A recent thread seemed to indicate that it could. I found a cream colored, slightly furry woman's fedora from the sixties. Cloth band inside, but seemed to be of the quality of a man's hat. Would this be worth picking up to rework or pass along? It was ten bucks.
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Can a vintage woman's hat be made into a fedora.
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bolthead
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Absolutely.....
I'm looking through them all the time, but all I ever see is the cheaper wool.
I also look at their straws. [huh]
I'm looking through them all the time, but all I ever see is the cheaper wool.
I also look at their straws. [huh]
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I don't see why not. If it's a decent enough felt, it might well be worth the trouble. Does it have a pronounced bandline? You know, that 90 degree (more or less) angle where the crown and brim meet? Or is it one of those women's hat styles that have a less obvious (if any) point of demarcation between crown and brim? Obviously, the more fedora-like it is to start with, the less complicated the operation.
Felt will stretch some, but I'd be reluctant to push it, for fear the felt will want to return to its former size, or that it would get weak in spots and perhaps tear. (New bodies come in sizes, by the way -- four sizes, typically, so they aren't as exact as the hats themselves will be, but they do allow the hatter to make hats to fit the large majority of hat wearers without having to resort to anything drastic.)
So yeah, it probably wouldn't be all that different from restyling and perhaps resizing an old men's hat. Strip the body down, clean it, block it, flange the brim, put in a new sweatband and fashion a new band and bow, put in a liner, and there ya go. A reasonably well-equipped hat shop should be able to give you the crown height and brim width you're looking for, provided there's enough body there to start with.
And yes, you can add stiffener, too.
Felt will stretch some, but I'd be reluctant to push it, for fear the felt will want to return to its former size, or that it would get weak in spots and perhaps tear. (New bodies come in sizes, by the way -- four sizes, typically, so they aren't as exact as the hats themselves will be, but they do allow the hatter to make hats to fit the large majority of hat wearers without having to resort to anything drastic.)
So yeah, it probably wouldn't be all that different from restyling and perhaps resizing an old men's hat. Strip the body down, clean it, block it, flange the brim, put in a new sweatband and fashion a new band and bow, put in a liner, and there ya go. A reasonably well-equipped hat shop should be able to give you the crown height and brim width you're looking for, provided there's enough body there to start with.
And yes, you can add stiffener, too.
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