A pinch in the crown of your fedora?

[BellyTank]

Hi-!
Can you describe these Czech hats?
Crown height, brim width, fur content, colour- anything else you know...

You should be able to steam a deeper pinch into them-

I'm interested in finding out more about these hats of yours...

B
T

 

[android]

A really tight pinch is hard on felt. It can wear through if sqeezed tightly on a daily basis.

But it would be pretty easy to tighten up your 13865. Just steam it with a tea kettle and gently squeeze the front together until it looks the way you like. You may need to resculpt the top of the crown just a bit too.

Your new shape will relax a little as the hat cools and it sets. You can either adjust for this by going a little farther than what you want, or be repeating the process a few times.

You'll also want to look in the mirror and make sure your adjusting the hat evenly from both sides, especially when adjusting the dents and center pinch.

PS: Those are some great looking hats. I would have stocked up too!

 

[STHill]

H, I believe many (most?) hats in the thirties and forties were delivered with open (unformed) crowns and then shaped by the individual purchaser, or maybe by the retailer. Can one of the experts confirm this?

I would guess that when the manufacturers began pre-shaping hats, they generally chose a moderate crease to allow individuals to customize their hat as they might please.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Solentino

I think the Czech hats are Solentino...

 

[Art Fawcett]

Mr. H
Most hats were sent to the retailer "open crown" with no "bash" in it. It was the retailer's job to sell the hat and form it to the buyers tastes onsite. There were exceptions of course, but that was a selling point fo the "point of sale" stores and why many had their own conformer setup for the hard hats like bowler & tophat.

Bb, Tonak is a very old hatter and although I can't prove it at the moment I don't believe Selentino makes them for Tonak, but maybe the other way around. Tonak sells felt bodies here in the US through Jay Gerish & Co. but I am less pleased with them than the felter I am using here in the US.

Hope this helps Mr.H

 

[fedoralover]

You didn't say how stiff the felt on the crown is, many new fedora's have a lot of stiffner in the felt and the shape is steamed in to where if you try to change it you will see a crease. If the felt in the crown is fairly soft and pliable you can easily tighten up the pinch and lightly steam it to get it to hold.

fedoralover