"The Society of Vagabonds"

[Aureliano]

What a beauty Gene! Where did you get it? I'm always in the lookout for this hats! Welcome to the vagabonds' society my friend!:eusa_clap

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

What a beauty Gene! Where did you get it? I'm always in the lookout for this hats! Welcome to the vagabonds club my friend!:eusa_clap

Local antique store - which is highly unusual around here. Check out the New Hats thread...

 

[bolthead]

These are great Lids.....

They remind me a bit of a Playboy, I'd love to own one some day.

 

[RBH]

Here's mine and I'm thrilled to have obtained it!

[

Welcome to the Society my brother!!!

 

[Aureliano]

see below

 

[Aureliano]

I reposted the pictures because I wanted to mention that my vagabond is truly in bad shape. The felt is dirty, the ribbon was unraveling, the sweat was completely rotten and replaced with a vintage one. I want you opinion guys. Should I send it to Optimo (or Art for that matter) and have it cleaned? Part of me wants to say yes buy another just wants to keep it looking like, well, a Vagabond! old, dirty and a little sloppy. I feel that replacing the ribbon will kill the hat but at the same time will make it look better. What to do? Gene, RBH, Marc what do you guys think?

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Very good question, Aureliano. I can sympathize with you on this. I prefer, if at all possible, to avoid replacing trimmings on vintage hats - but some hats just need to get refurbished and yours is one of 'em I think.

Optimo has some great ribbon and I'll bet that after Graham fixes that hat up you'll want to wear it a lot. And just think of it this way; it was a very common practice in old days to have your hat cleaned and rebuilt if it was a favorite. By repairing yours you're not breaking with vintage tradition, you're actually living it!

 

[Aureliano]

Thank you Gene. You're right. I might send it. Now I just have to get over the weird feeling I have of mailing the hat. I'm terrified of something happening to it...

 

[RBH]

Have that one worked on. But be on the lookout for another Vagabond!
These hats are something else!

 

[Aureliano]

Yeah, they are indeed. Hard to find though!

 

[Aureliano]

Before and After...

Hi guys,

So I took it upon myself to give my 80 years old Vagabond a small make over.
Thanks to the encouragement of Gene and RBH I decided to go ahead and replace the rotting bow and sweatband. Today I finally found some vintage 7/8'' ribbon! and some felt cleaner and after 6 hours of work this is the result.
BTW, all the way through I was TERRIFIED of screwing up and damaging the hat even more than it already is due to age and the way it was stored and later dumped on the street.
Rotten and discolored bow:

Dirty hat body:

I found a vintage Herbert Johnson sweatband in ok condition. I cut a rectangular hole on the side and was able to attach the Knox Logo which was the only thing I was able to preserve from the original leather.

After I sewed the new bow (I made it exactly as the original measuring every fold! the flash makes it look a bit shiny), cleaned it with scout and changed the bash from a teardrop to a center dent with steam:

 

[RBH]

Hi guys,

So I took it upon myself to give my 80 years old Vagabond a small make over.
Thanks to the encouragement of Gene and RBH I decided to go ahead and replace the rotting bow and sweatband. Today I finally found some vintage 7/8'' ribbon! and some felt cleaner and after 6 hours of work this is the result.
BTW, all the way through I was TERRIFIED of screwing up and damaging the hat even more than it already is due to age and the way it was stored and later dumped on the street.
Rotten and discolored bow:

Dirty hat body:

I found a vintage Herbert Johnson sweatband in ok condition. I cut a rectangular hole on the side and was able to attach the Knox Logo which was the only thing I was able to preserve from the original leather.

After I sewed the new bow (I made it exactly as the original measuring every fold! the flash makes it look a bit shiny), cleaned it with scout and changed the bash from a teardrop to a center dent with steam:

Great job!!!!!
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Aureliano]

Great job!!!!!
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Thanks!

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jimmy the lid]

Looks great, Aureliano! :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Aureliano]

Thanks CB and Jimmy. I'm really happy with the outcome. I think that it is now quite wearable!

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Not only is the entire refurb very well done, but THIS is one of the most clever tricks I've ever seen on The Lounge. :eusa_clap

 

[Aureliano]

Not only is the entire refurb very well done, but THIS is one of the most clever tricks I've ever seen on The Lounge. :eusa_clap

Gotta get crafty Gene! I tried all sorts of glues to get a perfect bond but since the logo part was so rotten nothing held on. I ended up using, from all things, the rabbit skin glue I use for sizing and stretching my canvases! Thanks for the nice feedback. Here, before and after:

 

[gtdean48]

Very SLICK refurb & sweatband salvage!!! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Aureliano]

Thanks gents!