The Long Oval Unfortunate's Club

One problem is, that a hat should be made with the right oval - all the way though the process - or it will eventually creep back into a regular oval. My guess is, that most custom hats begin their lives as regular ovals, that are stretched into other ovals - and the reason is economy.

If a hatter should cover "just" 10 out of the 12 standard sizes - in "just" Regular, Wide, Long and X-Long - then that spells 40 blocks of each model! "Just" 5 different models will take 200 blocks.

Is he using a brim-press (plater), he has to have not 10 heavy alu-plates of about 20" in diameter ... he'll have to have 40 - plus the corresponding band-blocks!

He will also have to have 40 flanges of each model/roll - in each prefered width. "Just" 3 widths per model/roll will in other words take 120 flanges per model/roll.

I think, that is unrealistic to most custom hatters [huh]

Soft hats are still pretty much out of the question, unless I find one in an XLO. Scarce as hen's teeth. And is say, a whippet came up in 7 3/8 - 7 1/2 XLO, so many jugheads would bid it up just to reblock it and screw with the size, it'd still be pricey, even though such heads are unusual as a 6 3/8 tiny noggin.