Cordova Handmade Caps / Johnny J's work

[Johnny J]

Your welcome! Looks good with the colors you have on.

 

[seabass]

TWH
Cap is perfect.... Fabric was a sweet find & the flecks in the wool match the outfit
chore jacket, chambray. & vintage styled specs . Nice Combo !

 

[Simonds]

Great cap Ed! Johnny, like the way that fabric drapes. Very good job!

 

[flat-top]

Looks amazing Ed!
Another perfect job Johnny!
I may need one of those......

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Yes I had on a vintage 40's chore jacket and a chinstrap shirt. The cap has a nice dove gray base color so it goes with a lot of outfits. I wear my chore jackets alot. Flat top Johnny has enough fabric for two more cap's.

 

[Two Types]

Absolutely fantastic. Great fabric, great shape.

Best so far?

 

[cookie]

Johnny, you seriously make some of the nicest caps I have ever seen. The quality of your leather sweats, the color of the leather, your fabrics, the stitching detail of your fabric seams, your liner logo, your liner material.....everything is seriously just superb.

This +100

 

[Johnny J]

This +100

Your too kind sir. Thanks for the compliments guys.

 

[Joshbru3]

Josh, thank you for the kind words. I use a Singer 107W53 for that zig zag stitching. Works great and is built like a tank; very heavy.

Thanks, Johnny. I love those old Singer Zig Zag machines. I had never heard of a 107W53 before, but according to vintage advertisements for it, it was specifically made for attaching sweats into caps. Its a very close cousin to the 107W9 which was used to sew sweat leathers to reed tape. These old industrial Singers are build like tanks and can withstand constant use. Its amazing to me that so many of these machines are over 60 years old, and will probably last another 100 years.

Quick question....can the machine be set to make the vvvvvvv stitching closer together and smaller like hats made in the late 1890's/early1900's? Or is there really only one setting for stitching gap?

Keep up the good work!!

 

[Johnny J]

You can change the width and the length of stitching, either zig zag, or straight stitch. Its a great ol' machine!

 

[Johnny J]

Well, I went to the Vintage Fashion Expo today and didn't do that good. Instead of selling caps I sold one of my vintage suits I don't wear much, but it was a good start for passing out my cards and meeting people that like caps and specially the vintage ones. I met a couple of gentlemen that have quite a bit of knowledge about vintage attire and caps and was able to get their input, which was very helpful.
I was also interviewed by someone that is making a pilot for cable tv and I got to explain how and why I got into making caps, so that should be good.

 

[Landman]

Johnny,

Sorry you didn't sell more caps but maybe you'll get your own reality TV show!

 

[TomS]

Very nice display, Johnny.

 

[BR Gordon]

Good looking display.

 

[Simonds]

First step was getting yourself out there, and you were able to obtain some knowledge about the caps, which I am hoping you might share with us . And the most important thing is you got to plug your caps. Great looking display, cool hat rack.

 

[Johnny J]

I finally met Marc Chevalier in person at the show and he is a very nice guy. He said that he really liked my caps and that I was doing a pretty good job. He mentioned that in the 20s and 30s there was all types of caps with different sizes and dimensions on the crown and bill so mine look pretty authentic. He and about 4 other guys tried them on and said that I did have the dimensions right so that was nice to hear.

 

[Rudie]

Coming from Marc it is high praise indeed, Johnny. You can be proud of your achievements.

 

[seabass]

Johnny,
Good move to get out there & represent.
From my experience of many years as a shopper at these shows...(VINTAGE CLOTHING)
I have not seen Cap makers with there wares at all.
& finding clean vintage caps is very hard compared to fedoras.
A small Minorty of the shoppers are the Hardcore Vintage Fans & use the stuff almost daily
They (I) Know what they want, have the eye, Have good knowledge of what to check for,
& know what sellers have the goods, etc.

Now Most of the Sellers at (VINTAGE CLOTHING) shows are the Fans, Users, Collectors

So you are the First I know of to do this. The sellers will remember you & guide people to you
So exposure is important (too bad it is costly to set up at these shows)

Now for your caps I would Highly suggest a show like Inspiration....
The Cap Lovers like Me can score both Vintage & Contemporary Vintage Inspired caps...
The show is more of a Mecca for Hardcore Vintage workwear collectors or

let me say this kindly,,,,Collectors of clothing from Mining & orgins of workwear to Joe 6-Pack of the Pre-War 2...
The common Joe from days past... used these Caps you create...Though im not restricting caps to Joe 6 pack alone.

Yes the Vintage shows are great & i attend em all & know a lot of the sellers,,,,But they tend to stick with Formal Vintage & Rockabilly

Yea I have plenty of suits but i dont go out much...Heck I have over 10 Hollywood Jackets & i cant wear caps with them...

So this type of show is where i go to look for my needs, stuff i can use daily, & the Horsehide jacket fan or the Jean fan
will look for a cap like your & they spend krazy amounts of money on there jackets & jeans...
Now i dont want to confuse folks with Leather & jeans because some folk think Rockabilly/Garage look
No not at all Im talking further back so you have to decide what crowd you want to expose your Caps to.
You should expose to all... I am sure you can do well at a show like Inspiration. Folks from all over the world attend
Japan is very involved & have great stuff but i have not seen great hats /caps... so there is a Target for sales

Ok the Joe 6 Pack stuff is so hard to find that a small talented few decided to recreate...useing the same methods & fabrics
of days past to create every day wear or work wear from wayyyyyy back
I see your caps filling that Niche.

boy did i ramble on this,, just my input & i love your work, it is really hard work & time consuming for you i bet !

 

[Rudie]

I don't know if this would work, but have you ever thought of approaching the likes of Aero Leathers or http://www.original-flightjackets.com? They might be interested in selling your caps and you would get much more exposure.

 

[Johnny J]

Thanks Che and Rudie! Yesterday Luckykat told me about the Inspiration show, which is this coming weekend and I have to see what I can do to attend. He gave me some suggestions on making workwear caps and just go walk around but wear one and have maybe a couple on hand in case someone asks me about them.

Rudie, thanks for that info. I will look into it.