Flat caps

[Baron Kurtz]

that's beautiful . . .

bk

 

[nightandthecity]

bootiful indeed....though I prefer the leather one as a wearer.

I have a 1940s leather jacket with identical leather to that cap - so close you'd think they came from the same maker. I am wearing the cap and jacket together as I type, with brown serge trousers and freshly polished veldtschoen....in a second I shall grab my stout blackthorn and be off, striding the woods and fells, proclaiming defiance to the Yorkshire weather....

By the way Baron, welcome back to blighty!

 

[nightandthecity]

FAIRY TALE ENDING!!!

yowza, I managed to stretch the black single panel pictured above a full THREE notches, from UK 6 3/4 to 7 1/8...which is US 6 7/8 to 7 1/4, or euro 55 to 58! I am over the moon! And it was extremely easy too. The wonders of water and wool combined.

Lying in bed the other night something like the following chain of thought occurred…I bought the hat because it was so wonderful despite it being way too small. I hadn’t attempted stretching because it was DS and had original stickers inside. As I hadn’t managed to sell it on ebay or the FL I may as well keep it and experiment. And as there is no sweatband all that needs stretching is wool felt and the silk lining…..in the past I have stretched felt caps and berets a size with ease….and I have one 1930s Spanish beret I stretched a full two sizes with ease and that had a leather sweatband….perhaps three sizes wasn’t impossible……?

Normally when I stretch caps and berets I do them in the machine wool wash and wear them to dry…this not only makes sure they are clean, it kills any lurking moth and allows you to shape the whole hat to the desired configuration. However, seeing that this cap was unworn and I didn’t want to risk any shrinkage of the top, I gingerly dipped the band area in cold water, soaked both sides, and popped it on my bonce. It gave immediately and without a struggle!! I was staggered to say the least as I thought even if it worked it would be a several stage process.

(n.b. the main problem with wearing to stretch is that your head gives a bit as well as the hat, so you end up with a tight fit. To counteract this I recommend covering head with a cloth to enlarge a fraction)

Anyway, yippee, hurray and huzzah from one very happy bunny. And BTW, it's no longer for sale.....

 

[nightandthecity]

bump bump!! (plug plug!!)

revived this thread to announce that i am selling the 1930s tweed flat cap by Falcon pictured above - see Classifieds and follow the link.

I hate to part with it, but the children actually want to eat, cheeky monsters.....

 

[barrowjh]

I have worn a form of flat cap for many years; some call it a newsboy cap, driving cap, mountain guide cap, some people call them Kangol caps (Kangol is a hat maker, and makes other styles as well). The best I found in recent years were in Montreal "L'Hiver En Folie" - insulated cap with a short 1 3/4 in front bill that snaps, earflaps that fold up into the hat when not needed, and they sold matching wool scarves for some of the plaids. In December, in Montreal, these were great!

 

[Matt Deckard]

very nice... I like the bigger caps.