Penman Hats

squidkidd · Jun 16, 2009

Hey Everyone,
New member here, though some of you may recognize me from Club Obi-Wan. I've been into Indy hats for awhile, but now the fedora bug has finally taken hold of me. A man can only wear so much brown

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the work of my favorite hatter, John Penman. After being blown away with what he did for my Indy hat of his, I turned to him for some fedora variety. I now own 2 of his hats, have bought two others as gifts, have 1 reblock, and have one more on order. I also have one of his custom hat boxes, which is easily the greatest hat box I have ever seen. For anyone not familiar with John's work, I'll just say that high attention to detail would be an understatement in describing it. I've seen, examined, and owned many fedoras, from vintage and modern makers, both factory and custom, and John's hats are my favorite.

For now all I've got are a few pics of my Indy Raiders Penman taken on a recent trip to Great Britain (sadly I only had room to bring one). I'll post shots of my other Penmans as I get them.

These next shots were taken in "The Village", the birthplace of the Penman Hat Co.

Regards,
Brian
P.S. Apologies mods, if I exceeded any sort of picture limit. I checked the faq and didn't see any restrictions.

indycop · Jun 16, 2009

Looks great! I love the little kink at the back of the crown, that his new block?

HarpPlayerGene · Jun 16, 2009

Dynamite hat, squidkidd. Looking forward to seeing the rest...

handlebar bart · Jun 16, 2009

Squidkidd, in my worthless opinion very few people look good in an 'Indy' hat.........you are one that can wear it and have it look great.

squidkidd · Jun 16, 2009

Thanks for the kind words Bart. Indycop - yes, it is off his new block. The new block really allows you sink the center dent nice and deep. I can't wait for some sunny days to get some shots of my others, but alas, it is Oregon I live in....the Akubra FedIII of mine John turned into a Watchmen looks is amazing.

By the way, seems John has a new facebook page for the business:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Penman-Hat-Co/94550378449
Sweet!

Regards,
Brian

RobFedoraField · Aug 5, 2009

rorchach hat

squidkidd said:
...the Akubra FedIII of mine John turned into a Watchmen looks is amazing.

do you have any pics of that hat?

Thanks,

Rob

zetwal · Aug 5, 2009

Thanks for sharing Squid. It's great to have you on board -

Garrett · Sep 9, 2009

Just ordered a Raiders Penman in rabbit fur and am looking forward to its arrival next year. His new block is right on and John does great work.

Colby Jack · Sep 9, 2009

Welcome to the lounge squidkidd...That Penman looks great on you!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap That little back flip looks like something I've seen gracing Indycop's head...

Tone · Sep 9, 2009

Here's Johnny's Raiders accurate version too:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=35131

Or, maybe that was an accurate Crystal Skull version back then?

bendingoak · Sep 9, 2009

Thats about 3 blocks ago. I have revamped my Raiders and CS blocks.

Garrett · Sep 9, 2009

In other words, they're even better now! :eusa_clap

kiltie · Dec 5, 2009

After a lot of hemming and hawing...**

...I've got this hat coming from Penman Hats. This is actually a picture of my hat sent by John Penman, but I'll be sure to post some headshots when the thing arrives. I'm just too amped not to write about it. The whole experience with Penman, from picking the hat I wanted to the day he called to tell me it's in the mail, has been just fantastic. I'm sure I'll carry on more about that when I've got this beaut it my grubby paws, but for now...

**on my part - I badgered John a lot

Garrett · Dec 5, 2009

Good choice :eusa_clap

Aureliano · Dec 5, 2009

handlebar bart said:
Squidkidd, in my worthless opinion very few people look good in an 'Indy' hat.........you are one that can wear it and have it look great.

:arated:

zetwal · Dec 6, 2009

That green looks fantastic. I look forward to seeing it in the sunlight.

kiltie · Dec 13, 2009

.
I don't think I can really elaborate on what's already been posted here about these hats, except to say: this is THE BEST hat I own or have owned. That includes a number of the more popular model Stetsons ( Whippet, Open Road, Playboy, etc... ranging from late '40s to late '60s ), Knox, and other vintage lables, two Adventurebilts, a range of modern Akubras and so on...
I won't blow smoke up John Penman or anyone else's you-know-whatski and say this is my favorite hat. I'll have to take it around the block a few times. But some time and considerable effort obviously goes into these hats. The finish is incredibly smooth, the color even...the ribbon is tight with the neat-o "invisible stitches", the sweatband is stiched in and bound at the back with precision...the liner is sewn in snugly...It's more than a work of art, it's a marvel of engineering lol . To simply call it "art" would be ignoring the attention to all the more practical aspects. However, it is also a thing of beauty :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap . For that I say: Thanks for the hat, John Penman. It's a keeper!

Edit: I forgot to mention that there is a limited vintage ribbon on this hat. A really substancial ribbon - nice flat green...

jimmy the lid · Dec 14, 2009

Great lookin' lid there, Kiltie. Congrats! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Is the felt Winchester's "moss green"?

Cheers,
JtL

Feraud · Dec 14, 2009

Good to read you are happy with your fedora kiltie.
I have to say the color looks amazing! :eusa_clap

kiltie said:

kiltie · Dec 14, 2009

Thanks

JtL and Feraud: Thanks so much.

JtL, I can't say with a firm degree of certainty that it's "moss green" by name as I asked simply for a green hat and liked the pic on the Penman web site ( if you haven't checked it out, by the way, there are a lot of nice pictures ). I can say that the picture taken over the wood planks is a good representation of the color on my monitor.

Feraud: Thanks again. "Happy" is a good description of the way I feel about this hat, and not just because it's MY new hat. For one thing, this is the first custom I've had made for me ( I was lucky enough to score a couple of ABs second hand and Steve Delk refurbed one of them for me - great guy to deal with, by the way ), so there's a deeper sense of ownership in that regard. But I'm also happy just to see that things like this are still possible and are being made. From the initial experience of talking with John Penman and landing on what it is that I wanted, to having the thing in my hand. John can seem downright terse in his posts on these forums, but to talk to him...he is a great guy and doesn't feel like he has to tell you simply what he thinks you want to hear. It's clear that when he's building these things, he really wants to make an impression - and he does.
The Penman Hats really raise the bar in what you expect in everything you buy, from the customer service aspect to receiving a product that actually exceeds your expectations. To go off on a bit of a tangent: if you walked into every buying experience with the same expectations and refused anything less, it would be a different world - the world most on this forum wax nostalgic about.
I've made a lot of adjustments in the last year about how I approach purchases on almost every level, and this hat ( of all things ) has served to reinforce the decisions I've made and even to direct me towards more intimate buying. Wanting to compliment the hat with custom shirts, etc... where I'm not just getting the satisfaction of getting what I want, how I want it, from people who really care about what they're doing, but in a real grass roots sort of way believing that I can influence something [huh] . Seriously: this forum is 10000+ strong. That's a demographic. Fundamental changes would have to be made by retailers and manufacturers to satisfy that demographic... ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!

'Kay...no more soapbox. Thanks again, and thanks Penman Hats...thank you San Antoniooooo...goodnight!

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