Vintage finds: update and wear them or leave them be?

Jerry Probst said:

Hi, I have recently come across some nice vintage fedoras.

I’m a newbie here so I’d like to get a feel for where people stand.

I want to enjoy my hats and not keep them as museum pieces.

In doing so it might mean replacing the original sweatband or hatband and possibly reblocking.

Good idea or sacrilege?

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Jerry Probst said:

Hi, I have recently come across some nice vintage fedoras.

I’m a newbie here so I’d like to get a feel for where people stand.

I want to enjoy my hats and not keep them as museum pieces.

In doing so it might mean replacing the original sweatband or hatband and possibly reblocking.

Good idea or sacrilege?

Click to expand...

Jerry Probst said:

Hi, I have recently come across some nice vintage fedoras.
I’m a newbie here so I’d like to get a feel for where people stand.I want to enjoy my hats and not keep them as museum pieces.In doing so it might mean replacing the original sweatband or hatband and possibly reblocking.Good idea or sacrilege?

Click to expand...

Short Balding Guy said:

Jerry; All of my hats get head time. The forum thread What Hat Are You Wearing showcases vintage and modern hats being worn about. I believe that the pics speak volumes for wearing. Wearing is not wearing as you can offer gentle wearing to a hat that is showing some age. I, like many others on the forum, advocate wearing your hats.

This all becomes a non-issue if you get a 100+ or so hats and start cycling thru wearing different ones. The accumulated wear is dramatically reduced. This is an argument for more hats.

Best wishes in your hat wearing sir. Eric -

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deadlyhandsome said:

Unless you’re talking about some extraordinary hats of great historical significance, I say wear them. If the sweatbands are not wearable then have them replaced and then keep the originals. Reblocking and shaping shouldn’t impact the value or cause them any damage.

There are a few regulars here who wear 100+ year old hats. If you want to collect then that’s fine, but if you want to wear them I say make the modifications needed for them to be usable.

Brent


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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suitedcboy said:

I doubt many, or maybe any, of us has a storage room with preservation standards met. I'm not even sure what those standards would be or if they exist.

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Jerry Probst said:

True, I come from a museum background. I guess that’s what is gnawing in the back of my mind.

What amazes me is how these hats are able to survive all these years and hardly show any wear.

Sadly, that won’t always be the case. The golden age of felt hats is behind us.

I suppose I am split between my sense of myself as a caretaker and wanting to rock these cool things.

Two years ago I found myself in New Orleans for the two weeks heading into Mardy Gras.

I made it a point to stop in some of the best restaurants and bars in town and order some amazing old school cocktails by some really knowledgeable and talented bartenders. Often I would pour the cocktail in a plastic to go cup and strole out into the crowd. The experience of drinking a finely crafted drink while everyone around me was mindlessly getting bombed on green toxic swill made me feel like I was ten feet tall.

The same can be said about wearing a fifty year old fedora.

As much as I love to wear mine it’s important to remember they might just outlast us all. If we care of them.

Now there’s a thought.

Cheers!

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Jerry Probst said:

Hi, I have recently come across some nice vintage fedoras.

I’m a newbie here so I’d like to get a feel for where people stand.

I want to enjoy my hats and not keep them as museum pieces.

In doing so it might mean replacing the original sweatband or hatband and possibly reblocking.

Good idea or sacrilege?

Click to expand...

deadlyhandsome said:

I’ll add that while I wear all my hat I do limit my better vintage hat use to ideal circumstances and wear my modern hats when there is a chance of rain etc. modern Akubras, Stetsons, Borsalino, and others can be mixed in so you’re not wearing the same vintage hat day after day. Same for adding in custom hats to your rotation.

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Florida_Marlin said:

if I were an old hat, sitting on a shelf or tucked away in an attic, all I would wish is to be placed upon a head. There’s no greater place of honor for an old hat than to be worn.

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