I prefer a teardrop because it makes the crown look more squared up top. I have more of a square face (a little rounder now that I've lost my thyroid from thyroid cancer), so it works for me. The taper on the top with center bash just doesn't work with my head IMHO : D
I agree with this as well.Originally Posted by kaosharper1
Hey, Gimme my hat!
I always end up steaming my hats into a tear drop crown... Even the newer shorter crowned ones to make it seem less tapered... I was always in favor of tear drop because of the way I saw bogarts hat... The center crease just looks terrible on me. I see hats now with only 4 inches of height in the crown now
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.
I watch a lot of vintage movies and have noticed that the men in the 30's era movies mostly have center dents in their hats. High crowns moderate brims. The men in the 40's and 50's era movies mostly have c-crowns or diamond bashes. Lower crowns wider brims. Not sure why this is just noticed that it is. My guess is the dimensions of the hats. I prefer a c-crown or teardrop myself. It just looks right to me on a fedora with a wide brim and straight crown front and rear. Center dent for my homburg though.
It's easier to do a center dent. You'd actually see more center dents in the early days of open crown hats being sold. I myself actually see the opposite. You can look and look and look at shops that actually carry fur felt hats, and more often than no you sill see that the hats are tear-dropped.
If you go to Nordstroms and see their Bailey hats, or Brooks Brothers and see their fur felt Stetsons (last time I was there they were on sale for about 60 bucks), most often they are tear dropped. You will find Brooks Brothers Borsalinos with a center dent, but that's always how I've found modern day Borsalinos done.
Last edited by Matt Deckard; 07-01-2012 at 03:51 PM.
I used to prefer a center dent. Then I learned how to steam my hats. Then I realized how much more comfortable a tear drop was. It got the back of the crown off of my head and it straightened out the sides a little.
the center crease causes some crowns to taper more than other creases do. with the exception of crowns that are 6" when they are open. for example the raiders fedora in indiana jones and custom hat makers like Art Fawcett, Penman Hat Company, or Deckard Headwear
Last edited by Detective_Noir; 07-01-2012 at 11:13 PM.
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.
This isn't exactly true. The main factor in, which crease looks good with which hat is the CROWN BLOCK PROFILE. Here's a couple links to posts that I made explaining some differences in block shape and which crease looks the best with which block profile.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showt...-tapered/page2
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showt...blocking/page4
If you look at 95% of all the hats offered today by major hat manufactures such as Hatco, Akubra, Beaver Brand, and Dorfman, you'll see a pretty even split when it comes to center dents and teardrop/c-crowns. The fact is that whether you buy a modern day center dent or a modern day c-crown hat, you can bet that the crease will be extremely shallow. There's not enough crown height to make very deep creases. The cool thing about a c-crown is that it does have the ability to "square up" a crown that's tapered. Its just a matter of how deep you want to crease the hat in order to "square" the crown up. With the exception of VERY few modern mass produced hats with open tall crowns, you will not achieve the looks of those wonderful 1920's and 30's hats with straight sided crowns. That's why so many of us look for vintage hats or have custom hatters made us hats with crown shapes that cater to our tastes.
Last edited by Joshbru3; 07-02-2012 at 11:59 AM.
"For all we know this may only be a dream. We come and go like a ripple on a stream. So love me tonight; tomorrow was made for some. Tomorrow may never come, for all we know." (Nat King Cole)
You're right. In the good old days even JC Penney (Towncraft)came in long oval, round, etc. Now even hats selling for over two hundred bucks only come in small medium and large. Unless your shoe size is D (medium) or the E series (wide), you're out of luck unless you're willing to pay through the nose. I even see shirts and suits all coming in Medium, etc. When you bought a pair of slacks almost anyplace, they came unhemmed and would be tailored to your size. Now only upscale stores do that. And whatever happened to Length 31"? (My pant length). Very hard to find. It has to be thirty or thirty-two. Sometimes I can make do with one, and sometimes it's the other. As Cheech and Chong used to say, "Things are tough all over."
Carl aka www.cmalbrecht.com
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