The Conversion Corral

[Joshbru3]

That is really nice.You don't see many cowboy hats with ribbons like that.

Thanks Michaelshane! I was kind of surprised to see that kind and color of ribbon on an older cowboy hat.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Great work, Joshbru3.

 

[Sam Craig]

Those are both great
I especially like the Cagney

I did that recently with an old white Stetson that someone had worn for work to the point that it was stained through

It really developed a great character with the rebuild and I used a dark chocolate Petersham ribbon, which blends from the white into the "distressed" part

It ended up sort of like Gary Cooper's hat in Meet John Doe

Great job and it's great seeing new life for these, instead of a toy box or trash can

Sam

 

[scottyrocks]

Joshbru, beautiful results with both.

 

[RBH]

Josh, you did great on both. I really like the first, but the 2nd looks fantastic on you.
The tall crown and shorter brim really works!

 

[randooch]

Don't be so sure that you can't pull off the western look; a mustache might be just what it takes.

 

[Neophyte]

Don't be so sure that you can't pull off the western look; a mustache might be just what it takes.

:arated:

 

[danofarlington]

Heres the second hat. I was going for the James Cagney style with this one. High crown and short brim. I decided to make my own ribbon using a vintage ribbon from a project hat. I thought that adding the frayed edge on the ribbon would give the hat that 20's/30's touch. The original liner and design of the sweatband stamp make it look much older than the hat probably is.

Nice job on both of them! Hearing your Cagney hat described before seeing it, I didn't think I'd like it. But seeing it, I do. Now that you mention Cagney, that second hat definitely gives you an appearance of someone not to mess with. You could stand in for Meyer Lansky, for instance.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Here is my next conversion project.

Picked up this tan 5X Stetson cowboy hat. Going to make it a fedora. Thinking of a copper or brown ribbon.

I'll have it in a week or so. Here is what it looked like in the auction...

Has the square, black size tag. What do you think... late 1960s?

 

[Joshbru3]

Great work, Joshbru3.

Joshbru, beautiful results with both.

Josh, you did great on both. I really like the first, but the 2nd looks fantastic on you.
The tall crown and shorter brim really works!

Thank you very much, Mobile Vulgus, scottyrocks, and RBH!!!

 

[Joshbru3]

Nice job on both of them! Hearing your Cagney hat described before seeing it, I didn't think I'd like it. But seeing it, I do. Now that you mention Cagney, that second hat definitely gives you an appearance of someone not to mess with. You could stand in for Meyer Lansky, for instance.

Thank you danofarlington! Im not usually a stingy brim fan anymore, but theres something about that late 20's/early 30's tall crown/short brim look that I absolutely love. Whats funny is that a girl at work just called me Meyer Lansky last week. LOL.

 

[Joshbru3]

Those are both great
I especially like the Cagney

I did that recently with an old white Stetson that someone had worn for work to the point that it was stained through

It really developed a great character with the rebuild and I used a dark chocolate Petersham ribbon, which blends from the white into the "distressed" part

It ended up sort of like Gary Cooper's hat in Meet John Doe

Great job and it's great seeing new life for these, instead of a toy box or trash can

Sam

Thanks Sam Craig! I think the "Cagney" is my favorite hat out of the two as well. I don't usually wear dark brown hats, but I absolutely love this one. Do you have pictures of your "Meet John Doe" rebuild? That was an excellent movie by the way! Im also really glad that people are starting to convert these old cowboy hats. A lot of them have high quality felt and it would be a shame to have many of them wind up in the toy box or trash can. The major benefits of rebuilding cowboy hats are the wide brims, high crowns, and good amount of felt stiffener often used.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

This was an old 1950s era (I think) No. 1 Quality Stetson in silverbelly. It needs a cleaning and re-blocking, but here it is so far...

 

[Neophyte]

That ribbon...it's incredible!

 

[zetwal]

I'll second that ... It's a cool ribbon, M Vulgus. :yo:

 

[Joshbru3]

This was an old 1950s era (I think) No. 1 Quality Stetson in silverbelly. It needs a cleaning and re-blocking, but here it is so far...

Great Ribbon and great bash, Mobile Vulgus. :eusa_clap

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Here is another project. I got a cheapie Stetson (well, cheap to me as a used hat, anyway) and have cut it down. It was a crumpled 5X western with a 4" brim. All smashed up, really. First stage looked like this:

Stage two required cutting off a bit of the brim to make it a 2-1/2 brim and give a quick reshape to the crown.

By the way, this one has a holographic sticker on the sweatband (you can see it a little above). When did Stetson start putting those on their hats?

Anyway, stage 3 will be to take it to Optimo for a ribbon bound brim and a reblocking.

UPDATE

I've decided to throw this one up on ebay. I have a few ORs and western types and really don't need it.

 

[suitedcboy]

I think someone at Stetson was fascinated by the similar label Microsoft uses on their products to assure authenticity. I have a couple of Stetson westerns that had those round labels on the sweatbands. The adhesive used on label gets slimey when mixed with sweat and human oils so I peeled them off.
I would place the period of use as 1995-2000 range.

 

[Alan-Eby]

Have any of you turned a western hat into a homburg? I'm thinking of trying it sometime in the near future and was wondering if anyone else has done it?