Wolfbrae Custom Hatters

[belfastboy]

Here is a hat heading out to a lady client in Pennsylvania. A Usst rabbit felt in Dark Moss Green, trimmed with vintage copper ribbon and a copper tipped feather. I neglected to snap a pic showing the asymmetrical centre dent. The right side is one inch higher than the left. Gives it a slight European insouciance!

 

[Gregory Wilde]

Hello All ...Gregory from Canada..snowing and blowing near Toronto at the moment. As the winter season deepens I watch more old movies on YouTube or Amazon Fire Tv...can usually hunt down some of the best old film noirs..great hats in some of these older movies.
1. George Raft in a 30's tall boy (I have this hat now.. ..Belfast boy did a great job). 2. The one and only Bogie in his signature front crease Borsalino from "Casablanca" and the "Maltese Falcon"... 3. Next to Bogie..I think Dana Andrews in "Laura" really did the fedora justice imo 4. Joseph Cotton in "Citizen Kane" and other movies. 5. Ryan Gosling in "Gangster Squad" 6. Josh Brolin in the same movie 6. A lot of stars in Mullholland Falls looking good in hats 7. Douglas Fairbanks Jr..classy guy 8. Robert Mitchum early in "Out of the Past" or later in 1975's "Farewell my Lovely" 9. Alan Ladd and Robert Preston "This Gun for Hire" ...
Of course our "Robert" and make any of these hats in beaver or rabbit if you like them..He's made me four already..and will be working on a fifth soon. Cheers all and Happy Holidays from snowy Canada...Gregory Wilde web: thegregorywilde.com

 

[belfastboy]

I was building this hat up for a client and some of the dye flashed off on the brim's underside. It is ever so slight and not visible in a picture......but it is there and I cannot sell it. So, I did what any astute hat maker would do.......I made it up for me! Usst, 100% beaver, Moss Green with burgundy vintage grosgrain ribbon.
It is my Lord's Hat, Homburg hybrid. No brim binding, modified curl, and for now, I prefer it with no pinches.

 

[belfastboy]

Finished this full restoration on a 1940's Borsalino. It came to me in rough shape; very dirty, no ribbon, no liner, the leather in the sweat was salvageable but the cloth reed tape and the reed itself was fully rotted. This hat belonged to the client's grandfather and he wanted it restored and upsized from 55cm to a 57.5cm.
The felt cleaned up very nicely, no moth nibbles. I blocked it up in 2 stages to lessen the risk of tearing the felt. It worked!

The largest amount of time came in sewing a new reed tape and sewing in a 2.5cm extension to the sweat. I had a vintage leather sweat in a matching leather so the extension is not too obvious. This way we managed to keep the original sweat and at least a bit of the Borsalino provenance. Vintage charcoal grosgrain on the ribbon. A little shellac on the brim to add some structure and the hat may be good for another 80 years.