I love the Fed IV!!

[theinterchange]

Open crowned hats are really a lot of fun, your possibilities are only limited to your imagination and the dimensions of your hat. The Federation, or any of the open crowned Akubras are a good launching pad.

Randy

 

[MattJH]

Im not sure what 'hasten the wearing' means, but I used a spray bottle simply to achieve the bash I wanted.

Ah, yeah, that's different. I used poor wording. Some will purposely "age" their hats before wearing them. I was just saying that I didn't.

 

[scottyrocks]

Ah, yeah, that's different. I used poor wording. Some will purposely "age" their hats before wearing them. I was just saying that I didn't.

I agree. I dont pre-age my hats. Just use some water to help crease them.

 

[avedwards]

I wore this hat publically on Friday for the first time. One of my friends commented that the crown looked a bit big on me (I think he must have meant tall and straightsided) which made me wonder whether this hat really suited me. All my hat wearing life I have always thought that slightly tapered crowns looked better on me, and so does the face type chart on Millers site.

However, Saturday I had a long train journey during which I lowered the crown as best I could considering that I was doing this all dry. I decided that a lower crown would suit me better, plus I like the look of a deep crease, plus Dinerman mentioned in another thread that deep creases give apparent taper from the front meaning it would look better on me. An hour on the train worker its magic because the deeper crease seemed to stay, at least my head didn't raise it.

I wore it Saturday in Lancaster whilst pub-calling and I got lots of positive comments from my brother's friends (I was visiting him as he goes to uni there) and strangers. Very few bad comments and my brother said that the hat definitely suited me.

Walking home from the train station to my house yesterday evening I was pleased to receive some rain to fine tune the crease and crease the teardrop bulge. So now I have a reasonably authentic looking Maltese Falcon crease. A deep diamond with the hump of a teardrop as Bogart wears.

Result: thank you fedoralounge for making me finally decide to get this hat and thank you Edward for the advice which finalised it for me.

 

[Sam Craig]

Bogart would be proud!:eusa_clap

 

[avedwards]

Bogart would be proud!:eusa_clap

Thank you. I hope he would, even if I lack his attitude (and don't even bother attempting to copy it as I never could).

The only un-Bogart thing on my hat is the brim. His is 2 1/4" to 2 3/8" but mine is the Federation's 2 3/4" front and back with 2 1/2" at the sides. But considering Bogart is small and I'm quite tall, I will keep my brim as proportionally is nearly looks the same as his.

 

[Duper]

avedwards, I'm very glad that worked out for you. My Fed IV is definately my "go to" hat these days. Enjoy!

 

[scottyrocks]

Please post a pic or three of you in your new chapeau!

 

[The Good]

Yep, it's my go-to lid as well. I plan on taking it with me tomorrow on my family's trip up to the mountains, where it will be snowing. I know the Fed can handle that though!

In regards to crown-height, though, maybe it's just me, but as my head is pretty big (especially towards the back), I can't really get a deep crease (center dent) out of it. It's there, but slight, bordering sometimes on open-crown. I guess I wouldn't mind the crown being six or six and a half inches tall! Anyway, the front is creased somewhat similarly, at least right now, to Indiana Jones' Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fedora.

 

[avedwards]

Here are the requested pictures...

Just decided to purposely add some über-suspicious sunglasses because I like hiding my face.

A slightly off-front view helps to show how the hat fits I personally find.

And the crease. Not quite Bogart's, but inspired by his four point diamond-teardrop crease.

Sorry about the poor image quality but all I have is a webcam and a lamp which I use to try and get the shadows falling so that the crease lines can be seen as best as possible.

 

[Mahagonny Bill]

And the crease. Not quite Bogart's, but inspired by his four point diamond-teardrop crease.

Very nice work with the crease :eusa_clap. Is that a standard or deluxe? I found that my Fed IV standard did not take to a diamond crease at all. The best I have been able to manage with steam is a smooth teardrop.

 

[avedwards]

Mine's a standard as I couldn't afford a deluxe and Edward told me that paying less for a standard doesn't mean I'm getting an inferior quality hat.

I had to push the points of the diamond very far into the felt to get it to stay. The way I did it was dry bashing the hat, then using steam to improve it and then waiting until I was out in the rain so I could fine tine it.

 

[djgo-cat-go]

Wow avedwards! I like that crease very much, looks like it is sculpted!! :eusa_clap

 

[avedwards]

Wow avedwards! I like that crease very much, looks like it is sculpted!! :eusa_clap

Thank you. It wasn't difficult, I reckon any first timer could manage it, hence I will from now on advocate not being scared of creasing open crowned hats to those who are nervous. Having long fingers helps though as it allowed me to push all four diamond points at once, allowing for reasonably good symetry.

 

[Mr. Paladin]

Nicely done, sir! I have always appreciated your solid support for modern Stetsons (in the form of your Chatham) but it is good to see you decide to branch out. Your crease work looks very good.

 

[avedwards]

Thank you Mr P, I was certainly pleased with the crease work myself. It was my first open crowned hat, though on another hat I had some experience as I converted a centre dent to a teardrop.

As for my dear friend the Chatham, I will still defend it as it was my trustworthy hat for eight months. However, I have to say the Federation is a nicer hat as Aesthetically I prefer the higher untapered crown and wider brim, and it feels like the colour will remain more even as no powder was used with the dye as was the case with the Chatham. However, I will insist that modern Stetsons are good hats and would recommend them to anyone who stumbles across one for a good price. So I can say that Mr Falcon (my name for my Fed based on its crease) may be more durable than Mr Chatham but I still respect the latter for being my first proper fur felt fedora.

 

[CRH]

... So I can say that Mr Falcon (my name for my Fed based on its crease) may be more durable than Mr Chatham but I still respect the latter for being my first proper fur felt fedora.

If judged by your posting history, avedwards, Mr Falcon will see it's fair or unfair share of the elements. Please come back and update us as to how it compares with the Chatham over the long haul.

Love the diamond!

 

[avedwards]

If judged by your posting history, avedwards, Mr Falcon will see it's fair or unfair share of the elements. Please come back and update us as to how it compares with the Chatham over the long haul.

Love the diamond!

Thank you to you as well.

And your guess is completely correct. This hat will suffer a lot of rain and sun the next few months and years (maybe even decades [huh]). From what I read I expect it to do well. Since I have started with fedoras I have only ever wanted one which I could wear with everything for everything, just as people did back then. I don't want a collection because I'm a minimalist and I'm glad I found a hat which is durable enough for everything it will get and nice enough to look the part.

The only other hats I would now consider are a homburg and topper. I need no more fedoras as far as I'm concerned.

 

[elvisroe]

famous last words...

 

[Chinaski]

I think I've said to my wife, "I won't be buying any more hats - I don't need any more" at lease 3 times... and I'm sure you can all relate in some way.