Fatdutchman
Practically Family
- Messages
- 559
- Location
- Kentucky
Well, I got my ebay hats today. Here's the first one. A Stetson "4X Beaver". With the horse drinking from the cowboy's hat printed on the liner crown. I assume probably from the '70's????? It's a sort of light gray with an ever-so-slight tan tint. By golly, I actually like the telescope crown, and I'm gonna keep it that way. I had to steam it a bit to straighten it out here and there, and the brim was really crumply, but I got it shaped out well, with my favored swoop up on the right side. The pleather band has GOT to go, to be replaced when I find something suitable of real leather to put on. Problem is, the thing is GLUED onto the crown!!! I'll have to be careful to not rip off too much felt when cutting/pulling off the band...
I think it has a cool Spaghetti Western flair. Wah, wah waah...
This one is the Resistol. The color is "Chestnut", and is sized 7 1/8 "Extra Long Oval", and fits me perfectly. It's pretty tall. It came with the typical creasing: The trapezoidal dent in the top of the crown and the creases on either side. I filled the hat up with water, set it in the bathtub, then went to eat lunch. Came back and the crown was soaked through and was nice and compliant. I pushed the dents all out. Man, this hat is tall! I'm not used to wearing anything near this large. The crown was at least 6" high, and maybe a tad more. I quickly put in the crease and pinch, which it took quite nicely, then set about steaming the brim to the shape I wanted. I finally got it lookin' pretty durn good, I think. Mighty tall, though. It came with a woven band that had velcro on it, so that was easy to remove. It also had the thin ribbon in the box that the hat originally came with. I currently just have it tied on round the crown. I have some 1 1/2" ribbon ordered for the crown, with a matching ribbon to bind the edge. Should be here next week sometime. Did I mention how tall this hat was? My inspiration for this hat was the one worn by Thomas Haden Church in the movie/miniseries "Broken Trail", which is now one of my most favorite western movies....and my most favorite hats. His was a bit shorter, and to my eye, that makes it more "normal looking". To make the "perfect" hat, I think I would want a 5 3/4" crown. I'll keep searching, but I think this one will keep me satisfied till then. Besides, at $22, I can afford to experiment around and buy more hats!
You can see the crown is still wet. The crease is a modified "Gus" or "Montana Slope" crease, higher in the back, lower in the front, but not nearly so pronounced.
I think it has a cool Spaghetti Western flair. Wah, wah waah...
This one is the Resistol. The color is "Chestnut", and is sized 7 1/8 "Extra Long Oval", and fits me perfectly. It's pretty tall. It came with the typical creasing: The trapezoidal dent in the top of the crown and the creases on either side. I filled the hat up with water, set it in the bathtub, then went to eat lunch. Came back and the crown was soaked through and was nice and compliant. I pushed the dents all out. Man, this hat is tall! I'm not used to wearing anything near this large. The crown was at least 6" high, and maybe a tad more. I quickly put in the crease and pinch, which it took quite nicely, then set about steaming the brim to the shape I wanted. I finally got it lookin' pretty durn good, I think. Mighty tall, though. It came with a woven band that had velcro on it, so that was easy to remove. It also had the thin ribbon in the box that the hat originally came with. I currently just have it tied on round the crown. I have some 1 1/2" ribbon ordered for the crown, with a matching ribbon to bind the edge. Should be here next week sometime. Did I mention how tall this hat was? My inspiration for this hat was the one worn by Thomas Haden Church in the movie/miniseries "Broken Trail", which is now one of my most favorite western movies....and my most favorite hats. His was a bit shorter, and to my eye, that makes it more "normal looking". To make the "perfect" hat, I think I would want a 5 3/4" crown. I'll keep searching, but I think this one will keep me satisfied till then. Besides, at $22, I can afford to experiment around and buy more hats!
You can see the crown is still wet. The crease is a modified "Gus" or "Montana Slope" crease, higher in the back, lower in the front, but not nearly so pronounced.
