I'm a hat IGNORAMUS

[Veronica Parra]

... so I hope you can help me!

I just picked up this hat at a local thrift store. It was made for Oviatt's, Los Angeles's finest men's store in the '30s and '40s. The felt is thin, pliable, very smooth and very soft, like velvet. The sweatband says "Oviatt model, made in Belgium", with a facsimile of James Oviatt's signature in gold. The band also has "Chapeau Vimenot, Bruxelles, 'Hors Concours', made in Belgium" stamped in gold.

As you can see in the photos below, the hat is dusty. I actually found a rusty paper clip pinching together the front of the crown! No wonder the crown looks so misshapen (to me): there are some pretty sharp creases and I have no idea if they can be removed.

What do you think? Should I have this hat restored by a professional, or can it be brought back to life by me? Do you think this hat is from the 1930s? Does it compare to any other hat models you know of?

 

[Sefton]

There certainly are others here who are more knowledgeable than I am, but it looks like a fine hat to me. It doesn't look as if there is any serious damage and should be easy for a professional hatter to restore to its former glory. I don't know about the age, but the wide brim and tall crown suggest 40s to me.

What say the other gentlemen present?

 

[jamespowers]

I doubt you are that much of a hat ignoramus.
It looks very much like a Stetson Stratoliner from the 1940s. I have a brown one that is a little lighter.
I cannot find the manufacturer, Vimenot Hats, Brussels, anywhere. It is sort of perplexing. Perhaps someone can come up with a few manufacturers in that area that could be the producer of that hat.
As for freshening up the hat, I am sure you could do it well enough yourself with a hat brush and a tea kettle boiled enough to produce steam. First brush all of the dust and dirt off of the hat with a hat brush. Some even use a canister vacuum with the brush attachment. You need to get all the dust and dirt off before you steam the hat with steam from that kettle or it will just embed the dirt deeper into the felt.
The tea kettle should be ready when it is boiling and producing a steady stream of steam from the spout. Hold the areas that are misshapen over the steam until you feel a little warmth coming through the back side then remove the area and shape the hat to the desired shape. The crown is all that looks like it needs shaping on your hat though. the paperclip sure made it uneven. Just work each area slowly until you get it the way you like it. If it still isn't right then steam the area again and shape it. After you are done, let the felt cool and the hat will stay the way you shaped it in a fairly short amount of time---depending on the temperature in your area of course.
Let me know how it goes. I love messing with my hats when they are just not right.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Nurse it back to health!

Veronica, I see a very nice hat underneath that wounded exterior. I agree that a little home shaping should do the trick. Having shaped two crowns myself, I like having direct control over the final look. Granted, I might play with the shape for months, but it's worth it.

 

[besdor]

Vimenet

Veronica, what you have is a very nice hat ! This is from a factory called Vimenet that was in Belgium until the1950's . I have never seen one before . All I have are some advertising displays from this company . They made beautiful hats . They were on par with the Borsalino ,Mossant and Flechet's of their day . :cool2: