Hat Renovation by Art Fawcett

[tonyb]

Refurbing hats can be more work than building an all-new one. And, often enough, the result essentially IS a new hat -- new sweatband, new ribbon, sometimes a new lining -- built on an old body. If the body itself is still solid, and of decent or better quality, there's every reason to refurb it.

A hatter as well equipped as Art, with the materials and supplies he has amassed over his years in the business, combined with his aesthetic sensibilities, is as good a person as anyone I know of to entrust with an old lid.

 

[Art Fawcett]

I also missed the debate, but can fully understand why someone would want to limit exposure to these chemicals in their workplace.

I agree Alan but without having benefit of the entire posting series I hesitate entering that part of the debate. I do not use many chemicals and what I DO use is stored elsewhere but I don't think that was the original issue. I believe the poster was questioning my use of ANY chemicals in the renovating process and thereby questioning my qualifications. I sure hope not but that's the way it seems.


Thank you Tony. With the recent negativity toward me here it's nice to hear from a fellow Hatter who has put in the time and money you have.

 

[tonyb]

My hat is off to you for taking on refurbs, Art.

I see on the website that you're charging $75-$125 for complete rebuilds on felt hats. Anyone with any real sense of how much work is involved, and knows the challenges old hat bodies almost always present (persistent soiling, weak spots, etc.), knows those rates are more than fair.

How's the new digs, by the way?

 

[kingrat]

Right on Mr. tonyb, All of you do great work.

 

[tonyb]

I sent five hats to Art. They were trashed...three felts and two Panama. The felt hats included two vintage, that were at one time my very favorite "go to" wear. Of course, everyday wear of a "Dove" gray hat, including wearing at the Skeet field..they became filthy. The black ribbon on one was totally split in the front, and the felt had actually changed color many shades darker from the dirt and grime.
I also sent one of my first "Optimo" felts which I had gotten from Chicago...going on 10 years ago. This hat was a disaster as well.

The Panama's were also horribly "FILTHY". One had a split/tear in the straw, the other (a very nice long ago Panama Bob hat) had an unwoven edge. Both these hats were candidates for the Halloween scarecrow.

But, since at least one of the Panama's was a very nice weave, I sent it to Art hoping for a miracle.

So far, three have come back from "overhaul" by Art. WOWOOOOOWW!

The straw with the broken edge..Art bound the brim. It's a beautiful job. It actually IMPROVED the hat and the "snap" of the brim. He worked magic to get out YEARS of grime. I have almost a NEW hat. I think he replaced the sweatband as well..it looks new and this fits better now than before. Ribbon was changed as well. Yes..it is now almost a new hat.

This proved that you can really "save" a hat, either straw or felt...when you send it to someone who KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

The felt is clean and actually matches the color "hidden" under the ribbon. You know...those light color hats that get dirty, slowly over time. You "peek" behind the ribbon to see that, "Oh my"! ..it's quite a bit lighter under that ribbon.

The felt has the original sweatband and liner..since being a vintage hat, Art kept is true to that as best as possible.

Again..my HAT is off to Art!

...

This post drives home a couple (or more) points I and many others have made many times before.

Yes, vintage hats are generally of higher quality than the run of mass-produced hats made in more recent times. But a like-new vintage hat is in that condition because it was rarely if ever worn. Subject it to real-world use and it will inevitably show signs of it.

A hatter with the right equipment and the skills to use it can return those battered beauties to their former glory. Sometimes they come out even better than they ever were before. But again, it takes the right person with the right equipment. I've turned down refurbs in the past because, even with my hundred or so blocks and twice that many flanges, I didn't have what was needed to do the job properly.

Especially in the case of straws, where the crown "creasing" is pressed into the material on a shaped block and its corresponding tipper, the right block is indispensable. Those blocks are kinda scarce, and often pricey. I know of a hatter or two who has spent well over a hundred bucks for a straw hat block that he has used maybe a couple of times. Perhaps he'll live long enough to see that purchase amortized. But you know, if a customer wants a hat in that style, and in that size, that hatter may be among the very few in a position to do it properly.

And then there's what I think is an underlying inference in Andykev's post: It's a HAT, folks, an item of attire. Wear it, and let the chips, and the bird doo-doo, fall where it may.

I can see putting some hats away. I have a few of my own -- very high quality vintage hats that have survived in extraordinarily good condition because they were rarely worn and were stored under favorable conditions. But at that point they're primarily museum pieces, or fetish objects, and no longer items of attire. Some people have cars that never see a public roadway. That's a bit rich for my blood. But I got some really nice old hats.

And the others? Even the vintage ones? They're still just hats.

 

[Art Fawcett]

"They're still just hats."
hoorahh!!!!

 

[hatsRme]

"They're still just hats."
hoorahh!!!!

I beg to differ! Mine aren't just hats, gentlemen... they're MY hats. eace:

Alright, ALRIGHT... JUST hats.

 

[mayserwegener]

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with museum pieces. You don't have to wear a hat to admire it. The following hat is a prime example. It's a size 54cm but I could careless that I can't wear it. If the sweat was lost you wouldn't be able to match the original. Same with the coordinated liner. Forget about the felt finish and color.


http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6-johann-hueckel%c2%b4s-soehne-hueckel-hutfabrik-weilheim/page__st__20#entry273

 

[tonyb]

I agree, Steve. I have a few museum pieces myself. I've met people who have books they handle only with white gloves. Lord knows they would never stuff one into a backpack to take along on a camping trip.

I got a huge (nearly size 8) Cavanagh Homburg that is about as nice a mass-produced hat I've ever handled. It's waaaay too big for me to wear, and that's okay. I take it out every now and then just to admire a well-made lid.

My near dead-stock condition Stratoliner presents a bit more of a quandary. It fits. And it's a genuine vintage Stratoliner, so for that reason alone it'll always appeal to collectors. But, truth be known, it's just an okay hat. I mean, it's good-lookin' hat, but its quality is just so-so for a hat of its vintage. I wore it some when I first got it, several years ago, but not since. It is very little the worse for what little use I gave it.

So yeah, I wear vintage hats, sometimes, and some I wear very rarely if ever, so as to preserve them as historical artifacts. In my case, though, I'd rather wear a hat of my own making almost every time. Those I feel free to regard as "just a hat," because, what the hell, I can always make another.

 

[kingrat]

Well said and I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[mayserwegener]

Tony, I enjoy wearing / collecting vintage hats but my interest extends beyond that (my focus being the German and Austrian hat making industry). I am just as interested in finding an old hat catalog or company anniversary book that includes felt and hat making processes of the time period. This is where my interests are directed.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I agree, Steve. I have a few museum pieces myself. I've met people who have books they handle only with white gloves. Lord knows they would never stuff one into a backpack to take along on a camping trip.

I got a huge (nearly size 8) Cavanagh Homburg that is about as nice a mass-produced hat I've ever handled. It's waaaay too big for me to wear, and that's okay. I take it out every now and then just to admire a well-made lid.

My near dead-stock condition Stratoliner presents a bit more of a quandary. It fits. And it's a genuine vintage Stratoliner, so for that reason alone it'll always appeal to collectors. But, truth be known, it's just an okay hat. I mean, it's good-lookin' hat, but its quality is just so-so for a hat of its vintage. I wore it some when I first got it, several years ago, but not since. It is very little the worse for what little use I gave it.

So yeah, I wear vintage hats, sometimes, and some I wear very rarely if ever, so as to preserve them as historical artifacts. In my case, though, I'd rather wear a hat of my own making almost every time. Those I feel free to regard as "just a hat," because, what the hell, I can always make another.

It is very true, as a person that can make a wonderful splendid hat, you that do make them have a strict advantage over those of us that peek at your work product (as you are hat makers) and simply, drool!

Vintage hats are splendid to find and own. Custom hats are MADE to be splendid and own. That is our opinion in our household. Further, as those of you that can make a hat, the overall talent and knowledge should be respected by anyone and everyone. I am also certain, the overall talent and skill to fix a hat that has some real issues, you know it could be anything at all that has happened to a hat that could be in need of fixing. Hats have most likely been pee'd on by someone's cat, dragged around by a child in the sandbox, the leather sweatband ripped up from abuse or neglect, sat on, car oil, cupcakes, beer, you name it, the problem with a hat can happen. It takes some very smart hat making knowledge to really deal with the "fix" of the hat itself, to be worn again and to look new...or as new as possible. How anyone could NOT respect a hatter is beyond me?

 

[tonyb]

Tony, I enjoy wearing / collecting vintage hats but my interest extends beyond that (my focus being the German and Austrian hat making industry). I am just as interested in finding an old hat catalog or company anniversary book that includes felt and hat making processes of the time period. This is where my interests are directed.

It's good that somebody is collecting and preserving all that stuff, lest it be lost to history.

I have a few pieces of old advertising ephemera and such around here, but I'm far from a collector or a serious student of the history. (Although I do have a sizable assortment of vintage hatboxes, which serve the same purpose now as they did when they were made, way back when.) I appreciate that some people have put in the time and effort, though, as we all get the benefit of their research. I don't have to spend much time researching the history of the Cavanagh edge, for instance, because Brad Bowers has already done that.

To kinda steer this back on topic ...

It's a bit surprising how little information on hat renovation there is, considering that hatter's shops were ubiquitous at a time not so long ago. There's the Ermatinger book, from about a century ago. Beyond that, a budding hat renovator is pretty much on his own, unless he finds a mentor out there in this brave new digital world of ours. Fortunately, it's mostly common sense and skills transferable from other pursuits. Even then, though, he will still be studying at the College of Trial and Error.

The processes involved in crafting and renovating hats is easy to understand. But it can be deceptively difficult to execute those seemingly simple procedures, even if one has been walked through them by an experienced hatter. It becomes "easy," but only once you've done it a few hundred times.

Art Fawcett isn't the only person renovating fine men's hats. But he has been something of a pioneer in this hat renaissance. We have all benefitted from his hard work and not insignificant financial investment. I can rattle off a list of hatters, a few of whom rarely are mentioned here, whom Art has directly influenced. I have a short roster of names I can recommend to folks whose hats I don't feel comfortable tackling myself. Art is at the top of that list.