Christys’ Lincona

[LikeableRogue]

Hi everyone

I just received this fur felt Christys’ Lincona which I purchased on eBay. It’s In good shape overall. Needs a steam and brush which is fine, but I’m also going to try and reshape it back to its original shape (or close to) as it’s quite battered! The brim is quite kinked in a couple of places and folded upwards more than it should (I think !). The pinch is also not well shaped and uneven. I’ve never done reshaping before so am pretty worried I won’t do a great job, but considering I only paid £25 I figure I can brave it - what’s the worst that could happen?! Problem is that I’m struggling to find any reference pictures of how it should look online - can anyone tell me more about this hat (when it’s from etc)? And ideally does anyone have any pictures of how it should look normally? Many thanks!

 

[jlee562]

Just guessing, but looks like it is old enough to have been originally sold as an open crown hat. If so, there is no reference per se, other than the profile of the uncreased crown. Crease it as you like. Just go for it, it's not as daunting as it seems. Just keep steam away from the leather.

 

[Edward]

The first time I creased a hat, I followed this procedure.

1] Put on kettle.

2] Watch kettle boil in a nervous state. Realise steam has dissipated. Make cup of tea to soothe nerves.

3] reboil kettle. This time, as soon as kettle boils, hold crown of hat in the area you want to shape over kettle spout (keeping the hat between your hand and the steam avoids burning. I learned. Hand inside the hat is best, let the steam flow over and around the crown.

4] Shape hat to desired shape.

You might need to repeat steps 3 & 4 . I find working from an open-crown that it's best to steam once for the crease (top dent) then reboil and steam again for the pinch (front dents).

As you're working from a hat that has been shaped before, I'd steam it back into an open crown and start the process above from that. I should think you'll find that an easier way to get a better shape than trying to 'correct' what's there.

Don't worry about slight imperfections, that's the beauty of a hand-bash as opposed to a machine impression. It's like those small imperfections that make a self-tie bow tie so much nicer than any pre-tied confection however perfect it may be.

 

[ILB Frank]

If you find you are not getting the results you want with steam (I'm not good with steam) use a spray bottle (better control to protect the ribbon a bit) with distilled water and give the crown and brim a good soaking. This will keep the felt malleable for much longer than steam.
Felt hats are pretty durable. Even the ribbon should hold up relatively well to water. Protecting the leather sweatband is the most important.

 

[LikeableRogue]

Thanks for the replies! Appreciate it!

 

[LikeableRogue]

I went with @ILB Frank’s suggestion of a spray bottle. Looks like it’s worked a treat. I did the brim last night and the crown about 5 hours ago. I didn’t shape out into an open crown in the end as the shape was pretty much where I wanted. Just pressed out some slight bumps and straightened the pinches out on both sides and made them more symmetrical. Seems to be holding well. Though I am still wandering through my house with it on… Thanks again for your help!