Art Fawcett VS Hall of Fame

[Chepstow]

Che, ahh, marvelous. You look darn sharp with the Pandora. With brim up, comes good.

 

[daizawaguy]

Wow! This is seriously cool!

 

[bond]

Great looking hat seabass!
Nice look.

 

[Thunderball]

Received a tracking number this morning. I have two on the way!

 

[Johnny J]

Style'n seabass. Proper. Love the details on the shirt too.

+1! Fantastic!

 

[mikespens]

seabass, PLEASE tell me who made your shirt.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Update (post #6330) on VS Executive; I am back in town for a quick 30 hours and then fly back out to San Jose. The venue and meet details are nailed down and I had some pressing business back in the Twin Cities that required a flight back to MN. Men’s Olympic Trials on Thur/Sat. Women’s on Fri/Sun.

I got home early enough this evening to spend some time with Terisa and our dogs (Tris and Tio). We walked and enjoyed the 70'F temp of the early evening. I broke open my new VS Executive for a maiden voyage dog walk. Everything I have come to know about a VS hat is in this hat. I barely got into the walk and I started collecting compliments from familiar folks.

The hat genesis I have described in post # 6330 ( http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?13023-Art-Fawcett-Hall-of-Fame/page633 ).

Hat specifics: Brim is 2 1/2 inches. This has the brim size on all of my VS hats. Perfect for me. The crown is tall and straight blocked. The hat brim is barely flanged. These characteristics are some of my all time fav's. As to best fitting my style, I do not know. What I do know is that I like the lines and outcome when I see my reflection.

Fit: The fit is spot on. Those who have seen my pics I have shared in the thread "What Hat Are You Wearing Today" perhaps can see a spot of a difference in the sizing of this hat. I asked Art Fawcett to make it a "tad bit bigger." The previous hats have all been spot on - exactly as I have ordered them. I have changed my desire to wear my hats lower on my head. When you get the fancy-dancy conformer, hat-measuring tool, from Art you put the thing on and tighten it on. I chose my spot as per the hats that I had been wearing and comparing pics I had saved from this forum. As I have been wearing hats longer, almost 18 months and VS hats 8 months now, my preferences have changed. I am not talking a large amount. I am confident saying that as I have taken a hat jack and "stretched" my VS's to be all the same. They are perfect - same as my new prized hat from Art. At first I was worried, but Art has always said they are hats wear them-use them. So I stretched them, carefully, and whala - dynamite results! No crazy or wonkiness to the hats. You will see them over time in my posts on the forum as I wear them all the time.

My maturing preferences have again demonstrated the versatility, durability and excellent construction of the VS hats. For those who follow this thread they perhaps remember my swimming hat adventure. Man these beaver felt hats are WAY durable!

Felt color; Rabbit (frequent poster to this thread) has posted the epitome of TERRIFIC color comparisions in the past 6 months. Please refer to his pics and postings as to color details. I have found them to be spot on. I will not embarass myself by making any hue or pantone color statements. Rather just say that in hand the Smoke Blue felt is incredibly versatile. Certainly blue, but the options can be huge with this color. I hope my pics due it justice. I put it up to a navy blazer, brown w/red/blue, camel, light grey, silk light green and it channels the blazer's colors. I guess that casual jackets are going to be the same. I frequently wear a tan London Fog overcoat and it the hat just POPS! Great color.

Felt weight/texture; I have tried to show in my pics the blue smoke felt in the dress weight. The felt can be absolutely smooth. The felt on my Executive has a beautifull texture. Take a look at the pic below. The texture is aquired thru the hand pouncing done by Art. It is uniform and just gorgeous. To my eyes the varability in texture, while retaining a smooth, curvaceous shape is very appealing. It is done exactly as I appreciate!

Thanks for letting me share details about my VS Executive. Art Fawcett is truly an artist and has done GREAT work by me.


On with the hat show folks!



Eat, sleep and re-pack is my evening. Enjoy your evening folks, Eric -

 

[Johnny J]

Man SBG, your life seems like its full of excitement, with those Olympic trials, and now your new VS! Great looking fedora! I need to see how many of those Art-lite felts Mr. Fawcett has left.

 

[Johnny J]

Art, so what colors of the Art-lite do you have left? I need to start saving up for my next order! I'm waaaaaaayyyy over due.

 

[seabass]

Excellent Revue on the VS Executive there SBG !
the hat is a winner !

 

[TomS]

Great Executive!

 

[Art Fawcett]

Art, so what colors of the Art-lite do you have left? I need to start saving up for my next order! I'm waaaaaaayyyy over due.

I'm afraid I only have 2 black and 2 powder blue left Sir. I'd be happy to put your name on one, just say the word.

SBG, Thanks for the pictoral, great as usual and Che, SMOKIN!!!!

 

[Johnny J]

I'm afraid I only have 2 black and 2 powder blue left Sir. I'd be happy to put your name on one, just say the word.

Powder Blue. Hmmmmmm................. I think I remember Rabbit having some pics in a Powder Blue Fedora. Will have to search for them to make up my mind.

 

[Rabbit]

Powder Blue. Hmmmmmm................. I think I remember Rabbit having some pics in a Powder Blue Fedora. Will have to search for them to make up my mind.

There you are, Sir, post #5975. You'll find the Powderblue at the bottom of the first post (the 10th hat).

More pics of mine here, post #4945.

Re-posting the Powderblue shot from another series:

Here is the Powderblue w/ midnight blue ribbon next to the light shades of gray:
On the left, Powderblue atop two Blue Smoke hats. On the right, Silvermist in the upper corner, with Silverbelly below that, and two Dove stacked in front (into lower right corner).

 

[bowlerman]

I'm kind of in love with that Silverbelly.

 

[BR Gordon]

I'm kind of in love with that Silverbelly.

Art made a silverbelly Artlite for me. I wear it in the evenings and it is incredibly comfortable, even with the temperatures that we've been having.

 

[Rabbit]

5.5" x 2 3/8" VS Black LITE w/ 22 L black ribbon

I had been contemplating a black VS for some time. The choice of trimmings is about as sober as it could be, and I'm thrilled with the result. I had carefully considered other options; the black on black with bound brim is just perfect. I asked Art to pay special attention to details pertaining the brim flange and width, and he nailed it. The brim flange is medium high, with a definite snap to it.

Thank you, Art, for the consistently good work.

I'll start with my standard shot. The black ribbon on black felt produces an interesting contrast in texture that I'm trying to capture in the close-up shots.

If you're wondering about the versatility of black fedoras, take a look at the fellow below. Just pretend he's wearing a fedora instead of a Homburg. What makes a black hat so interesting, in my opinion, is that it constitutes yet another tool for mixing the more formal with the less formal (not in the strict sense of the word), which is an approach that was followed in the 1930s more successfully than in any other decade.

 

[DJH]

The black VS looks great, Rabbit - another classic for your collection.

I've just ordered a black hat from Mr Fawcett myself, although this one will be a little different and isn't for me.

 

[Rabbit]

VS felt family

This collage is made from my standard pics which have been posted before.
From left to right:

1st row:
Silvermist LITE w/ 22 L black
Silverbelly LITE w/ 22 L black
Silverbelly w/ 19 L greenish-grey
Dove w/ 22 L charcoal
Dove w/ 19 L black

2nd row:
Powderblue w/ 22 L midnight blue
Blue Smoke w/ 22 L charcoal
Blue Smoke w/ 17 L black
Mojave w/ 19 L navy
Sand w/ 19 L greenish-grey

3rd row:
Black Cherry w/ 19 L tonal
Black LITE w/ 22 L black
Oxblood w/ 24 L reddish-brown
Dark Moss LITE w/ 22 L tonal
Sahara w/ 19 L dark mocca

Edit: The full-resolution pic can be downloaded from my Dropbox's public folder:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75927425/VS-family_collage_new.jpg


David, the new VS project sounds interesting. Keep us posted! I'm curious what kind the ribbon work Art will come up with.

 

[suitedcboy]

Rabbit, that is a truly awesome wardrobe of hats. Incredible felt hats by Mr. Fawcett.
I have no idea how you decide on which to wear. I would have to have a small van with a hat storage system in and change hats several times each to avoid having to take so long deciding on which one.

No doubt you are known to neighbors and people you see regularly in the course of a day as "that guy with the incredible hats".
That is exactly what I think every time I see your avatar.