First (decent) fedora, mystery thrift store stetson, help!

[yoonie]

As the post says, after lurking here for a bit and suffering from a life long love of fedoras (starting 20 years ago when I first saw dr. no and indiana jones), I finally decided to get my first decent fedora. I was originally going to get an akubra whippet, (my current crappy polyester fedora has a 1.8 inch brim, it looks like, and i really like the fit) but found this stetson at a local thrift store for 12 bucks!

I was hoping to get some help identifying it, as well as figuring out what to do with it. As you can see, the back brim is flipped up, and it seems like it's about a half size too small, maybe from shrinkage. Basically, I'm trying to figure out if it's worth sending to optimos (or somehwere closer, as I'm in NYC).

As far as i can tell, 2.5 inch brim, ~5 inch crown measured at the middle from the side view, where the pinch ends, w/out a crease, snap brim.

 

[gtdean48]

Any stickers under the sweatband on the inside of the hat?

 

[yoonie]

nope, already checked. just a chalk "8". it looks like there's some cardboard stapled to the back of the ribbon too, and the size tab (carboard one) was ripped off and stuck inside the sweatband. i dunno if there might be any identifying characteristics on that

 

[RBH]

Welcome to the Lounge.
Looks like a nice hat... if it fits you should be able to work the back of the brim down to suit what style you like.
Do a search on ...shaping.. bashing.. creasing ...a hat. That should give you the needed info.
Good luck and I hope to see what you can do with that Stetson.

 

[yoonie]

Thanks rbh. I saw some threads on reshaping and stuff, but i just wanted to make sure my hat wasn't terminally creased somehow, and figure out if it's worth spending some dough to restore/modify

 

[gtdean48]

A good way to straighten the brim is with a steam iron. You need to have a thin towel between the iron and the brim. Steaming heavily as you iron will flatten out that brim. BE CAREFUL that the tip of your iron does NOT touch the crown when you get in close. HTH....

 

[yoonie]

Thank you very much! I was just about to start that, but was looking for more detailed instructions. You think it'd be worth spending 40-80 to get it fixed up at optimos? I was thinking maybe cut the brim to ~2 inches, new band/ribbon, and maybe going up a size, but am debating whether it's worth the work on this hat or if i should justl ook for an akubra/christys

 

[Wil Tam]

NO... DO NOT TRIM THE BRIM!

Thank you very much! I was just about to start that, but was looking for more detailed instructions. You think it'd be worth spending 40-80 to get it fixed up at optimos? I was thinking maybe cut the brim to ~2 inches, new band/ribbon, and maybe going up a size, but am debating whether it's worth the work on this hat or if i should justl ook for an akubra/christys

IMHO you acquired a really nice wide brim Stetson Sovereign, that is much sought after, plus it being a Sovereign = best quality felt used.

Send it Optimos but do not trim the brim, it would be a sin

 

[Wil Tam]

I'm in NYC

There is Worth & Worth in NYC, I was going to try them but never got around to using their services ... they've been around forever so they have to have some skills... right?

what size is the hat? If you want to trade or sell and it's a 7 1/8 ... I have a NOS Resistol 990 in grey with black ribbon that has a 2 inch brim...

 

[yoonie]

It is actually 7 and 1/8ths....lets see this hat of yours =)

By the way, since I'm a fedora noob, I hope that someone will inform me if i'm making a foolish trade- no offense Wil, but it always pays to be cautious. Also, DAMN the felt feels soft to my untrained fingertips I just don't want to lose that feeling

 

[Wil Tam]

It is actually 7 and 1/8ths....lets see this hat of yours =)

By the way, since I'm a fedora noob, I hope that someone will inform me if i'm making a foolish trade- no offense Wil, but it always pays to be cautious. Also, DAMN the felt feels soft to my untrained fingertips I just don't want to lose that feeling

you don't have enough posts for me to PM you so I'll post on here ... definitely get 2nd 3rd 4th opinions ... you have a great hat in your hands, but if you want a 2" brim keep that as is and get another that is 2"

 

[yoonie]

I'm not sure I can send/receive PMs- maybe because I jsut registered? I can't access your profile or see a message category in my user CP. You use some sort of messenger? AIM is jaelee42, for me

Edit: jsut saw your post, i'll definitely ask around. It looks as though we're both in NYC though, so at least we'd both have an opportunity to see the hats inperson. I do love the hat, but I simply don't see myself wearing a hat with a brim that big, and an unworn hat is a bigger sin than cutting the brim, IMO.

 

[Wil Tam]

 

[yoonie]

those pictures...shall we say, they gird my loins? I think that's almost exactly what I'm looking for. I'm loathe to post my contact info, do you use a messenger? Also, how many posts till I can PM?

 

[MattJH]

From the photograph, it appears to have a black sweatband, meaning that it's a newer model Stetson. Probably 80's-ish. It's definitely a nice hat, but if the brim is too big for you, I would take Wil Tam up on his offer for the grey NOS Resistol 990. NOS means "New Old Stock," meaning a vintage hat that is unworn. There's a nice picture of one in this thread. You would most certainly not be getting ripped off. You'd be getting a hat you'd be more likely to enjoy wearing, and that's an upgrade!

 

[RBH]

After 15 post you should be able to PM.

 

[yoonie]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll consider myself lucky if I manage to convert my lucky find into the hat i really want within one posted thread =)

 

[Wil Tam]

the tags

 

[Wil Tam]

if you want it PM me ... one more post away

 

[yoonie]

Well, I've posted 15 and i can't pm you, so I'll post one more. I'd love to make the trade, and I've posted a thread jsut in case some fedora lounger wants to tell me i'm doing something terrrible (and also to get to 15 posts).

Edit: Apparently, 16 is the magic #, not 15