How do you determine what kind of oval you are?

In-depth discussion of the Fedora of Indiana Jones and all other hats appearing in the Indiana Jones movies

Moderators: Indiana Jeff, Dalexs

Post Reply
User avatar
binkmeisterRick
Stealer of Wallets
Posts: 16926
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Chattering with these old bones

How do you determine what kind of oval you are?

Post by binkmeisterRick »

I've wondered this a bit, because short of having a conformer, how can you determine if you have a regular oval, round oval, or long oval head?

One of the things I've noticed with Indy hats is that the shape of your head versus the block of the hat has a lot to do with how "Indy" the hat really looks on you. Especially if you're looking at a SoC or Raiders hat, the way your head fits and pushes against the hat will affect brim curl and various other characteristics of the hat. I have several (non Indy) hats which develop brim swoop, etc. simply because of how tight the hat is and how the opening is shaped.

Case in point, I think Holt and I share the same hat size, but I could never get my FedIV to look the same as his on my head, even after he told me how he shaped his hat. I think this has a lot to do with having a different head shape. On the flip side, my AB CS looks really good on me because of how that hat is shaped to my head.

If I have a long oval head and put on a round oval hat, the shape of my head will push the front and back of the hat, adding to the front profile stovepipe effect while giving the brim a bit more swoop. However, I have no clue what my head shape really is. So before this thread goes down a different path based on the above, can anyone answer me on how to find out your headshape? Discuss. :wink:
User avatar
WeeMadHamish
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 428
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:32 am
Location: Ledyard, CT

Post by WeeMadHamish »

Well, I happened to figure out that I had a round oval head more or less by accident. When I ordered my first Federation I had inadvertantly measured my head too low in the back, so I ended up ordering a hat two sizes too large. But one thing I noticed when I put it on was that my head made contact in the front and back but there were big gaps in the sides. So the length of the crown was right, but not the width -- long oval. :) Playing with cardboard cutouts in regular and long proportions (prepping to make my own hat block) pretty much confirmed it.
User avatar
gwyddion
Museum Curator
Museum Curator
Posts: 1589
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:16 am
Location: The Netherlands

Post by gwyddion »

I have no clue.... I'm one of those alien type people that can only be named as: extreme long oval. :wink:
If I ever post pics of myself on this site, you'll see what I mean.

This does not mean I will never post pics of myself, just that I won't do it untill my first Indy hat arives :wink:

Regards, Geert
User avatar
Band Director Jones
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 466
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 6:10 pm
Location: CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Deep in the heart of Texas!

Post by Band Director Jones »

I've been told I'm a block-head.

But seriously, Joe Peters, Sr. used one of those old-timey comformators on my head a few years ago. When we were done, my wife looked and the little dots on the paper and said, "It looks like a messed up potato!" Joe used a more official term and said I had a German oval.
User avatar
Michaelson
Knower of Things
Posts: 44484
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2002 12:55 pm
Location: Out here knowing stuff and things and wishing I were with the family at Universal Studios Orlando

Post by Michaelson »

Yeah, Joe told me I had the typical English/Welsh long oval head. :lol:

Regards! Michaelson
User avatar
indyrocks
Archaeologist
Archaeologist
Posts: 398
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 1:16 am
Location: USA, Earth

Post by indyrocks »

Michaelson wrote:Yeah, Joe told me I had the typical English/Welsh long oval head. :lol:

Regards! Michaelson

I'm Welsh and my head is quite round thank you very much! :lol:

Does anyone know what Ford's head shape was? Roughly?
User avatar
Michaelson
Knower of Things
Posts: 44484
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2002 12:55 pm
Location: Out here knowing stuff and things and wishing I were with the family at Universal Studios Orlando

Post by Michaelson »

I'm Welsh too, and VERY long oval.

I think I have a bit more of the German/French gene sneaking into the equation than Joe suspected! :wink:

Regard! Michaelson
User avatar
binkmeisterRick
Stealer of Wallets
Posts: 16926
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Chattering with these old bones

Post by binkmeisterRick »

HA! I found my answer:
http://texascustomhatters.com/gettingstarted.html

Scroll down a bit and it's on the right of the page. Here's the text without the basic graphics, though:

Your head shape. There are three basic head shapes - Regular Oval, Long Oval and Round Oval.

Determining your personal head shape is extremely easy! Stand with your back to a wall mirror holding a small hand mirror with one hand. Hold the hand mirror so that you can see the back of your head in the wall mirror.

Next, lean your head back towards the wall mirror and adjust the hand mirror so that you can now see the top of your head. If required, pull your hair away from your forehead. You can now see the shape of your head! Use the diagrams and descriptions below to evaluate which of the three head shapes yours is.

Regular Oval - the most common head shape. If in doubt, you most likely have a regular oval head shape. When viewing your head from the top, your head will appear proportioned as shown in the diagrahm below.

Long Oval - those with long oval heads have a more elongated head with proportions similar to those in the graphic below.

Round Oval - this head shape is extremely rare. If your head as viewed from above resembles the graphic below, then you are one of those rare individuals who have a wonderfully round head.
Essentially, you just gotta be able to look at the top of your own head. :wink:
User avatar
Dalexs
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9009
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2002 2:49 am
Location: Jus' nath' of Bawstin
Contact:

Post by Dalexs »

Of course, you could just take the current hat you've been wearing for a while and look at the current shape. :wink:

I also find that if you simply push in the sides of your hat to elongate it and it fits better, then you are most liokely a long oval.

If you are a round oval (is that even possible?) get a hair cut!
User avatar
gwyddion
Museum Curator
Museum Curator
Posts: 1589
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:16 am
Location: The Netherlands

Post by gwyddion »

Dalexs wrote:If you are a round oval (is that even possible?) get a hair cut!
:rolling:

But seriously, A lot of Asian people aparently have a round oval head shape.

Regards, Geert
MIJones
Dig Worker
Dig Worker
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 2:29 pm
Location: Twin Cities, MN

Post by MIJones »

Isn't that (round oval) an oxymoron? Maybe Jaxon should come up with a fedora made only in round oval sizes with that name.

Bill

<snip>

If you are a round oval (is that even possible?) get a hair cut![/quote]
Marcus Brody
Archaeologist
Archaeologist
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 5:36 pm

Post by Marcus Brody »

Yeah, I don't get the terminology either. Why isn't it a short oval instead?

Either way, I can tell I'm a round oval because my head has the tendency to push to the sides on hats that technically fit measurement wise. Thus it's harder for me to have a hat that doesn't appear with some slight taper.

I shrink some of my hats to make them conform to my head shape. Indeed if you were to look at the shape, it's a little less ovalish and more circle like than the default opening shape.
User avatar
Kentucky Blues
Professor of Archaeology
Professor of Archaeology
Posts: 834
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2003 4:59 pm
Location: Kentucky
Contact:

Post by Kentucky Blues »

I always heard it as "wide oval", which is whats printed on the sweatband of my rather round Stetson Whippet :)

-KB :)
User avatar
Chewbacca Jones
Legendary Adventurer
Legendary Adventurer
Posts: 3878
Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2006 1:17 am
Location: Somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse
Contact:

Post by Chewbacca Jones »

I think it's a "round oval" as if to say, it's oval but very rounded by comparison. Imagine a size tag that said "7 1/4 ObVRbC"! :lol:

The easiest way to figure it out is by putting a hat on that measures the same as your head. Especially if it's not really floppy, but not cowboy hat stiff. Spaces on the sides and tightness up front means LO. Snug on the side, or a tapering only when the hat is on, you've got RO. Which is better than BO, but that's a bit OT. :shock:
User avatar
cooncatbob
Laboratory Technician
Laboratory Technician
Posts: 113
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:38 pm
Location: Carmichael, CA
Contact:

Post by cooncatbob »

Round oval is 5/8 inch longer than it is wide
Regular oval is 1 3/8 inches longer than it is wide
Long oval is 2 1/8 inches longer than it is wide
X-Long oval is 2 7/8 inches longer than it is wide
XX-Long oval is 3 5/8 inches longer than it is wide
XXX-Long oval is 4 3/8 inches longer than it is wide

You'll need a pair of outside calipers.
User avatar
MustangLoverMex
Archaeologist
Archaeologist
Posts: 346
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:23 am
Location: Mexico City

Post by MustangLoverMex »

Well, i'm a weird "ROUND OVAL", and it's pretty sad, because most of hats doesn't fit me and the brim does a lot of funny shapes :?
Anyway, the thing is that i bought a Fed IV std and i had to go with a "hat maker" in order to put that shape in the hat and in fact i shape the crown of the Fed lots of times and can't get the bucket shape... :(
But still the hat looks amazing! :D

Best regards,

-Alfonso :D
User avatar
gabrielle
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 620
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:29 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Post by gabrielle »

binkmeisterRick wrote:HA! I found my answer:
http://texascustomhatters.com/gettingstarted.html

Scroll down a bit and it's on the right of the page. Here's the text without the basic graphics, though:

Your head shape. There are three basic head shapes - Regular Oval, Long Oval and Round Oval.

Determining your personal head shape is extremely easy! Stand with your back to a wall mirror holding a small hand mirror with one hand. Hold the hand mirror so that you can see the back of your head in the wall mirror.

Next, lean your head back towards the wall mirror and adjust the hand mirror so that you can now see the top of your head. If required, pull your hair away from your forehead. You can now see the shape of your head! Use the diagrams and descriptions below to evaluate which of the three head shapes yours is.

Regular Oval - the most common head shape. If in doubt, you most likely have a regular oval head shape. When viewing your head from the top, your head will appear proportioned as shown in the diagrahm below.

Long Oval - those with long oval heads have a more elongated head with proportions similar to those in the graphic below.

Round Oval - this head shape is extremely rare. If your head as viewed from above resembles the graphic below, then you are one of those rare individuals who have a wonderfully round head.
Essentially, you just gotta be able to look at the top of your own head. :wink:
This is very cool!!! Thanks Bink, I always wondered myself how that was determined...
Post Reply