jlee562
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 5,099
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
So here's the story behind this hat. Like many, I was absolutely captivated by Johnny Depp's Optimo Ox Blood hat in the Public Enemies movie. I love the color of that felt. Unfortunately, $600 is just out of my price range (although I'm sure they're worth every penny). So I began a quest to find, if not the exact felt, something close enough.
Then, Yeti posted this thread back in August, alerting me to Black Sheep Hat Works. I really liked the look of Bob's hats, and can definitely appreciate the "stand out from the flock" motto. So, randomly I decided to shoot him an email about getting some Ox Blood felt. Bob replied and said he'd make some inquiries. A week or three passed by and I received another email from Bob. Although he couldn't source the same felt, he had gone ahead and dyed some felt swatches for me. Well, I was bowled over by the effort.
So, we started the process. I had a rough idea of what I wanted in my next hat, and we talked about ribbon and edge treatments and what not. The first body Bob dyed turned out to be not an exact match to the initial felt swatches he had sent me (due to variances in the felt runs from the factory), so he tinkered some more and came up with a STUNNING felt color that is unique in its own right. Not quite Optimo, not quite Art's Black Cherry, but it is beautiful!
But enough of my rambling, here are the pictures! The felt is kind of hard to photograph in terms of capturing the true color, it's also overcast in the bay area today, so the pictures (and my cheap digital camera) do not fully capture the depth or richness of the felt.
I neglected to take a picture, but at the bottom of Bob's hat boxes, it has a small cedar block installed to help deter moths, nifty!
I chose to have "J Lee" on the sweat, as it's kind of a moniker of mine (hence the screenname as well!)
The Black Sheep Hat Works logo, I love the black leather sweat with gold accent.
Close up of the great ribbon treatment that Bob came up with.
This picture is the best representation of the felt color.
Suffice to say, I am one happy customer!
Then, Yeti posted this thread back in August, alerting me to Black Sheep Hat Works. I really liked the look of Bob's hats, and can definitely appreciate the "stand out from the flock" motto. So, randomly I decided to shoot him an email about getting some Ox Blood felt. Bob replied and said he'd make some inquiries. A week or three passed by and I received another email from Bob. Although he couldn't source the same felt, he had gone ahead and dyed some felt swatches for me. Well, I was bowled over by the effort.
So, we started the process. I had a rough idea of what I wanted in my next hat, and we talked about ribbon and edge treatments and what not. The first body Bob dyed turned out to be not an exact match to the initial felt swatches he had sent me (due to variances in the felt runs from the factory), so he tinkered some more and came up with a STUNNING felt color that is unique in its own right. Not quite Optimo, not quite Art's Black Cherry, but it is beautiful!
But enough of my rambling, here are the pictures! The felt is kind of hard to photograph in terms of capturing the true color, it's also overcast in the bay area today, so the pictures (and my cheap digital camera) do not fully capture the depth or richness of the felt.
I neglected to take a picture, but at the bottom of Bob's hat boxes, it has a small cedar block installed to help deter moths, nifty!
I chose to have "J Lee" on the sweat, as it's kind of a moniker of mine (hence the screenname as well!)
The Black Sheep Hat Works logo, I love the black leather sweat with gold accent.
Close up of the great ribbon treatment that Bob came up with.
This picture is the best representation of the felt color.
Suffice to say, I am one happy customer!
Last edited by a moderator:
. Like a very more pale, muted oxblood. Looks super!
