The Bowler or Derby Hat

[M Hatman]

Second of a three find, unknown maker (Just a T W logo). Did not see anything behind the sweat after CAREFUL examination. Do love the guy tipping his derby image in the logo! 4 3/4" crown, 2 1/4" brim. Size 7 3/8, will be moving it along.

 

[M Hatman]

Third of a three find. Mid-late 50's Stetson derby (made during the short lived American Derby revival. I have a couple of the mid-late 50's ads for these hats. This one is a nice dark BROWN. Size 7 4 3/4"crown, 1 3/4" brim. Will be moving it along.

 

[Pellie]

Bought this one for 7 euro's
Brummel's bowlerhat.

 

[Steve1857]

Bought this one for 7 euro's
Brummel's bowlerhat.
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A Brummel's Bowler for €7. Nice buy, Marcel.

 

[Pellie]

A Brummel's Bowler for €7. Nice buy, Marcel.

Thanks Steve. I bought it as a homburg. It looked like a homburg on the sellers picture

 

[Steve1857]

Thanks Steve. I bought it as a homburg. It looked like a homburg on the sellers picture
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That would explain the dents on your photos.

Steam or a little baking will probably get them out.

 

[Pellie]

That would explain the dents on your photos.

Steam or a little baking will probably get them out.

Yes, i didn't do that so far. Or maybe change it to a homburg ;-)

 

[BobHufford]

Lock & Co. bowler. Based on the heft I’m going to say it’s an equestrian (or construction site) hat.

It’s beefy! It weighs 275 grams when a Mallory derby I have weighs 135 grams.

Not sure on age, but it seems to be pre-1960 (?) based on the finishing of the sweatband, but maybe it’s just worn down.

Not sure if the Brooks Brothers stamp indicates anything. The west coast stores were added in 1939.

 

[Rmccamey]

A steal of a deal! Very nice.

Bought this one for 7 euro's
Brummel's bowlerhat.
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[steur]

Yes, i didn't do that so far. Or maybe change it to a homburg ;-)

Blasphemy! Steam it and get it back into shape from the inside with a ladle.

 

[Steve1857]

Lock & Co. bowler. Based on the heft I’m going to say it’s an equestrian (or construction site) hat.

It’s beefy! It weighs 275 grams when a Mallory derby I have weighs 135 grams.

Not sure on age, but it seems to be pre-1960 (?) based on the finishing of the sweatband, but maybe it’s just worn down.

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Not sure if the Brooks Brothers stamp indicates anything. The west coast stores were added in 1939.

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That's a nice find, Bob. What are the specs?

 

[BobHufford]

That's a nice find, Bob. What are the specs?

Thanks Steve. 4-3/4” crown, 2-1/4” to 2-1/2” brim to the curl edge. Measures out to a 7-1/8 British (7-1/4 US ) long oval size. Afraid to tempt the sweatband gods for a peek behind.

 

[Pellie]

Yes, i didn't do that so far. Or maybe change it to a homburg ;-)

Relax guys, i was kidding about the homburg ;-)

 

[Zombie_61]

Hats in the Belfry "Tammany" Bowler:

Not a classic or vintage, but a nice hat that I like. The feathers in the photo were removed almost immediately upon me receiving the hat because I'm not a fan of such ornamentation. This is also why I chose a brown Bowler; a bit less formal in my mind than black. 100% wool felt (so says the website), and quite comfortable. I apologize for no photos of it atop my head, but I'm not quite sure where my "good" camera is and I'm still trying to figure out how to upload photos from my new cell phone to my laptop, sooooo...

 

[RickP]

Hats in the Belfry "Tammany" Bowler:

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Not a classic or vintage, but a nice hat that I like. The feathers in the photo were removed almost immediately upon me receiving the hat because I'm not a fan of such ornamentation. This is also why I chose a brown Bowler; a bit less formal in my mind than black. 100% wool felt (so says the website), and quite comfortable. I apologize for no photos of it atop my head, but I'm not quite sure where my "good" camera is and I'm still trying to figure out how to upload photos from my new cell phone to my laptop, sooooo...

last year I picked up a brown Borsalini bowler for the same exact reason. definately not as nice as my older black Stetson bowlers, but its comfy, I like it, and it does get worn!

 

[bmw1976]

Here is my 1919-1922 Dobbs derby. To start off, I decided to embrace the patina, damage, and age of this beauty; which it is, in my eyes.

I posted this hat in the 'Ask a Question' thread a while back asking about restoration, or if it could even be fixed. I didn't get an answer, so decided I would do what I could to fix it up. I reached out to Dobbs directly, but got a return that their email address didn't exist.

The photos for the online auction did not fully depict the extent of the damage to the felt. The hard crown was dented, which I knew about. But, it also had a large hole torn through the crown, as well as multiple significant cracks that I was unaware of. The original ribbon was in shreds. Luckily, I got it cheap.

I knew the sweatband would need replaced, as it only had remnants of it and the stitching left behind. I had never installed a new sweatband before, but learned a lot from this forum and watching a few videos. For my 1st attempt, it turned out pretty well, but it's not perfect. I learned a lot, and think it would be near perfect if I tried again.

I attempted to repair the tear that goes into the crown, and basically got it patched up the best I could with glue and felt shavings, but it's still obvious that it's damaged. I sanded some of the raised cracks to bring them down close to level with the rest of the crown and used those leftovers to try to patch the hole. I will continue to work on that tear, but I know it's beyond my skill level.

I loved the patina on the original hat bad ribbon. Howerever, it was hanging on by literal threads. It may have only had a 1/8"-1/16" holding it together in the back. I used 1-sided polyester iron-on hem tape for the length of the hat band & part of the ribbon to hold it together. Again, it's not perfect, but it's pretty close and perfection was not my intent.

Overall, I love how this hat turned out. It may get more wear than many of the hats that I own. I hope my work doesn't offend anyone. I really love this antique derby and plan to keep it going, and I couldn't imagine letting it go to waste.

Here are some showing how it arrived & condition after cleaning a bit. I will follow up with how it has shaped up.

 

[bmw1976]

Here is how it has turned out to this point, with some of the work done along the way.

I'll try to get some better pics of it on my head soon for the WHAYWT thread.

 

[Rmccamey]

Nice recovery. Bowlers are notorious for dents and cracks that are difficult to see in pictures. And invariably the sweatband, binding and ribbons on old bowlers have problems as well. There are great one's around but it takes some effort to find the pristine examples. The hats with character certainly have their place. Enjoy.

Here is how it has turned out to this point, with some of the work done along the way.

I'll try to get some better pics of it on my head soon for the WHAYWT thread.

 

[Blare]

Here is how it has turned out to this point, with some of the work done along the way.

I'll try to get some better pics of it on my head soon for the WHAYWT thread.

Nice job.

 

[bmw1976]

Nice recovery. Bowlers are notorious for dents and cracks that are difficult to see in pictures. And invariably the sweatband, binding and ribbons on old bowlers have problems as well. There are great one's around but it takes some effort to find the pristine examples. The hats with character certainly have their place. Enjoy.



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Thanks. That is a beautiful Stetson! I love the liner.

I've been finding that out with the bowlers, or I guess, hats of that age. I have another Nutria derby that looked to be in great shape, but the sweatband had separated along the front. I asked about the sweatband specifically before buying and was told that there were no issues. Oh well.

I will definitely get some more wear out of this Dobbs and don't have to worry about babying it too much, although I will do just that.