Stetson 100-From Blah to Bling!

[fedoralover]

I recently acquired this Stetson 100 and while the felt and construction were fantastic it was still a rather "Blah" looking fedora. So I took it over to Mike Miller at Northwest hats and had a different ribbon and matching edge binding put on it. I also had him reblock it as it had some taper to the crown. It totally changed the look and now has a little pizazz. Here's the before and after shots.

fedoralover

 

[bowlerman]

A worthy refurb! I really like the new look.

 

[bond]

Plus one!
Looks like a nice conversion, but what color is the ribbon?

 

[fedoralover]

Plus one!
Looks like a nice conversion, but what color is the ribbon?

Good question, I'm not sure what you would call it, but it's kind of a light peach. The stripe on the bow is brown. The color shows up pretty accurate on my monitor. It really dressed it up, not too flashy but yet definitely an eye catcher.

fedoralover

 

[randooch]

Beee-YOOtiful!

 

[fedoralover]

Thanks, I've had numerous thin ribbon fedora's switched to a wider ribbon and it drastically changed their appearance all for the good. I still have quite a few thin ribbon ones, but the wider ribbon change outs really gives me more variety and it's relatively inexpensive.

fedoralover

 

[ideaguy]

I've got two "One Hundreds"- one by Dobbs, one Resistol; both are beautiful...but boring; love to have a refurb.
done on one or both-if I can get the felt to soften up plenty. Hard to appreciate the fineness of the felt with
the factory stiffener in there. Are there any DIY solutions to softening the felt?

 

[Rodkins]

I've tried spraying denatured alcohol on it with small but some result.

 

[splintercellsz]

That, Fedoralover, is AMAZING work! I love seeing conversions. Every conversion I see, the more tempted I am to get a thin ribbon, or cowboy type hat!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

My thoughts are why ruin a iconic hat. Any value you had of it being a Stetson 100 has been totally blown by putting a different edge treatment and bow on the hat. The hat could have been sold for way more money to someone who wanted a Stetson 100 and you would have been able to purchase any hat you wanted with the going price of 100's now days. Unless a 100 had serious damage to where it had little value to it I would never devalue a hat such as this.

Ideaguy the stiffing agent it a fur felt hat is done at its inception and the fur is mixed with a liquid as it is sprayed on the the cone to make the fur blank. So it would be very difficult to change the stiffness of a hat.

 

[RBH]

I agree Ed, just as I trimed the edge off my Campdrafts.... they are Campdrafts in name only.

 

[Dan Allen]

My thoughts are why ruin a iconic hat. Any value you had of it being a Stetson 100 has been totally blown by putting a different edge treatment and bow on the hat. The hat could have been sold for way more money to someone who wanted a Stetson 100 and you would have been able to purchase any hat you wanted with the going price of 100's now days. Unless a 100 had serious damage to where it had little value to it I would never devalue a hat such as this.


Ideaguy the stiffing agent it a fur felt hat is done at its inception and the fur is mixed with a liquid as it is sprayed on the the cone to make the fur blank. So it would be very difficult to change the stiffness of a hat.

My decision to convert my Resestol beaver 100 was based entirely on the fact that the sweatband had to be replaced. The sweatband was the only ID on the hat as to quality. Without the sweatband it became just a very very nice hat of no collector value. I agree with your concerns, and thought about it for several weeks before I decided to do it. Like yourself I feel that to convert a pristine collectable hat makes no economic or moral sense.

 

[gtdean48]

... Unless a 100 had serious damage to where it had little value to it I would never devalue a hat such as this....

+1...I'm with Ed. There are only a limited amount of these out there & there are folks who would love to own one in its original state. They aren't any more being made & they don't make them like this anymore...It is yours to do with as you desire but treating a 100 like a felt body is not for me...

 

[gtdean48]

I agree Ed, just as I trimed the edge off my Campdrafts.... they are Campdrafts in name only.

But you are talking about modern, mass factory produced, current hat model that can have the edges re-bound & be back in CD config just with a slightly thinner brim width....

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

If there was no concern's like sweatband or moth nibble to cover up. To treat a iconic hat in such a way is just not to me the way to go. Sell it to someone who would love to have a 100. I bought mine from Bill at the last FedoraFest and it is a treasure to me. My vintage hats are very dear to me and I spend a lot of money keeping them in good shape as I wear them all the time. A damaged 100 still has value to someone I am sure. I just would have kept it as is.

 

[jlee562]

Well, the quality of the work is top notch looking, even if I wouldn't have made the choice to convert or those ribbon colors.

 

[SteveAS]

I'm with the folks who would have left it original. But that's my personal bias . . . my '38 Buick is very close to original, too!

 

[fedoralover]

If there was no concern's like sweatband or moth nibble to cover up. To treat a iconic hat in such a way is just not to me the way to go. Sell it to someone who would love to have a 100. I bought mine from Bill at the last FedoraFest and it is a treasure to me. My vintage hats are very dear to me and I spend a lot of money keeping them in good shape as I wear them all the time. A damaged 100 still has value to someone I am sure. I just would have kept it as is.

This has been discussed here before and I knew it would come up when I posted the conversion. As someone who has collected antiques for over 35 years I understand completely the sentiment. There are certain hats that I would not have done this to, but this one was different, to me anyway. First of all this appears to be one of the later versions of the Stetson Open Road 100. While the felt quality appears to be the same as the other ones I've had, they really cheapened up on the sweatband and liner. Heck the liner was even glued in and not sewn in and didn't even come with a wind trolley. If it had been an early version I wouldn't have done it. Besides I'm not convinced that the Stetson 100s were only made in an Open Road style. If anyone has evidence to show otherwise I'd love to see it and be corrected. As to whether I should have sold it to someone who would have appreciated it in it's original state, well sorry, but I happen to appreciate it more in it's present condition. It will get a lot more wear and I know a lot more comments and opportunities to talk about vintage fedora's in it's present condition than the former. I just got the hat a day ago and wore it to to a shopping mall and had someone tell me how much they liked it. It is a strikingly awesome looking fedora with the makeover and one of my best looking hats with the conversion. I love it as much as anyone one else would love it in it's original condition. Comparing it to a 38 Buick is comparing apples and oranges. So while I appreciate and expected the different feelings on it, I have no regrets in having it changed.

fedoralover

 

[ideaguy]

Well...I've been in the antiques end of things for over 20 yrs myself, and the rule of thumb is "leave it alone"; don't clean it, polish it,
refinish, paint, strip, nada, nuttin', hands off. I want to find early pieces in original condition-and be able to turn the piece as untouched
by me-very important to important collectors. Different story with hats. A lot of us have had hats refurbished out of necessity-otherwise
the hat would be unwearable-or at the least, not clean and looking/fitting right. Replacing ribbons, sweatbands, etc. with Vintage material
is the preferred way to go when done at all-a lot of us want to wear the best Vintage pieces, and not just admire them on a stand.
Either way is fine-no judgement here-sounds like it, but I've got a few lids that aren't worn because of condition-and not wanting to change
the original, even if it does come complete with grunge.
The point of asking about the stiffness of the 100's-and softening the felt so it would be more comfortable to me wasn't veering over into
complete refurbishment. Maybe a 1" ribbon would work...probably not. I'd simply be happier with a more flexible, soft felt-like a dress
Fedora- and have been reminded that the Beaver 100's were not made to be anything other than what they are-terrific examples of the
hatters' art - and the pelts of some pretty dandy beavers. Thanks for the advice, gentlemen, you've corrected my wayward tendencies
before...just need it pounded into this granite cranium more often. Getting old (er). Not wise (r).
Meantime-anybody got a 7 3/8 L/O fine felt Fedora for sale??

 

[carouselvic]

Besides I'm not convinced that the Stetson 100s were only made in an Open Road style. If anyone has evidence to show otherwise I'd love to see it and be corrected.

Stetson made a raw edge western hat in the 100.