Convert a humburg to fedora?

[Bud-n-Texas]

Folks,

Alright, well let's take a step back here and take stock...after reading this I feel that it's my civic duty as a Lounger that's been around awhile to state the utterly obvious only to possibly save wasted time and energy. The basis on which this thread was created was to convert a perfectly good Homburg and make it a Fedora. Homburgs, while beautifully shaped and in some cases crafted properly were throughly intended as just that...A HOMBURG.

While some contemporaries would rather insist that through clever shaping, blocking and tender loving care...this hat can be converted into something that it is not. It's a homburg folks and while I know that some of you would like to stay with your initial financial investment of the homburg that you bought or was bought for you...please remember...a homburg is a homburg and a fedora is a fedora. If you don't like your homburg, please sell it through some mechanism such as eBay or The Lounge to get rid of it. Therefore, you'll be able to get some return on investment and finally buy a fedora of your own choosing.

The brim will not come out right because it was originally intended to be a homburg and not a fedora. While the crown and brim may be similar, and the bands are similiar...the manufacturers had different intentions. A great deal of care went into making fedoras to get them right as did a great deal of labor for a homburg. I apologize if this comes off a bit ranty, but please don't attempt to mutilate a perfectly fine hat when you can indeed off load it and buy something more along your liking. I think we can all agree that it is better to make a choice and own something that you love rather than something that you don't and make it something that it is not. And why not two hats rather than one...you can never have too many hats, suits and shoes.

:eusa_doh:
Fedoragent.

Just a thought to ponder, maybe, just maybe some of us, like the in your words "to mutilate a perfectly fine hat ". I for one like my homburgs. Ferauds previous post clearly shows the diversity of the homburg. There have been numerous other threads that have shown the adaptability of the homburg.

 

[Forgotten Man]

And as I pointed out, that there were two kinds of Homburgs, soft and stiff. A college man wouldn’t ware a stiff brimmed Homburg... a soft one, yes! As the picture illustrates, but a stiffer brimmed Homburg wouldn’t stand for that in any way shape or form… college males and any males in those days bought a hat they were happy with at the store… they wouldn't buy a Homburg and convince it to be a Fedora. And if it were a softy, they’d wear it both ways I’m sure depending on their own taste.

The Homburg was and is a high profile hat… kind of like a Cadillac. I wouldn’t entertain the thought of making a Cadillac into a Ford.

*Sigh* to each his own.

 

[indycop]

Forgotten Man, Something like this?

Wow!!!Like getting a peek into the batcave!!!

 

[Forgotten Man]

Say, what kind of "Anti Moth" methods do you use in a closet as open as that? Any trouble with dust and such?

My hats are in boxes with moth balls. Not displayed as nicely but, I know they're safe.

 

[deelovely]

Say, what kind of "Anti Moth" methods do you use in a closet as open as that? Any trouble with dust and such?
My hats are in boxes with moth balls. Not displayed as nicely but, I know they're safe.

Looks bigger than a closet to me! Looks like a normal size room...WOW!!!

 

[Barb]

How many walls look like this?

Wow.

Forgotten Man, Something like this?

 

[Edward]

Here are a couple of modified homburgs. I have yet to convert all the way to a fedora, but these are an option. As always i believe in the hat owner right to do as he or she wishes with their own hat.

Sharp looking hats - I like this one especially.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Say, what kind of "Anti Moth" methods do you use in a closet as open as that? Any trouble with dust and such?

I was surprised to learn, years ago, that moths (and other insects) like to do their dirty work in the dark. (Most people discover "moth" holes, after taking a woolen garment out of the dark storage, in which it has resided for the warm months.) If you store your hats in boxes, you are wise to use moth balls, cedar, or any of the other stuff that works. If they are in the open, getting light each day, you don't need moth balls.

The picture of part of my collection is the hallway of my house. I've been hanging hats there for five years, now. So far, I've seen no moth damage. I regularly wear them, and seldom have to brush any dust off a hat. Thanks for asking.

 

[Fletch]

I propose the term humburg be adopted for a homburg-to-fedora conversion, combining as it does homburg with humbug, which means an odd combination that doesn't quite add up.

 

[tonyb]

This ...

... is a converted Homburg. It's a considerably darker shade of blue than it appears in this photo. Make of it what you will, but I like it just fine.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Bravo Tony, wear what you like and like what you wear. I may just have to find a wider brimed homburg and make one like it.

 

[deanglen]

Bravo Tony, wear what you like and like what you wear. I may just have to find a wider brimed homburg and make one like it.

I will modify any style of hat, any style.

dean

 

[FedoraGent]

Awesome.

I propose the term humburg be adopted for a homburg-to-fedora conversion, combining as it does homburg with humbug, which means an odd combination that doesn't quite add up.

I couldn't have put it better.

FG.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

tonyb, Absolutely beautiful!

One thing that needs to be recognized here is that, there are two kinds of participants in this forum.

1. The purists who want everything about any hat to be exactly as it was when it came from the factory.
2. The aspiring hatters, who are trying to learn every possible skill and who rejoice in a project successfully completed.

In other words, it's a lot loke car collecting, where you have both restorers and customizers. But they both love cars! HATS ARE CHEAPER THAN CARS!

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

JT I am not a native Texan, but there is something about Texas that brings out a spirit of individualism. Running with the crowd just seems so..... , well just not for me. I know that it was in me before I moved here or I never would be here. But it has brought out that spirit and for that I am glad. A cookie cutter hat in my mind just lacks in imagination. I do not begrudge those who want an off the rack hat, but why do people feel that they must impose their view on others? An age old question I guess and a topic for another thread I'm sure.

 

[indycop]

Looks bigger than a closet to me! Looks like a normal size room...WOW!!!

Probably not a closet but some secret room that you enter from behind a book shelf or something!!lol

 

[Edward]

In other words, it's a lot loke car collecting, where you have both restorers and customizers. But they both love cars! HATS ARE CHEAPER THAN CARS!

lol Good point. Something in me always baulks a tad at the idea of modifying vintage stuff that can't be replaced - not so new stuff, which doesn't have that "irreplaceable peice of the past" feel to it. But then it's not as if vintage homburgs are exactly dodo-like in quality, especially there being, it seems to me, much less of a demand for them than for fedoras. [huh]

I have to adimt that when I first saw the snap-brimmed Fedora in another thread, I wasn't at all convinced by it, but increasingly if i could find a nice one in a soft grey, I think it could be a great hat for when one wants something just that touch dressier but not so much so with a lounge suit. I'm definitely keen on one with a fedora style pinch, a la Michael Collins. (I think I'd rather look like Collins than Capone, but I guess one man's General is another's gangster... ).

I was surprised to learn, years ago, that moths (and other insects) like to do their dirty work in the dark. (Most people discover "moth" holes, after taking a woolen garment out of the dark storage, in which it has resided for the warm months.) If you store your hats in boxes, you are wise to use moth balls, cedar, or any of the other stuff that works. If they are in the open, getting light each day, you don't need moth balls.

I started to come to this conclusion myself - I'm glad that your experience has proven this to be correct. Of course eventually i'll have to box some of my hats, but I'm glasd to hear I needn't worry so much about keeping them all locked away in case of moths. Never could understand why a creature with such a pathalogical, suicidal attraction to light didn't just come out in the daytime...:eusa_doh:

The picture of part of my collection is the hallway of my house. I've been hanging hats there for five years, now. So far, I've seen no moth damage. I regularly wear them, and seldom have to brush any dust off a hat. Thanks for asking.

Do you think regular wear has an impact on this, or is it just the case that moths (or if memory serves, actually their larvae) tend to be able to make a hole in stuff if it's left alone for long periods of time rather than there having been a humanoid body in it recently? (I'm not articulating well, there, but I think you follow).

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Probably not a closet but some secret room that you enter from behind a book shelf or something!!lol

Thanks, indycop. It's the HATcave! lol

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Do you think regular wear has an impact on this, or is it just the case that moths (or if memory serves, actually their larvae) tend to be able to make a hole in stuff if it's left alone for long periods of time rather than there having been a humanoid body in it recently? (I'm not articulating well, there, but I think you follow).

Probably both (and maybe a couple of other factors, too).

 

[tonyb]

I have a foot in both camps, J.T. It's kinda like this: I feel a certain sense of duty, a stewardship of sorts, toward future generations of old-stuff nuts such as myself. And I know my own limitations, which is why I decided against buying a 122-year-old house the dewy-eyed bride and I were looking over. I have neither the skills nor the financial resources nor the gumption to do what what needs doing on that old house. Around here, any structure of that age is quite rare, and for that reason alone it deserves better than I could give it.
Cars I can kinda handle. I've owned a few collectibles and I did all right by them. I like 'em box stock, and I like 'em hot-rodded within an inch of their lives.
A point that has been made here a few times before is worth repeating: It can be reasonably argued that we old-hat fanciers are fortunate that hats fell out of fashion. Let's face it, guys and gals -- these pristine old hats we so treasure didn't survive in such fine condition by being used much.
Wear 'em? You bet I do. But I'm thoughtful about it. I want them to survive another 50 or 60 or 70 years. At least.