The Bowler or Derby Hat

[bowlerman]

Check out this one -- recovered from the wreck of the Titanic.

wow-- super cool!

 

[newturnofphrase]

Required reading? A very funny article about the genuine article, the helmet-like traditional British coke hat, from the self-appointed last man in london to wear a bowler regularly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...earer-recalls--day-I-stopped-riot-bowler.html

 

[RichardH]

Speaking of which, the 100th anniversary of the sinking is in two weeks on the 15th.

Bored on a Saturday morning, so I spent a few minutes improving the brim curl of my modern Christys fur felt bowler. It's a fairly easy process. Smoother curl, and turns in more at the sides now.

That looks super nice! How did you do it? I just got a christys fur felt bowler myself (the standard one) and the brim curl compared to my Herbert Johnson (which is too small unfortunately) is mediocre, at best.

 

[RBH]

I just recieved this shot of the derby Mike Moore has made for Mr Therrell.
I was at the shop when he was ordering this hat and was wanting to be sure to see the finished product.
Turned out pretty cool I think.
Looking good there Mr T !!!!

 

[majormoore]

The hat we made for this customer, is a two tone , meaning we take two hats and end up with one hat, also the bound edge on the hat is a old vintage 12 linge ribbon that has a stripe in the middle .

The hat was a 7 3/8 RO, I tried it on, a little big, but I liked the way it looked even on me. I wanted to add a wide vintage hat band ribbon and then put the tooled leather hatband on, but the customer wanted just the hand tooled leather hatband.

Major Moore

 

[randooch]

 

[newturnofphrase]

That looks super nice! How did you do it? I just got a christys fur felt bowler myself (the standard one) and the brim curl compared to my Herbert Johnson (which is too small unfortunately) is mediocre, at best.

Well, it's not for the faint of heart because you irreparably change your bowler brim (in the sense that you won't be able to get it back to how it came out of the factory). However, if you do it right it improves the whole thing. Basically you just steam the brim using hot steam from a kettle spout and shape it with your hands into a better curl. When the brim cools it gets hard again in about 20-30 seconds. I used a rolled up piece of paper that i'd curled lengthwise to create a round tube inner shape to curl the steam-softened left and right edge of of the brim. You have to be careful to use something smooth to mould the brim-curl around, otherwise it will be lumpy if you just use your hands. At the front and back, i steamed the edge and pushed it down and inward to flatten it without making it stick outward. If you try this, do so at your own risk and don't be too drastic in the changes you make or you'll ruin your hat.

 

[bowlerman]

I just recieved this shot of the derby Mike Moore has made for Mr Therrell.
I was at the shop when he was ordering this hat and was wanting to be sure to see the finished product.
Turned out pretty cool I think.
Looking good there Mr T !!!!

Now that is gorgeous. Thanks for posting, Rusty! Congratulations, Mr. T, and this is the finest example of a western bowler I've seen of your work, Mr. Major Moore. Well done!

 

[hatophile]

That is super cool! I think you need one, Jeff.

 

[JacobSwan]

Required reading? A very funny article about the genuine article, the helmet-like traditional British coke hat, from the self-appointed last man in london to wear a bowler regularly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...earer-recalls--day-I-stopped-riot-bowler.html

He's certainly not the last. I try and alternate between bowler and fedora every day, so I normally wear one at least twice a week.

I've been hitting ebay a little too much recently and have just received a nice brown one from Christys and a lovely Lock & Co black Town Coke so it might end up being 4 days of bowler wearing this week.

I've lost count of the number of tourists who have asked to have their photo taken with me and you get used to the stares quite quickly.

 

[Chepstow]

That is super cool! I think you need one, Jeff.

+1

 

[mayserwegener]

J. Hückel´s Söhne Plume Melone, size 6 Point, plus hat case. Feather light, flexible and fits perfect (wears like a soft felt). Definitely my current favorite.

 

[zetwal]

J. Hückel´s Söhne Plume Melone, size 6 Point, plus hat case. Feather light, flexible and fits perfect (wears like a soft felt). Definitely my current favorite.

Easy to see why ... :yo:

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks! I still can't get over how light it is.

 

[bowlerman]

very, very nice, Steve!

 

[Chepstow]

very, very nice, Steve!

+1

I agree with, Jeff. Fantastic find!

 

[mayserwegener]

Jeff, Manfred, Thanks!

 

[mayserwegener]

C. G. Wilke (Guben, Germany) Melone, size 59cm. I am thinking 1930s.

 

[Chepstow]

Again Steve, fantastic find and wonderful Melone.

 

[mayserwegener]

Manfred, Thanks! I am with this one. It has some stains on the liner but other than that it is in good condition.