Hat Repair in NYC

[Spellflower]

I called Arnold Hatters in Manhattan a while back, and they said the only one in the city who still does repairs is Van Dyke Hatters in Brooklyn. I went there and met the proprietor, who seemed like a nice guy. He said he could replace sweatbands for about $15, but he wasn't sure if he had anything but black. I intend to take a couple of cheaper hats I posted about last week there, so if he's not great I haven't sacrificed anything precious.

However, I just bought this:

from Feltfan, and I'm hesitant to have anyone untested work on it. I know I should probably send it to Graham, but I thought I'd ask if anyone knows of any other hatters here in NYC who they could recommend. So, do ya?

 

[MattC]

Send it to Graham

My shot at getting work done in NY ended badly. Send it to Graham.

 

[PhilS]

For those of us who are new...

who is Graham?

 

[besdor]

The only other place in NY to repair hats is Palace Hats at 53-12 16th Ave in Brooklyn. They are nice people but dont expect a meracle . Unfortunately , they deal in the religious black hat trade so everything is black ! It is very difficult to get any other color band for a hat. I wish we had the time to change bands.



Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[Spellflower]

Thanks everyone! I guess I'll give Graham a call.

PhilS, Graham Thompson is the hatter at Optimo Hats, one of the only custom hat shops in the world. Optimo is also known as the best place for hat restoration and repair.

The only reason I wanted to go with someone else is to maybe save on shipping, but I'd rather spend an extra $15 than risk messing up a vintage Borsalino.

 

[carldelo]

A must to avoid

I was referred to a hat repair place in NYC called Peter & Irving by a Manhattan retailer. In the process of cleaning & putting in a new band, my vintage Stetson was essentially butchered. He was not apologetic about it at all, and was in fact somewhat threatening. It's still listed in the yellow pages in the city, so I want to give a heads up to unsuspecting NY loungers. So that makes this another vote for shipping to Optimo.

Cheers, Carl

 

[Spellflower]

Thanks for the heads up, Carl. I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way, but at least you're able to save other hats from such a fate.

I just booked a flight from Oakland to NYC with a Chicago layover!

 

[Wil Tam]

I've been looking for this...

Hey everyone I just found my grandfathers' old stingy brim fedora, it was hidden in a hatbox way in back of the old storage closet! Kinda priceless to me because he bought it back in the '20's or '30's and wore it up to the day he died... so there is a lot of history within the brim, makes me wonder what kind of mischief he was getting into when sporting it.

I need to get it repaired, I looked around on the net for a place in my area & found Worth & Worth. My question is, has anyone of you folks ever used their services or know of them? Basically I want to know if they are skilled & trustworthy enough to refurbish my new found treasure to pristine condition.

The hat was made by a company called Bond, I Googled but could not find a listing for them, so I'm assuming that they went out of business some time ago. The leather sweatband has dried up, so that's the main repair & the ribbon is still good but I'm thinking of replacing it with either a darker or lighter shade of brown for better contrast to the brown of the hat. I would like to try to keep the satin lining that has their logo if I can, I may have already damaged when I hand washed with some liquid hand soap... it smells good and is clean now but the logo has faded a bit. :eusa_doh:

Oh BTW I did wear it out one time before the sweatband fell off, it was this past Halloween. I dressed as Indiana Jones, soiled tan button down shirt, brown khakis, beat up black Timberland boots, canvas shoulder bag & lastly to complete the ensemble.... a bullwhip!

I read the thread so I know my other option is to ship it to Optimo but thought I would ask first.

Thanks in advance

Wil