Doc Miskatonic
New in Town
- Messages
- 13
- Location
- MA
Note: this thread is actually about converting an Akubra Plainsman, not a Cattleman sorry for the confusion.
I had been searching for a nice warmer weather fedora but just honestly could not settle on one. I have an Akubra Sydney that is a nice light weight fur felt but lined. I contemplated taking the lining out, and perhaps still will, but just couldn't bring myself to do so yet. I also wanted a lighter brown than the fawn of the Sydney so looked around online at Akubras. I bought a barely used Plainsman on eBay for well below retail for the purpose of converting to a wide brim fedora. There were several factors for choosing the Cattleman but foremost was the unobtrucive air vents.
These are small perforatred holes and not eyelits. Some people find that eyelits detract from a hat and make it more casual (although personally I do not care so much). but I liked the perforated air vents to make the hat cooler without detracting from the asthetics of the hat.
The Plainsman came as a telescope crown so I steamed it and reshaped it more to my taste using elements from a c-crown/fedora and Indy bash. The hardest part honestly was shaping the brim as it was completely straight and stiff.
I worked and reworked the brim over the span of a couple days to give it more of a fedora curve and I have to say I rather like the end result. I now have a nice summer hat that feels more like a fedora to me than just an outback/safari hat (which I have a couple of).
I have contemplated changing the hat band but for now I am leaving it as-is. Ultimately I think I would like a grosgrain ribbon with a bow but I am not artsy enough to manage that on my own and such an expense is not doabale at the moment. But for the time being I am pleased with the hat.
I had been searching for a nice warmer weather fedora but just honestly could not settle on one. I have an Akubra Sydney that is a nice light weight fur felt but lined. I contemplated taking the lining out, and perhaps still will, but just couldn't bring myself to do so yet. I also wanted a lighter brown than the fawn of the Sydney so looked around online at Akubras. I bought a barely used Plainsman on eBay for well below retail for the purpose of converting to a wide brim fedora. There were several factors for choosing the Cattleman but foremost was the unobtrucive air vents.
The Plainsman came as a telescope crown so I steamed it and reshaped it more to my taste using elements from a c-crown/fedora and Indy bash. The hardest part honestly was shaping the brim as it was completely straight and stiff.
I worked and reworked the brim over the span of a couple days to give it more of a fedora curve and I have to say I rather like the end result. I now have a nice summer hat that feels more like a fedora to me than just an outback/safari hat (which I have a couple of).
I have contemplated changing the hat band but for now I am leaving it as-is. Ultimately I think I would like a grosgrain ribbon with a bow but I am not artsy enough to manage that on my own and such an expense is not doabale at the moment. But for the time being I am pleased with the hat.
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