Help With Custom Hat Order

I sympathize with you buddy. Your hat size and his at 7 7/8 are hard to come by without going custom. Vintage hats in those large sizes can get quite expensive, if you can find them. In some ways I'm one of the lucky ones at 7 1/4, but then again, even at that size, there's too much competition from people with deeper pockets than I have. So I don't even bother anymore to try and find a nice vintage in my size. I gave up, which is why I clone my own versions of some of those old vintage classics.

 

Hi
Have you checked out D Bar J in Paradise Nevada? I haven't heard much from him. He has a profile, but not a single message and the profile started in 2013. I know nothing about the hat shop. On the other hand, being able to drive to see him would be helpful, AND from what I remember, he's high priced, not a one track pony, or incompetent. Also, while he might be high priced, you'd also be a lot more likely to get a hat you'll wear unlike the one you already have and don't like.
Just my $0.02 and worth every penny.
Later

 

Nope never heard of the place, but thanks for the suggestion, it was very thoughtful. I ended up sending one of my older hats to Watson's Hat Shop in Cave Creek AZ. He's the guy who made the hats for the Netflix series Godless and evidently he does a lot of restoration/reblock work on older hats. We spoke at length over the phone and he thinks he can rework my older hat to approximate what I want for an Open Road. At least he'll have my right head size and shape, and from there he thinks he can use that to give me dimensions that will work. Of course I'll post photos when I get my hat back.

 

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I’ve see Watson’s Hat Shop on the web, but I’ve never seen one here at The Lounge.

 

Holy crap, $2000 for a Beaver/Mink blend.....now I have to go buy some white gloves to handle mine .....knowing now that is what the market will bear!

 

Ha! When I read "Watson's" in my head I was thinking "oh, the expensive one."

 

That was my exact thought too.

 

When I have time to waste I will do searches for custom Western hat makers. It staggers me the prices they can charge. I think we are so blessed here in The Lounge to have accomplished hatters that offer their work at such reasonable prices. If I had to buy Western I would have 2 maybe 3 hats....the sticker shock would be too great.

 

He's charging me $120 for a reblock, flange, and trimming the brim so I thought the fee was entirely reasonable.

 

Yes, that does seem in line with what I am familiar with. Does it include a cleaning?

 

My hat didn't need cleaning, so no. But the price does include a nice hat box, mine was pretty old and beat up. I didn't find many hatters that offer restoration services let alone remaking hats into something else so I'm happy. Hopefully I'll be happy with the final result. He quoted me 2-3 weeks which seems very reasonable too.

 

I agree, that’s pretty reasonable.

 

By the way, when he received my old hat he said my hat size was a 61-61.5cm.

 

Go ahead, rub it in.

 

I'm sorry I don't know what that means?

 

Sorry, spell check got me. It was “rub it in.” I’m also a size 61+cm.

 

Mike Miller has made me 2 100% beaver westerns and I love them and they gets loads of wear and are doing great.

 

For anyone that cares I can report that Watson's Hat Shop does excellent work. Just received my hat back yesterday after a reblock and brim trim to get my western cowboy hat closer to an Open Road. It's not 100% an Open Road still as the brim is a little wide (3 5/8 at my direction. It should probably be closer to 3 1/4), but since I'm up in Reno and Watson's is near Phoenix I'll need to accept it.
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Last year I did'nt think about buying a new hat. I am finally up to have David Gibson make me a hat and I would like some advice on a few design options. It will be a pecan beaver hat with a 2.5 inch raw brim. What are your thoughts on a black ribbon or pecan ribbon? I am leaning towards a black ribbon. I am also thinking about a diamond crown.

Thank you, David

 

Let me state my bias up front.....I dislike black ribbons on all but black hats. I own a number of Pecan felts and think it is a great felt colour......very versatile but I think a black ribbon would do nothing to enhance it. I suggest when the hat is blocked get David to send you pics with a selection of ribbons......say a Pecan or Serpent, a Black and one of HIS choice. What does he think looks good?? 3 is a good number as more tends to be too much choice and confusing. What is David's lead time these days?