Wolfbrae Custom Hatters

[belfastboy]

East Texas pineywoods and the gulf coast will give you plenty of humidity. I have too much in central Texas for my liking. Tyler is another very nice locale; big enough for a TV station but not so big they have to have a traffic reporter! Victoria, TX is a very nice and under-appreciated "small town" that often goes unnoticed...about 100 miles off the coast.

Nice lakes and hunting in the northeast: Mt. Pleasant, Mt. Vernon, Paris.

I like higher elevations and piece and quiet. I could easily live in Fort Davis or Alpine, just north of Big Bend.

Alpine is a great small town.

 

[Rmccamey]

Another brag post for Robert @belfastboy - Wolfbrae Hatters - and his ever-increasing skills as a hatter. I purchased a Sunbody bowler that came in with the standard cloth sweat and ribbon, a wonky brim, and a cone-shaped crown. Robert expertly re-blocked the crown to give it a nice, rounded, more traditional bowler crown and installed a leather sweat and a deep purple (Smoke on the Water) grosgrain ribbon. It is hard to put a D'Orsay curl on thick straw, so we decided on a more traditional "western-look" curled brim. Thanks Robert, I now have another great straw for summer weather.

 

[Blare]

Another brag post for Robert @belfastboy - Wolfbrae Hatters - and his ever-increasing skills as a hatter. I purchased a Sunbody bowler that came in with the standard cloth sweat and ribbon, a wonky brim, and a cone-shaped crown. Robert expertly re-blocked the crown to give it a nice, rounded, more traditional bowler crown and installed a leather sweat and a deep purple (Smoke on the Water) grosgrain ribbon. It is hard to put a D'Orsay curl on thick straw, so we decided on a more traditional "western-look" curled brim. Thanks Robert, I now have another great straw for summer weather.

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Looks fantastic. Robert did a wonderful job

 

[belfastboy]

Exciting news this morning. I just secured hundreds of yards of vintage European grosgrain ribbon. This will supplement the hundreds more I have picked up from Art @VS. I now have thousands of yards of vintage grosgrain and for a long while do not have to engage in the hunt for vintage ribbon.

 

[humanshoes]

Exciting news this morning. I just secured hundreds of yards of vintage European grosgrain ribbon. This will supplement the hundreds more I have picked up from Art @VS. I now have thousands of yards of vintage grosgrain and for a long while do not have to engage in the hunt for vintage ribbon.

Congrats on the big score Robert. The time to buy quality grosgrain ribbon is whenever and wherever you find it.

 

[belfastboy]

Congrats on the big score Robert. The time to buy quality grosgrain ribbon is whenever and wherever you find it.

Thanks, I am declaring the hunt is now over unless I stumble upon another stash. I can get a bit obsessive especially when it comes to anytihng that engages my 'collector' mindset so at least by declaring the hunt over it may at least slow me down. I estimate I have 5000 yards of vintage in a goodly range of colours & widths.....also realizing I will continually discover I don't have the exact right colour or width in stock for a particular hat but what is one to do?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

My latest Wolfbrae. This is my first using the suede finished rabbit fur felt from The Millinery Warehouse. The color is their version of silverbelly. The ribbon is maroon and the binding is just a bit lighter than the felt. The minimal taper 6” open crown an 3 1/8” brim were just what I wanted. The felt has a nice hand and is substantial in weigh and thickness. It’s nothing like western weight felt…it’s like Stetsons recent Royal De Luxe/Premier open crown dress felt. The details and workmanship is very nice.

The best part is there were two other hats in the box from Wolfbrae!

 

[bobm]

Very, very nice hat and "fits" you well. So, what are the other two hats in the box?

 

[Frunobulax]

My latest Wolfbrae. This is my first using the suede finished rabbit fur felt from The Millinery Warehouse. The color is their version of silverbelly. The ribbon is maroon and the binding is just a bit lighter than the felt. The minimal taper 6” open crown an 3 1/8” brim were just what I wanted. The felt has a nice hand and is substantial in weigh and thickness. It’s nothing like western weight felt…it’s like Stetsons recent Royal De Luxe/Premier open crown dress felt. The details and workmanship is very nice.


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The best part is there were two other hats in the box from Wolfbrae!

Cool liner.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Very, very nice hat and "fits" you well. So, what are the other two hats in the box?

I’ll post them later today.

 

[Blare]

My latest Wolfbrae. This is my first using the suede finished rabbit fur felt from The Millinery Warehouse. The color is their version of silverbelly. The ribbon is maroon and the binding is just a bit lighter than the felt. The minimal taper 6” open crown an 3 1/8” brim were just what I wanted. The felt has a nice hand and is substantial in weigh and thickness. It’s nothing like western weight felt…it’s like Stetsons recent Royal De Luxe/Premier open crown dress felt. The details and workmanship is very nice.


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The best part is there were two other hats in the box from Wolfbrae!

This is stunning. I love the liner. Is the Constitution liner new from Robert or did I just miss that in the past?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This is stunning. I love the liner. Is the Constitution liner new from Robert or did I just miss that in the past?

He offered it to me after sourcing the material. He can seemingly do just about anything.

 

[Blare]

He offered it to me after sourcing the material. He can seemingly do just about anything.

Robert’s work is becoming quite impressive.

 

[belfastboy]

This is stunning. I love the liner. Is the Constitution liner new from Robert or did I just miss that in the past?

I found a piece of this imprinted liner with the US Constitution overlay. I thought it too cool to pass up but it was just a remnant/end of bolt so was not able to buy much. I do have a bit left.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I wasn’t sure that this felt was going to get me where I wanted to go as it arrived floppy and seemingly without any stiffeners. The felt turned out perfect! I had a vintage look in mind and Robert nailed it! The felt is actually rabbit velour, but it now has a melusine/long hair look. The color is The Millinery Warehouse’s version of camel, but is quite a different than Winchester’s camel. The crown was 6” open and the raw edge brim is 3 5/8” after the curl.

 

[belfastboy]

I wasn’t sure that this felt was going to get me where I wanted to go as it arrived floppy and seemingly without any stiffeners. The felt turned out perfect! I had a vintage look in mind and Robert nailed it! The felt is actually rabbit velour, but it now has a melusine/long hair look. The crown was 6” open and the raw edge brim is 3 5/8” after the curl.


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That looks great on you. I really struggled with the choice on this one. The brim curl added some structural strength to the brim and decided not to add any stiffener as I thought the bit of 'floppiness' suited the overall soft look of the hat. I have still have 2 more of these velours of yours so we can perhaps try something different with the next one.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

That looks great on you. I really struggled with the choice on this one. The brim curl added some structural strength to the brim and decided not to add any stiffener as I thought the bit of 'floppiness' suited the overall soft look of the hat. I have still have 2 more of these velours of yours so we can perhaps try something different with the next one.

For sure. I’d like to try new things and add more diversity to my collection.

The hats came out great! I’m still working with the granite as it didn’t like what I’ve tried so far. I’m sure I’ll find something that works. Thank you!

 

[humanshoes]

I wasn’t sure that this felt was going to get me where I wanted to go as it arrived floppy and seemingly without any stiffeners. The felt turned out perfect! I had a vintage look in mind and Robert nailed it! The felt is actually rabbit velour, but it now has a melusine/long hair look. The crown was 6” open and the raw edge brim is 3 5/8” after the curl.


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Excellent!!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Excellent!!

Thanks, Rick.
Have you got your new Singer Milan braid sewing machine figured out? I’m still waiting my my Phoenix Milan!

 

[Tukwila]

Well Dressed Head 1850s-1890s overshot wool/linen cap in the morning. Just sitting in front of the portable a/c for the rest of the 110°F day...