Brims - How do you like them

[The Wolf]

I store my hats brim down. One on the hook on the back of the door and the others with the brims over hanging the shelf edge about my shirts in the closet.
If I put it on a table I flip the brim up and snap it back down when returned to my head.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[MrFusion]

I store mine on a hat rack that allows for the brim to left snapped down.

That's how I had been doing it. If on a flat surface then I was doing it like The Wolf - hanging the brim over the edge of the table or shelf.

It would be interesting to have a hatter chime in with their thoughts...

 

[Art Fawcett]

Brim up Sir...and the snap will be secured longer.

 

[MrFusion]

Brim up Sir...and the snap will be secured longer.

Thanks Art! I will make sure I do that from now on.
I guess I could have emailed you directly on this but I figured it might help others as well. (for awhile I thought I was wrong about that as no one posted to this thread at first )

 

[Nic Charles]

Hat Brim

Sounds like we're all on the same page here. One observation I have also made is that if a fedora is left on a flat surface with the brim down, the weight of the hat on the front brim will give it an unsightly 'S' curve. I have seen this happen to hats and it looks terrible.

 

[DrQuest]

Brim up Sir...and the snap will be secured longer.

Didn't know that. I've been storing mine on a closet shelf with the brim snapped down, hanging over the edge. I will make it a point to store it snapped up from now on. Thanks!

 

[Edward]

Sounds like we're all on the same page here. One observation I have also made is that if a fedora is left on a flat surface with the brim down, the weight of the hat on the front brim will give it an unsightly 'S' curve. I have seen this happen to hats and it looks terrible.

I don't know, I have a vintage beaver hat that has that bit of an S curve and I actually rather like the look of it.... [huh]

 

[Stan]

Brim Up here also

Hi,

I store my 'ready' hats on hooks near the door. I say 'ready' as I tend to change them with the seasons. Usually there are three hats on the go at any one time: a 'good' one, an 'everyday' one and a 'farming' one.

I snap the brims up on the 'good' and 'everyday' hats when on the hook. This way there's no pressure on the edge of the brim from the wall.

I don't take any particular care at all on the 'farming' hats, since they get beat all to heck anyway. If you ever saw one of my farming hats after a day using the hay baler, you'd probably faint from the dust caked on it!

I have Summer, Winter and Spring/Fall hats and am working on a whole new series of 'good' hats at the moment. The ones that I don't plan to wear at any given time are stored in hatboxes, upside down, on the usual support in the box

I figured out that one ought to turn the brims up when not wearing them when I bought this nice little grey vintage Champ off of eBay. It obviously was left with the brim snapped down it's whole life as the front part has this tendency to curve up right in the middle.

As in it has a 'speed bump' right in the middle of the downturned part. The brim curls up from the break where it meets the crown, curves up over the 'speed bump' in the center and then back downwards to the edge. The edge winds up even with the break and one must tug the brim downwards to fix it.

Actually, it looks like it was left sitting brim down on a shelf for quite a while. With the brim snapped downwards, then the pressure from the weight of the crown, which would have been lifted upwards slightly, caused this 'speed bump' to form.

I can wear it OK, but I have to make sure that I tug downwards on the brim after donning the hat to make sure that the speed bump has popped back out. It's a bit annoying, but not so much so that I feel the need to have it reblocked.

I use this particular hat as the one I leave at work for wearing when walking between buildings on those days that I ride my motorcycle. This way, the poor thing gets some useage and I don't have to resort to one of my 'packable' hats to carry on the bike.

Later!

Stan

 

[carldelo]

Interesting note on long-term effects. In spite of my post above, the main reason I snap the brim up when taking off a hat, is because it's so stylin' to put on the hat, snap down the brim and adjust it by sliding both hands out from the center to the sides - I remember my grandfather doing this and it just looks cool.

 

[DrQuest]

I noticed this evening that the brim on my gray fedora I have had for a little over a month is somewhat looser and less stiff, no doubt because I have been storing it with the brim down. After today's post, I now store it brim up, as well as the other two new ones I just received today. (black C-crown and gray Jaxon Bogart.)

Is there any way to restore some of that stiffness to the brim?

 

[MrFusion]

Is there any way to restore some of that stiffness to the brim?

Now that's a good question. We all are going to have this problem sooner or later no matter how we store our hats.

 

[carldelo]

Scout Felt Hat Stiffener

Now that's a good question. We all are going to have this problem sooner or later no matter how we store our hats.

Saw this on my visit, didn't buy and have never used it as my Stetsons are fairly new so fairly stiff - it's the 4th item from the bottom.

http://www.wardrobesupplies.com/store/m2_mjsupp.html

 

[DrQuest]

I steamed the brim last night. (wow, sounds like some sort of weird spy code: "I steamed the brim last night, but the birds came home to nest.")

Seemed to help a bit. Still not as stiff as my two new hats, but it certainly is better and not as loose as it was.

 

[MrFusion]

I seem to recall a post or informational article that said that heat/steam reactivates the shellac used to stiffen the brim. There is another thread related to this here that discusses how to do this. It seems to do it correctly, you need some tools that I just don't have (flange and maybe a block depending on what you are trying to accomplish). I would love to get some of these tools, but I am still a bit ignorant of what I should get as far as sizes. What I really need is a Hatter as my mentor!

 

[swisslet]

lost snap?

A snap related sidebar to this discussion: my FedIV deluxe is just over a week old now... the brim initially had quite a distinct snap. I love this at the front, where it naturally wanted to be snapped down, but didn't much care for it at the back, where it seemed to want to stay snapped up when I wanted it down, or at least flat.

After a spot of light steaming to reshape the crown into a teardrop, the front brim is fine, but I noticed that the brim at the back was now naturally down, but doesn't really want to snap back up any more. It's almost completely lost its snap.

I think it looks better, but I sort of miss the snap and want to know how best to get it back.

Any ideas?

thanks ST

 

[ortega76]

I always store my hats brim up, but then I typically only wear my hats brim up.

 

[panaria]

New hat- Brim up or down?

I have recently started a small vintage hat collection and I have a question for the collected wisdom. I recently purchased this Dobbs fedora with a wide satin band, bow facing rearwards. My query is regarding the brim. It has quite a stiff brim and I'm just not sure if this era of hat is designed to be worn brim up or snapped. I have included two photos which may help. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[RBH]

Down in front... up in the back.
Nice looking hat by the way!

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Welcome Panaria. Yep what RBH said.

 

[funneman]

I'd have to see it on your head first, but I will have to respectfully disagree with my compadres here.

Some faces and hats really lend themselves to the brim-up style. This hat, with the bow in the back seems to lend itself perfectly.

I'd give it a try first before changing it. Especially since the brim is perfectly round right now.