The Hat From "There Will Be Blood"?

[belfastboy]

I came across an interview with costume designer Mark Bridges, for the film There Will Be Blood where he discussed the famous hat worn by Daniel Day Lewis. Lewis was the one who picked out the hat, not Bridges. Lewis selected three vintage hats that a local costume rental company had in stock and he wore them around for days, in costume, trying to decide which hat was the best fit for the character.

I have been looking for that hat for years, and there are a number of hat companies that have attempted to make a Plainview, but no one has yet pulled it off. Baron Hats came closer than anyone else (when I called him some months ago, he said he is no longer making the hat), but even his attempt was pretty far off the mark. Here is a profile of DDL wearing the hat and a profile of the Baron Hats version:
View attachment 307525 View attachment 307526

and here are two shots looking head-on:

View attachment 307527 View attachment 307530

Looking head-on, the hat looks very much like a campaign or park ranger hat. But it looks like a totally different hat in profile.

Watson's Hats recently tried to recreate the Plainview for me, and while I like the hat a great deal, they weren't able to match the hat from the movie.

Most of the replicas I've seen (including my own hat) don't get the profile right. The front and back of the hat in profile view are fairly steep, whereas the profile of my hat and others are angled in more towards the center. And I just haven't seen anyone who nailed the flange on the brim. The pinch on my hat is closer to the original than anything else I've seen, but even mine is far from a match.

I know hatters don't like customers who say "I want a hat exactly like the one in the movie," and I understand the various reasons why they don't want to hear that. But this gets to the point of my post....

In that Mark Bridges interview he noted that they only had that one hat for the whole movie. As I said earlier, that hat wasn't made for Lewis; he just found it at a costume rental shop. They wanted backups of the hat, and so they handed the rental hat to a couple hat makers to have them reproduce it, but none of the reproductions was a suitable match, which got me to wondering, "how hard is it to make a hat?" It's one thing to look at a photo and fail to hit the target, but I was surprised to hear that a hat maker with a more or less unlimited budget and with the target hat in hand still couldn't make a suitable reproduction.

It comes down to the block and the flange. If a hatter does not possess the same block and flange as the original it can never be an exact replica. The block and flange determine the hat and if it ain't right no amount of fiddling can make it so. That is one of the reasons to be a full and complete custom house you need hundreds of block and flange styles/shapes/dimensions etc.and that will run you into the 10's of thousands of $$$$.

 

[jdouglasj]

I have made two changes to my hat since it arrived and I am happy with both. I put a small bash on the rear of the crown to disrupt the sloping dome line in profile (it looks a bit more vertical now). And I also used my steaming iron to put an ever so slight dent on the right side of the hat. It's almost not noticeable but I notice it and I like the look.

As we have discussed before, I wanted a softer hat than I got, however, the stiffer material does hold even very slight modifications if you steam them in.

 

[jdouglasj]

It comes down to the block and the flange. If a hatter does not possess the same block and flange as the original it can never be an exact replica. The block and flange determine the hat and if it ain't right no amount of fiddling can make it so. That is one of the reasons to be a full and complete custom house you need hundreds of block and flange styles/shapes/dimensions etc.and that will run you into the 10's of thousands of $$$$.

If I put the hat on my countertop and give the *slightest *down pressure to the crown, this action flattens the brim where it meets the crown and it turns up the flange a bit in a way that I like. If I were to steam my hat and then place a book on it while it dried, do you think that effect would hold?

 

[belfastboy]

I have made two changes to my hat since it arrived and I am happy with both. I put a small bash on the rear of the crown to disrupt the sloping dome line in profile (it looks a bit more vertical now). And I also used my steaming iron to put an ever so slight dent on the right side of the hat. It's almost not noticeable but I notice it and I like the look.

As we have discussed before, I wanted a softer hat than I got, however, the stiffer material does hold even very slight modifications if you steam them in. View attachment 307552

Often with vintage hats the bash was not set in and the bash ended up being whatever it looked like when the owner grabbed the hat and plunked it on his head. I like that as it presents a devil may care attitude and less fussy looking. DDL's hat in the movie had that quality......the plunked on head look. But for that you need that soft malleable hand to the felt that most modern felts don't possess.

 

[belfastboy]

If I put the hat on my countertop and give the *slightest *down pressure to the crown, this action flattens the brim where it meets the crown and it turns up the flange a bit in a way that I like. If I were to steam my hat and then place a book on it while it dried, do you think that effect would hold?

I would spritz it with water, use the steam blast feature on your iron but don't let the iron touch the felt directly, give it copious blasts of steam and try pressing down. Depending on the felt & the flanging the change may take or it may revert to original. But no harm in trying. The DDL hat has a great "beaten up" quality to it that lends to its appeal. Your hat looks almost a flat brim with a pencil curled edge rather than a flanged hat with a fairly deep cupping. The brims are not really close in style and to get it to match the original it needs to be reflanged on the proper shaped flange.

 

[jdouglasj]

I would spritz it with water, use the steam blast feature on your iron but don't let the iron touch the felt directly, give it copious blasts of steam and try pressing down. Depending on the felt & the flanging the change may take or it may revert to original. But no harm in trying. The DDL hat has a great "beaten up" quality to it that lends to its appeal. Your hat looks almost a flat brim with a pencil curled edge rather than a flanged hat with a fairly deep cupping. The brims are not really close in style and to get it to match the original it needs to be reflanged on the proper shaped flange.

Thanks. In production!

 

[jdouglasj]

Another great aspect of the character-hat match is that the evenly upturned brim of the hat has an almost Amish quality to it. It's the kind of brim that you would normally think to pair with a more innocent character, a schoolboy or your friendly local park ranger. But here is this badass Daniel Plainview wearing it. His costume over all is quite dapper, nice-guy, like camouflage covering what's underneath. Indeed, his son and the little girl he befriends are also used as props to advance his business interests.

 

[jdouglasj]

If anyone is interested, here is some backstory on the hat used in the film. Fast forward to 14:15

 

[Gobi]

You can see the old crease in his hat, looks like it used to have a standard fedora style teardrop crease before it was pushed out into open crown and given the more crude, careless grab n go crease.

 

[johnnycanuck]

First I will point out the movie makers tried to reproduce the hat and failed....
Second what type of felt is your hat? Beaver? Rabbit? Wool? Only reason why I ask is I have gotten a few XXXXX Stetson’s (100% rabbit felt) and I always soak the outside of my “new to me” hats in cold tap water pop the crown out and try to flatten the brim. The last part usually fails. I place it on a flat surface and the brim flanges itself overnight. If you want to risk it maybe give the brim a good soak under a tap and leave it overnight. Worst thing is it could go wonky.
Third. Do we know what the top or back of the hat looks like? Mule kick? Shallow dent?
Now here is the kicker. This almost looks like my old Akubra Squatter. The last version before being discontinued has a dimensional brim but the older ones like I have had a 3” brim. A short flat crown and a bound brim.
How I usually have it in a diamond crown

with the crown popped out to open

giving it a dry Plainview bash

Being worn

Here is the kicker they used to make it in the colour Fawn. Almost a dead ringer.

So long story short. Too late. Maybe keep an eye out for a used old Fawn Akubra squatter.
Hope that helps some.
Johnny

 

[jdouglasj]

Nice job. And good Lord, I look like you (15 years into the future and 40 lbs heavier) and I have the same glasses.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

@jdouglasj

I don't know how the dimensions compare but I found this version while looking around. From only the one view it would appear the flange is different. 3 x 5-1/2 OC.

 

[johnnycanuck]

https://nathanielsofcolorado.com/
just saw these guys Instagram post and they have made their own version as well. They have a link in their web page.
Johnny

 

[Hurricane Jack]

A variation, perhaps.

 

[Snowman]

What does it say that I watched the movie just to see the hat?

 

[jdouglasj]

Well the hat was better than the movie.

 

[belfastboy]

What does it say that I watched the movie just to see the hat?

There are many times I invite my wife to watch a movie with me....she will ask, "what's it about?"... I often reply..."not sure but it looks like a great hat movie"

 

[Rmccamey]

Just means you are one of us

What does it say that I watched the movie just to see the hat?

 

[johnnycanuck]

Wait till your wife starts pointing out movies that have nice hats. Mine went to see Wonder Woman in theatres and her first comment when she got home was “Chris Pine has a really nice hat you will like”
Welcome to the club.
Johnny

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Wait till your wife starts pointing out movies that have nice hats. Mine went to see Wonder Woman in theatres and her first comment when she got home was “Chris Pine has a really nice hat you will like”
Welcome to the club.
Johnny

Similar thing happened to me, but it wasn’t the hat...it was Gal Gadot that she knew I’d appreciate.