Hey all --
Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Work, family and, alas, taxes, have been eating up my time. Here's the text of the fedora brochure I've been working on, incorporating the feedback I've gotten from this site. Note that the "Vintage vs. Custom" section is gone. In retrospect, I think it was more argumentative than informative. As before, all feedback is welcome!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Page 1. The fedora
[Illustration TK]
Pages 2 -3. Making the fedora
A fedora is any soft-crowned hat with a snap brim. (The name comes from an 1882 play of the same name by Victorian Sardou, in which Sarah Bernhardt debuted the style.) The strongest, longest lasting felt fedoras are made from 100% fur felt – wool felt shrinks and discolors in the rain. Beaver fur is the most desirable. Because beavers live in cold weather and spend their lives in the water, felt made from their fur is strong, dense and naturally water resistant. Other high-quality felts are made from nutria (a Latin American animal similar to beaver), wild hare and rabbit. [Illustrations TK]
From start to finish, creating a fedora can take over seven months. First, fur is mulched and soaked in hot water to create a cone of felt. The felters dip this in scalding water, knead it like dough, wring it out and saturate it with steam again and again over several days. Then they dye it and leave it to dry in a temperature- and humidity-controlled room for several months. By the end, the three-foot tall felt cone has contracted into a tough, supple, water-resistant one-foot tall hat body. Only then is the felt ready to be sent to a master hatter. [Illustrations TK]
The hatter soaks the felt in hot water, stretches it taut over a hat block (a piece of solid wood created just for that purpose), clamps it to the block to create a crown, soaks it again, tacks down the loose felt at the bottom to form the brim, removes the clamp, steams away any marks and irons the brim flat. After pulling out the tacks, he mists the felt with alcohol and singes it, burning off any long hairs. Then the “pouncing� begins – the hatter sands and re-sands the inside and the outside of the felt with gradually finer grits until he’s perfected the surface. If necessary, the felt will be treated with stiffener at this point. [Illustrations TK]
It’s in the final steps that a hatter gives the fedora its distinctive look: he cuts and “flanges� (steams and shapes) the brim, sews in the sweatband and liner, “bashes� (creases) the crown, and attaches the ribbon and whipcord. All this is done by hand. [Illustrations TK]
4. Signs of quality
A fedora’s felt should look and feel dense, rich and supple. No stray hairs should be visible (although some hats are intentionally left with a long-haired surface). Over time, a good felt will train itself to its owner’s head. [Illustration TK]
The inside of a hat has several indications of good workmanship. Most hats have a leather sweatband, although “crushable� hats may have one of elasticized cloth. If leather, the sweatband should be thick enough not to buckle and should just bell over the break between crown and brim. Traditionally, the sweatband is closed by a bow in back. Some hatters even create a “floating bow,� a bow held on with no visible stitching. If the hat has a satin liner – again, “crushable� hats may be unlined – it should be sewn in, not glued or taped. [Illustration TK]
The crown of the hat, either bashed or unbashed, should be even and symmetrical. [Illustration TK]
The ribbon should be taut all the way around the base of the crown, resting right on the break, unless there is a windcord, which should sit precisely below the ribbon.
Quality hats should weather the rain well. The brims of cheaper hats may warp may wet, and their crowns may taper at the top, or the hat could shrink altogether. If this happens, don’t hesitate to return your hat to the vendor.
Brims may come with a banded edge [Illustration TK], a welted edge [Illustration TK] or a whipstitch edge, although many fine hats are left with a raw (untreated) edge. [Illustration TK]
5-6. Choosing your hat
Trouble picking the right hat? Here are a couple of tips. Generally speaking, low crowns and curved brims complement narrow faces, high crowns and flat brims complement broad faces. Brim size should match shoulder size: broad shoulders look good with wide brims, and vice versa. Some people pick a hat’s color to match their overcoats, others choose it to contrast with their overcoats, and still other pick it to match their complexion. Finally, chuck any or all of these tips out the window once you find a hat that looks right and feels right for you.
Most fedoras are either center-creased [illustration TK], C-crowned or diamond crowned [illustrations TK]. Side dents – if desired – can be narrowly or widely spaced around the front pinch. The brim can be worn up or down, or turned down all the way around. Because fedoras can be easily customized, there are almost as many styles as there are hats. Still, some styles, such as the following, have proven enduringly popular.
[Again, for the custom hatters out there: this section is really yours to decide upon. If you want to feature different styles than I’ve written about here, that’s OK with me. These are just some pretty common styles I’ve run across that I’m putting down here as suggestions.]
The classic Bogie is an untapered medium-crowned, center-creased fedora, usually with a welted 2 ½� brim. This hat is a good fit for men with narrow shoulders. [Illustration TK]
The Indy is a tall-crowned hat with a center-creased, untapered crown and a wide, “dimensional� brim (wider at the front and back than at the sides.) [Illustration TK]
Another popular style is the Porkpie, a low-crowned fedora with an oval dent that’s long been associated with jazz. Saxophonist Lester Young popularized the wide-brimmed (2 5/8�) style, while pianist Thelonius Monk favored the stingy-brim (1 ½�). [Illustrations TK]
The Madison Avenue Crash Helmet was part of the uniform of the advertising business for decades. It features a center-creased crown with no side dents and a narrow, conservative brim. [Illustration TK]
A Safari style hat, less formal than a dress fedora, is a beige hat with a wide brim that turns down all the way around. Instead of a smooth grosgrain band, these hats can sport a creased ribbon or a leather band.
Although not technically a fedora, a Homburg is a soft-crowned, center-creased hat with a brim that has been flanged to curve gently all around. It is generally considered more formal than a fedora.
7. Sizing, care and feeding
The best way to determine your hat size is to go to a hat store and try on hats until you find one that feels comfortable. If that isn’t possible, wrap a tape measure around your head – not too tightly! – where a hat would sit (around a half an inch above the eyebrows and ears) and then consult the chart below. If you find that you’re between sizes, round up. An oversized hat can be made to fit by stuffing its sweatband can be stuffed with pads or tape, but a small hat is just uncomfortable. [chart TK]
Properly cared for, a fur-felt fedora will outlast you. To keep it in shape, just follow these simple steps:
1) Keep your hat out of direct sunlight when not being worn or you will prematurely age the felt.
2) Handle your hat gently by the brim, not the crown. Try not to pinch the front of your hat too tightly when you put it on, or you’ll make a crease that will wear quickly. Also be careful not to yank on the brim when you put your hat on or you’ll tug it out of shape.
3) Don’t set your hat down on a flat surface with the brim turned down, or the brim will warp. Turn the brim up to set your hat down. Better yet, hang it on a peg.
4) Dust your hat periodically with soft brush or a wide piece of tape. If you don’t get rid of that dust, it will turn to mud when it rains.
5) Never put a wet hat on a radiator to dry or both the felt and the sweatband will shrink. When your hat gets wet, turn up the brim and rest it on a clean, flat surface, preferably a towel.
6) You can lightly steam your hat and gently reshape if it ever starts to lose its form. (This will also reactivate any stiffener in your hat.)
7) For long-term storage, keep your hat crown-side down in a hat box with a cardboard insert.
8) Have your hat professionally cleaned and blocked once a year or so.
8. Hatter’s ad page [Text and illo TK]
Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Work, family and, alas, taxes, have been eating up my time. Here's the text of the fedora brochure I've been working on, incorporating the feedback I've gotten from this site. Note that the "Vintage vs. Custom" section is gone. In retrospect, I think it was more argumentative than informative. As before, all feedback is welcome!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Page 1. The fedora
[Illustration TK]
Pages 2 -3. Making the fedora
A fedora is any soft-crowned hat with a snap brim. (The name comes from an 1882 play of the same name by Victorian Sardou, in which Sarah Bernhardt debuted the style.) The strongest, longest lasting felt fedoras are made from 100% fur felt – wool felt shrinks and discolors in the rain. Beaver fur is the most desirable. Because beavers live in cold weather and spend their lives in the water, felt made from their fur is strong, dense and naturally water resistant. Other high-quality felts are made from nutria (a Latin American animal similar to beaver), wild hare and rabbit. [Illustrations TK]
From start to finish, creating a fedora can take over seven months. First, fur is mulched and soaked in hot water to create a cone of felt. The felters dip this in scalding water, knead it like dough, wring it out and saturate it with steam again and again over several days. Then they dye it and leave it to dry in a temperature- and humidity-controlled room for several months. By the end, the three-foot tall felt cone has contracted into a tough, supple, water-resistant one-foot tall hat body. Only then is the felt ready to be sent to a master hatter. [Illustrations TK]
The hatter soaks the felt in hot water, stretches it taut over a hat block (a piece of solid wood created just for that purpose), clamps it to the block to create a crown, soaks it again, tacks down the loose felt at the bottom to form the brim, removes the clamp, steams away any marks and irons the brim flat. After pulling out the tacks, he mists the felt with alcohol and singes it, burning off any long hairs. Then the “pouncing� begins – the hatter sands and re-sands the inside and the outside of the felt with gradually finer grits until he’s perfected the surface. If necessary, the felt will be treated with stiffener at this point. [Illustrations TK]
It’s in the final steps that a hatter gives the fedora its distinctive look: he cuts and “flanges� (steams and shapes) the brim, sews in the sweatband and liner, “bashes� (creases) the crown, and attaches the ribbon and whipcord. All this is done by hand. [Illustrations TK]
4. Signs of quality
A fedora’s felt should look and feel dense, rich and supple. No stray hairs should be visible (although some hats are intentionally left with a long-haired surface). Over time, a good felt will train itself to its owner’s head. [Illustration TK]
The inside of a hat has several indications of good workmanship. Most hats have a leather sweatband, although “crushable� hats may have one of elasticized cloth. If leather, the sweatband should be thick enough not to buckle and should just bell over the break between crown and brim. Traditionally, the sweatband is closed by a bow in back. Some hatters even create a “floating bow,� a bow held on with no visible stitching. If the hat has a satin liner – again, “crushable� hats may be unlined – it should be sewn in, not glued or taped. [Illustration TK]
The crown of the hat, either bashed or unbashed, should be even and symmetrical. [Illustration TK]
The ribbon should be taut all the way around the base of the crown, resting right on the break, unless there is a windcord, which should sit precisely below the ribbon.
Quality hats should weather the rain well. The brims of cheaper hats may warp may wet, and their crowns may taper at the top, or the hat could shrink altogether. If this happens, don’t hesitate to return your hat to the vendor.
Brims may come with a banded edge [Illustration TK], a welted edge [Illustration TK] or a whipstitch edge, although many fine hats are left with a raw (untreated) edge. [Illustration TK]
5-6. Choosing your hat
Trouble picking the right hat? Here are a couple of tips. Generally speaking, low crowns and curved brims complement narrow faces, high crowns and flat brims complement broad faces. Brim size should match shoulder size: broad shoulders look good with wide brims, and vice versa. Some people pick a hat’s color to match their overcoats, others choose it to contrast with their overcoats, and still other pick it to match their complexion. Finally, chuck any or all of these tips out the window once you find a hat that looks right and feels right for you.
Most fedoras are either center-creased [illustration TK], C-crowned or diamond crowned [illustrations TK]. Side dents – if desired – can be narrowly or widely spaced around the front pinch. The brim can be worn up or down, or turned down all the way around. Because fedoras can be easily customized, there are almost as many styles as there are hats. Still, some styles, such as the following, have proven enduringly popular.
[Again, for the custom hatters out there: this section is really yours to decide upon. If you want to feature different styles than I’ve written about here, that’s OK with me. These are just some pretty common styles I’ve run across that I’m putting down here as suggestions.]
The classic Bogie is an untapered medium-crowned, center-creased fedora, usually with a welted 2 ½� brim. This hat is a good fit for men with narrow shoulders. [Illustration TK]
The Indy is a tall-crowned hat with a center-creased, untapered crown and a wide, “dimensional� brim (wider at the front and back than at the sides.) [Illustration TK]
Another popular style is the Porkpie, a low-crowned fedora with an oval dent that’s long been associated with jazz. Saxophonist Lester Young popularized the wide-brimmed (2 5/8�) style, while pianist Thelonius Monk favored the stingy-brim (1 ½�). [Illustrations TK]
The Madison Avenue Crash Helmet was part of the uniform of the advertising business for decades. It features a center-creased crown with no side dents and a narrow, conservative brim. [Illustration TK]
A Safari style hat, less formal than a dress fedora, is a beige hat with a wide brim that turns down all the way around. Instead of a smooth grosgrain band, these hats can sport a creased ribbon or a leather band.
Although not technically a fedora, a Homburg is a soft-crowned, center-creased hat with a brim that has been flanged to curve gently all around. It is generally considered more formal than a fedora.
7. Sizing, care and feeding
The best way to determine your hat size is to go to a hat store and try on hats until you find one that feels comfortable. If that isn’t possible, wrap a tape measure around your head – not too tightly! – where a hat would sit (around a half an inch above the eyebrows and ears) and then consult the chart below. If you find that you’re between sizes, round up. An oversized hat can be made to fit by stuffing its sweatband can be stuffed with pads or tape, but a small hat is just uncomfortable. [chart TK]
Properly cared for, a fur-felt fedora will outlast you. To keep it in shape, just follow these simple steps:
1) Keep your hat out of direct sunlight when not being worn or you will prematurely age the felt.
2) Handle your hat gently by the brim, not the crown. Try not to pinch the front of your hat too tightly when you put it on, or you’ll make a crease that will wear quickly. Also be careful not to yank on the brim when you put your hat on or you’ll tug it out of shape.
3) Don’t set your hat down on a flat surface with the brim turned down, or the brim will warp. Turn the brim up to set your hat down. Better yet, hang it on a peg.
4) Dust your hat periodically with soft brush or a wide piece of tape. If you don’t get rid of that dust, it will turn to mud when it rains.
5) Never put a wet hat on a radiator to dry or both the felt and the sweatband will shrink. When your hat gets wet, turn up the brim and rest it on a clean, flat surface, preferably a towel.
6) You can lightly steam your hat and gently reshape if it ever starts to lose its form. (This will also reactivate any stiffener in your hat.)
7) For long-term storage, keep your hat crown-side down in a hat box with a cardboard insert.
8) Have your hat professionally cleaned and blocked once a year or so.
8. Hatter’s ad page [Text and illo TK]
