The finished Western

[Fatdutchman]

Here's photos of the finished Resistol Chestnut colored western hat. I just got my package from Hats by Leko ( www.hatsupply.com ), which is one of ONLY TWO suppliers I have found, after hours of searching the internet, that will sell you rayon/cotton grosgrain "millinery" ribbon. Got about 60 bucks worth of ribbon in 4 or 5 colors. I'm set for ribbon for some time. I chose the one that suited the color of the hat best.

Looking in my 1897 Sears catalog, the hats all had plain, square bows on the ribbons (though they were all only 1" wide), so I went for a simple bow for this hat. I did use a bit of the matching 7/8" ribbon to spruce up the cross-band a bit. I considered using this smaller ribbon to bind the edge, but I think I'll leave it the way it is and just call it finished.

The photos of the hat on my head show the color pretty true.

 

[carter]

Fatdutchman, That's a good lookin' hat. Nice ribbon treatment as well. :eusa_clap

 

[Fatdutchman]

Thanks, I think it turned out OK. The ribbon cooperated pretty nicely. After tacking it in place, I steamed it and it sucked right down and fitted itself to the hat...which is exactly what it's supposed to do. I TRIED to not pull the ribbon too tight. It's been my experience that the ribbon will tend to keep on shrinking. I have a hat or two that have been worn a lot, and over the span of just months, the ribbon continued to shrink and has durn near ripped itself completely loose from the tack-down points. I'd sure like for this ribbon to stay put now.

It's amazing too, just how much the addition of a ribbon will "shrink" the apparent height of the crown down.

By the way, the ONLY other ribbon supplier I was able to find was www.judithm.com . They did not have as wide a range of colors as did www.hatsupply.com , particularly in my favored brown range.

 

[Bebop]

Nice work. :eusa_clap You really made it come to life. I'm working on a 70's Resistol and I hope it ends up as nice as your hat.

 

[carter]

Thanks, I think it turned out OK. The ribbon cooperated pretty nicely. After tacking it in place, I steamed it and it sucked right down and fitted itself to the hat...which is exactly what it's supposed to do. I TRIED to not pull the ribbon too tight. It's been my experience that the ribbon will tend to keep on shrinking. I have a hat or two that have been worn a lot, and over the span of just months, the ribbon continued to shrink and has durn near ripped itself completely loose from the tack-down points. I'd sure like for this ribbon to stay put now.
It's amazing too, just how much the addition of a ribbon will "shrink" the apparent height of the crown down.
By the way, the ONLY other ribbon supplier I was able to find was www.judithm.com . They did not have as wide a range of colors as did www.hatsupply.com , particularly in my favored brown range.

My understanding is that modern ribbon isn't as good as the vintage product. Even the modern rayon/cotton ribbon is not as good because the rayon is not composed of the same fibers. Has anyone else read this recently?

I'm pretty sure that good rayon/cotton ribbon made in the day is getting harder and harder to find. I spent a good portion of one day in downtown Dallas recently looking for a shop that Art told me about. THey are supposed to have some vintage ribbon upstairs. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate this shop nad no one I talked to in businesses downtown knew of the shop. Without more to go on, I'm dead in the water.

Does anyone in the DFW area know of such an establishment in Dallas? They may be out of business but , if I can find the location, there may be old stock still on the site.

 

[indycop]

That's a great job!! the ribbon work looks fantastic!!!:eusa_clap

 

[DOUGLAS]

Beautiful, man! I love that flat bow:eusa_clap :eusa_clap This hat is going to offer you a great deal of sun protection.

 

[deanglen]

Nice to see a western hat that looks like it would have been worn in the real west, not a country music concert. Great hat, FD!




dean

 

[Mark G]

Nice job. Your hat looks great and looks great on you!

I've had the same problem with suppliers. I did manage to get a 6X dark brown blank from Leko and am looking forward to trying to turn that into a pencil edge brim, when I get a little time.

 

[AlanC]

Very nice work. It suits you well.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Fatdutchman, Great work! You did an especially nice job with that bow. Isn't it great to see something do what it's supposed to do? Was this your first experience with grosgrain? :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Carter (and anyone else in the DFW area), Peters Bros. Hatters in Fort Worth was nice enough to sell me a couple of yards of wide grosgrain ribbon, when I walked into their shop about six months ago.

 

[flylot74]

Man, I'm probably going to get flamed for this. It is a great looking hat, but....

I think you looked better with that Telescope crown Stetson you have, for some reason, now that I think about it. Perhaps its the photo. Maybe its because I'm envious too. When I wore a telescope crown, I looked like a goof!

 

[Razzman]

Great job. I really like the looks of the hat with the new ribbon.:eusa_clap

 

[Havana]

Beautiful hat and great work on the ribbon. (Nice moustache too)

 

[Fatdutchman]

This is the first time I have used NEW ribbon....it's the first time I have ever been able to even FIND any new ribbon to use! I've messed with several used ribbons.

The flat bow is simple, just fold it over a couple of times, put the cross band over it in the middle, and there you have it.

It's a big hat, for sure (4"brim). I wore it to work today. The gray/tan Stetson (which I have since found out is a "Revenger" in "mohave" color) is much more normal in size, and I think this general size suits me better (the brim on this one is 3 3/8"). I am going to bid on some more ebay hats of the standard cowboy hat size (3 1/2" brim), which I think will be just right!

I've seen several just in the last few days on ebay that have smaller brims and would make for a really nice fedora styled hat. So many hats.... I just don't have that much money!!!

 

[Fatdutchman]

(Nice moustache too)

It's a glue on...

:fedora:

 

[indycop]

It's a glue on...

:fedora:

Hahaha!!!lol lol

 

[ideaguy]

terrific job, all the way around:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I've just picked out my next West goes East project, a Vintage Royal Stetson
in a light, misty gray, white ribbon the crown is shorter than most, as is the brim, so it should be an easy tranition ( darn. cursed myself again:rage: )
I've got a few Westerns hanging around, so if you larger headed folks want
to maybe trade a fedora, give me a shout.
in the meantime, fatdutchman gets the trophy this week!!

 

[RBH]

Dutchman, great looking hat.
I have to add that I think it has a great adventure style to it also.
To me it has a real ''Allan Quatermain'' look to it. Great hat!
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Fatdutchman]

The newly beribboned Stetson "Revenger":

This one got a more conventional bow. 7/8" ribbon. The ribbon is VERY dark brown. In some light, it looks black, but in the same light, the hat looks gray. In sunlight, the ribbon looks brown, but also in sunlight, the hat looks tan, so it all works out fine.

The hat actually looks better in the photos than it does in "real life". It really could stand a complete going-over, cleaning, blocking, etc. BUT, I think I'll just leave it be.