I love the Fed IV!!

[Vilna]

I'm a very new member of the Fedora Lounge. After reading a lot of posts here I finally decided to order a Federation IV carbon grey. It's great, I love it. The carbon grey color is a bit mysterious with this hat. Depending on the light it can sometimes seem to have blueish tinge and sometimes a brownish one. The only mildly critical thing I can bring myself to say about this hat is that the ribbon isn't black but bronze colored, but this is nitpicking. Maybe Hatsdirect can change it when you order it.
Anyway I couldn't help myself, so I almost immediately ordered a Federation IV de luxe moonstone grey. This one I think I will bash in to a diamond, never tried that before. These are not cheap hats, but the quality! Here in Stockholm you could easily fork out twice as much on a hat half the quality. Some words about size. I'm 59 cm, but the Akubras 59 I've tried on are a bit tight (or maybe too perfect a fit) and older ones I've owned for years have shrunk a bit so they are not comfortable to wear anymore. I ordered size 60. Straight out of the box it was too large for sure. But I just put a couple of cork strips inside the sweatband and now it fits wonderfully. This hat is perfect for a chilly spring in Stockholm. Perfect, I'm sure, for other places too.
A new proud owner also glad to have joined the Fed IV club!
And thanks to Fedora Lounge and all the members who recommended this hat.

 

[ManofKent]

Vilna - Enjoy them. Do we get photos?

 

[Vilna]

I'll try to upload some pictures when figured out how to. Also, I've got to take them, of course. Meanwhile, the picture for my avatar is me in my new Fed IV carbon grey.

 

[rclark]

Welcome, Vilna!

 

[ManofKent]

I'll try to upload some pictures when figured out how to. Also, I've got to take them, of course. Meanwhile, the picture for my avatar is me in my new Fed IV carbon grey.

Vilna - the easiest way to post images is to use photobucket or similar and just copy the img tagged option. looks good from the avatar.

 

[The Fedorable]

Here's the Fed IV, guys. I know I said I wouldn't be able to get one for a while, but an opportunity in the form of my dad getting it for my birthday arose. Even if my birthday was last month.

The hat was a lot easier to shape than I thought. Even easier than what some of you said. The brim was fussy, and I noticed that my crease is slightly off-center causing the brim has it looking like there's a tilt in the hat while I wear it with the crown straight up... My ear is sorta centered in the back half of the bow. I've managed to soften up the front brim and I'm trying to soften up the rest of the hat. All of this was done dry and it's holding the shape quite well and I've had the hat since Thursday. I'm debating whether or not to straighten out the crease, but I'm leaving it alone because I kinda like it like that. The turn was unintentional. It just sorta happened when I was shaping it.

 

[MCrider]

I'm debating whether or not to straighten out the crease, but I'm leaving it alone because I kinda like it like that. The turn was unintentional. It just sorta happened when I was shaping it.

If you like it then leave it alone! The wonderful thing about the Fed is that it's easy to change the shape any time you want. I have one in moonstone and it's definitely my go to hat. So wear it the way you like it. Nice bash by the way.

:eusa_clap

 

[Zombie_61]

...The hat was a lot easier to shape than I thought. Even easier than what some of you said. The brim was fussy, and I noticed that my crease is slightly off-center causing the brim has it looking like there's a tilt in the hat while I wear it with the crown straight up... My ear is sorta centered in the back half of the bow. I've managed to soften up the front brim and I'm trying to soften up the rest of the hat. All of this was done dry and it's holding the shape quite well and I've had the hat since Thursday. I'm debating whether or not to straighten out the crease, but I'm leaving it alone because I kinda like it like that. The turn was unintentional. It just sorta happened when I was shaping it.

Just an fyi, if yours is anything like my two Fed IVs (and my two Campdrafts, for that matter) the brim will develop more curl/cupping in the first few weeks.

As for the crease, if you like it leave it alone; after all, it's your hat. But I'd suggest you use steam or distilled water on it even if you don't change the crease because that will help to "lock in" the shape. Steam/spray, let it dry, done. By the way, I like the shape you've given it. :thumb:

 

[The Fedorable]

Just an fyi, if yours is anything like my two Fed IVs (and my two Campdrafts, for that matter) the brim will develop more curl/cupping in the first few weeks.

As for the crease, if you like it leave it alone; after all, it's your hat. But I'd suggest you use steam or distilled water on it even if you don't change the crease because that will help to "lock in" the shape. Steam/spray, let it dry, done. By the way, I like the shape you've given it. :thumb:

Thanks! I've done some tweaking here and there, but I've been mostly messing with the brim. It still is slanting downward towards the bow. I don't know, maybe I'm just self conscious about my hat. It's a wonderful hat, no doubt. Though putting it on straight because of the turn is still taking some getting used to. I feel like the pinch is also looking off center, but hey. It gives the hat some character at least! Also, I feel like it's the off-center crease that is making the pinch look uneven.

 

[Zombie_61]

Thanks! I've done some tweaking here and there, but I've been mostly messing with the brim. It still is slanting downward towards the bow. I don't know, maybe I'm just self conscious about my hat. It's a wonderful hat, no doubt. Though putting it on straight because of the turn is still taking some getting used to. I feel like the pinch is also looking off center, but hey. It gives the hat some character at least! Also, I feel like it's the off-center crease that is making the pinch look uneven.

The "turn" will deform the brim in a number of ways because the crown was shaped at the factory to sit on your head in a specific position; deviating from that changes the basic shape of the felt. If it bothers you, you can always pop out the center and side dents and start over.

My taupe fawn Campdraft did something similar. I put it on my head (open crown) and determined where the pinch should be, then proceeded to shape it into the desired Teardrop. By the time I was done, the pinch had shifted to one side. Initially I didn't think it was a big deal, but after wearing it a few times I realized it bothered me; fortunately I was able to "nudge" it back into the desired position without having to re-do the entire crease. In the process, and verifying this by inspecting my other hats, I realized the pinch on all of my hats is about 1/2" off-center to the right (my right, that is). It's not obvious when you're looking at my hats because the pinches line up with my nose when I'm wearing them, but you can see it if you look inside the crown(s). I suppose that means my nose is off-center as well.

 

[Landman]

I always had the same problem with lining up the pinch on my hats. It wasn't until I had Art Fawcett make me a band block that I realized my head was off center! I am a long oval and it is very noticeable on the band block that the front of the oval is off to one side.

 

[Rogera]

I always had the same problem with lining up the pinch on my hats. It wasn't until I had Art Fawcett make me a band block that I realized my head was off center! I am a long oval and it is very noticeable on the band block that the front of the oval is off to one side.

I've got the same problem. I kept wondering why all the previous owners of my vintage hats couldn't center a crease. It was me all along!

 

[The Fedorable]

I always had the same problem with lining up the pinch on my hats. It wasn't until I had Art Fawcett make me a band block that I realized my head was off center! I am a long oval and it is very noticeable on the band block that the front of the oval is off to one side.

I've got the same problem. I kept wondering why all the previous owners of my vintage hats couldn't center a crease. It was me all along!

Huh, I never thought about that.

 

[Zombie_61]

I always had the same problem with lining up the pinch on my hats. It wasn't until I had Art Fawcett make me a band block that I realized my head was off center! I am a long oval and it is very noticeable on the band block that the front of the oval is off to one side.

I've got the same problem. I kept wondering why all the previous owners of my vintage hats couldn't center a crease. It was me all along!

A neighbor kid broke my nose when I was six or seven years old; I don't know what the problem is with you guys. lol

I'm kidding, of course. No one has a perfectly symmetrical face, but some faces are more symmetrical than others as this page illustrates.

 

[gtdean48]

When shaping an open crown hat, I slip a paper clip over the band ribbon & line it up with my nose in a mirror so I can make sure I align the pinch up with my face. Yep, most of us are off-center in more ways than one....

 

[Rogera]

When shaping an open crown hat, I slip a paper clip over the band ribbon & line it up with my nose in a mirror so I can make sure I align the pinch up with my face. Yep, most of us are off-center in more ways than one....

I have used that method with my Campdrafts and it works well

 

[chum]

When shaping an open crown hat, I slip a paper clip over the band ribbon & line it up with my nose in a mirror so I can make sure I align the pinch up with my face. Yep, most of us are off-center in more ways than one....

Band ribbon? I thought it was in the back of the hat! How the heck do you line that up with your nose? I just now, used a heavy dose of distilled water and a balloon to put my Fed IV back to open crown to redo the shape and would like some more info on this. I have a very non symmetrical head (so much so, that when I look at photos of me, I say to myself "wow, my face looks crooked"!) I have come to realize that, when I look in a mirror, I involuntarily, make an adjustment to make it look symmetrical!

 

[Zombie_61]

Band ribbon? I thought it was in the back of the hat! How the heck do you line that up with your nose?

By "band ribbon" I assume he's referring to the ribbon that goes around the crown--put the hat on your head open crown, put the paperclip over the ribbon in line with your nose, remove the hat and crease it using the paperclip to determine where the front of your center dent/teardrop/c-crown/diamond should be.

 

[chum]

My Fed IV appears to have a taper in open crown state...it looks different to me compared to other pics on this site. What do you guys think? The lettering on the sweat band says "FEDERATION" ! Did I get an older model? If so, Hats direct screwed me!

 

[Landman]

If it was suppose to be a new model, that does look like a lot of taper for a Federation IV. My Fed has "Federation IV" stamped on the front of the sweatband. Post a pic of your sweatband. Maybe you did get an original Federation. If you did, it might have some extra value to a collector. I don't really know if any Akubras have much value to a collector though.