SHARPETOYS
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,425
- Location
- Titusville, Florida
Now my fellow Fedora Lounge lurkers and posters you soon will have a new hatter in Europe!! Marc is a member here as well as COW. I think this is great news for our friends across the seas. 
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
After years of reading, learning and practicing, my good friend Steve aka Fedora offered to become his partner, responsible for the European division of the Adventurebilt Hat Co. Steve ensured his full support, while meanwhile giving me the opportunity to change whatever I feel necesarry.
Since Steve and I had spend several month on the fine tuning of the block, there wasn’t ANYTHING to come after here. So Steve made an exact copy of his Raiders block and I’ll have it replicated in the various sizes in good ol’ England.
In my search for the best felt out there, I found a felter in Portugal who not only supplies pure beaver bodies, but also an extraordinary quality of those and I was totally in love with the felt quality of the two sample bodies I received. And even though these bodies cost up to three times as much as our current offerings, that’s what I’ll use. My dear friend will soon be able to offer the same quality in his hat line.
Same with the sweatbands: I really like the sweatbands on the current Adventurebilts, but had seen better in the past and to me the sweatband is an EXTREMELY important factor on a hat. It’s what you wear after all. So I found a sweatband maker in England, who has made sweatbands for over 200 years and who agreed to give the project a try and make some special made sweatbands for Steve and me.
I also found a supplier in England, who is willing to custom make the ribbon Steve was so lucky to get a hold of. I don’t think there’s any way to improve that ribbon, so I sent a sample to England and it’s a go. Meanwhile I MIGHT have found the supplier of Herbert Johnson and MIGHT be able to get the ribbon they used back in the late 70’s, but that’s not clear yet.
Of course I’ll use the same high quality bridal satin liner, with the only difference of having the Adventurebilt script on the liner as well. Indiana Tom has been of great help in designing a classic looking script, that fits the era of the movies. Thanks Tom.
Since I didn’t take any shortcut in the choice of the materials, I won’t go there with the craftmanship neither and make the hats like they were made “back in the days�: COMPLETELY by hand. Same with the reblocks of (quality) hats, that I’ll be able to offer soon.
It’ll probably take a couple of months yet to get all the stuff together, but unless you think I should rather skip the whole idea, the decission is made.
Stay tuned!
Best Regards,
Marc Kitter – Adventurebilt Hat Co.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
After years of reading, learning and practicing, my good friend Steve aka Fedora offered to become his partner, responsible for the European division of the Adventurebilt Hat Co. Steve ensured his full support, while meanwhile giving me the opportunity to change whatever I feel necesarry.
Since Steve and I had spend several month on the fine tuning of the block, there wasn’t ANYTHING to come after here. So Steve made an exact copy of his Raiders block and I’ll have it replicated in the various sizes in good ol’ England.
In my search for the best felt out there, I found a felter in Portugal who not only supplies pure beaver bodies, but also an extraordinary quality of those and I was totally in love with the felt quality of the two sample bodies I received. And even though these bodies cost up to three times as much as our current offerings, that’s what I’ll use. My dear friend will soon be able to offer the same quality in his hat line.
Same with the sweatbands: I really like the sweatbands on the current Adventurebilts, but had seen better in the past and to me the sweatband is an EXTREMELY important factor on a hat. It’s what you wear after all. So I found a sweatband maker in England, who has made sweatbands for over 200 years and who agreed to give the project a try and make some special made sweatbands for Steve and me.
I also found a supplier in England, who is willing to custom make the ribbon Steve was so lucky to get a hold of. I don’t think there’s any way to improve that ribbon, so I sent a sample to England and it’s a go. Meanwhile I MIGHT have found the supplier of Herbert Johnson and MIGHT be able to get the ribbon they used back in the late 70’s, but that’s not clear yet.
Of course I’ll use the same high quality bridal satin liner, with the only difference of having the Adventurebilt script on the liner as well. Indiana Tom has been of great help in designing a classic looking script, that fits the era of the movies. Thanks Tom.
Since I didn’t take any shortcut in the choice of the materials, I won’t go there with the craftmanship neither and make the hats like they were made “back in the days�: COMPLETELY by hand. Same with the reblocks of (quality) hats, that I’ll be able to offer soon.
It’ll probably take a couple of months yet to get all the stuff together, but unless you think I should rather skip the whole idea, the decission is made.
Stay tuned!
Best Regards,
Marc Kitter – Adventurebilt Hat Co.
