Another Virgin bites the dust!!!!

[scotrace]

"Piece of cake"

Art, that light grey "Borsalino" that's sitting next to my Phantom Blue Optimo, actually isn't.... It's a hat you made for me nearly two years ago.

It's a copy of your own hat!

I guess my hat was the first of your Limited Edition! LOL

"Geee, this one seems to be going so easily... hmmmm..."

Thanks for the giggles.

 

[Art Fawcett]

OH MY GAWWWD

No WONDER I liked the hat and it flowed right off my bench!!!! I was in tele conversation with JP last night before posting this hat telling him about it and how, for the first time, I didn't struggle with this hat. Every single hat that I work on I seem to struggle, or don't like how something is turning out, or just isn't perfect in some way..geeze..this is embarassing!!!
You KNOW your getting old when...you don't recognize your own work.

Now..what ELSE can I copy and call original ( as he mumbles his way to the hat shop)

 

[Craig Robertson]

Third

I am 100% in agreement with Wildroot! Art, have you considered making a model with a 1930s (high crown, 2 3/8" brim) silhouette? If you ever do, I will be second in line (after Wildroot, of course) to buy one!

I'd like to be third!

 

[Mr. 'H']

Art - a question....

Art, you know when someone like that orders a custom from you, how do they ensure that they have given you then right head measurement?

I think I heard someone here say that you send them out a conformateur - but how do you do that? I mean I thought they were big wooden things.

It's just that if someone is new to hats and they measure their own head incorrectly, then they've wasted up to $300!

PS - what's the difference between a conformateur and a formillion?

 

[LEUII]

I'd like to be third!

Kindly put me down for Number Four.

 

[jamespowers]

No WONDER I liked the hat and it flowed right off my bench!!!! I was in tele conversation with JP last night before posting this hat telling him about it and how, for the first time, I didn't struggle with this hat. Every single hat that I work on I seem to struggle, or don't like how something is turning out, or just isn't perfect in some way..geeze..this is embarassing!!!
You KNOW your getting old when...you don't recognize your own work.

Now..what ELSE can I copy and call original ( as he mumbles his way to the hat shop)

Hahahahahh! Now I understand. It is still a nice hat and copying yourself doesn't make it any less so. It just means you are getting good at making that particular hat.
That means this is THE first hat to get from Art guys. If if just flows and everything goes right then it is the hat to own. :arated:

Regards to all,

J

 

[JeffW]

Great looking hat. I wonder if a 5 3/4 crown is too tall for me????

 

[Art Fawcett]

Good question Mr.H
I send out what is called in slang a "halo" type conformer. It is a plastic ring with "prongs" that are pushed into the head and tightened down with a nut arrangement. This is the same thing that the old conformer ( wooden) does but with a little less accuracy. Then, it is sent back to me where I trace out on card stock the shape of the head, draw lines between each "prong" mark, then cut it out. So, the conformer is the "outie" taking the outside shape. At this point is where the formillion comes in. I take the formillion ( an oval two sided pice that has wooden "fingers" that can be tightened down) and spread out the "fingers" to the shape of the tracing, thus duplicating the shape and eliminating the need to make a wooden block to fit inside the hat to bring it to shape when making it.
I discovered this isn't foolproof as I was transfering wrong in the first 1/2 dozen hats I did but it's pretty darn close once you get the knack of it.
At any rate, it's never a waste of $300 as I and any other custom hatter works with you till it's right.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Ok Root, one of the next designs will be for you, Mark, Craig, and LEUII. Right out of the late '20s!!

 

[Craig Robertson]

20s design

Mmmm. I'll hold you to that, Art. Oh, by the way, besides the high crown and the 2 3/8s brim...it needs the wider ribbon...

 

[mysterygal]

Beautiful hat Art! Well, with all the compliments your client is going to get wearing this hat, he'll gain confidence soon enough with sporting a fedora on top of his noggin....again, great work

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... besides the high crown and the 2 3/8s brim...[a '30s-style fedora] needs the wider ribbon...

Absolutely right. Several inches or so.

 

[Tabitha]

I really like this hat, you did a beautifull job. I would love one for my husband. I emailed you. I am getting him hooked on the golden era too!

 

[BellyTank]

I'm a fan of the early late '20s/early '30s Fedoras too.
Some of those early Cagney movies have some nice examples-

Tall, straight crown, Homburg style centre dent, narrower brim and 2" ribbon-
Hmmmmmmmm...

B
T

 

[Art Fawcett]

thank you Tabitha.. Marc...several inches or so???? Gents, please trust that I am educated in past hat styles and can faithfully reproduce the style. Just for clarification Marc, 2 3/8 brim is a common 20's early '30s style but not the only one. I would hate to have the Loungers think that this is the only acceptable brim width for this period of time. In truth, many brim widths were available.

 

[jamespowers]

I would hate to have the Loungers think that this is the only acceptable brim width for this period of time. In truth, many brim widths were available.

Yep, that would be more than wrong:

1930 Knapp Felt

Another 1930 Knapp Felt

1937 Mallory and Mistery Felt

1927 overcoat ad

They don't look like stingy brims to me.

Regards to all,

J

 

[BellyTank]

2 3/8" isn't really stingy, is it?
Kinda in between 2 1/4" and 2 1/2"

Sure- not all the 'earlier' Fedoras were under 2 1/2" brim- but there's a 'certain' style and silhouette (that 'narrower' brim and tall, centre crease')that typifies the era which some of us favour and is unmistakably of that era.

B
T

 

[jamespowers]

2 3/8" isn't really stingy, is it?
Kinda in between 2 1/4" and 2 1/2"

Sure- not all the 'earlier' Fedoras were under 2 1/2" brim- but there's a 'certain' style and silhouette (that 'narrower' brim and tall, centre crease')that typifies the era which some of us favour and is unmistakably of that era.

B
T

Which we can see is genuinely not typical if you look at the ads from the same period. I defy you to find an ad that will back you up. We aren't talking about a Hollywood movie but that which was actually worn by the general populace. Hats with brims under 2 3/8" were not all that plentiful then. They were everywhere in the late 50s early sixties though. From a business stand point, it is cheaper to start with a smaller body to make a stingy brim. If you give me a choice with the price being the same, I would choose the wider brim. I feel like I am getting more for my money and I actually am. :cool2: The mentality of the depression era would probably not be very different.

Regards to all,

J

P.S. The wider ribbon and taller crown would be right though.

 

[BellyTank]

Just like I said.

And you can quote me on that.

B
T

 

[jamespowers]

Just like I said.

And you can quote me on that.

B
T

Huh? [huh] :whistling