Hats resized and blocked by Art Fawcett

[MKL]

Some of you gave me the idea to send off my hats to have them cleaned, resized, and etc. I sent 2 Stetsons to Art and he did a fantastic job. Thank you.

Here are some pics so you can see his work. The gray one I picked up a few years ago at an antique store and the olive color hat is recent Stetson from their now closed factory in St. Joe. Art also sewed a ribbon edge around it.

Thanks again for recommending Art. He does great work and most of you already know! Now they fit perfect.

[/IMG]

Art replaced the sweatband.

The newer olive color Stetson with new edge.

 

[jamespowers]

Wow! Those look great. :clap
Does the gray one have a Mode Edge or is the photo fooling me?
The olive would be a rare color if it was vintage. It is a nice looking hat too.
I could just imagine you wearing the gray one while playing the piano in the background. :fedora:

Regards to all,

J

 

[jamespowers]

My Rebuild

I forgot to mention a really cool rebuild Art did for me. I will let the pictures tell the story.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

ON NOGGIN':

Regards to all,

J

 

[MKL]

rebuild

Art did a job on it. That is a nice hat. :cool2:

 

[gcollins]

Art's restorations and rebuilds always make me drool! Nicely done. Especially since he does them in the style that I love. Just look at that dash! The nice swoop from the front down to the back of tha hat! Holy buddha!

In Maitreya,
G

 

[Matt Deckard]

Art does very good work. That hat looks great. I've seen alot of his hats in person and even had him reblock one of my Tobacco Optimo hats.
/

The only thing I'm not a big fan of is Art's Bow styling. It is very distinctive -- like a signature. The knot comes in tight and the bow in the back butterflies up higher than my taste is used to.

Thanks for the reblock Art, looks great. I replaced the vintage ribbon you put on with one that is just a hair narrower and a bit lighter in color (I'm really picky).

Keep up the good work!

 

[Fedora]

I like that hat Matt! Fedora

 

[SHARPETOYS]

We are lucky here!

We are sure lucky here at The Fedora Lounge!

We have Art and Steve/Fedora who can make us fine quality hats and reblock/service them for us all at a very fair price.

 

[Victor]

Hey folks,
I am new here but just want to mention that i had the pleasure of visiting Arts shop today and meeting him, his wife and James Powers and his Lady Powers. It was quite a treat and I was made to feel most welcome. I came in after buying one of Fedoras Adventurebilt hats and subsequently "abusing" the bash. I had gotten a little flack over at COW because I had changed the shape of the crown and it didn't look "Indy" anymore. Oh well, it suited my face and I wanted to see what a "hat expert" had to say about it. Well Art was very gracious and first of all told me that he liked the modification (goingf from a center crease to a pinched teardrop to lower the crown) and that it really didn't need anything done to it. It really is some amazing felt that Fedora uses, 100 % beaver. Its easy to mold and remold and fun to play with.
Anyway, I feel that I was honored to be made welcome in the shop and hang around and talk hats etc with Art and the Powers and feel that some new friendships have been made. I also know where one can go to get hats expertly reblocked as well as what seems to be the best vintage clothing store in the SF Bay Area.
Good to meet you folks!

 

[android]

Welcome Victor!

It's great that you decided to break the mold and make the hat fit your proportions and style. Too many people get caught up in trying to get the exact same hat that was in a movie. You need to get the hat that *you* would have worn in that period because everybody's head is different.

 

[jamespowers]

Good to be able to place another face with a name on the Lounge. Nice to have met you. You hat was just fine as far as I am concerned.
Android is correct--the hat needs to meet your needs not the other way around. :cheers1:

Regards to all,

J

 

[gcollins]

The only thing I'm not a big fan of is Art's Bow styling. It is very distinctive -- like a signature. The knot comes in tight and the bow in the back butterflies up higher than my taste is used to.

What I love about Art's styling is that he breaks the orthodox rules and comes out with a great finish and very fine hat. He once told me that other hatters tell him that the 40s blocks he uses should only be used on panamas. No way! He makes every hat look great in this style. Having said that, true, Matt, is right: Art has that signiture bow. A very high flare to the back end of the bow, which one immediately sees as his work. I like that he does this as he generates his own style.

Personally, the latest hat I have I have found a very nice bow that I like most. Dalia, Charlie S's wife does a fine fine fine flying V and many other styles of bows. Bring back the guitar that Ace Frehely from Kiss played when I was in Junior high--nice clean flying V, baby! :cool2:

 

[Art Fawcett]

Welcome Victor. Was good to meet you and I am very glad you decided to join us here. You fit right in!!

Thank you gentlemen for the compliments on my work. Feedback is essential to improvement and I always hope to improve.

Matt, you are right, that bow IS my signature and one that I have worked quite a while to develop and decide on. However, it isn't the only bow I do so this would be a great time to talk about communication needed in hatwork.

So much of the time I take things for granted where I probably shouldn't.
Its funny, in the masonry field, before I start a job, I ask for input on almost every detail with my client but I am still so new in the hatting field that I tend to not ask as many questions. Heck, I'm not even sure what questions to ask yet. That will come over time. As many of you know I have reblocked and renovated for many years but only MY hats, not ones for public consumption. When I own them I can do whatever I want and experiment with them generously. Since they were for the film industry or our store it doesn't matter as much. But now, with me doing work for others and actually charging for the service it does.

When sending in a hat please give we anything that you think might be important. It will help me give you what you want. If there is a certain bow that you like, as in Matts case, please let me know and I can try to get it done that way. If you like alot of rear curl, or little, snap brim or normal, that kind of stuff is invaluable for me to know. I will try to ask the questions but especially if there is something you DONT like in my normal routine please let me know. My skin is thick enough to take it and it only makes me look for other ways to do things, hopefully for the better.

Again, Thanks for all of the support I get here in the Lounge. I can't tell you how much I value it.

Art

 

[Michaelson]

Art relined and reworked a vintage Borsalino for me last Fall, and I had the opportunity to pull it out and wear it this weekend, as the temperatures climbed back up into the 70's (stupid winter weather!) All I can say is that when you can pull a hat out of a hatbox, and still have pleasure putting it on your head, even though it's been months since the work has been done...THEN you know the job was done right! I have that feeling everytime I get my Borsalino out. I can say the same with the hat he made me last year. It's a pleasure to wear his creations.

I personally can NOT say enough good things about Art Fawcett, and can only add my kudos to the pile of pleased customers responses.

My highest regards! Michaelson

 

[android]

Bows

I really like the way Dave Brown makes his bow. He pulls the top back bow up a bit rather than the bottom like most hatters.

He also does a bit on the center strip where the edges are folded over and a tuck is taken. Just adds a little bit of visual interest.

I'll post a close-up when I get a chance.

 

[jamespowers]

I think I can comment on the ribbon treatments here. I probably have had Art recreate just about every ribbon there is and some that there probably never was. I remember one particular one that my Knox Tom and Jerry needed. It required one of those many fold ribbon treatments and Art nailed an exact duplicate. I will post pictures of it later. There was no kick up at the back of that bow.
I actually like the old vintage style bow that he does. It is not really out of the ordinary for vintage hats to have that exact type of bow---look at some of the 40s Mallorys. I kind of think it as putting the style back in a vintage hat. Anyone can make a plain flat bow. The two tone is really something too. My brown Dobbs homburg pictured on this thread: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=2113
has a bow with a high kick up in the back and no one has ever replaced it. I like it. The homburg would be such a dead looking hat without it.
Art should have an interesting time with my burnt sweatband Knox bowler's ribbon too. The poor ribbon had long seen its heyday (the 20s were a long time ago you know! ). I have never seen a ribbon so thread bare! I am sure when I get it back the ribbon will look exactly like the original though and the crown won't have all those darned dents in it. Communication helps I suppose.

Regards to all,

J

 

[tridentine]

Has anyone had a fedora resized by Mr Fawcett?
I have a 7 3/8 vintage Borsalino that I need to make 7.5

 

[hatsRme]

Has anyone had a fedora resized by Mr Fawcett?
I have a 7 3/8 vintage Borsalino that I need to make 7.5

Sure have! I entrusted Art with my very first fedora, which I purchased as New Old Stock (NOS) while in high school, in 1971. My head size has increased (due to accumulation of knowledge ) over the years from the hat size of 7-5/8 to a solid 7-3/4 or 7/8, depending on the manufacturer. That hat and I had a lifetime of history together, and he NAILED it on the reblock and upsize. He's your man.

 

[gtdean48]

Has anyone had a fedora resized by Mr Fawcett?
I have a 7 3/8 vintage Borsalino that I need to make 7.5

Yep, sent him a 7X CB that need reblocking from 7 1/2 to 7 5/8. It didn't hurt that he has a band block the exact shape of my noggin....

 

[Brando11]

Just stopped at the post office earlier this evening to pick up a package from Art. Our Mr. Fawcett took a rather tight 7 3/8 hat of mine, stretched it half a size, then set the flange just the way I like. It's like a brand new hat. Perfect.