i mostly see the center crease instead of the other crown shapes

[Detective_Noir]

Today when I go to a hat store I mostly see the center dent in fedoras other than the diamond bash or teardrop or even c-crown shaping... I see very few that is but is anyone else noticing this or am i looking to hard and only finding that certain blocking shape?

 

[kaosharper1]

I think its because crowns are still low these days. You need a 5.5" open crown to really do a diamond or teardrop IMHO.

 

[danofarlington]

I think it's a new consensus style, probably consolidating in the past 15 years. I approve of it, not personally ever having liked C-crown or teardrop.

A good friend of mine once commented to me about men's shoes and suits, "they don't change much." I've always liked that, because shoes you buy in 1985 might work in 2015, same with many shirts and suits. And that's the way I feel about the center dent with pinch fedora style too. The style has held steady for years, so I don't have to worry about re-blocking the hats for style. I guess that kind of thing has a lot of appeal for men.

 

[The Good]

I actually like teardrop creases a lot more for some reason, and three of my favorite hats are that way (the other is a cattleman's crease Open Road). 5.5 open crowns are good for this sort of shape, maybe 5 1/4 might work too if you like lower crowns.

 

[danofarlington]

I'll bet at least 40% of fedora wearers favor teardrop. I think there were TFL polls on that, but I don't remember the results.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Well for one thing it's easy to put and keep a center dent in an open crown hat.

I use a center dent when I need to do the crease myself and a teardrop crown when I'm getting TonyB to do it for me. Can't make a decent teardrop to save my life!

 

[St. Valentine]

It could be regional as well. Here in europe you will hardly see a teardrop or diamond crease. The ever present australian hats may have a teardrop but the rest is surely center dent. My next hat will have a diamond crease though...

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

It's easy to do with a hydraulic press. All manufactors today
Use presses to press in the crown bash. The center bash is easy to aline on the press.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

My guess would be that most fedora manufacturers (as opposed to hatters) don't really have a good feel for how important it is to match up a crown shape with a hat wearer, and the subtleties of it all. However, that's probably a function of a majority of the customer base not knowing either, making it most efficient to mass produce what most will wear - a low, tapered crown with a center dent and brims of 2.5 inches or less. C-crowns and teardrops produce less taper, even in shorter crowns, so I favor them in mass produced hats (taper just don't work too well for me 90% of the time).

I suspect that, as (and if) regular hat wearing increases, so will the awareness of what really works with whom and why, and variety will grow as it becomes worth it for the manufacturers to offer it. Right now, I don't think the market would support what we would like to see.

 

[Johnny J]

I think its because crowns are still low these days. You need a 5.5" open crown to really do a diamond or teardrop IMHO.

+1.

 

[Doomstein]

I prefer a teardrop because it makes the crown look more squared up top. I have more of a square face (a little rounder now that I've lost my thyroid from thyroid cancer), so it works for me. The taper on the top with center bash just doesn't work with my head IMHO : D

 

[TomS]

I think its because crowns are still low these days. You need a 5.5" open crown to really do a diamond or teardrop IMHO.

I agree with this as well.

 

[Detective_Noir]

I always end up steaming my hats into a tear drop crown... Even the newer shorter crowned ones to make it seem less tapered... I was always in favor of tear drop because of the way I saw bogarts hat... The center crease just looks terrible on me. I see hats now with only 4 inches of height in the crown now

 

[Mark B.]

I watch a lot of vintage movies and have noticed that the men in the 30's era movies mostly have center dents in their hats. High crowns moderate brims. The men in the 40's and 50's era movies mostly have c-crowns or diamond bashes. Lower crowns wider brims. Not sure why this is just noticed that it is. My guess is the dimensions of the hats. I prefer a c-crown or teardrop myself. It just looks right to me on a fedora with a wide brim and straight crown front and rear. Center dent for my homburg though.

 

[Matt Deckard]

It's easier to do a center dent. You'd actually see more center dents in the early days of open crown hats being sold. I myself actually see the opposite. You can look and look and look at shops that actually carry fur felt hats, and more often than no you sill see that the hats are tear-dropped.

If you go to Nordstroms and see their Bailey hats, or Brooks Brothers and see their fur felt Stetsons (last time I was there they were on sale for about 60 bucks), most often they are tear dropped. You will find Brooks Brothers Borsalinos with a center dent, but that's always how I've found modern day Borsalinos done.

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

I used to prefer a center dent. Then I learned how to steam my hats. Then I realized how much more comfortable a tear drop was. It got the back of the crown off of my head and it straightened out the sides a little.

 

[Detective_Noir]

I used to prefer a center dent. Then I learned how to steam my hats. Then I realized how much more comfortable a tear drop was. It got the back of the crown off of my head and it straightened out the sides a little.

the center crease causes some crowns to taper more than other creases do. with the exception of crowns that are 6" when they are open. for example the raiders fedora in indiana jones and custom hat makers like Art Fawcett, Penman Hat Company, or Deckard Headwear

 

[Joshbru3]

the center crease causes some crowns to taper more than other creases do. with the exception of crowns that are 6" when they are open......

This isn't exactly true. The main factor in, which crease looks good with which hat is the CROWN BLOCK PROFILE. Here's a couple links to posts that I made explaining some differences in block shape and which crease looks the best with which block profile.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?64309-are-40s-fedora-crowns-shorter-and-tapered/page2

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?28503-Limits-of-blocking/page4

If you look at 95% of all the hats offered today by major hat manufactures such as Hatco, Akubra, Beaver Brand, and Dorfman, you'll see a pretty even split when it comes to center dents and teardrop/c-crowns. The fact is that whether you buy a modern day center dent or a modern day c-crown hat, you can bet that the crease will be extremely shallow. There's not enough crown height to make very deep creases. The cool thing about a c-crown is that it does have the ability to "square up" a crown that's tapered. Its just a matter of how deep you want to crease the hat in order to "square" the crown up. With the exception of VERY few modern mass produced hats with open tall crowns, you will not achieve the looks of those wonderful 1920's and 30's hats with straight sided crowns. That's why so many of us look for vintage hats or have custom hatters made us hats with crown shapes that cater to our tastes.

 

[cmalbrecht]

You're right. In the good old days even JC Penney (Towncraft)came in long oval, round, etc. Now even hats selling for over two hundred bucks only come in small medium and large. Unless your shoe size is D (medium) or the E series (wide), you're out of luck unless you're willing to pay through the nose. I even see shirts and suits all coming in Medium, etc. When you bought a pair of slacks almost anyplace, they came unhemmed and would be tailored to your size. Now only upscale stores do that. And whatever happened to Length 31"? (My pant length). Very hard to find. It has to be thirty or thirty-two. Sometimes I can make do with one, and sometimes it's the other. As Cheech and Chong used to say, "Things are tough all over."