randooch
I'll Lock Up
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- Ukiah, California
Tom, did that Rex Allen come with the band shown? It's awesome.
Just curious, what in blazes is a "Belgian Chapeau Vimernet"? I know "chapeau" is "hat" to about 40% of the Belgians, and I suspect the rest refers to the color. I don't know about "Vimernet" though. I'm asking all this because I'm Belgian, and into cowboy hats some of the times, mostly fedoras though and in summer panama hats. Nice hat, by the way. Like the eye!
I did some sleuthing, and found out that "vimernet" was a typo of "vimenet" the name of a town in France and also a relatively common last name. Therefore it is the name of the store/hat company in Brussels: Chapeau Vimenet Bruxelles.
Ok; ok Yeps, thanks: Vimenot is the name. Mind you, I got that information from http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?4686-I-m-a-hat-IGNORAMUS because I found nothing beyond that on the web, neither have I ever heard of "Vimenot" which, given it was way before I was born, is not surprising. Unfortunately, Belgium is not so much a "hat country" these actual times, whereas on the other hand, Belgium was at some time in the past famous for the quality of its rabbit fur.
There is one famous Belgian hat designer nowadays, his name is Christophe Coppens, he's supplied some famous people (99% ladies) with stylish hats indeed, but I consider that to be less the pure "hatter" (meaning felt and leather) than the "stylist" branch of the hatmakers' art http://www.christophecoppens.com/ and that's not really my thing, and certainly not "western"...
Glad I could help, even if not much. By the way, I think I found the hat you were referring to. I would say it is more like the Open Road or the Borsalino Alessandria than a cowboy hat, but those do have a western feel to them.
Anyway, changing the subject. I have a used Akubra Cattleman on the way as we speak (I know, outback is different from western). It has been reverted more or less to an open crown, although there are still crease marks in it. Given that I will be working on the crown already to make it look nice again, I was thinking that I would give it a new bash. Any suggestions for style? I was thinking of telescoping it, to look kinda Clint Eastwood style, but I am not sure.
Since the Aussie style of Cattleman crease is based on a sort of telescoped crown with front pinches you should have no problem getting a good flat Telescope style of crease. Just be liberal with the steam and you might want to remove the liner while shaping it to allow you to steam the inside as well. Post some before/after pics when youre done