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What is your favorite hat crease?

Mr E Train

One Too Many
Messages
1,050
Location
Terminus
This is what I was referring to, something like this

large_135066JaxonDiamondCrownWool4.jpg


as opposed to something like this (one of mine)

fd669165.jpg


At least that's all I can think of.
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,178
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
Depends on the hat. All my hats have a tight front pinch, but the tops are done according to how the hat looks good on my head. Some hats have a center dent, and others have a 'c' or teardrop.
 

Iyor

One of the Regulars
Messages
200
Location
NYC
top_thumb.jpg


I think I might ask Tony from Tumwater to put such a crease to my new hat on order.
 

Pompidou

One Too Many
Messages
1,242
Location
Plainfield, CT
Looking at that bash makes me ponder the possibility of an M shaped bash. You see, I'm more excited about my one of a kind Art Fawcett hat I'm shooting for in the near future than anything, and I don't just want a hat, I want a calling card, if that makes any sense. My real name is Matt, and an M bash would be different.
 

Yeps

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,456
Location
Philly
I voted for center dent with pinches, but it really depends on the hat. If I have to take out some crown so that my face does not get swamped, I will end up with more of a diamond or c-crown.

In any case, I prefer to have very loose pinches and creases that can be changed when my mood does.
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,178
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
Pompidou said:
Looking at that bash makes me ponder the possibility of an M shaped bash. You see, I'm more excited about my one of a kind Art Fawcett hat I'm shooting for in the near future than anything, and I don't just want a hat, I want a calling card, if that makes any sense. My real name is Matt, and an M bash would be different.

Ah, you guys with symmetrical first letters are soooo lucky! lol
 

AlterEgo

A-List Customer
Messages
320
Location
Southern USA
Recently, I've been leaning toward the pinched telescope, generally interchangeable with "teardrop," but the way I do it creates a deeper "moat" and more prominent "dome" than the latter term usually describes. This bash enables me to take a lot of the the height out of tall crown hats like the Fed IV, which don't look so good with too much altitude on my face and body type.

Yet the inherent hat shape, to some extent, will determine what crease will work no matter how skilled the basher. Try putting a pair of beautifully punched and perfectly symmetrical cattleman's creases in a bowler!. (I'm hoping someone will do just that and post the pics here.)

I much prefer an open-crown hat because of the ability to change the crease at will. A different bash completely changes the look; it's like having a brand new hat at no charge.

So, why do I keep buying new hats?
 

tnitz

New in Town
Messages
45
Location
Joseph, Oregon
As for steam...

I echo warnings about steam. I bought a steamer a few years back and have decided it's too "hard" on the felt. I now use it for the brims and crown ribbons and generally keep it away from the crown unless it's on a block.

I recently received a Camp Draft and wanted to see what would happen if I avoided any hard creases. I put a soft center dent and front pinches in it and they held just fine (and no-one would argue that's a fine hat felt).

I learned a couple things:
Where I live I would never be able to maintain an open crown hat with simply popping in a crease for wear and popping it back out for storage. I wish I could, but between sun and rain the crease will set within days.

The second thing I noticed is that the front creases remained pretty symmetrical over time, though they changed from the original. Also, the center crease and front pinches moved slightly to resemble a crease I have often purposely created, somewhere between an alpine crease and a raked center crease/front pinch crease. I don't know what that means, but it's interesting...

All that said, I have found a great use for the steamer. It is great for popping out the top dents on vintage bowlers and does a great job cleaning them. Well, it's also great for taking wrinkles out of suit jacket sleeves.

I'm now to the point that I refrain from water or steam unless absolutely needed it's hard on the hat and difficult to take a crease back out without reblocking. Looking at old movies from 20's and early 30's I don't think many of the hats worn were creased with the help of steam.
 

B.U.H.

New in Town
Messages
18
Location
Ruhrgebiet, Germany
Hello Gentlefolks,

maybe you could please let me know if there is a name for this crease, and what it is:

800-crease01.JPG


800-crease02.JPG


800-full01.JPG


OT: Since this is my first post, please allow me a short introduction. For many months I have been lurking on this board now and then, and it has been a tremendous help for me, especially this spring/summer when I finally retired three of my hats and was looking for new ones.
My Name is Bernhard, I am from the Ruhr industrial area in Germany and work as an IT-guy at a university. I am living with one wife, one daughter of 14 years, and a cat or two.
Most likely I will not post very much here, but having received so much information and advice, I want to give something back, and thus will (maybe on the next weekend) present the hat conversion project that led to the hat pictured above.

EDIT: Are the pictures above unreasonably big? Would you prefer smaller ones?

EDIT 2: Pictures are smaller now.
 

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