Hollywood brim

[kaosharper1]

Why not give us a picture of EXACTLY what it is you're trying to reproduce? If it's a specific hat FORM it can be done easily. If it's a human QUALITY such as charisma or elan or panache you're after that's another matter entirely!

I think this captures it. I've been trying to get a hat like the Budswick Knapp-Felt ad, and I just can't seem to do it.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=627730&highlight=knapp-felt#post627730

As to elan, I know that's different than technique and can't be taught. But you need technique as well. As a musician I know that in general you need to know the rules before you bend them to make them your own.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I think this captures it. I've been trying to get a hat like the Budswick Knapp-Felt ad, and I just can't seem to do it.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=627730&highlight=knapp-felt#post627730

Keep in mind that the painting in the Knapp-Felt ad is a work of fiction. It wasn't --isn't-- uncommon for illustrators to use their 'artistic license'.


In the flesh, could the Knapp-Felt hat's brim really have been shaped in that way? Maybe not.


.

 

[billyspew]

I think the brim would need to be flanged like that to get that one.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Actually, the Rudswick's brim isn't as far-fetched as you might think, and is a function of its Cavanagh Edge. Cavanagh Edges -- at least, those from the C&K factory -- were all unflanged, and the curl was a natural function resulting from the edge production process. A similar effect occurs with a bound edge, which makes this brim shape easiest to do with either a Cavanagh or bound edge.

For example, here is a '60s Cavanagh that I've set the brim as on the Rudswick:

The felt on my hat is thick, probably much thicker than on the C&K. The effect would be more pronounced on the C&K, as it appears to be.

Brad

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Brad, that's great news! Now all Kaosharper1 has to do is practice, practice, practice.


.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I think this might be one of those situations where one thinks, "Gee, I just can't get this hat to shape the way I want it to. It must be that I don't possess the 'touch'." Then, one gets ahold of a true, high quality vintage fedora and discovers that it is no problem at all.

 

[Tomasso]

Off the set, Johnny Depp tends to wear vintage hats, both fedoras and straws; his felt hats are usually vintage Borsalinos.


.

Well, he according to this article he owns at least a few contemporary lids. "The detail work impressed Depp, for whom Optimo made a handful of other hats for his personal use."

 

[kaosharper1]

Actually, the Rudswick's brim isn't as far-fetched as you might think, and is a function of its Cavanagh Edge. Cavanagh Edges -- at least, those from the C&K factory -- were all unflanged, and the curl was a natural function resulting from the edge production process. A similar effect occurs with a bound edge, which makes this brim shape easiest to do with either a Cavanagh or bound edge.

For example, here is a '60s Cavanagh that I've set the brim as on the Rudswick:

The felt on my hat is thick, probably much thicker than on the C&K. The effect would be more pronounced on the C&K, as it appears to be.

Brad

Thanks, Brad. Maybe it would work for a welted edge? Anyway, it gives me an idea of what's possible and not. When I get back to LA in a month I'll practice on my VS and see if it works. I'm having a new VS made which will probably have a 6" crown and a 2 3/8" brim. I wanted to try to give it the look of that C&K. If I can't do it, I can't. But I thought I'd try.

 

[jimmy the lid]

After reading the latest in this thread this morning, I decided to grab an OR that was sitting out close by and give it a try. I could get the desired result a couple of different ways -- but here's the easiest:

For purposes of this example, I am going to aim for the brim being snapped down on the right side of my noggin' (your preference may vary...)

Start with the brim snapped up all around. Then, take both hands, and with thumbs underneath the brim and fingers on top, place your hands to the side that you want to snap down (in this case, the right side). The thumb on your left hand will essentially be in line with the center of your head, or just a tad off-center toward the right.

Now, while applying continuous firm pressure upwards with your left thumb throughout the process, gently snap the brim down on the right side with the fingers of both hands.

For me, this leads to a fairly consistent result in terms of achieving the Hollywood brim look. Once the brim has been snapped down to one side, you can tweak the look of the brim to suit your taste.

The degree to which the brim is snapped down on any particular side depends upon where you place the thumb that is applying the upward pressure. So, you can vary the precise point at which the brim snaps down, depending on the look you're after, by positioning your hands accordingly. [For example, in the case of the Rudwick look above, you would actually shift your hands more to the left side of your head before snapping the brim down.]

Cheers,
JtL

 

[gtdean48]

First Chief of the Crease Police & now Commander of the Brim Brigade??? [huh]

 

[MississippiLong]

my hand

I used JimmyTheLid's approach but only snapping the side front on an Akubra Stylemaster. It took to it pretty well. It's a bound edge and is medium size brim. I will be coming into an Akubra Squatter and will try it out on it as well.

Old pictures. I miss my beard.

 

[Boodles]

There is a photo of Graham Thompson...

Well, he according to this article he owns at least a few contemporary lids. "The detail work impressed Depp, for whom Optimo made a handful of other hats for his personal use."

There is a photo of Graham Thompson in one of Dr. Henderson's swell hat books, maybe Hat Talk, taken in what appears to be his shop showroom, with him wearing a fedora which has the "Depp or Alfonse" shaped brim.

 

[kaosharper1]

Thanks, Jimmie! Based on Mississippi's result, it looks like that works. Of course, now I'll have to wait a few weeks to try, but I think I know where I went wrong. It's all in the thumb!

I came here to Maine for July with a nice panama, and its been raining the whole time (which evidently its been doing all through June). I should have brought an Akubra instead.

 

[Chuck Bobuck]

I used JimmyTheLid's approach but only snapping the side front on an Akubra Stylemaster. It took to it pretty well. It's a bound edge and is medium size brim. I will be coming into an Akubra Squatter and will try it out on it as well.

I did this to my Squatter, just popped it up for the photo. But I wear it like that sometimes. Up on one side, flatter on the other anyway. It looks more up all around in the photo and it might be.

I liked lounger RLK's avatar of Ansel Adams, so I shaped the brim of my Campdraft to look that way. I sprayed water on the brim to shape. It dried that way and stayed like that until I decided it gave the Campdraft too much of a Western look. I sprayed the brim with water again and took the curl back out.

While neither of these brim shapes may be exactly what you have in mind or are truly a Hollywood flip, I think it's pretty easy to change on the fly or more permanently with water. I usually don't hang my hat with the front brim down, I've been storing/hanging them snapped up. I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Thanks, Jimmie! Based on Mississippi's result, it looks like that works. Of course, now I'll have to wait a few weeks to try, but I think I know where I went wrong. It's all in the thumb!

I hope that helps you out kaosharper1 -- I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

I lived in Maine for many years. Sorry to hear it's raining, but there is truly no more beautiful place on the planet than Maine in the summer. Don't leave without trying a Geary's Pale Ale...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Chuck Bobuck]

...
I lived in Maine for many years. Sorry to hear it's raining, but there is truly no more beautiful place on the planet than Maine in the summer. Don't leave without trying a Geary's Pale Ale...
...

I vacationed in Camden years ago. I stayed with friends who had a house in the harbor. I loved eating the lobster rolls at a little cafe. Beautiful place. To stay, almost, on topic, I bought my first fedora there. It was a canvas material, but I thought I was pretty cool.

 

[zetwal]

Thanks, Jimmie! Based on Mississippi's result, it looks like that works. Of course, now I'll have to wait a few weeks to try, but I think I know where I went wrong. It's all in the thumb!

Great! another satisfied Lounger -

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

"Who was that masked man?"

"They call him... JIM THE BRIM."

 

[gtdean48]

... "They call him... JIM THE BRIM."

NOW that was FUNNY! lol :eusa_clap lol :eusa_clap

 

[kaosharper1]

I vacationed in Camden years ago. I stayed with friends who had a house in the harbor. I loved eating the lobster rolls at a little cafe. Beautiful place. To stay, almost, on topic, I bought my first fedora there. It was a canvas material, but I thought I was pretty cool.

Maine is usually beautiful in June, but its pretty nasty now, especially compared to what I left in Pasadena. I got so tired of carrying an umbrella that I went into an outback store in Kittery and bought a cheap stetson crushable, wool but water repellent. I recreased it to make it a little nicer.

I'm really looking forward to trying out the Jimmie's method. In a month, I'll post the results.