I love the Fed IV!!

[Carlisle Blues]

I'll try to bear the suffering. With the right attitude and a little grace, I think I'll manage.



rrog

lol lol lol Oh Please......

 

[johnnycanuck]

So's anyone here owned a Fed IV standard long enough to gauge the long-term shrinkage? The Deluxe is out of my price range but the Standard is not, and I'm wondering if it'd be a poor long-term investment.

I have a old Federation. It is either a Federation I or a Federation II. It is before they offered a Deluxe and before they dimensionally cut the brim. I think I bought it in 2001. It even had a red liner. I wore it in rain snow and anything else I came across for three years as a daily wear hat. As for shrinkage, not much at all. Then again it started off as a Indy hat, then I tear dropped the crown, Then pork pied the thing before turning it back into a Indy hat. So the crown has been re worked so many times if it did shrink, the different bashes probably pushed it out again. It now lives on the head of a friend who has taken it half way round the world since then. Again no real shrinkage.

So to make a long story short (too late) it holds up nicely.

Johnny

 

[travelsonic]

I am still paranoid about my Fed IV.



After playing with it a lot, and having it sat on at least 5 times - 3 of which was accidental, and having a train blow it off my head, does she still look good?

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

After playing with it a lot, and having it sat on at least 5 times - 3 of which was accidental,

Only 3 were accidental? Umm...you do realise which end you're s'posed to wear it on dontcha?

 

[rrog]

Only 3 were accidental? Umm...you do realise which end you're s'posed to wear it on dontcha?

The same thing went through my mind too!

rrog

 

[travelsonic]

Only 3 were accidental? Umm...you do realise which end you're s'posed to wear it on dontcha?

Ok ok, 2 were accidental, happy? lol

It has been pretty much everywhere... on my head of course. I might not want to wear it taking the train though, seeing as I almost lost it when an Amtrak Acela blew by and nearly took my hat with it.

 

[menzies]

Just curious what retailers are folks buying their Fed IV hats from?

Jeff

 

[Spats McGee]

Hats Direct: http://www.hatsdirect.com/

If I'm not mistaken, it's the only place you can get them new.

 

[rrog]

Just couldn't wait!

Well I just couldn't wait until fur season officially rolled around. I ordered the Fed IV in moonstone today. I considered other hats (Fed IV carbon grey, black ) but I don't have a light grey hat yet. So moonstone it is. Now for the wait.

rrog

 

[Swagman]

Charlie & Boots Movie

In an upcoming Australian film called "Charlie and Boots", Paul Hogan appears to be wearing a Fed IV that has been weathered, brim cut (i'm sure to show his face better in filming) bashed as a porkpie and then pinched in front.

Any thoughts on this hat?

 

[Mike in Seattle]

In an upcoming Australian film called "Charlie and Boots", Paul Hogan appears to be wearing a Fed IV that has been weathered, brim cut (i'm sure to show his face better in filming) bashed as a porkpie and then pinched in front.

Any thoughts on this hat?

Looks like exactly how NOT to care for a hat...

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Hogan looks like he's fallen head-first into a bowling ball polisher. Someone needs to tell these guys that the face work makes 'em look kinda weird and creepy.
You're meant to have wrinkles Hoges! It's un-Australian, that's wot it is, mate!!

 

[Swagman]

You're meant to have wrinkles Hoges! It's un-Australian, that's wot it is, mate!!

Now I'm no expert on the subject, but he does seem to have some of the face valleys brought on by age and the Oz sun

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

In a recent interview he had as many wrinkles on his grape as a...well....a grape!

He must have had 'em tighten the screws behind his ears just before the camera crew arrived. The silly bugger looks like he's from California.

 

[memphislawyer]

Goose, I love the pic of you in that Hampton. I am wanting my first Akubra in a good taupe sort of color, to go with casual and up to this side of a sportscoat. I am afraid that there would be too much crown for the Fed IV compared to my Stetson Saxon, and the Hampton and the Stylemaster are choices as well. Suggestions?

 

[Doctor Strange]

I think it's pretty hard to go wrong with the Stylemaster: its moderate crown and brim can work with a wide variety of faces.

Personally, I like mine a lot more than my Federation III, which has always felt a little too big, more like a western hat than a fedora. (The Fed IV was scaled down from the III in both brim and crown size... partly, I suspect, because I'm probably not the only person who felt this way.)

Fed III (Mid-Brown) - 2-7/8 x 2-3/4" brim, 5" crown (2003):

Stylemaster (Mid-Grey/Steel Grey) - 2-1/2" brim, 4-1/4" crown (2009):

 

[memphislawyer]

Doc, thank you for that picture. I am this close to ordering the Stylemaster. My wife loves the dimensions of the Stetson and seeing on my head helps in that regard. So I am trying for a 2" or so brim and a wider ribbon, in a taupe color or so. I like the finished edge of that Stylemaster. I am not finding much by way of vintage on the auction site in my size, 7 1/8, and use Dobbs and Stetson and Akubra and Christy's in the search terms. Since everyone seems to agree that Akubra is a great hat and is a value in terms of what you get for the money, I am tempted to go blind. I get suggestions for the Fedora by Akubra and the Hampton (I think the Hampton is shorter brimmed). But those pics really help. Yeah, Im trying to stay from Western and even the Fed IV is a higher crown than the Stylemaster. Thanks again for that pic.

 

[David Conwill]

I agree that the Fed IV is probably the best production hat available right now. I’ve long wanted a Stetson Whippet, but they’ve been priced out of my range right from the get-go (especially for something 60 years old that I can’t inspect first). The Federation seemed like a nice compromise and I am pleased I went that route. I’ve had a Moonstone-colored “Standard” since December and wore it nearly every day until straw-hat weather arrived. Every morning I see it on a shelf in my office and secretly wish for September 15th so I can resume wearing it again.

Not only is the Fed a great hat in factory trim, to my mind it lends itself to customizing. I’d eventually like to buy a medium-brown or Tawny Fawn Fed IV and send it to one of our esteemed hatters for a 9-ligne brim binding, an 18-ligne crown ribbon, and a diamond bash.

I like my Federation so well I’ve virtually stopped considering other hats, as none of them seem to be on par value-wise. The exception being a lightweight felt from one of our custom hatter friends - that’s something I view as an inevitability for my own collection, as I’m just not that into straws.

-Dave

 

[memphislawyer]

David, you aint helping me decide between the Fed IV and the Stylemaster. I am liking a lower crown so I need to go read up on the dimensions of what the Stetson Saxon is and compare it to these two hats and then decide. I know I want a taupe hat for my casual to sportscoats wear, as the Saxon is Caribou-grey.

 

[David Conwill]

David, you aint helping me decide between the Fed IV and the Stylemaster. I am liking a lower crown so I need to go read up on the dimensions of what the Stetson Saxon is and compare it to these two hats and then decide. I know I want a taupe hat for my casual to sportscoats wear, as the Saxon is Caribou-grey.

To further your indecision, let me note that I didn’t see the discussion on the shortcomings of the brim before I posted the above. I agree, but with the caveat that I was able to train the brim to flip down in the front and up in the back after about a month of fiddling. I’m still very careful to not set the hat on a flat surface, I leave the front dangling over the edge at all times. I don’t think the brim is flanged at all from the factory, but I suspect any domestic hatter would be happy to flange it for you. Like I said, the Fed looks like it would make a great “canvas” for a semi-custom.

The Stylemaster is probably a more modern-appearing hat on the street, but I’ve gotten nothing but compliments on my Federation, and I’ve come to view lower, more-tapered crowns as somewhat timid and compromised. I still love seeing them on others, I just don’t have any desire to own one myself. Another reason for this is I’m somewhat round faced, and the strong vertical nature of a stovepipe crown helps to lengthen the lines of my face out a bit and counter that. A low, tapered crown has sort of the opposite effect and might be good for someone with a thinner, more angular face.

-Dave