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Source of James Spader's hats {The Blacklist}

LuvMyMan

I’ll Lock Up.
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4,558
Location
Michigan
I thought this thread had gone off the rails before but now I'm sure.
train-wreck-1.jpg
 

johnnycanuck

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,008
Location
Alberta
For a nice custom hat you don't have to go with beaver. I nice rabbit can last for years with regular wear. With that said the only custom hatter I have used is Art Fawcett at VS hats https://vscustomhats.com/ You would have to talk to him about what blocks he has because Spaders hats have a very modern crown where Art typically uses more Vintage blocks. As already identified, Penman made the custom hat for the show so he would have the most accurate custom hat on the market. I have admired his work for years. Another I have been interested in trying is Northwest Hats. Check out their Facebook page. They really show off their work and you can see the range of creations.
As noted, there are more than a few custom makers out there that can probably make a really good copy. But I will say this, I really love Indiana Jones. I wanted a hat like Harrison fords for years. I bought cheep local wool fedoras. Higher quality Akubras but was not fully happy until I shelled out the big bucks and bought one from Adventurebilt. At the time (over a decade ago) he was the best Indiana Jones fedora guy on the market with Mr Penman being a close second. Long story short is - you can try other hats but if you really want what Spader has on his head you may have to shell out the bucks for a Penman. Its really up to you thought. There are some really great hatters out here now, more so than 20 years ago when I started my hat journey.
Hope that helps some.
Sorry to derail the sillyness
Johnny
 

johnnycanuck

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Alberta
Now lets talk about the straw hats. As you said its for summer. I am still working my way thru season one. I noticed in Cuba he was wearing a black straw that was almost identical to his felt one. I thought this would be a great offering for a copy.
https://www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/product/531_6/black-mexican-fedora.cfm
Having not seen the later seasons I thank you for posting the screen caps of his other straw/panama hats. This is also a great option for the second set of photos shown.
https://www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/product/535_6/guatemalan-pinto-fedora.cfm
overall I have heard nothing but good things about Sunbody hats so anything form this selection should be a fantastic summer hat
https://www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/category/6/fedoras-dress-amp-sporty.cfm

outside of that, if you want a real panama hat the only company (still in buisness) I have ordered from is https://www.panamahatsdirect.com/ the closest style I see is a "Design you own hat" with a Havana crown. keep in mind Real panama hats are hand crafted and are not an exact science. Its a bit of a roll of the dice what the hats dimensions really are. But trust me they are beautiful creations.
hope that helps in your search as well
Johnny
 

bendingoak

Vendor
Messages
613
Location
www.Penmanhats.com
Thank you johnnycanuck for the kind words. you are correct and like I stated before I had blocks made to replicate Spaders hat as they sent me a couple to get specs from so I could better replicate the hat Spader wanted.

Here is a short re-cap of what went down......

NBC went looking for more hats as Spader was not happy with the current Borsalino offerings. So The costumer went on a search as Spader is a hat guy and is very particular about what he wants. They said they went to several places and was not happy with what they were looking for. He wanted a certain felt and finish and he was very happy with my finish (pouncing) of a test hat that i did for them. After receiving a couple of his hats that he wore on the show (Borsalino). They had me take photos, measurement, specs to replicate what he wanted. I had a set of blocks made, I had special felt made just for him and the show.

If anyone wants what they see of the first few season exactly with the Borsalino logo and all. You will not find an exact copy, if you could I would not be making hats for the show. I don't know how much more clear I can be then that.

someone brought up a high weave count panama hat he wears and that is a Brent Black hat. I know as they asked and I sent them to him and gave him sizing information. Both Brent and I are friends and I have the up most respect for him as a person and a hatter. I am just starting to watch the show and Im at the very begining of season 2 so I don't know when his hat or mine start trickling in.

I made several hats for the show as they wanted matching pairs for each color.They asked for 4 different colors. If anyone wanted an exact replica of his hat, they can only get what I made as the Borsalinos aren't the same as what was original used for the show. again, if you could I wouldn't be working for the show. I know I'm repeating myself but I feel that some skip past that part.

I hope that helps. I will answer questions as best I can but be respectful if I say no. This is one of the big reasons I don't spend a lot of time on forums anymore. some have asked me to come back and share pics of my hats and just talk hats. I miss it but don't miss some of the stuff that goes with Forums.
 

mattmactimpson

One of the Regulars
Messages
114
Thank you johnnycanuck for the kind words. you are correct and like I stated before I had blocks made to replicate Spaders hat as they sent me a couple to get specs from so I could better replicate the hat Spader wanted.

Here is a short re-cap of what went down......

NBC went looking for more hats as Spader was not happy with the current Borsalino offerings. So The costumer went on a search as Spader is a hat guy and is very particular about what he wants. They said they went to several places and was not happy with what they were looking for. He wanted a certain felt and finish and he was very happy with my finish (pouncing) of a test hat that i did for them. After receiving a couple of his hats that he wore on the show (Borsalino). They had me take photos, measurement, specs to replicate what he wanted. I had a set of blocks made, I had special felt made just for him and the show.

If anyone wants what they see of the first few season exactly with the Borsalino logo and all. You will not find an exact copy, if you could I would not be making hats for the show. I don't know how much more clear I can be then that.

someone brought up a high weave count panama hat he wears and that is a Brent Black hat. I know as they asked and I sent them to him and gave him sizing information. Both Brent and I are friends and I have the up most respect for him as a person and a hatter. I am just starting to watch the show and Im at the very begining of season 2 so I don't know when his hat or mine start trickling in.

I made several hats for the show as they wanted matching pairs for each color.They asked for 4 different colors. If anyone wanted an exact replica of his hat, they can only get what I made as the Borsalinos aren't the same as what was original used for the show. again, if you could I wouldn't be working for the show. I know I'm repeating myself but I feel that some skip past that part.

I hope that helps. I will answer questions as best I can but be respectful if I say no. This is one of the big reasons I don't spend a lot of time on forums anymore. some have asked me to come back and share pics of my hats and just talk hats. I miss it but don't miss some of the stuff that goes with Forums.

Forgive and forget for the betterment of this forum ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Messages
19,427
Location
Funkytown, USA
Thank you johnnycanuck for the kind words. you are correct and like I stated before I had blocks made to replicate Spaders hat as they sent me a couple to get specs from so I could better replicate the hat Spader wanted.

Here is a short re-cap of what went down......

NBC went looking for more hats as Spader was not happy with the current Borsalino offerings. So The costumer went on a search as Spader is a hat guy and is very particular about what he wants. They said they went to several places and was not happy with what they were looking for. He wanted a certain felt and finish and he was very happy with my finish (pouncing) of a test hat that i did for them. After receiving a couple of his hats that he wore on the show (Borsalino). They had me take photos, measurement, specs to replicate what he wanted. I had a set of blocks made, I had special felt made just for him and the show.

If anyone wants what they see of the first few season exactly with the Borsalino logo and all. You will not find an exact copy, if you could I would not be making hats for the show. I don't know how much more clear I can be then that.

someone brought up a high weave count panama hat he wears and that is a Brent Black hat. I know as they asked and I sent them to him and gave him sizing information. Both Brent and I are friends and I have the up most respect for him as a person and a hatter. I am just starting to watch the show and Im at the very begining of season 2 so I don't know when his hat or mine start trickling in.

I made several hats for the show as they wanted matching pairs for each color.They asked for 4 different colors. If anyone wanted an exact replica of his hat, they can only get what I made as the Borsalinos aren't the same as what was original used for the show. again, if you could I wouldn't be working for the show. I know I'm repeating myself but I feel that some skip past that part.

I hope that helps. I will answer questions as best I can but be respectful if I say no. This is one of the big reasons I don't spend a lot of time on forums anymore. some have asked me to come back and share pics of my hats and just talk hats. I miss it but don't miss some of the stuff that goes with Forums.

I have a bit of an off question if you don't mind answering it. Since you mentioned it, and I've heard other hatters have done it (cf Mr. Fawcett), how does one order special felt?

What do you ask for that isn't readily available? Better/tighter felting? A different method of finishing? Say I had an interest in having somebody like Winchester make a special run for me, what kinds of things would you ask for? Maybe a blend?

Not that I would ever do this - I'm not a hatter - but the details interest me. We have had discussions on here regarding modern vs vintage felt techniques, and this implies something "better" than what we usually see is available.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.
 

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