Who to go to for repairs for Dad's Borsalino

[John in Covina]

Hi All!

I have been trying to figure out who to go to for cleaning, resizing, replace satin liner and leather sweat band on my Dad's old Bosalino from the 40's or 50's. Any suggestions> Please leave a web address if posible so I can reead their policies and see what their price structure is for these services.

Warmest regards,

john in Covina (Southern California)

 

[Andykev]

Optimo comes to mind

For cheaning, I recommend Optimo Hats in Chicago. Usually runs about $35 for clean and block, plus shipping. 773-238-2999.
http://www.optimohats.com/

Cleaning and Blocking page

http://www.hatcleaning.com/

 

[besdor]

hat cleaning

Andykev is right . Optimo is a great place for renovating hats . If you live on the west coast , I would also recommend Monticristi Hats Works in Santa Fe NM . It's a great store as well .:cool2:

 

[Johnnysan]

A third vote for Optimo...

Just recently sent them a Stetson Stratoliner for refurbish work and was very pleased with their work. I posted a rather lengthy review of their work on this hat here: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=5263&page=2

 

[riccardo]

Italian fine hatter for an italian fine hat.

Hi to all,
I would like to advice you a nice and very fine hatter here in Italy.
Mr.Sergio Anzani "Cappelleria Melegari" in Milan Via Paolo Sarpi,19.
His web site www.cappelleriamelegari.com .
He has cleaned,reblock,,replace sweatband on my Open Road Stetson for only Euro 25,00+shipping.
He is a very professional hatter, and very honest.(like the others named here by the friends on the lounge!)
Take a look.

Italian hatter for italian hat!!

www.cappelleriamelegari.com


Best regards.
Riccardo.

 

[Pilgrim]

Another option: Greeley Hatworks, Greeley Colorado. Use the pull-down menu on the home page to select [Hat Restoration] and you'll find their pricing and toll-free phone near the bottom of the page. Their pricing is very reasonable.

These are very good people, been there since 1909. They do a primary business in Western hats, but work with dress hats all the time. Much of their equipment they use dates back to the 1800's - we're talking about the time-tested methods of working on hats.

I'd trust them to do anything with my hats - right now they're doing a deep cleaning and re-blocking on a Western hat I inherited from my dad.

 

[MattC]

Ditto Optimo

He's done quite a few hats for me, and the work is always the best.

 

[Damon Falzone]

Optimo Hats

I just got my Montecristi back from Optimo Hats. It was cleaned, re-blocked, new sweatband and hatband- the works. And it looks great! Have no fear, send your hat to Optimo.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

How 'bout Art?

I'm sending a hat out to Art Fawcett any day now. He's just getting set up in his new place. I'll gladly post an opinion of his work when I get it back. I know I could have gone with Optimo, but I wanted to support this forum's community, and he came highly recommended. (Seems like an awfully good fellow, to boot).

 

[John in Covina]

Contact info or web site for "Art?"

 

[Andykev]

If this helps

You can find Art Fawcett on this web site, and PM him anytime. His old web page is this:

http://www.vintagesilhouettes.com/


I have his home, office, and cell number, You can PM me with your info and I wlll pass it along anytime.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Or see the thread "Art's Getting Close". He just posted all his info.

 

[D. Hats]

Cleaning, Reblocking, etc.

I work in Burbank, Ca. and on Burbank Blvd there's a hat shop called Baron's California Hats.
I'm new to the Fedora Lounge site so it's possible Baron's has been talked about before... I don't know, but I have had a couple old Stetson Royal Deluxes, one Stetson 20, and a Halsey cleaned and reblocked by them and I was very happy with the results.
I have actually purchased one Fedora and one Porkpie custom made by them that I've received several compliments on.
Your in Covina, maybe you'll want to check them out.

D. Hats:

 

[John in Covina]

Found A Place to Take Dad's Borsalino to for Restoration

From the Mountains to the Valleys and to all the ships at sea, here is the News!

I had made an inquiry and gotten an answer from the Monticristi guys in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are currently doing restoration and repairs limited to their own brand of hats, but they suggested Baron Hats in Burbank. I reviewed the Baron web site at www.baronhats.com but could not find a repair, restoration or reconstructive services listed on there. I then sent to Baron an e-mail yesterday about restoration services. The owner Mark Mejia wrote me back and quoted prices this morning. Burbank is a scant 30 miles away which in Los Angeles terms is nearby if under an hour?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s drive. It is even shorter than that one way trip to my old job. So I packed up my dad's Borsalino with Mark?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s email, a map from Mapquest and took to the legendary Los Angeles freeway system. From Covina I went North to the 210 and headed West to 134 West then to the 5 freeway North a couple of exits. I got off at Burbank Boulevard and went West about 6 blocks to their corner establishment. Baron ?¢‚Ǩ?ìCalifornia?¢‚Ǩ? Hats said the big sign outside and in the window next to many hats was a bright neon that said Hats Cleaned and Reblocked or something like that. Inside were many more hats of all kinds along with a lot of fantasy hats and hats of the movies that they had made. There were also many movie posters.

At the counter to the right was a gentleman I recognized from the web site, Mark Mejia. He was speaking quite rapidly in Spanish to a young man in a work apron. Mark was speaking about a western hat he had in his hand and described something about the crown then continued giving instructions. When he finished, Mark turned to me and asked how they could help. I showed him my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino and the email. I related that I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d just inquired recently about their services and Mark?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s email. He asked to examine the hat while I listed what I wanted done. I figured Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino needed a cleaning with re-blocking, to be resized to 7-1/8th, have a new sweat band and new satin liner to replace the originals. Mark gingerly removed the last thread holding the sweat band and pulled lightly on the satin liner and gave an audible gasp! He was very excited to see there was the original careful hand stitching that held the liner to the crown! Mark then exclaimed something in Spanish and took the hat to show the guy in the apron, someone in back, the guy at the counter and the lady at the sewing section across the room and with each spoke about the stitching. He came back to me and said that such stitching is pretty rare, while he has seen it in the past, those at the shop probably had not seen this feature before. Mark said in admiration of the stitching that it was a detail you would likely not find in today?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hats as it would be prohibitly expensive to do. Mark asked me to talk to one of the youngsters at the counter to write me up. Taking my contact info and listing my desired services, he checked my head size to be certain of the sizing. (This I appreciated highly, as a young man I worked in the shoe department at JC Penny?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s. As a shoe salesman I knew the number of people that thought they knew their shoe size but actually did not was very high. There are a number of people that understand that they have a wide foot and benefited greatly in comfort while avoiding the unsightly toe curl associated with buying shoes too big to accommodate their width, because I took the time to measure their feet and explain about widths.) Before I left I looked at some of the hats and I am certain that I will get a custom hat from them in the near future. They had some swell Italian Straw Boaters of interest!

10 days to two weeks is the time I am to patiently wait and hope for good news about a hat that will pass from being my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino to being mine. Oh I am keeping the old liner and sweat band. I had a thrill actually when the sweat band fell out, there from the time my Dad brought home his hat, inked into the inside of the sweat band, was his carefully printed name: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìO. ERICKSON?¢‚Ǩ? and I instantly recognized my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s writing style.

It has been 6 years since my Dad passed away. I still miss him, and think of him everyday. Like so many of us, we discover that we become our parents. So, I hear his voice and his thoughts, when I speak to people about things. Because I hear him talking to me as a kid and as a teenager and as a young man in the business world trying to make my way I will always treasure his advice. (My Dad was a machinist of high caliber and he had taken many classes to become a machinist including mechanical drafting. His high degree of competence and know how for reading blue prints and correctly setting up those lathes and milling machines lead to making many prototypes and one off projects. I believe it is this formal portion of his education that lead to a distinctive style of printing he used, which is why I readily recognized his handiwork.) Also if it is true about the numbering system for Borsalino?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s, then Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hat was made in 1947, the paper label under the band?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s number started with 47. In 1947, my Dad was out of the Army by then, and WWII had concluded just a couple years before. This is before Mom and Dad were married or even knew each other. Heck Mom had not even made it to the US yet while Dad had come at the age of 7 in 1929 only months before the markets Big Crash and the start of Great Depression.

I was so excited to bring the hat in to be fixed, I neglected to get any ?¢‚Ǩ?ìbefore?¢‚Ǩ? pictures, but I will get some ?¢‚Ǩ?ìafter?¢‚Ǩ? pictures to post. Wish me luck and I let you know how things go.

Baron ?¢‚ǨÀúCalifornia?¢‚Ǩ? Hats
1619 West Burbank Avenue
Burbank, CA 91506

Phone 818-563-3025 to contact Mark Mejia, Owner and Master Hat Maker

Good Night Mister and Missus America!

 

[Michael Mallory]

I've always had good luck with Baron California Hats in Burbank. They charge $25 for cleaning and reblocking, and will pretty much do whatever you want. Most recently I took them a coconut-straw gambler and asked them to reblock it as a fedora. I'm not sure they "got it" when I first asked, but then they saw the result and liked it.