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Art Fawcett VS Hall of Fame

ProfCharles

New in Town
Messages
46
Location
Queens, NY
Finally narrowed it down, but...

... I can't settle on ribbons.

My carbon Fed is my beater/casual hat. The hat I will ask Art to make will be my Suit/Business Casual hat. Taking into account my skin tone and wardrobe, I've narrowed the felt color down to Charcoal or Midnight Blue, in the style of the Fed IV except the brim won't be dimensional and trimmed down a bit, likely a 2 3/8" with a bound brim.

The issue now is ribbons. I have NO idea where to begin with that one. I want something conservative and classic but not black. There aren't many examples of Charcoal or MB here for me to get an idea, and I don't even know how to translate ligne to something visual. I'm thinking MB with a Charcoal Ribbon, steel center knot with a white stripe.
I wouldn't know what arrangement to have for a charcoal felt.

I've POURED over the 800+ pages here and could use some advice.

Here is also a pic of me casually in my Fed. Any suggestions for this new hat?

CAM00005.jpg
 

DJH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,355
Location
Ft Worth, TX
Here's a couple of examples Professor - neither is from Art, but both from the same Winchester felt.

Midnite Blue with matching blue ribbon

D31_8194-3-L.jpg


Charcoal with black ribbon

D314243-L.jpg


I really like both the felt colours, but I think the Charcoal is the more versatile of the two.
 

DesertDan

One Too Many
Messages
1,582
Location
Arizona
Yes, I would also recommend the Charcoal as it will be a more versatile color. Pick up the blue color in the ribbon in a subtle way. If it were me I would just ask Art to use his own discretion......he's really good at that! :D
 
Messages
10,575
Location
Boston area
Hey, Prof.! Art has some KILLER gray ribbon that is consistently complemented on one of my VS grays. Trust him!

emigrant, you are home among the afflicted. Don't fight it... let the disorder run its fabulous course. (We're having the BEST time!)
And thanks for finally naming the condition!
 

kaosharper1

One Too Many
Messages
1,304
Location
Pasadena, CA
Hey, Prof.! Art has some KILLER gray ribbon that is consistently complemented on one of my VS grays. Trust him!

emigrant, you are home among the afflicted. Don't fight it... let the disorder run its fabulous course. (We're having the BEST time!)
And thanks for finally naming the condition!

I always let Art choose the ribbon. It's his forte. He knows I don't like to be flashy, so he picks something with just enough flare. I'd trust him. He's the artist and craftsman.
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,370
Location
Norman Oklahoma
Hi

I have a Charcoal hat with a pretty dark Navy Blue ribbon. I like the Charcoal much better than the Granite. Granite tends to look different in different lighting making it hard to match. Silverbelly has the same problem. Charcoal with a lighter ribbon would almost certainly look really good.

Later
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
Happy Birthday!


... I can't settle on ribbons.

My carbon Fed is my beater/casual hat. The hat I will ask Art to make will be my Suit/Business Casual hat. Taking into account my skin tone and wardrobe, I've narrowed the felt color down to Charcoal or Midnight Blue, in the style of the Fed IV except the brim won't be dimensional and trimmed down a bit, likely a 2 3/8" with a bound brim.

The issue now is ribbons. I have NO idea where to begin with that one. I want something conservative and classic but not black. There aren't many examples of Charcoal or MB here for me to get an idea, and I don't even know how to translate ligne to something visual. I'm thinking MB with a Charcoal Ribbon, steel center knot with a white stripe.
I wouldn't know what arrangement to have for a charcoal felt.

I've POURED over the 800+ pages here and could use some advice.

Here is also a pic of me casually in my Fed. Any suggestions for this new hat?

Professor, since you have already narrowed it down to charcoal versus midnight blue, I recommend charcoal. Like the others said, it's definitely more versatile. Midnight blue is a more dandified felt color.

Among the darker Winchester felts, I'd consider dark brown, dark moss, black, charcoal and steel to be traditional colors, while midnight blue, oxblood, black cherry, forest are more dandified, meaning they stand out on their own.

I'd also urge you to reconsider the black hatband. Charcoal being quite dark, the black ribbon gives just enough contrast to be a very subtle combination. You don't have to choose a hatband color that says custom made just because you can. If you really want something different, the next most versatile options would be tone-in-tone and 2) a lighter grey - not quite silver, but visibly lighter than charcoal. The charcoal felt is not a cool shade of grey, therefore the right silverish-grey ribbon would also give an interesting contrast in terms of color temperature. However, this combination will have a more dandified look.
To elaborate, I have a granite with silver ribbon. Granite is warmer than charcoal (which in turn is nearly neutral), but you can visualize a darker version of the felt/ribbon combination granite/silver with a charcoal felt as well.

Oh, and if you're not sure what ribbon to pick - I second the recommendation of letting Art choose the ribbon.


On the topic of ligne conversion to inches and centimeters:

Ligne means line. Nowadays it's used only by watchmakers, hatmakers, and for buttons, to my knowledge.

11 ligne is close to 1 inch, so the most common ribbon widths (omitting the thin ribbons) convert to:

12 L - approximately 1 "
The neither-thin-nor-wide ribbon commonly seen on fine Panamas. The Stetson Wanderer has this width, too.

16 L - just below 1 1/2"
A more sporty ribbbon, still considered a wide hatband. I'd say it's the narrowest among the wide hatbands. Very versatile, doesn't have that decidedly vintage look of the wider hatbands. However, when combined with a full, fairly straight 5 1/2" crown, the creased crown will look quite tall when compared to an identical crown with a 19 or 22 L hatband.

19 L - just below 1 3/4"
A wider ribbon, as for instance on Whippets which mostly had 18 and 19 ligne hatbands. Not too wide for contemporary eyes, it's a "wide hatband" that doesn't look too vintage. A very balanced width for full, fairly straight 5 1/2" crowns.

22 L - just below 2 "
That's the most common "wide hatband" pre-WWII, I guess. It does have a vintage look to it. A wonderful pairing with the full, fairly straight 5 1/2" crowns.

My personal favorites for dress hats with tall, straight-ish crowns worn in the city are 19 L and 22 L.


Conversion ligne to cm:

ligne - cm
16 - 3.6
17 - 3.8
18 - 4.05
19 - 4.3
20 - 4.5
21 - 4.7
22 - 4.95
23 - 5.2
24 - 5.4
 
Last edited:

hatband

One of the Regulars
Messages
101
Location
South Australia
Yes, I would also recommend the Charcoal as it will be a more versatile color. Pick up the blue color in the ribbon in a subtle way. If it were me I would just ask Art to use his own discretion......he's really good at that! :D

My 2 cents, let Art choose the ribbon colour, I asked him to do this for me on my oxblood hat and the results were excellent. Happy Birthday Art.:eek:
 

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