fedora newbie question: modifying the brim

[raw shark]

So, I bought my first fedora the other day (it is made of wool felt and has a snap brim), but I have some questions. I would like to wear it with the brim down and uniform around the hat, but whenever I flip it into place, the front and back go down while the sides remain the same. If I try to bend the sides further down, bumps form on the diagonal corners. I tried steaming the brim (in the appropriate way I read about online: passing it over a tea kettle without getting the hat wet and bending it into shape), but that seemed to make it worse as the bumps became more pronounced (and it looks like more ripples might have formed).

I have a theory as to why this is happening, but no idea how to remedy it. I can adjust the brim into the shape I want when I hold the hat in my hands, but it screws up after I put it on my head. It is exactly the right overall size, but I think my head is a little longer than the hat, seeing as it feels a bit tight in the front and back, and a bit loose above my ears. Thus, the extra lateral force could be bending the brim out of shape. I hope that is descriptive enough, but I can post pictures if necessary.

Any suggestions? Would getting it enlarged help? Or should I just go at it with the steam again?

 

[jpbales]

it sounds to me like your theory is right. You probably have what is called a "long oval" shaped head. This is why the brim won't stay shaped the same when you put the hat on. Basically, your head is stretching the hat lengthwise a bit. Here's a way to figure out how long oval your head is, by measuring the width of your hat size by the length:

The categories have a Length minus Width difference as follows:
Oval = 5/8"....................Regular Oval = 1-3/8"
Long Oval = 2-1/8"..........X-Long Oval = 2-7/8"
XX-Long Oval = 3-5/8".....XXX-Long Oval = 4-3/8"

for example, my length x width is 8 3/8" X 6" - the difference is 2 3/8", which
puts me in the category of Long Oval since it is greater than 2 1/8" and less than 2 7/8"

Pretty much, if you get hats in your size, they might have that tendency to get a bit of brim curl like you've been experiencing. What you may want to do is buy hats that are a size larger, then fill in the sides (the space above your ears) with some foam, newspaper, or felt strips (or cash if you're loaded ). Sometimes you can find hats blocked with a long-oval, then you won't have the same problems, however, they're harder to find.

Welcome to the lounge,
Jim

 

[jpbales]

oh yeah,

one remedy is to get a hat stretcher and stretch the hat to make it fit a little better.

Also, some (or most) hats are "reeded" which means there's a metal or plastic wire sewn into the sweatband which is supposed to help the hat keep it's shape or something. If you look at where the sweatband comes together in the back of the hat, you might be able to find it and carefully pull it out. This may help your hat conform better to your goofy noggin. I haven't heard of anyone having any problems after taking out the reeding of a hat.

With a long oval head, I don't know if you'll be able to get that snap-brim to go down on the sides. Good luck tho

 

[raw shark]

I just had a thought. Is there a way to tighten the brim edge on the sides? Could I just steam the crap out of it and push it together?

 

[Wil Tam]

could be that it's wool....

Steam doesn't play well with wool ... wool is looser than fur felt and tends to shrink ... use cold water to reshape the hat and some spray on Niagara starch won't hurt either.

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[raw shark]

Isn't shrinking kind of the point? And what does Niagara starch do?

 

[jpbales]

if you're a long oval head and you shrink the hat, it's probably just going to make the curl even worse.

 

[gtdean48]

Isn't shrinking kind of the point? And what does Niagara starch do?

The starch adds back the stiffness...

 

[raw shark]

one remedy is to get a hat stretcher and stretch the hat to make it fit a little better.

Also, some (or most) hats are "reeded" which means there's a metal or plastic wire sewn into the sweatband which is supposed to help the hat keep it's shape or something. If you look at where the sweatband comes together in the back of the hat, you might be able to find it and carefully pull it out. This may help your hat conform better to your goofy noggin. I haven't heard of anyone having any problems after taking out the reeding of a hat.

With a long oval head, I don't know if you'll be able to get that snap-brim to go down on the sides. Good luck tho

I have a question about the hat stretcher idea. The ones that I have seen look like they would only be good for stretching the base of the crown, but what about stretching the brim? If it doesn't stretch the brim then I can only imagine using it would make the curl worse.

Also I looked around the inside of the sweatband and I could not find the reeding.

 

[Wil Tam]

post some pics

Does the hat fit? if so, then you don't need to stretch it. The reeding is on the edge closest to the opening, if installed & correctly you won't see it or feel it... to tell if it's reeded flip out the sweat & if there is some black vinyl like material in addition to the leather, if so then it's reeded .. if it's just leather & nothing else, then no... and it is not recommended that you remove the nylon mono-filament because it is there for a purpose & held end to end with a ferrule ... it's to keep the integrity of the sweatband in a trumpet shape and away from your forehead.

Starch stiffens the hat and will help shape it .. good on wool to help with the pinch & brim .. cold water so it won't shrink it ...


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[raw shark]

Oh ok, I see the black vinyl material, so I guess it is reeded. The hat fits in the sense that it is "Large" and I have a "Large" head, but my head is a bit more ovally than the hat so that it is tight on the front and back and loose on the sides (causing the brim curl that I'm trying to get rid of).

It is interesting that you mention that the reeding is supposed to keep the sweatband away from my forehead because it actually touches my forehead.

So, will this cold water method allow me to actually tighten the brim on the sides to make it go down? I guess equivalently I could stretch the brim on the front and back, but would I have to worry about it losing its snappiness?

 

[Wil Tam]

no...

Oh ok, I see the black vinyl material, so I guess it is reeded. The hat fits in the sense that it is "Large" and I have a "Large" head, but my head is a bit more ovally than the hat so that it is tight on the front and back and loose on the sides (causing the brim curl that I'm trying to get rid of).

It is interesting that you mention that the reeding is supposed to keep the sweatband away from my forehead because it actually touches my forehead.

So, will this cold water method allow me to actually tighten the brim on the sides to make it go down? I guess equivalently I could stretch the brim on the front and back, but would I have to worry about it losing its snappiness?

post pics if you can

the sweat will touch your forehead ... regardless ... unless the hat is too big ... the reeding is to trumpet the edge ... so the edge won't touch your forehead....

you're lucky I'm on the start of another project & have these pics to show you ... see the trumpet shape?

anyway ... you have an odd issue .. the hat is the wrong shape for yer noggin... best solution ... get another hat that fits better ... a long oval in your size ..

or

what you can do at this point is to completely soak the hat in cold water saturating it ... then jam the thing onto your skull then shape it...[huh]

once you have it the way you want it let it dry on your head so it conforms to the shape of your melon ... then afterwards spray the whole thing with Scout waterproofer/stiffener


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[Daoud]

I've certainly had some good outdoors-type hats made of wool felt. But I really think that in the shape-holding department you will eventually be happier with a fur felt hat.....and you will certainly be happiest with a hat which is sized to fit your head.....unfortunately, most people's heads don't conveniently fall into the Small, Medium. Large and Extra-Large categories- not with any degree of precision, that is.

 

[jpbales]

Wil is right, shaping it while it is on your head is probably the best way to go.

Daoud is right too, wool felt doesn't re-shape very well at all. Fur felts are far superior to wool.