My New Federation

[Jerekson]

Well put, HJ.

I would hate to cut a 1/2 in. off of a brim, then decide that it is too narrow for my face.

 

[cooncatbob]

Well put, HJ.

I would hate to cut a 1/2 in. off of a brim, then decide that it is too narrow for my face.

I wouldn't take more then a 1/4 off at a time. A 1/4 off the edge is a 1/2 inch off the diameter.
I took a 1/4 inch off mine and now it's perfect, but I sent a picture to Art because he's making a hat for me with the same brim dimensions. He supported my suspicion and is making my hat with less brim. This gave me the courage to cut a brand new hat down. The actual marking and cutting was very easy, I'm a professional woodworker and I used to do a lot of upholstery so I knew I could cut to the line. The felt cuts very easy and once I sanded the edge it looked like it came that way from the factory.
Bob

 

[Stoney]

You did a great job Bob. I'm not much of a woodworker myself but can just imagine what I could do to the brim with a belt sander. lol

 

[Jerekson]

Forget the belt sanders and compasses...

I've got a scroll saw in my garage.

 

[cooncatbob]

Forget the belt sanders and compasses...

I've got a scroll saw in my garage.

As Art would say, "Put down the saw and back away from the Hat" lol
Bob.

 

[Spellflower]

If this sounds harsh please forgive me Sir. I mean nothing personal towards you , it just grates me somewhat when facts are distorted to fit a preconceived idea and that's what has happened to make you believe your statement.

No offense taken, Art. I'm always glad to learn something more about hat history, and I certainly wouldn't want you to stand by and let misinformation go unchecked.

I based my statements on what the sales person at The Hattery told me when I bought my Fed, and what its description says about it, that it "is reminiscent of the era 1900 - 1940." (By the way, I'm guessing that the name is a reference to the "Federation of Australia," which united the Australian states into one nation in 1901.)

This description was very appealing to me on that day in Katoomba, since I wanted a hat with a classic look which I could wear to the office for an internship I was about to begin, yet which was also functional enough to take hiking in the Blue Mountains. I figured that the Fed had it all. Since it was modeled on classic hats from an era when everyone wore hats, it had precedent for formal use, and wouldn't look like some of the more informal styles Akubra sells to tourists en masse. On the other hand, it was guaranteed to shed rain, and clearly had a decent brim to keep off the sun. It was hard to tell how it was going to look on me once it was bashed, but I decided to give it a shot.

I almost didn't buy it when the sales woman told me that it was very popular with the Indiana Jones fans. Little did I realize that it was actually designed by those fans as an affordable replica of IJ's hat!

Nothing against Indy or his fans, but I just don't like the idea of imitation. Like many humans, I have the conceit that I'm an original, and so I bristle at the idea of trying to look like anyone else. That said, I really would like my hat to do for me all the things Indy's does for him. I want to be able to wear it on adventures and to fancy dress events the next day. I want it to shield me from the elements, but I want it to make me look good, too.

So far, the Fed has done an excellent job with the adventure, but when I wear it, I feel like I'm wearing an outdoors hat, and no matter how much I try to feel like it would be okay to wear to work, I just can't bring myself to do it. When I said that I try to "remind myself that it's modeled on a period when most fedoras had very wide brims," I'm not referring to 1935 when Indiana Jones is set, but to whatever era men wore wide brimmed fedoras to the office. I wish that we still lived in such times, so that I wouldn't feel as uncomfortable doing so, but since we do, and since I'm just not enjoying the hat, I think the solution is to take off a little brim and see how i feel about it. Hopefully this will help me get a better fix on what I do like for form and function, so when I have the cash to hire you or Steve, I'll know just what I want.

Thanks again for setting the record straight,

S

By the way, could you tell me more about "dimensional brims?" what is meant by this phrase?

 

[Stoney]

Don't cut that brim!

If you are considering cutting the brim down... Why not, instead, buy another hat with a smaller brim? Once cut, the edge can not be put back on and I'm sure that you like the look of the hat as is, or would not have worn it as much as you have.

 

[Davidson]

Brim trimming (or not)

I don't own a Federation. Some comment from recent messing around with brims, including trimming:

- One alternative is to iron or press the brim flatter (with less curl). That has a similar effect to a shorter brim from some angles.

- Trimming is easy enough with sharp scissors and sandpaper. 1/4" I can cut "by eye" to my satisfaction. It's important to get a nice curved cut, which cuts down on the sanding time. It's important to keep the scissors perpendicular to the brim - cutting with tilted scissors shows up on the edge, and has to be sanded square. And a brim cutter applied by the local western wear place is even easier, a 60-second job for them. One of the FL vendors carries a brim cutter, for the DIY folks.

- No need to wet anything. I found trying to mark wet felt tended to tear the surface of the felt instead of mark it.

- You can also measure from the base of the crown if you want to remove the "dimensional" cut, so the resulting brim is the same diameter all the way around. I wouldn't try this by eye, I'd mark the brim.

- I agree it's easy to take off too much, and impossible to put back. 1/4" per day (or week) is enough for me, gives the eye time to evaluate the result. I gave away one hat with nice felt that I just cut down too far for me. It's a shame to put on a hat and immediately see "That's too short now".

 

[MattJH]

Nothing against Indy or his fans, but I just don't like the idea of imitation. Like many humans, I have the conceit that I'm an original, and so I bristle at the idea of trying to look like anyone else.

Well said, fellow Philadelphian! While I currently own a home in Burlington City, NJ, I was born and raised for 16 years in Philadelphia and will always consider it home. In fact, when the wife and I want to grab a bite to eat, we'll drive the 25 minutes into Center City so we can get something decent rather than hit the standard New Jersey diner.

Back to what you were saying -- Inspiration is genuine, but imitation... that's just role-playing. I've read threads over at Club Obi-Wan (COW) where people were discussing their whips. Practicing them in the backyard, things like that. I mean no offense to whippers out there, but really... the second-hand embarrassment I experience reading things like that is stifling. So you buy your Indiana jacket and your Indiana hat and your Indiana whip and your Indiana bag. Now what? I mean, what do you do with that? Hobbies are one thing but that's just absolutely, undeniably outer-space weird. Sorry. I do not understand that, I will never understand that, and I'm not bending on the fact that I think it's borderline psychopathic.

Seriously, picture walking past somebody's yard and the homeowner is dressed up like Indiana Jones practicing his whip snaps? I have no idea what my reaction would be. I'd probably throw rocks at him.

Am I bending Fedora Lounge etiquette right now?

By the way, could you tell me more about "dimensional brims?" what is meant by this phrase?

Most brims are 2" all around or 2.5" around, etc. Dimensional brims have one measurement for the front and back and one measurement for the sides.

 

[Doctor Strange]

In Indy terms, I'm merely a dabbler: I do have a brown Federation and a lambskin Wested jacket - but no boots/pants/shirt/bag/whip/revolver/etc. I have been listening in at Club Obi-Wan for over five years, but I have never joined. Being so fixated on Indy does indeed strike me as a bit over the top.

I'm of two minds about the dress-up thing. On the one hand, it's simply good fun and certainly isn't hurting anybody. But on the other hand, I find it sad that folks are so *centered* on these three popcorn movies as a lifestyle: the flicks are undeniably great fun, but they aren't history, don't reflect a worldview that's of any real use, or give you much to aspire to - apart from being able to survive a beating and think on your feet.

That's one reason why I'm glad that MK originally spun this place off of the Indy-centric POV: there's so much more of *real* interest in the past than just being a setting for some impressive stunts and fights. And fanatics of any stripe - Star Wars buffs, hardcore Trekkies (and mind you, I say this as somebody who loves both of these series: I watched Trek from its very first broadcast in 1966!), Harry Potter fanatics, LOTR geeks, Civil War reenactors, RennFaire and SCA types who take it too seriously - can get pretty tiresome. Come on folks, there's a lot more to life than these fandoms!

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. As it is, to the average young person, I look like a crazy old geezer in my fedora and flight jacket, so who am I to be criticizing anybody else?

 

[MattJH]

And fanatics of any stripe - Star Wars buffs, hardcore Trekkies (and mind you, I say this as somebody who loves both of these series: I watched Trek from its very first broadcast in 1966!), Harry Potter fanatics, LOTR geeks, Civil War reenactors, RennFaire and SCA types who take it too seriously - can get pretty tiresome. Come on folks, there's a lot more to life than these fandoms!

That sort of hyper-interest in something is, I think, indicative of personality and character traits that I do not typically find enjoyable to be exposed to. I love Tolkien and I think the original Star Wars trilogy was one of the most fun movie trilogies ever, but that's as far as it goes. My interests do not change my life, they accessorize it. I'm not implying that it makes me a better or worse person, but I am implying that you will never, ever, ever see me practing my sword thrusts and parries in my backyard just because I thought Aragorn was a "cool character!" I'd throw rocks at me.

 

[Spellflower]

I'm not sure that personality disorders are necessarily involved, Dumbjaw. Indy fanatics may be eccentric, but I'm rather eccentric myself, so I'm willing to live and let live. After all, the main difference between a COW member dressing up like Indy, a Trekkie wearing a Federation uniform, and a FL member wearing a vintage three-piece is the choice of costume. All three are essentially playing dress up, and trying to bring some of the magic of a world not their own into their modern lives.

However, while I respect all three groups' rights to do this, and I do sometimes like to dress vintage, most of the time I'm not trying to imitate any character or time period. The clothes I wear are selected because I like them and the way they look on me, regardless of when or where they originated. This is not unlike the way I make music- I am influenced by lots of music from throughout the ages, from ancient Scottish murder ballads to The Beatles, and my own music reflects that. Nonetheless, I am not trying to sound like any one of my influences; I am a songwriter, NOT a cover band, trying to sound and look like my idols.

My problem with Indiana Jones is simply that in the cultural imagination, he's monopolized the brown fedora to the point that, regardless of what else I'm wearing, if people see me in my Fed, they're going to think "Indy" the same way they'd think "Spock" if I wore Spock ears with my street clothes. This is annoying because it makes me feel like I'm being looked at as an imitator, rather than an individual, and also because there is a certain cringe factor to the nerdiness of trying to look like your favorite movie character. Not that there's anything with OTHER people being nerds- if that's their thing, great. But I just don't want to be mistaken for something I'm not.

Since I've been wearing brown hats so long, I'm not about to give it up. Still, I sometimes wish Indy had gone hatless.

 

[Spellflower]

If you are considering cutting the brim down... Why not, instead, buy another hat with a smaller brim? Once cut, the edge can not be put back on and I'm sure that you like the look of the hat as is, or would not have worn it as much as you have.

Stoney, thanks for your concern, but the fact is that I don't like the look of the hat as is. I've tried to get into it, but it just feels too big for me. I did buy a hat with a smaller brim (Akubra Fedora), and it's a good hat, but it seems like a waste to never wear the Federation. Maybe with a little less brim, I'll like it more, and if not, it's not like I destroyed a vintage hat- I merely modified a modern one. I would very much like to try different brim widths and styles of hat, but with my limited budget, and the limited offerings on ebay, I haven't found anything besides Akubras which are of sufficient quality, affordability, dimension, and color. If anyone would like to sell me a brown hat with at least a 2.5 inch brim for under $100, please PM me forthwith!

 

[MattJH]

I'm not sure that personality disorders are necessarily involved, Dumbjaw.

Oh, we all have them! I think being a fanatic is an example of one. I used to think the 1:00pm EST - 11:00pm EST all-day-Sunday NFL watchers were completely out of their minds until I became one of them. Luckily, I converted my wife, too.

 

[Stoney]

I understand Spellflower. Although the Fed appears to be a decent hat, I just can't bring myself to buy one for the same reasons.

Dumbjaw,

I agree. Everyone has disorders.. there is no such thing as normal, only the ideal of normal.

 

[Spellflower]

I agree: most personalities are not very orderly.

 

[Jerekson]

You guys,

I think I should point out that we are getting a wee bit off topic from the original Federation thread.

Just slap me if I'm being obnoxious.

 

[Stoney]

[bad] Slap.

Of course it's off topic. That's how discussions tend to run.lol

 

[Spellflower]

Okay, back to the Federation, or at least wide brims:

Stoney, do you happen to have Brazil on DVD? Any chance you could post some pics of Sam Lowery's hat? I think that's the kind of thing I was hoping my Fed would be, and if I could get it to look like that I might not trim it after all.

 

[Stoney]

Jonathan Pryce in the Hat from Brazil

I like this one too although it again has a brim that's a little large for my small head. I would think with a little work you can make your Federation look quite a bit like this. One thing you will need to do is put a wider ribbon and bow on it, which is very easy to do.

I enjoyed the film and particularly liked the small one person cars and the strange duct repairs perfomed by Robert Dinero.