A Fedora Lounge Akubra Hat?

[Sator]

Dear all,

greetings! - this is my first post on the FL, though many will know me already from other fora.

The reason I am posting was that I was talking to Steve of Nungar about ordering Akubra hats. I suggested to him that he should offer city hats, as for now he only offers Akubra country hats on his website:

http://nungar.com.au/index.htm

You might already be aware of Steve if you have followed my RM Williams thread on SF or AAAC. He is planning to stock Akubra city hats soon and will send me a current printed catalogue to get some guidance as to which models to choose. His prices tend to be a bit keener than the competition.

In any case, during our conversation it became apparent that if you guys are really keen we could come up with a Fedora Lounge hat. It would be a custom model akin to the Federation Deluxe hat Akubra make for Hatsdirect.

The only thing is that you guys would have to get together to specify the design right down to fine details - including a name for the model.

Now, I am afraid my knowledge of hats is really inadequate to do this on my own. I would prefer to defer the design of the hat to those of you here better qualified. I would appreciate it if Mike, Matt or someone like that could take charge of these things. I will facilitate communication with Steve and Akubra.

Lastly, I have no commercial association with Nungar. I am offering this to you guys because you have the best collective knowledge of city hats on the net. If you come up with something really nice I will of course be wanting to order one for myself.

As yet, I have no idea about minimal order numbers etc and other practicalities. I just want to see if there is interest out there.

 

[Chanfan]

As yet, I have no idea about minimal order numbers etc and other practicalities. I just want to see if there is interest out there.

lol lol lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The only thing is that you guys would have to get together to specify the design right down to fine details.

It's a nice idea and your heart's in the right place, but ... how in the HECK could we ever arrive at an agreement about ONE design? Civil wars have started over less. lol

.

 

[Art Fawcett]

LOL..you're right Marc. Nice idea Sator ( Welcome to the Lounge!!) but with all the differing opinions here as to the "perfect" hat it could prove pretty tough. How about say, 3 designs?

 

[mingoslim]

I like the idea . . .

And I think we could come up with some sort of agreement . . .
But it will take a year or two.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And I think we could come up with some sort of agreement . . . but it will take a year or two.

That's what they said in 1861.

.

 

[AdmiralTofu]

I think it's a capital idea! Art's suggestion about having three designs definitely makes sense, lest we wind up beating each other to a pulp under a streetlight on a rainy street at night. One person might like a rural Open Road-ish design, where I'd be for the ultra-urban, wide-ribbon, heavy-taper, Joe Friday look (my dream hat, above all others). But yeah, definitely a sound idea. We could discuss it for a year or two, lots of back-and-forth... it could be fun.

And welcome to the Lounge, Sator! (From a fellow newbie, no less!) You're gonna love it here.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

That could work. At the same time, let's get ourselves a Fedora Lounge hat/lapel pin.

.

 

[AdmiralTofu]

Heck, given its simple, high-contrast, two-color design, I think just the Fedora Lounge "man-in-hat" logo up top would make a fine-looking pin.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Me too -- just the image in a circle, with no words. Sort of like a secret handshake.
The truth is, it's up to MK, since he owns the image. I'm sure that when things are less hectic, he'll do it.

.

 

[AdmiralTofu]

"All good things..."

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Yup.

Who knows? There could one day be a 'Fedora Lounge' brand of vintage clothing / shoe repros ...

.

 

[AdmiralTofu]

Aw, come now; don't get me too excited too soon. lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Something to think about. A retailing universe of golden era stuff, a hub of the classic lifestyle -- and with the Fedora Lounge at its center. I mean, why not?

.

 

[AdmiralTofu]

T'would be a sense of incredible pride knowing we were responsible for changing the entire world for the better... :fedora:

 

[scotrace]

.

Some time ago, some of us tried go get up a special run of hats from Akubra. The idea was to have them do a Campdraft, which is the old Stetson Open Road, in silverbelly and in the higher quality felt used for the Federation Deluxe model. It would have been blocked just like an OR with trolley cord.

The idea never got past the initial inquiries. The minimum number was more than we could meet, as I remember. Sharpetoys, what was the deal killer there? I think we were trying to get it done for around $125.




.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

T'would be a sense of incredible pride knowing we were responsible for changing the entire world for the better... :fedora:

Hey, just by being on the Internet, we're global. Now, if we could simultaneously translate the FL into Chinese ...


.

 

[mingoslim]

I am game for the Akubra . . .

I would personally opt for something along the line of the classic Stratoliner.
And I would definitely purchase a dozen or more of the Official FL Hat Pins.

But lets see how these projects turn out before we begin desinging the shoe line

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The hat pin idea appeals to me. As for an FL hat ... what do you do if you already have a Stratoliner (or two or three)? What would be especially "Fedora Lounge-esque" about another version of a Strat, or Open Road, or whatever? What would make it seem so unique?

.

 

[Stoney]

As long as the change = ZERO Taper

lol