Recent content by Jacora

Let's not forget talent/skill, which in this domain you appear to have in far greater abundance than me. Your hour and a half would be my three days and a great deal of swearing! :)

That's very cool, but regarding my Stratoliner hemp, your solution sounds to me like a $300 effort for a $150 hat. I think you convinced me to buy the smaller size! I'll put my 7-1/2 Special Edition Navy in the classifieds.

Will a hemp hat shrink (or can it be made to)? I got a Stratoliner Special Edition Hemp in my normal size (7-1/2), and it's really too loose even with some sizing strips under the band. But since it's a summer hat I haven't worn it outdoors and worked up a good sweat that might shrink at least...

I am considering using some Red Mahogany shoe polish to slightly darken and change the tone of the Barramundi skin (it's a fish) hat band that came on my Akubra Banjo Peterson. Anyone have a reason why I shouldn't do this? Will the polish bleed on to the felt in the rain? I don't want to hide...

Contacted the hatter about this one. He said it's 50/50 beaver/rabbit, and he want's a mere $1000 to make one. Holy bespoke! Waaay too rich for my blood! I can't imagine walking around with a $1000 bill on my head.

Here's a blue beastie from The Wise Hatter described as "Asymmetrical wide brim western fedora in Steel Grey with dark navy leather band." Sure looks a lot more blue than grey to me.

I guess the question I should ask is what are the dimensions of a regular block for size 7-1/2?

My head measures 59.5, so I'm size 7-1/2. It is interesting that the oval in your diagram has a circumference of 61.75cm I assume it is larger than a size 60 to give room for the headband? In any case your diagram has a ratio of 1.29:1 my ratio is not quite as long. For the 17cm width my ratio...

So I used a woodworking clamp to measure the length vs. width of my head. (Don't try this at home, kids - Or least remember not to squeeze too tight!). It came out as ~154mm width by 191mm front to back. Or about a 1.24:1 ratio. So am I a long oval? Is there a standard for this?

Hmm. I thought the firm/stiff vs. soft, and the western vs. fedora questions were independent of each other. But maybe I don't fully understand how you are using the terms. My only experience with fur felt hats comes from my three Akubras. A Stylemaster, an Adventurer, and a Banjo Peterson. I...

That Sunrise nutria in gunmetal (220) looks cool. I also like the cobalt on their website. But you say their website photo colors are off? Would you happen to have a better pic of the cobalt?

This is how I gave my Adventurer the blues:

That's great info, thank you! I haven't gotten to the point yet of buying my own hat bodies to give to a hatter, but you never know! To be clear, I'm not trying to adhere to a color palette 'season' because it's "supposed to be" right. I'm just using it as shorthand for what I already know works...

There's a hat on Hats.com and Amazon that just goes by "Borsalino Men 400001 Fur Felt Fedora". There's no name to the style, just a SKU number. Is this legit? Supposed to be 100% rabbit fur with a larger 2-3/4" brim. Can't find such a beast on the Borsalino website. But if it's the real deal, I...

I've Got The Blues Lot's of blues. Virtually every bit of clothing I own has at least some blue in it. If it doesn't have any blue, it's probably burgundy or black. Even my eyeglass frames are blue. If you are familiar with color seasons, I'm a 'summer' and can get away with some 'winter'...