don't know if fedoraraiders is doing the muffin-top, and if this is his secret, but muffin-topping is a great distressing techniqe if you are going for the SOC look. Your hat should be a 360 stovepipe, or close to it, because it will give you less backtilt. I have been repeatedly folding my crown at the top of the ribbon on each hat I've owned for about 8 years now, to try and get the Raiders look. Muffin-topping gets it for you in seconds, and extreme.
You know 3M$, there really isn't anything new going on with the SOC fedora. You did this first here, the bulge deal. In fact, I think you are the original SOC hatter. I kept waiting for someone to chime in, about you. I did not want to hijack his thread, anymore than I already did, so I did not mention it. But glad you brought it up. You have always thought, outside the box.
The SOC fedora is still an oddity to me, and I still wonder the hows and whys of that particular hat. And one question I hope someone asks D.L. if they ever get the chance. "what did you do to get the SOC hat, to look so...well worn and distressed?" I well recall her saying, that she and Harrison sit on it, wadded it up, etc, so that it looked like a well worn, fedora. Is this all she did to the SOC hat? Hard to believe. Something did happen to it though. The ribbon has slid up,(why?) it bulges all over, the brim break droops. It had to be intentional! Many of the other hats in that film just look new.
3M$, what do you think of the CS block? I ask you, because from the front, the CS block is like your own 360. It goes straight up, no taper. But, the front and back of the block does have taper, like most of the vintage blocks you see. Probably 1/4 an inch from bottom to top. On the CS block, when creased ala Raiders, the hat just looks to be too straight. To the point of being blocky, stubby. And that is what prompted me to think the Raiders block was not this straight, on the sides. The Raiders hat just looks more streamlined to me, which of course could come from Ford wearing a 7 1/4 when in fact his head size is a 7 3/8. Either that, or the block just tapered in just a little bit. When I made the hat for the film, I used a 7 1/4 block instead of the 7 3/8. Why? Well because of the fullness of the block they had picked. If I would have used the right size, the hat would have looked ridiculously blocky. Wider than his face. So, I adjusted, and it worked out ok. And so glad I chose to do that at the time.
There is a famous ancient building, can't recall what it's called, or where it is. But very old. It tapers as it goes up, which from the ground looks to be non tapered, and in balance. It's an illusion. If the structure was perfectly straight up, it was said, the building would appear to be larger at the top than the bottom, and all esthetics would be lost. When I heard that on the history channel, I immediately thought of hats!!!
I proposed the crown of the Raiders hat was pulled down over the top of the ribbon muffin-top style because the Tannis turban was worn over the hat. It was met with so much resistance, I didn't bother/dare to post these pics in that thread.
Well, resistance to a new idea is understandable. But, that theory makes sense. SOMETHING, caused the bulging of this hat. For some reason, I just can't see D.L. pulling a tight cord around the hat to create those bulges. I just can't. I can't see her wanting to intentionally create those bulges either. I think it just happened, with the sort of felt that was used. Perhaps, the hat was injured in the filming, she had no back up hat with her, and she fixed it, thereby creating the SOC fedora. Who knows? We may never know.
and in the pic of his hat compared to a LLS, look at the indent just above the ribbon on the right side of his hat.
Looks like a cord impression. When I first saw that pic, I saw two hats that look to come from the same block. The difference, is the right one is just taller, and the top crease just a bit deeper due to the taller hat. And it has the bulge. I guess its my eyes playing tricks on me though. Or rather my "eye"
Still, even with one eye looking the resemblence is remarkable, as he said he used a different blockshape. But, it has to be a few tweaks, and not major changes. It very well may be the angles too that give me this perception. They are different angles for each hat. Maybe if they were on the same angle, I could see the difference.
One thing though I think is for sure. There is nothing new today in regards to the SOC fedora that has not already been done here, by you or someone else. Only the names change. You have always been an inspiration to me, and sometimes you get lost in the chaos and new members. I still have a pic of that duct tape Raiders fedora you made, somewhere on a cd. Do you still have a pic of it? If so, man, I would love for you to post it again. It was awesome dude! (can't believe I used those more modern terms!) And lots of new folks here now that have never seen your early work in other mediums. It still blows me away, as I have a hard image imprinted on my brain of that duct tape Raiders fedora.
Hey, you getting some gray around the temples?
Join the club my friend. And post more man. I miss reading your posts.
Fedora
This was my Fed 4 Winston 360. I put the hat on, wet my fingertips, and pulled the crown down over the ribbon. O.K., maybe the turban wasn't involed, and Ford put his hat on, wet his finger tips and did this too. Here's the latest Winston 360, a pre-Raiders HJ, I've blocked it to begin tapering lower than the original W360, and I'll tell you why later, but it has undergone "muffin-topping." 
It's a fine, thin felt that has been softened with 4 reblocks, so the effect isn't overly extreme. The reason I bring it up now is fedoraraiders claims to have a "little trick that is secret, and in the pic of his hat compared to a LLS, look at the indent just above the ribbon on the right side of his hat. 
I don't know if fedoraraiders is doing the muffin-top, and if this is his secret, but muffin-topping is a great distressing techniqe if you are going for the SOC look. Your hat should be a 360 stovepipe, or close to it, because it will give you less backtilt. I have been repeatedly folding my crown at the top of the ribbon on each hat I've owned for about 8 years now, to try and get the Raiders look. Muffin-topping gets it for you in seconds, and extreme.
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Bullitt, the rubber band looks like another good option, and now that muffin-topping is off my chest, I'll admit I think the cause is probably the high heat and sweat and rare super felt. But how many are going to have, or want to have 120 degree heat to live in to shape their hat? You could wet the felt at the top of the ribbon and dry it with a lamp or hair dryer and get an effect, but you could ruin your hat if you didn't have a feel for the process. Heat and moisture will shrink the felt. If the Raiders SOC look IS about muffin-topping, no felt gets shrunk.
fedoraraiders, my apologies, Your technique may be different and more valid than mine. I don't know if your secret even had anything to do with this facet of the hat. Every success to you.
