Vintage Silhouettes Custom Hats - Official Affiliate Thread

[deadlyhandsome]

Art, do you have a date for when you will stop accepting new orders?


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[XPLSV]

Art, do you have a date for when you will stop accepting new orders?


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If you drive to Central Point, Art is still accepting orders at the shop. At least he was earlier today

 

[deadlyhandsome]

If you drive to Central Point, Art is still accepting orders at the shop. At least he was earlier today

I’m know he is still taking order now, but I was wondering when he was planning on stopping. I’m trying to talk myself (and wife) into getting a hat in Dove Grey and I need to know when my deadline is.


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[Scarr]

Is Coyote available again? I believe it was one of the colors, like confederate, that was no longer available. Maybe I’m confusing it with a different color?


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Oops, I meant open crown, 4 3/4 finished crown.

 

[XPLSV]

No announced date, yet, but Art did mention he is considered the order backlog and all—he pick his final hat completion date and back up from there for orders. I know he is thinking about it and there has been a big jump in interest since he mentioned thoughts of retiring. Time for the spring cleaning garage sale to plus up the VS hat ordering fund!

 

[belfastboy]

He has or has had both pecan and whiskey and refers to them as such.

He also has an exclusive colour called Coyote.....just to confuse things

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[scottyrocks]

I’m know he is still taking order now, but I was wondering when he was planning on stopping. I’m trying to talk myself (and wife) into getting a hat in Dove Grey and I need to know when my deadline is.

If the Dove you are looking at is the same as my Dove, then I can tell you it's a very warm gray, quite unique and beautiful.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Winchester is having issues and the Dove color is not currently available. Bummer.


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[Art Fawcett]

In answer to your question DH, I really don't know at the moment. I am about 4 months deep right now so I'm thinking September to stop taking orders. We haven't quite worked out how to handle orders after that , I'm just sure I can't do them myself. I do have a buyer interested in taking the entire business but no money has exchanged hands so no firm commitment is in place. Once that happens I hope to have firm answers for everyone.

 

[scottyrocks]

After all the time I have owned these hats, I happened to notice, yesterday, that under one of the the top covers of the hat boxes is the word 'Pecan' written in blue pen. So I guess the darker one one is pecan and the one that was in (more of a) question is Dove.

 

[Barrelhouse]

In answer to your question DH, I really don't know at the moment. I am about 4 months deep right now so I'm thinking September to stop taking orders. We haven't quite worked out how to handle orders after that , I'm just sure I can't do them myself. I do have a buyer interested in taking the entire business but no money has exchanged hands so no firm commitment is in place. Once that happens I hope to have firm answers for everyone.

Hello Friend Art, It's been too long!! I'm glad business is booming for you. Nighthawk and I were just talking about you. Maybe by the fall we can save some pennies and place an order......can't have too many Fawcett classics!

 

[XPLSV]

During my travels of this past week, I was fortunate to have the chance to drive down to Central Point and visit the master milliner at his shop. Easily the highlight of my travels through California and Oregon. I also had the official measurement and verified my slight suspicion that I was an extra long oval rather than just a plain old long oval...

Art answered a multitude of questions I had and was gracious enough to show me his shop and equipment. All of it was very interesting and there was even more than I knew. Hopefully I didn't delay my fellow lounger's orders while I occupied some of Art's busy day, but I sure did appreciate his hospitality. I also placed an order for a Honeyboy and an Open Road clone--I have had a bunch of very nice Open Roads go through my hands over the years (to include a mint condition 7X Clear Beaver), but I've never had one that truly fit nice. Now I will!

 

[Art Fawcett]

Hello Friend Art, It's been too long!! I'm glad business is booming for you. Nighthawk and I were just talking about you. Maybe by the fall we can save some pennies and place an order......can't have too many Fawcett classics!

Boy, I was just thinking of calling you Sir, it's been too long. As you can tell from my post, last year was an eventful one and has lead to my decision to retire. It's good to see you stop into the Lounge.

Thank you for posting Bernie, I wasn't aware you were taking pics, it's all good

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have three hats at VS for varying levels of refurbishment. The first hat is a green velour Borsalino. It was a nice hat, but I wore it twice in the last two years. I thought about selling it as I wasn’t wearing it. In the end, I decided to send it to VS to have it reblocked to get less taper and more crown height at the expense of some of the brim width (3 1/4”!). As I’ve often done, I’ve given Art and Co. Some general direction and left the specifics to them. $85 for what is really going to be a new velour Borsalino in my size! Sounds alike a great deal to me.

I also sent VS a cheap black Borsalino for conversion into an Alessandria/Open Road.

Lastly, Art has my Stetson One-Hundred for cleaning, a ribbon, and some general sprucing up.

The prices VS charge for hat work make it one of the best bargains of any kind in the hat world. I sure hope this continues after Art retires. Art did mention that he has seen a flood of hat work and his return times have doubled to a still reasonable 60 days.


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[Delthayre]

A few weeks ago while my parents were visiting, we went to the Sansom Street Oyster House for lunch. As we walked in, a couple sitting near the front complimented my hat. My father and I continued on to our table, but my mother stayed and talked with them a long time. When she finally came back, she said that they loved the way that I was dressed and had asked about the hat, which she had said was made by a man in Oregon and the man wanted to know who made it. In fact, I was wearing my Leon Drexler Milaner at the time, but I dutifully wrote several hatters, including Art, down on a piece of paper and took it over to them. As I approached, the man raised his smartphone up with the VS Custom Hats website displayed and mentioned how he had been wanting to go visit him. I heartily endorsed Art's work and told them that he was planning to retire. The man seemed disappointed at that, but I assured him that he could order a hat successfully without actually visiting the shop. I don't know if he'll act upon that, but I was sort of pleased to spread the good word.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I sent the first hat that Art ever made for me (I might fix those image links some day) back for renovation. It is roughly eleven years, eight jobs, five addresses, four cities and two states old now and had definitely been worn down a little by more than a decade of regular wearing. I'd meant to send it back last year, but lost track of that in a slightly crowded year. Not uniquely, the announcement that he's cashing in the relaxation that years of hard work owe him was the blow to the hindquarters that I needed to send it in.

It was delivered last Monday and I'm very pleased with the refurbishment. If you didn't know that it was made in 2008 or what to look for, one might think that it's a new hat. The lining had come loose, the ribbon was stained and faded, there were a few blemishes on it and I dare say some tapering, all of which have been pretty well attended to.

(Click here for original size)

(Those are the original ribbon and bow on sitting in front of the hat)

 

[Rmccamey]

Great refurb...and a proper hat box! I wish some of the other custom hatters would realize that it is often those little things, other than the hat itself, that can sell a hat and make for a better customer experience...which will generate more word-of-mouth and more repeat business!

Thanks for sharing your story with your new friend and with us here on the Lounge!

A few weeks ago while my parents were visiting, we went to the Sansom Street Oyster House for lunch. As we walked in, a couple sitting near the front complimented my hat. My father and I continued on to our table, but my mother stayed and talked with them a long time. When she finally came back, she said that they loved the way that I was dressed and had asked about the hat, which she had said was made by a man in Oregon and the man wanted to know who made it. In fact, I was wearing my Leon Drexler Milaner at the time, but I dutifully wrote several hatters, including Art, down on a piece of paper and took it over to them. As I approached, the man raised his smartphone up with the VS Custom Hats website displayed and mentioned how he had been wanting to go visit him. I heartily endorsed Art's work and told them that he was planning to retire. The man seemed disappointed at that, but I assured him that he could order a hat successfully without actually visiting the shop. I don't know if he'll act upon that, but I was sort of pleased to spread the good word.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I sent the first hat that Art ever made for me (I might fix those image links some day) back for renovation. It is roughly eleven years, eight jobs, five addresses, four cities and two states old now and had definitely been worn down a little by more than a decade of regular wearing. I'd meant to send it back last year, but lost track of that in a slightly crowded year. Not uniquely, the announcement that he's cashing in the relaxation that years of hard work owe him was the blow to the hindquarters that I needed to send it in.

It was delivered last Monday and I'm very pleased with the refurbishment. If you didn't know that it was made in 2008 or what to look for, one might think that it's a new hat. The lining had come loose, the ribbon was stained and faded, there were a few blemishes on it and I dare say some tapering, all of which have been pretty well attended to.

(Click here for original size)

(Those are the original ribbon and bow on sitting in front of the hat)

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I just got my latest hat back from Art. I’m sent it in for some refurbishment, a reblock, and a slight size adjustment. The work is, as always, superb.

Art’s normal return time has been running around 30 days. Art warned be beforehand that he’s swamped and this work ran about 75 days. I imagine that the waits will only increase as we approach Art’s retirement.


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[Cornshucker77]

I just got my latest hat back from Art. I’m sent it in for some refurbishment, a reblock, and a slight size adjustment. The work is, as always, superb.

Art’s normal return time has been running around 30 days. Art warned be beforehand that he’s swamped and this work ran about 75 days. I imagine that the waits will only increase as we approach Art’s retirement.


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I really like that ribbon. I think I'm going to try and copy that on my Resistol refurbish that I have posted in the Rockwater thread.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

A couple years ago, Anthony @moontheloon mentioned that he ordered a band block when he ordered a hat from VS. I finally remembered and added a band block to my last order. It’s a handy thing to have and I highly recommend adding one if you place an order with VS. Not only my size, but also my head shape.

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[mustangman3000]

Been a while since I’ve posted but I recently photographed a lot of my hats so I might as well share

Casablanca inspired fedora in sandstone

Pecan featherweight with grey ribbon

Rabbit black cherry with triple stitched brim and grey ribbon

Black with burgundy ribbon

The first custom hat I ever got. It’s responsible for my love of tall crowns hahaha

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