overlaps Akubra Overload, New Hats and Westerns.
Here are a trio of new Akubras, and a Stetson grabbed new and pretty cheaply on eBay (thanks to some fairly minor factory flaws).
These were all re-bashed using various bits of info and techniques picked...
The taper is mostly in the back. It doesn't look awful, I was just annoyed with myself for overdoing the steam. I'd previouslu done two other Akubra western hats without running into that problem.
Since it's hard to find good hatters locally, I was debating whether to try fixing it...
I got a little too enthusiastic with the steam while re-shaping an Akubra Down Under into a Butch Cassidy-movie-style replica, and ended up with some inadvertant taper. :( Is it possible to stretch that out of the hat, or is taper forever?
If Akubra fur felt can in fact be stretched to...
Akubra Bobby softens up rather nicely...
Just thought I'd add this, in case any Western fans are considering this hat. It was pretty stiff when it arrived, though not as stiff as new American Stetson and Resistol cowboy hats I checked in the local Carol's Western Wear store here in Maryland...
Thanks!
Once I popped the old crown shape into a smooth open crown (with tea-kettle steam and a spongy Nerf soccer ball as a round block for the top), I just used steam and fingers to do the double teardrop. I'd actually done a standard teardrop/pinchfront initially, then decided there was...
Horsehair...
Thanks for the suggestion, Randy. I've seen some nice woven horsehair bands on eBay. I prefer the bands with buckles, so I may go for one of those.
Thanks, JTL...
Your teardrop tutorial was a HUGE help and inspiration. :)
As you and others have often noted here at The Lounge, decent fur felt is pretty forgiving and not all that hard to coax into a variety of shapes.
Loose band...
Yep, it's loose. I just slipped it on for the photos.
I'm actually saving that dark-brown-and-silver band for a black Akubra Bobby which is on order.
Not sure yet what band or ribbon to put on this Sand one yet.
Speaking of which, with a leather band, do most of you guys...
A couple of months ago, I knew almost nothing about hats. Then, while searching for an affordable Western style, I stumbled across the gang here at the Fedora Lounge. What I learned here about choosing and shaping hats sounded like lots of fun. So rather than spending a huge amount on a...
Thanks for refreshing this thread. That's a great job you did.
I eventually decided to try the Akubra Bobby instead of the Boss of the Plains. When it gets here, I'll make an attempt at re-shaping the standard crown.
Here's that online liner link...
It's a place called Hats By Leka -- http://www.hatsupply.com/hatlinings.htm
The liners are $3.95 each (sounds like a good price, is it?), or $3.35 each for a dozen. Several different colors.
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