My re-creation of a late 20's or early 30's fedora using a 1950's beater fedora

[Joshbru3]

Hello everyone,

After watching an old 30's black and white movie today, I got inspired to try my hand at recreating a fedora that looks like it could have come out of that time. I first took a 1950's Barister fedora that had big holes in the felt left from pins and numerous stains. Months ago I filled the holes with a combination of felt (donated from the inside of the hat just by sanding with sand paper) and glue. I also sanded the entire body of the hat with several grits of various sandpaper to get rid of any stains and to smooth the felt. The brim was very large and didn't look right on me, so after doing a lot of research on common brim sizes in the late 20's or early 30's, I decided to trim the brim down to a 2 1/8 inch width. I took time and used a tailors measuring tape to mark a dot in pencil every 2 inches around the brim in order to get the correct width all the way around. After cutting the brim, I sanded the edge very carefully with different grits. Unbound, unwelted, raw brims were very common in the 20's and 30's and I really love that look. But really the true authentic touch that I had to add was the frayed ribbon. I really love the look of the early bowlers and fedoras with frayed ribbon. I studied an early 20's bowler that I have and looked very closely to see if I could figure out how the hat makers frayed the ribbon. After testing my method on some scrap ribbon I had, I used a vintage 2 inch ribbon and frayed the ends. Then I sewed the ribbon onto the hat and rebashed the crown. I love the way the hat turned out. I've found that the "C" crown really was becoming popular in the early 30's nd thats why I chose to use that style of crown verses a center dent. The movie that I watched was called "Mad Love" and was made in 1935. I really modeled this hat after the hats that I saw in the film. I hope you all like the hat. Heres some pictures, enjoy:

Before:

After:

 

[The Good]

I'll say, that's a great looking hat. It was good looking before too, but you improved upon it tremendously!

 

[B.J. Hedberg]

Nicely done. :eusa_clap

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Nice job !

Like he said...
Nicely done.:eusa_clap

Nicely done. :eusa_clap

 

[Mr E Train]

Like he said...
Nicely done.:eusa_clap

:arated:

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Eeeeexcellent..

A beaut!
:eusa_clap

 

[Joshbru3]

Thank You Everybody!!

I'll say, that's a great looking hat. It was good looking before too, but you improved upon it tremendously!

Nicely done. :eusa_clap

Like he said...
Nicely done.:eusa_clap

:arated:

A beaut!
:eusa_clap

Thank you very much everybody!!!!! I really love the dimensions of this hat. I think its my best fitting hat thus far.

 

[hasselhoff]

Good Job!

The hat looks new!

I'd buy it!

Nice job on the ribbon!

 

[Lefty]

I like the work, but the proportions seem a little off. To me, it looks like the crown is a bit low for the hat. A center dent with no pinches would probably give it more of the look for the era you're emulating. Nice job on the ribbon fraying. I haven't seen any non-pros try that, much less pull it off.

 

[Joshbru3]

The hat looks new!

I'd buy it!

Nice job on the ribbon!

Thanks hasselhoff!!

 

[Neophyte]

That lid really did clean up nicely :eusa_clap . With this and the boater, I'd say you're on a roll!

 

[Joshbru3]

I like the work, but the proportions seem a little off. To me, it looks like the crown is a bit low for the hat. A center dent with no pinches would probably give it more of the look for the era you're emulating. Nice job on the ribbon fraying. I haven't seen any non-pros try that, much less pull it off.

Thanks for the compliments lefty. I do agree that the crown is a bit low for the hat. I looked at a lot of old pictures and I found that people did low crown bashes back then but usually with a porkpie bash or some weird shaped bash. I would say the majority of people had at least a 5 inch or higher crown with a center dent. Some had side dents and some no dents/pinches at all. The hat body that I used had a relatively low crown to start with even though it was from the early 50's. There were some pretty bad stains that no matter how many times I tried hard brushing and steaming, would just not come out. I found that the only way to hide them would be to incorporate them into the crown bash lines. The front pinch of the crown right now measures at about 4 1/4 inches high. I think im going to buy another beater hat with a high crown and try making a center dent hat next time with the frayed ribbon. Fraying a ribbon is actually really easy, but it takes a lot of time and patience. Would you say that a hat with a 5 inch crown, center dent, 2 1/8 inch brim, and frayed ribbon would be a typical hat in the late 20's early 30's?

 

[Joshbru3]

That lid really did clean up nicely :eusa_clap . With this and the boater, I'd say you're on a roll!

I hope this roll lasts because there are some really awesome hats on ebay right now that would go great with my collection. I just hope I win the auctions.

 

[Mr E Train]

I like the work, but the proportions seem a little off. To me, it looks like the crown is a bit low for the hat.

Looks OK to me. If the brim was the original width I'd agree wholeheartedly.

 

[Neophyte]

I hope this roll lasts because there are some really awesome hats on ebay right now that would go great with my collection. I just hope I win the auctions.

I finally stopped with Ebay. I'm wholeheartedly satisfied with my Akubras (and there are so many more to get, like that Overlander from DavidMorgan).

Not to mention it's damn hard to find hats in size 59 Long Oval.

Oh, and those soul-crushing losses to those pesky snipe programs. Nothin' like thinking you've won a great lid and within two seconds to victory you're outbid by $10-$15.

Maybe I'll try the bay again someday, but the sting is still to fresh lol...

 

[Joshbru3]

Looks OK to me. If the brim was the original width I'd agree wholeheartedly.

The original brim was just too big for my face. It was only 2 1/2 inches. I have hats that are 2 3/8 and 2 3/4, but for some reason that particular hat just never looked right on me no matter how much swoop or lack of swoop the brim had. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, it always amazes me how MUCH of a difference fractions of an inch make.

 

[Mr E Train]

The original brim was just too big for my face. It was only 2 1/2 inches. I have hats that are 2 3/8 and 2 3/4, but for some reason that particular hat just never looked right on me no matter how much swoop or lack of swoop the brim had. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, it always amazes me how MUCH of a difference fractions of an inch make.

The brim was originally only 2 1/2 inches? It must be the angle of the photo, but it looked wider to me, like 2 5/8" or 2 3/4". What did you cut it down to?

 

[Joshbru3]

I finally stopped with Ebay. I'm wholeheartedly satisfied with my Akubras (and there are so many more to get, like that Overlander from DavidMorgan).

Not to mention it's damn hard to find hats in size 59 Long Oval.

Oh, and those soul-crushing losses to those pesky snipe programs. Nothin' like thinking you've won a great lid and within two seconds to victory you're outbid by $10-$15.

Maybe I'll try the bay again someday, but the sting is still to fresh lol...

Agreed!! Ebay is kinda of like a double edged sword. Its really cool because you get to see peopleS items from all over the world which you might never see otherwise, but at the same time, people from all over the world are also watching the same items. I remember when there was a time about 9-10 years ago when ebay was so much less populated with people. You used to be able to get some real deals on ebay, now it is still possible, but usually they are far and few between. Those damn snipes piss me off to no end. What it basically comes down to now is that people just have to bid a ton of money on an item up front just to compensate for those last minute snipes. Loosing an item by 10 or 15 bucks doesnt even bother me, its the DAMN 50 OR 75 CENTS.:eusa_doh: Is the Overlander your next purchase Neophyte?

 

[Joshbru3]

The brim was originally only 2 1/2 inches? It must be the angle of the photo, but it looked wider to me, like 2 5/8" or 2 3/4". What did you cut it down to?

Its hard to believe, but I measured many times, and yeh, the original brim was 2 1/2 inches. Its down to 2 1/8 now.

 

[Neophyte]

Loosing an item by 10 or 15 bucks doesnt even bother me, its the DAMN 50 OR 75 CENTS.:eusa_doh: Is the Overlander your next purchase Neophyte?

THAT would be infuriating. In fact, if I don't post over a period of several weeks, just chalk it up to me getting a new computer after punching straight through the screen of my current one :rage: .

Let's put it like this: If I just happen to purchase another Akubra, and it isn't a Campdraft in Silverbelly, it will most certainly be an Overlander in Sand or Brown. For now, though, it just wouldn't be fair to my current hats, and especially my wallet, to even consider another hat at this time.

Back on topic : Are you gonna get the brim rebound eventually, or do you prefer the raw edge?