Art Fawcett VS Hall of Fame

[daizawaguy]

Thank YOU Art for building these lovely hats

I will soon be posting complete attire pics with VS hats. It will be interesting to see them with different clothings, I hope.

Look forward to this - do you envisage a separate thread?

 

[Rabbit]

Look forward to this - do you envisage a separate thread?

D'Guy, a separate thread sounds like a great idea. I intend to keep the pictures coming throughout the seasons (during the days of shorter daylight hours, the posts might be more sparsely, but I do want to get them started this month). A separate thread would probably be more useful to keep the pics together. Also, they would be slightly off-topic in the Hall of Fame, wouldn't they?

 

[Aureliano]

I thought the same thing Mario, but when this hat was pictured. I've been putting my signature "VS" stripe for six years now but with so many copies coming out people tend to forget where it started. Even Graham at Optimo uses it Aureliano

I don't doubt it, Art. Actually though, the very first time I saw the stripe was in one of your hats. My comment was oriented to the fact that when I saw Rabbit's hat, Mario's Louis came to mind as they both share style and crease. Both hats being amazing.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Never has....never will....I have no recollection of which it is you two are speaking of.....you must have me mistaken with some folks coming out of Detroit....

Hey! Hey! Hey! I resemble that remark!!!...:eeek:

 

[RBH]

Look forward to this - do you envisage a separate thread?

Sounds great.
But the What are you wearing today?? thread is in the General Attire & Accouterments subforum.

 

[Simon82]

My wife's early Christmas present to me!

Wow! My wife got sneaky and worked with Art to come up with his latest masterpiece: an ArtLite in blue smoke with a 2" cobalt/royal blue ribbon, 5 1/2" open-crowned, 2 5/8 unbound brim -- with star vents!

It really has a great 1930s look to it, and true to its name, the color of the felt is bluish/purplish in most lights but definitely gray. It's my first gray (I have aStrat-clone Art made years ago in Sahara as well as a Steve Delk "Seabiscuit" hat in brown) and I absolutely love it!

Art, thank you so much for surpassing any expectations I might have had! :eusa_clap

As always, I'm not good at posting photos, so the following is a link to the Flickr pics. Sorry about that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70976981@N07/?saved=1

EDIT
here ya go...sweet hat by the way!! RBH

 

[billyspew]

Wow! My wife got sneaky and worked with Art to come up with his latest masterpiece: an ArtLite in blue smoke with a 2" cobalt/royal blue ribbon, 5 1/2" open-crowned, 2 5/8 unbound brim -- with star vents!

It really has a great 1930s look to it, and true to its name, the color of the felt is bluish/purplish in most lights but definitely gray. It's my first gray (I have aStrat-clone Art made years ago in Sahara as well as a Steve Delk "Seabiscuit" hat in brown) and I absolutely love it!

Art, thank you so much for surpassing any expectations I might have had! :eusa_clap

As always, I'm not good at posting photos, so the following is a link to the Flickr pics. Sorry about that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70976981@N07/?saved=1

Yowser, that's a stunner. Especially like the vents.

 

[Art Fawcett]

I didn't think she could wait Sir...she was weakening about giving it to you early when it was mailed. Isn't love grand!!!!

Enjoy Sir

 

[Simon82]

Thanks, Billy. I couldn't be happier with it. And muchas gracias to you, RBH for the photo help. That photo in particular does a good job of showing the color of the felt as well as the hue and sheen of the ribbon. (I laughed to my wife that my six-year-old self would have pointed out the Adam West-Batman color combo!)

I should also mention that the sweatband is a beautiful dark cordovan/burgandy brown that perfectly complements the rest of the hat. It's fun to see the contrast between it and the more caramel-colored sweatband on my other Vintage Silhouettes fedora.

 

[Historyteach24]

Guys I am just curious I hope it is not against any rules to ask but if I were to start looking into this how much should I expect to spend? A general range would be appreciated

 

[Lloyd]

I think Art's baseline hat price right now is $385.00 + shipping. Add in a little extra for you first one since you will need to mail the conformer back. Some felts or finishes cost more.

 

[Historyteach24]

ok well thank you very much. It is kind if intimidating looking at all those beautiful hats. Tells me I have much to learn.....

 

[Woodfluter]

Off-topic:
In "I love you again", there's a scene in a department store when Powell's character is so engaged in explaining to the store manager what he wants, that he actually puts on his hat front side back, thereby putting in a temporary pinch to the back which then becomes the hat's front side on his head! lol That's how floppy his hat is... The pinch stays that way during the scene, the hat thus being pinched both front and rear side.

Right Rabbit -

That's what I see in some of my (and other) better vintage hats; and what I remember from my childhood (yeah, that old). I wouldn't say "floppy"...it's something else. Malleable maybe. Elastic but malleable. My ideal (plus a Cavanagh edge). Hats for whom steam is pretty much irrelevant.

- Bill

 

[Woodfluter]

Wow! My wife got sneaky and worked with Art to come up with his latest masterpiece: an ArtLite in blue smoke with a 2" cobalt/royal blue ribbon, 5 1/2" open-crowned, 2 5/8 unbound brim -- with star vents!

It really has a great 1930s look to it, and true to its name, the color of the felt is bluish/purplish in most lights but definitely gray. It's my first gray (I have aStrat-clone Art made years ago in Sahara as well as a Steve Delk "Seabiscuit" hat in brown) and I absolutely love it!

I can't appreciate the subtleties of the felt color in this photo, nor the cobalt blue ribbon, but your description is mouth-watering. Another Art masterpiece!

- Bill

 

[Jabos]

ok well thank you very much. It is kind if intimidating looking at all those beautiful hats. Tells me I have much to learn.....

It's just hats, right? Funny how there is so much to it as you learn and grow to appreciate the beauty of the fedora. Art makes the most stunning treasures. I swear that 50 years from now his hats will be highly collectable. I say 50 because I hope he keeps this up that long.

 

[Rabbit]

For purposes of comparing VS felt colors, I thought I might post this picture here as well as in the Full Collection thread.
5 vintage hats are thrown in.

Going in vertical lines from front to back, starting on the left side [ribbon color in brackets]:
1st column: VS hats: Mojave [w/ 19 L navy], Sand [w/ 19 L greenish dark grey], Blue Smoke [w/ 17 L black]
2nd column: Vintage: Resistol Kitten Finish Beaver Twenty sand [w/ 22 L dk.mocca], Borsalino Misto mid-grey [w/ 22 L black], Brent 5X Beaver dove-grey [w/ 22 L black], Resistol Kitten Finish Beaver Fifteen chocolate brown [w/ 19 L mid-brown]
3rd column: VS hats: Sahara [w/ 19 L dk.mocca], Dove [w/ 19 L black], Dove [w/ 22 L charcoal], Powderblue [w/ 22 L midnight blue]
4th column: VS hats: Silverbelly [w/ 19 L greenish dark grey], Oxblood [w/ 24 L reddish-brown], Black Cherry [w/ 19 L tonal]; behind that, a Mallory Aristocrat Quality dark brown [w/ 19 L tonal]

A closer look at the lighter felts (same arrangement):

 

[Tommy]

Sounds great.
But the What are you wearing today?? thread is in the General Attire & Accouterments subforum.

I think a separate thread would be worthwhile. It would be interesting to see VS Hats and the outfits people wear with them. I think rummaging through the What are you wearing today thread to find these specific subject posts would be a waste of one's valuable time. Let us know with a link on this thread if such a thread develops, thanks.

 

[Rabbit]

Right Rabbit -

That's what I see in some of my (and other) better vintage hats; and what I remember from my childhood (yeah, that old). I wouldn't say "floppy"...it's something else. Malleable maybe. Elastic but malleable. My ideal (plus a Cavanagh edge). Hats for whom steam is pretty much irrelevant.

- Bill

True, malleable is a way better (and more respectful ) word for it. I store some of my vintage hats open crown; occasionally I put the pinch into the rear side by accident, and the crease easily stays that way. It's also interesting how different the felts can feel even within the better ones. Variety is a great thing, isn't it?

 

[Rabbit]

I think a separate thread would be worthwhile. It would be interesting to see VS Hats and the outfits people wear with them. I think rummaging through the What are you wearing today thread to find these specific subject posts would be a waste of one's valuable time. Let us know with a link on this thread if such a thread develops, thanks.

Will do. Give me about a week.

 

[m0nk]

For purposes of comparing VS felt colors, I thought I might post this picture here as well as in the Full Collection thread.
5 vintage hats are thrown in.

Going in vertical lines from front to back, starting on the left side [ribbon color in brackets]:
1st column: VS hats: Mojave [w/ 19 L navy], Sand [w/ 19 L greenish dark grey], Blue Smoke [w/ 17 L black]
2nd column: Vintage: Resistol Kitten Finish Beaver Twenty sand [w/ 22 L dk.mocca], Borsalino Misto mid-grey [w/ 22 L black], Brent 5X Beaver dove-grey [w/ 22 L black], Resistol Kitten Finish Beaver Fifteen chocolate brown [w/ 19 L mid-brown]
3rd column: VS hats: Sahara [w/ 19 L dk.mocca], Dove [w/ 19 L black], Dove [w/ 22 L charcoal], Powderblue [w/ 22 L midnight blue]
4th column: VS hats: Silverbelly [w/ 19 L greenish dark grey], Oxblood [w/ 24 L reddish-brown], Black Cherry [w/ 19 L tonal]; behind that, a Mallory Aristocrat Quality dark brown [w/ 19 L tonal]

A closer look at the lighter felts (same arrangement):

Holy VS Batman! Gotta say that these pics (and many of the others) makes me want to get one too.