New member and New Hat! (large pic FYI)

[lordtarl]

Greetings and hello all!
I go by the name of Tarl and I am brand spankin new to the site but have hada love of hats all my life.
When I was 15 I saved an old original 30's gray felt Fedora from my grand fathers house and I fell in love with it. About 2 years later a guy a knew asked to borrow it as part of a halloween costume and then he decided he liked it too and refused to return it and ended up moving away a few months later. (I am still tryign to track his A$$ down.. Wes Allen, I WILL find you one day you little son of a..sorry I digress).. point being I have always loved the style and look.

Recently (now many years later lol) I finally talked the wife into letting me buy an actual vintage Fedora to replace my long lost one. I have been wearing the crappy $9.99 canvas ones etc for years. I lucked out and got a nice vintage Dobbs off of Ebay and this one will not be lent out ever lol..

Its is great to find this community and I love some of the stuff I have seen here, I need a bucket just to collect some of the drool from looking at the other pics..

I did have one question maybe someone can answer.. the hat I purchased is just a TAD tight.. I mean literally just about a quarter inch over all too small. it fits but its..well.. tight lol.. is there any way a hat maker or someone would be able to enlarge a hat size? or am I stuck with just trying to stretch it out a little bit? Or does anyone have any other ideas?

Again, wonderful to be here and meet you all. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

This is my baby.. excuse the large pic.. If anyone has any info on the kind of hat it is, (beyond the snap brim fedora) I'd love to know it so I can talk about it like I actually know something!

See yas!
-Tarl

 

[RBH]

Welcome to the Lounge Tarl!
Glad you joined us and this is the place to learn about fedoras.

 

[NeilA]

Welcome Tarl,

This is a great place. As far as internet places go... lol
Theres lots of info. As to your question, yes, as long as its not too much, a hatter should be able to get that baby to be a little more comfortable. Thats a great lid, I too would like to know what it is. The bow on the back is an interesting feature I haven't seen before. That looks like a realy nice hat, congratulations of the win!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Brad Bowers]

Welcome to the Lounge, Tarl.

You have a very nice late-'50s (possibly very early-'60s) Dobbs with a telescope crown, back bow, and overwelt brim. Back bows had a resurgence in the late-'50s, after being out of fashion for a few decades. The telescope crown looks like it came from the factory that way. Haven't seen too many Dobbs with that feature. Enjoy it!

Brad

 

[zetwal]

Welcome to the Lounge. This is indeed a fun place to learn and share hats. One fourth of an inch is actually a pretty big stretch. Consider that one centimeter is a full size. But still there are quite a few around here who do stretch their hats that much and more. Do you know how to use the advanced search feature? You will find lots and lots of threads here dealing with that topic. Meanwhile, I'm sure others will answer you in this thread with their tips. Welcome aboard!

 

[lordtarl]

Welcome to the Lounge, Tarl.

You have a very nice late-'50s (possibly very early-'60s) Dobbs with a telescope crown, back bow, and overwelt brim. Back bows had a resurgence in the late-'50s, after being out of fashion for a few decades. The telescope crown looks like it came from the factory that way. Haven't seen too many Dobbs with that feature. Enjoy it!

Brad

First of all, thank you all for the welcomes! I've been poking around the forums for a bit now and the more I look around the more I love! lol

@Brad
Wow great info! thank you so much! Now that I have some more info I have some more stuff to search for and try to find a little history etc! thanks!!!

@Zetwal
I do indeed know how to use it and I have been looking around.
I did not think 1/4 of an inch was a lot but maybe I am off on my measurement and will have to redo my head heh heh. I have been using this site as a quick reference for hat sizes... http://www.qualityhats.com/stetson1.htm Hopefully its correct but Im not sure. I measured my head and came up with 23 & 3/8s which converts to 7 3/8s on the chart but it still came out tight (hat is 7 3/8s) so either I measured wrong or something.. dunno.
I have read a few posts about stretching etc. What would be the best route to go? Do you think trying to stretch it out some way is a better route then contacting a hatter etc to have it altered? I love the thing dearly even tho I have only had it a month or so and would hate like hell to rip it or cause some sort of damage to it because I don't know what I'm doing and over did it while trying to stretch it.

I'd love some opinions. I mean its not unbearably tight, its just snug enough that I have to give it a good tug to get it in place on the front and back. I guess my main fear is that by tugging it hard enough to get it on, I might rip it or something also. It doesn't hurt when its on or leave band mark etc. (I'm bald heh heh) so maybe 1/4 of an inch is too much. To be honest I have no idea how much it needs to go, I'm a total newb.

I live near Philadelphia Pa. so, I mean, I would hope that maybe somewhere in city there might be a haberdasher or something that could alter it. If anyone lives within like 50 miles of Philly and knows of one I'd be your best friend for an address or some other contact info lol. I have tried doing some searches but am having no luck.

I think I'm babbling. lol You get the gist. I'm just excited about the lid and finding others who like 'em too. My friends and family just think I'm strange and tell me to go buy a baseball cap.
They have as much taste as 10 year old saltine.

But thank you all again! great to be here!!

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

South Street Hats in Philly

Tarl, you're in luck - I haven't patronized this shop in Philly but he's gotten some good reviews from other members:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=38347

Now if there were only a similar shop in S.E. Virginia/N.E. NC...

 

[zetwal]

Something just occurred to me. Did you happen to check behind the leather sweatband? Sometimes people will put something behind there in order to snug up the fit. It's worth looking. Maybe, just maybe, something's there and can be removed. That would solve your problem in a jiffy.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Be careful when checking behind the sweat...

When I did that on a new acquisition recently, this little fellow fell out:

 

[T Smith]

Nice lookin lid there Tarl, I do love a nice Dobbs!

You've sure found the right place to hang out, I'm new here as well and the gang has made me feel right at home!

 

[lordtarl]

When I did that on a new acquisition recently, this little fellow fell out:

rofl ew... heh heh thats a new one for the head lice record books rofl..

sadly, as soon as I read the post I said to myself "nahhhh.. well.. did I actually look?? hmmmm.." but no joy.. nothing in the inside band except some hopes, dreams and the memory of this time I was in cub scouts and ate a bug on a bet.
man that hats tight..
heh heh

@ Salty
WOO HOO! Thank you!! I know where I am taking a minor road trip to tomorrow! I'll scope 'em out and report back in a day or two with how the place is and how much they charge etc. Awesome, sir! Thank you so much!!!

And BTW all, I have updated the avatar to show me and the lid in question.. working on a sig atm.

Thank you all for being so welcoming and friendly! I play a lot of computer games here and there.. and you go on sites for those and wow.. if you ask a question or say the wrong thing you get flamed up one wall and down the next.. its so nice to have friendly folks to talk to for a change lol

 

[ScionPI2005]

Welcome to the Lounge LordTarl. That Dobbs is simply gorgeous; thanks for sharing pics with us!

And if you're looking for someone to track down your old "friend" who ran off with your hat...I charge $200 a day and expenses... lol

 

[Spats McGee]

Welcome to the Lounge, Tarl! That's a good-looking hat you've got. :eusa_clap

 

[Mr. Paladin]

Welcome Tarl. That is a very nice Dobbs. Good luck with the stretching; I do not think it should be too difficult if its not more than one size.

 

[Widebrim]

Love that Dobbs, and welcome to you, lordtarl!

Widebrim

 

[ken100]

Nice

Nice lid Tarl, hope you sort the size, looks good on your noggin too!

Ken