Bashing my Black Borsalino Beaver

[GClark]

Need some opinions here -

I have a black modern 100% Beaver Borsalino (a sort of extravagant gift from my wife a couple of years ago). It's a very nice hat, but with a rather low crown and a bit of taper. I was wearing it today and decided to try to bash it a bit and see if I could get more of the look I wanted out of it. (center dent to more of a C crown) Here are some pics - the first two "before" and the rest after. It's not going to look like an old Borsalino, I know, but seeking opinions - is this the best looking bash for the hat, or do you all have other ideas?

Before

After

 

[deanglen]

As I recently posted, I lean toward lowering the crown, if the hat has a high open crown, and sharp pinches in front with a diamond crease, or teardrop, and a good degree of front swoop. Your efforts in the last four photos is moving toward my taste. Nice chapeau! You have to find the look you like. Trust me on that.






dean

 

[rmrdaddy]

Mr. Clark,
I'd think you could lower the rear portion a bit more to get more of the high crown look going on if that's your desire.
It looks like you have the room before it touches the top of your head. Of course you could bump up the center of the crease area for even more clearance with that deeper center bash.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Wide brim and short crown... Hmmm.

Just not my cup of tea... I'd think of trimming the brim down. There is just not a lot of crown to work with on that hat. I think the model was made in different brim widths so it wouldn't be out of place to trim it.

Outside of my thoughts, you I think need a wider brim and the way you have it is fine.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

That's pretty damn close to as good as you can get on that fedora. I agree with lowering the back of the crown a little and this would help to counteract some of the profile taper too. Minor, minor tweak or you'll wind up increasing the taper as seen from the front.

As far as the wide brim, I like it, except for how much brim seems to hang out in back. If I had the nerve, I'd try to dimensionally trim a little away from the back half. Blending that cut smoothly into the rest of the brim might be something best left not attempted or for a pro to try.

If you leave everything as is, however, you're still looking pretty good in that one.

 

[tonyb]

Heck, it's an all-beaver hat. I'm not crazy about its dimensions and profile either, but it's certainly a very wearable hat. If it were mine, that's what I'd do -- shape it as best I could and wear it until it shows obvious signs of that wear. (You know, use it for keeping your head warm and dry, like it were a hat or something.) And then maybe you could send it off to a hatter who could clean it up and block it into a shape more to your liking. With all that brim, there's enough material there to get a taller, straighter crown and still have quite a bit of brim left over.

I've handled a modern all-beaver Borsalino, and found it a quite nice material. The all-beaver Stetson Pinnacle seems a worthy lid as well. But unlike the Stetson, the Borsalino is sufficiently large to turn into something more "Golden Era."

 

[CRH]

Heck, it's an all-beaver hat. I'm not crazy about its dimensions and profile either, but it's certainly a very wearable hat. If it were mine, that's what I'd do -- shape it as best I could and wear it until it shows obvious signs of that wear. (You know, use it for keeping your head warm and dry, like it were a hat or something.) And then maybe you could send it off to a hatter who could clean it up and block it into a shape more to your liking. With all that brim, there's enough material there to get a taller, straighter crown and still have quite a bit of brim left over.

I've handled a modern all-beaver Borsalino, and found it a quite nice material. The all-beaver Stetson Pinnacle seems a worthy lid as well. But unlike the Stetson, the Borsalino is sufficiently large to turn into something more "Golden Era."

That's pretty good advice from TonyB right there.

I'm going to vote for lowering the rear so as to continue the rearward rake to a more natural end, if your head shape can tollerate it, that is.

Now about these larger brimmed hats with the smallish, tapered crowns. It's a look that I quite appreciate and I own two Akubra Squatters to prove it. Sometimes it's important to accept a hat for what it is and not for what it could be... or not.

 

[GClark]

Thanks guys -

I'll keep playing with it a little, but good advice.

rmrdaddy - with the new bash, my head does touch the top, which is fine with that bash, but I'm pushing the limits.

I like the suggestion of just getting some wear out of it and if and when it gets to looking like it needs it, see what a professional can do.
I'll check with Art F at some point and see if he wants to take a stab at it.

For now - I think I'll start taking this one on trips with me.
The felt is really resilient and shapeable - pretty thin but dense, and from my experiments yesterday, really holds the shape you want. Reduces the anxiety about it getting a bit smashed if I have to put it under the seat in front of me for a bit... (I just don't ever use the ovhd bin for a hat)

GC