Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

The Conversion Corral

Sam Craig

One Too Many
Messages
1,356
Location
Great Bend, Kansas
Those are both great
I especially like the Cagney

I did that recently with an old white Stetson that someone had worn for work to the point that it was stained through

It really developed a great character with the rebuild and I used a dark chocolate Petersham ribbon, which blends from the white into the "distressed" part

It ended up sort of like Gary Cooper's hat in Meet John Doe

Great job and it's great seeing new life for these, instead of a toy box or trash can

Sam
 

danofarlington

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,122
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Heres the second hat. I was going for the James Cagney style with this one. High crown and short brim. I decided to make my own ribbon using a vintage ribbon from a project hat. I thought that adding the frayed edge on the ribbon would give the hat that 20's/30's touch. The original liner and design of the sweatband stamp make it look much older than the hat probably is.

DSC04609.jpg

Nice job on both of them! Hearing your Cagney hat described before seeing it, I didn't think I'd like it. But seeing it, I do. Now that you mention Cagney, that second hat definitely gives you an appearance of someone not to mess with. You could stand in for Meyer Lansky, for instance.
 

Mobile Vulgus

One Too Many
Messages
1,144
Location
Chicago
Here is my next conversion project.

Picked up this tan 5X Stetson cowboy hat. Going to make it a fedora. Thinking of a copper or brown ribbon.

I'll have it in a week or so. Here is what it looked like in the auction...

stetson_5X_projecthat_01.jpg


stetson_5X_projecthat_02.jpg


stetson_5X_projecthat_03.jpg


Has the square, black size tag. What do you think... late 1960s?
 

Joshbru3

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,409
Location
Chicago, IL
Nice job on both of them! Hearing your Cagney hat described before seeing it, I didn't think I'd like it. But seeing it, I do. Now that you mention Cagney, that second hat definitely gives you an appearance of someone not to mess with. You could stand in for Meyer Lansky, for instance.

Thank you danofarlington! Im not usually a stingy brim fan anymore, but theres something about that late 20's/early 30's tall crown/short brim look that I absolutely love. Whats funny is that a girl at work just called me Meyer Lansky last week. LOL.
 

Joshbru3

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,409
Location
Chicago, IL
Those are both great
I especially like the Cagney

I did that recently with an old white Stetson that someone had worn for work to the point that it was stained through

It really developed a great character with the rebuild and I used a dark chocolate Petersham ribbon, which blends from the white into the "distressed" part

It ended up sort of like Gary Cooper's hat in Meet John Doe

Great job and it's great seeing new life for these, instead of a toy box or trash can

Sam

Thanks Sam Craig! I think the "Cagney" is my favorite hat out of the two as well. I don't usually wear dark brown hats, but I absolutely love this one. Do you have pictures of your "Meet John Doe" rebuild? That was an excellent movie by the way! Im also really glad that people are starting to convert these old cowboy hats. A lot of them have high quality felt and it would be a shame to have many of them wind up in the toy box or trash can. The major benefits of rebuilding cowboy hats are the wide brims, high crowns, and good amount of felt stiffener often used.
 

Mobile Vulgus

One Too Many
Messages
1,144
Location
Chicago
This was an old 1950s era (I think) No. 1 Quality Stetson in silverbelly. It needs a cleaning and re-blocking, but here it is so far...

5322222892_2029d4954e.jpg


5321622029_816b9d9a19.jpg


5322223184_a254be0597.jpg


5322223070_dd9601ed9b.jpg
 

Mobile Vulgus

One Too Many
Messages
1,144
Location
Chicago
Here is another project. I got a cheapie Stetson (well, cheap to me as a used hat, anyway) and have cut it down. It was a crumpled 5X western with a 4" brim. All smashed up, really. First stage looked like this:

5332492802_5f4c00a827.jpg

5331879127_31bbb0e134.jpg


Stage two required cutting off a bit of the brim to make it a 2-1/2 brim and give a quick reshape to the crown.

5332492882_a26ab9c2ca.jpg

5331879203_a1fb878063.jpg


By the way, this one has a holographic sticker on the sweatband (you can see it a little above). When did Stetson start putting those on their hats?

Anyway, stage 3 will be to take it to Optimo for a ribbon bound brim and a reblocking.

UPDATE

I've decided to throw this one up on ebay. I have a few ORs and western types and really don't need it.
 
Last edited:

suitedcboy

One Too Many
Messages
1,348
Location
Fort Worth Texas or thereabouts
I think someone at Stetson was fascinated by the similar label Microsoft uses on their products to assure authenticity. I have a couple of Stetson westerns that had those round labels on the sweatbands. The adhesive used on label gets slimey when mixed with sweat and human oils so I peeled them off.
I would place the period of use as 1995-2000 range.
 

Alan-Eby

Familiar Face
Messages
96
Location
Western New Mexico
Have any of you turned a western hat into a homburg? I'm thinking of trying it sometime in the near future and was wondering if anyone else has done it?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,255
Messages
3,077,403
Members
54,183
Latest member
UrbanGraveDave
Top