Wolfbrae Custom Hatters

[Blare]

I just had one of my most satisfying experiences as a hatter this morning. A fellow my age give or take contacted me a while back and opened with..."you probably won't be able to help me but thought I would ask.....".

As a child he admired his father's fedoras but could never try them on as his head was much larger than his dad's. As an adult he wore bucket hats, baseball hats but could never find a fedora he liked that fit. It seems his size 63cm long oval head proved impossible to fit with an off the rack hat.
But he came across the article in the local paper and thought he would give it a shot.

Today he came back for a fitting and to choose the trim. I nailed the fit...more on that later.

He wanted a casual, what I call Country Gentlemen or Crossover hat, and I showed him a number of my hats with both leather bands and traditional ribbon/bow. I suggested I make him a custom leather band but he kept coming back to the ribbon. He said it reminded him of his father's hat and although it was more formal than he visioned he really leaned in that direction but hesitated that it would look too formal and not 'him'..

I advised that I had the solution. I would make him the hat with the ribbon/bow and he wear it for 6 months. If, at that time, he decided it was just not for him I would make him a leather band to replace the ribbon.

The smile he had on his face when he tried on the unfinished hat and looked in the mirror was priceless. He loved the hat, loved the colour, loved the proportions, and most importantly HE thought he looked good in it and now, finally, in his 7th decade he finally had his good hat AND one that fit his large head perfectly.

Days like this............

Wonderful story

 

[Darrell2688]

I just had one of my most satisfying experiences as a hatter this morning. A fellow my age give or take contacted me a while back and opened with..."you probably won't be able to help me but thought I would ask.....".

As a child he admired his father's fedoras but could never try them on as his head was much larger than his dad's. As an adult he wore bucket hats, baseball hats but could never find a fedora he liked that fit. It seems his size 63cm long oval head proved impossible to fit with an off the rack hat.
But he came across the article in the local paper and thought he would give it a shot.

Today he came back for a fitting and to choose the trim. I nailed the fit...more on that later.

He wanted a casual, what I call Country Gentlemen or Crossover hat, and I showed him a number of my hats with both leather bands and traditional ribbon/bow. I suggested I make him a custom leather band but he kept coming back to the ribbon. He said it reminded him of his father's hat and although it was more formal than he visioned he really leaned in that direction but hesitated that it would look too formal and not 'him'..

I advised that I had the solution. I would make him the hat with the ribbon/bow and he wear it for 6 months. If, at that time, he decided it was just not for him I would make him a leather band to replace the ribbon.

The smile he had on his face when he tried on the unfinished hat and looked in the mirror was priceless. He loved the hat, loved the colour, loved the proportions, and most importantly HE thought he looked good in it and now, finally, in his 7th decade he finally had his good hat AND one that fit his large head perfectly.

Days like this............

That is some really outstanding work, Great Job for sure!!

 

[belfastboy]

Here are 3 pictures of my liners. The two smaller liner tops are sporting my new embroidered logo and the larger one in my original printed liner. The embroidered one is much more expensive. I like it but not sure it is worth the $$ for the upgrade. Thoughts?

 

[T Jones]

Here are 3 pictures of my liners. The two smaller liner tops are sporting my new embroidered logo and the larger one in my original printed liner. The embroidered one is much more expensive. I like it but not sure it is worth the $$ for the upgrade. Thoughts? View attachment 555052 View attachment 555056 View attachment 555057

I like the top one.

 

[belfastboy]

I like the top one.

So you prefer the embroidered top or is it the combo of top and silk material on the side panel? I have boxes of vintage silk kimono material so all my clients get to choose the liner material and match it to their style and the hat.

 

[StoryPNW]

Here are 3 pictures of my liners. The two smaller liner tops are sporting my new embroidered logo and the larger one in my original printed liner. The embroidered one is much more expensive. I like it but not sure it is worth the $$ for the upgrade. Thoughts? View attachment 555052 View attachment 555056 View attachment 555057

Personally, I think the embroidered logo is cool but I don't know if it's cool enough that I'd pay for an upgrade. I like the color combo of the logo and the silk on the middle picture.

 

[belfastboy]

Personally, I think the embroidered logo is cool but I don't know if it's cool enough that I'd pay for an upgrade. I like the color combo of the logo and the silk on the middle picture.

I don't like a menu of services for 'extras'....I prefer when you buy a hat you get a hat at the one price. The difference in price is not huge in terms of actual dollars but, as I print my own logo, the upgrade costs about 10X more. But as I said if it upgrades the offering the small $$ will be worth it. I am always in the hunt for ways to upgrade my offering with having to increase the prices.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I don't like a menu of services for 'extras'....I prefer when you buy a hat you get a hat at the one price. The difference in price is not huge in terms of actual dollars but, as I print my own logo, the upgrade costs about 10X more. But as I said if it upgrades the offering the small $$ will be worth it. I am always in the hunt for ways to upgrade my offering with having to increase the prices.

Without knowing the amount, I think the embroidered upgrade is nice. Your standard liner was already better than most.

It makes me sad that most modern hats don’t have the beautiful embroidered liners and intricate leather debossing that we find on the better vintage hats.

 

[Mcox47]

While the embroidered style does shout "custom" I admit I prefer the printed version. Just my 2 cents.

 

[belfastboy]

While the embroidered style does shout "custom" I admit I prefer the printed version. Just my 2 cents.

The responses are running more in favour of the embroidered.....much to my wife's chagrin. She, like you, prefers the printed version. I am solidly on the fence!

 

[T Jones]

So you prefer the embroidered top or is it the combo of top and silk material on the side panel? I have boxes of vintage silk kimono material so all my clients get to choose the liner material and match it to their style and the hat.

For me, I prefer the embroidered top and I think it would go very well with any liner.

 

[Mcox47]

The responses are running more in favour of the embroidered.....much to my wife's chagrin. She, like you, prefers the printed version. I am solidly on the fence!

Best rule of thumb is to always make mama happy.

 

[belfastboy]

Best rule of thumb is to always make mama happy.

I am lucky because my wife would not be happy if I stopped vexing and causing her grief. If I changed she would think aliens had abducted her husband and replaced him somebody easy to live with.

 

[Darrell2688]

Actually I like both imprint and the embroidery.
However the embroidered version does really pop out and grab your attention, really great work on the embroidery. Your work on hats is perfection, and the embroidery work is great, the only thing left now is gold embossing on the leather sweatbands. Your work is outstanding.

 

[Steve1857]

Here are 3 pictures of my liners. The two smaller liner tops are sporting my new embroidered logo and the larger one in my original printed liner. The embroidered one is much more expensive. I like it but not sure it is worth the $$ for the upgrade. Thoughts? View attachment 555052 View attachment 555056 View attachment 555057

I really like the look of the tactile feel to the embroidered liner logo, Robert.

Your embossed liner works for me too, though. It always makes me smile when I flip my custom Wolfbrae Pork Pie over.

Embroidered or embossed doesn't really matter. For me, the name says it all: quality hat, workmanship, and knowledgeable hatmaker who's great to work with.

Just my 5 cents.

 

[LinoleumBonypart]

Well I’ve done the deed.. put my deposit down for my first bespoke hat ..!!

 

[Rmccamey]

Robert will do a great job for you. Here is my vented Summer White.

Well I’ve done the deed.. put my deposit down for my first bespoke hat ..!!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

My latest Wolfbrae: a 50% beaver western weight made from Ukrainian felt. The build was solid, as expected, but the felt was a bit disappointing. After spending some time with it I’m growing to like it.

The felt is definitely inferior to the 100% beaver felt from Winchester or the 100% nutria felt from Sunrise, but that’s to be expected froM a 50% beaver hat. The color is burnished copper.

 

[T Jones]

My latest Wolfbrae: a 50% beaver western weight made from Ukrainian felt. The build was solid, as expected, but the felt was a bit disappointing. After spending some time with it I’m growing to like it.

The felt is definitely inferior to the 100% beaver felt from Winchester or the 100% nutria felt from Sunrise, but that’s to be expected froM a 50% beaver hat. The color is burnished copper.

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Looks good on you Brent. I especially like the Kettle Curl on that.

 

[belfastboy]

My latest Wolfbrae: a 50% beaver western weight made from Ukrainian felt. The build was solid, as expected, but the felt was a bit disappointing. After spending some time with it I’m growing to like it.

The felt is definitely inferior to the 100% beaver felt from Winchester or the 100% nutria felt from Sunrise, but that’s to be expected froM a 50% beaver hat. The color is burnished copper.

View attachment 559115 View attachment 559116 View attachment 559117 View attachment 559118 View attachment 559120

It is a very thick dense western felt at 220grams. I pounced the heck out of it and I guess the good news is the dye penetration is good and only after a great deal of pouncing (double blocking/pouncing) did the slight beginnings of shellac core exposure. I would have continued to thin it out if that had not occurred. But I was able to thin it a lot as the original felt was a monster thickness. I think these 50/50 felts would make for great working western hats.