Even old AB's get praise

[Michaelson]

I have a couple VERY nice AB's that Steve has made me over the years, and they get many approving looks from folks when I wear them.

When warm weather starts up in Tennessee, I tend to put them away and pull out my old tried and true 'Ford felt' fedora that Steve made me that reflected the style worn by the 'Fedora' character at the beginning of LC. This hat was made back in 2006.

I long ago removed the liner for cooler wear, and even punched two vent holes on both sides of the crown just above the ribbon with leather punches for more ventilation. It's been worn hard, and put away wet more times than I can count, and just keeps coming back for more. I wear this hat until temps and humidity force me to reach for my straw PB Indy or my 78gr summer weight AB prototype.

I wore this hat up to Ohio over the weekend, and was literally stopped on the street by no fewer than 4 people praising this old hat, telling me how great it looked, and wanting to know where I got it. Knowing Steve is already buried in work, I just said 'a friend in Mississippi makes them for me'.

So, even though my sahari and moss green get thumbs up of approval when worn, my beat up old AB I own still turns head, and receives verbal praise from a non-fedora wearing public.

Just goes to prove a well worn fedora that takes on it's own shape and style due to daily wear is the one that gets the BIG thumbs up from folks. They seem to know it's an old friend and not a 'costume piece'.

This particiular trip was a different one, though. I've never had so many folks stop me before, let alone stop me to offer praise for such a beat up old hat. Made me smile.

Regards! Michaelson

[Ian]

I've only got one AB from Steve....It's nice to know that the ABs are here for the long haul and that they'll just look better with age and use....

It's also nice to hear that complements regarding the fedora will occur....I seem to only remember the negative comments called out from the passing car or from across the street.....Comments that, at the back on my mind, make me hesitate to grab my AB before I leave the house...

Congrats on that hat!!

Ian

[binkmeisterRick]

Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!

[DR Ulloa]

You know, Ian, I used to get those comments a lot. After a while, they just stopped. I think it all has to do with how you wear the hat, and not letting the hat wear you. I just assume that I look more natural now in a hat than I did before because I am not aware I am wearing it. It just is...if that makes sense. I think it is sort of like how a animals can smell fear on you...passersby can sense the hat wearing you.

Dave

[Ian]

You know, Ian, I used to get those comments a lot. After a while, they just stopped. I think it all has to do with how you wear the hat, and not letting the hat wear you. I just assume that I look more natural now in a hat than I did before because I am not aware I am wearing it. It just is...if that makes sense. I think it is sort of like how a animals can smell fear on you...passersby can sense the hat wearing you.

Dave

Aye, I know what you mean....You'd think that my confidence would've improved over the last year and a half...

Although I haven't seen many pictures of Michaelson, I can imagine that he 'owns' the hat look..(as do you Dave)...I guess the AB is just the icing on the proverbial.....

Ian

[Michaelson]

It's not so much 'owning a look'.

It's using your hat for what it was intended to be used for.....a tool. It's protection against the elements....and can look smart in certain situations too, but in the long run it was created to keep stuff from falling on our noggins and screen us from the weather.

In that use, they take on their own personalities from our tugging and pushing and pulling on the brims and crowns, they just take on that lived in look.....as they ARE lived in. If you USE your hats, then you, too, will 'own' that 'look'.

It's just a hat.....just like those are just your shoes, or just your jacket. Nothing special, just an old friend you spend time with day after day, and it takes on it's own personality.

What I meant by this post was that it amazed me that the one hat I just use as my utility daily wear hat is the one that seems to be garnering the most positive comments of late. That surprised me no end!

Regards! Michaelson

[Hollowpond]

Well, I know this is probably fruitless, but here goes...

I would love to see the hat styled after the Fedora character! Heck, I'd love to own one! Seems like RBH over on the FL had one made by Steve at one point or another...

C'mon M! Give us a pic of the hat at least . WAIT...WHAT!?! WE HAVE A PIC???

(at least the guy said it was you... )


Travis

[Michaelson]

Here I am standing with Han Jones wearing the old AB in a sweltering hotel lobby in Atlanta during DragonCon 2009.

I have NO idea how Chris survived wearing that leather jacket!!!

Regards! Michaelson

[Hollowpond]

[Michaelson]

You can tell from the height of the crown that it has shrunk just a bit from all the weather and such it's been subjected to.

It's been back once for a clean/reblock and new ribbon, and though Steve offered to push the crown back up, I said just leave it as is.

It's different enough in appearance the way it looks now.

Regards! Michaelson

[Strider]

Great story! I love it when people stop and compliment the hats. Makes the wearers feel good!

[binkmeisterRick]

I got a couple compliments on a vintage fedora today. Much like Michaelson's, it's seen a LOT of wear and has developed its "binkmeisterization" over the years.

[whipwarrior]

It's nice to get compliments from a generally indifferent public in this day and age. I had the same experience last year in San Francisco with my pal Jaimee. Everytime we stopped walking for a moment, someone would compliment us on our vintage attire, and my fedora in particular. So many times, in fact, that I lost count. The whole experience was a bit strange after awhile, because the attention is not something that I'm accustomed to. Then, passing through the city on our way north a couple days later, Jaimee mirrored my HJ Poet with her new Adventurebilt. Our twin fedoras garnered more spontaneous praise from admiring passersby. While I don't wear a fedora daily like Michaelson, I've grown comfortable with my hat over the years enough that I feel absolutely relaxed wearing it. As Dr Ulloa said, people certainly pick up on that. Proof that a fedora, paired with a snappy brown leather jacket, is a fashion statement in ANY century!

[Indiana Jeff]

In that use, they take on their own personalities from our tugging and pushing and pulling on the brims and crowns, they just take on that lived in look.....as they ARE lived in. If you USE your hats, then you, too, will 'own' that 'look'.
Regards! Michaelson

This seems to be my experience. When I get a new hat I hardly get any comments at all, but after I've had it for a while and it's broken in a bit, people (the same ones that have seen the hat new) start to compliment it. I think it takes time for the hat to look 'right' on me and until then people don't see it as 'mine.'

I'm still amazed every time I read that you punched holes in your hat! I fear that if I tried that I'd end up looking like Clint Eastwood in A Fist Full of Dollars.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Ian]

I fear that if I tried that I'd end up looking like Clint Eastwood in A Fist Full of Dollars.

You could do worse...

Ian

[Michaelson]

The trick to the hole punch is after punching the hole with a leather punch for that perfect shaped hole, you spray hairspray around the hole on inside the crown. It stops the felt from fraying.

I've done this on two of my hats using this method, both have been back to Steve over the years for a clean/reblock, and no problems what so ever.

I'm not recommending you do that to YOUR hats, but that said, it wasn't uncommon to buy fur felt fedoras WITH ventilation holes already punched in the crowns 'back in the day'. I just reverse engineered the method, and it works.

Regard! Michaelson

[Indiana Jeff]

Yeah, I've read your various posts in how you punched the holes and how the hat was reblocked with the holes without a problem. Still get a little queasy thinking about punching holes in my hat.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Ian]

Yeah, I've read your various posts in how you punched the holes and how the hat was reblocked with the holes without a problem. Still get a little queasy thinking about punching holes in my hat.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

You never tempted?....It must get mad hot where you are...I assume hotter that where Mark is..

Ian

[Hollowpond]

You could always add grommets to the holes, Aussie style if you were really concerned about fraying...

I recently have received lots of nice comments on my AB deluxe. The funny thing is, virtually NONE of the compliments acknowledged the hat as an Indy hat! However, when I wear my pecan colored Art Fawcett with the bound brim and diamond crease I hear, "Nice Indiana Jones hat..." all the time!

[Michaelson]

Grommets draw attention to the fact you have holes in your crown. You don't even see these holes unless you're looking for them.

Vintage hats didn't use grommets either, so it's vintage correct, and like I said the hairspray is actually a thin laquer that glues the ends of the cut felt fibers together, so they DON'T fray.

Regards! Michaelson

[Hollowpond]

Oh yeah, I actually did know that! I was just referring to those afraid to punch holes. I remember seeing holes punched in diamond patterns in ads for vintage fedoras while I was researching my Art Fawcett lid...

[Indiana Jeff]

Yeah, I've read your various posts in how you punched the holes and how the hat was reblocked with the holes without a problem. Still get a little queasy thinking about punching holes in my hat.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

You never tempted?....It must get mad hot where you are...I assume hotter that where Mark is..

Ian

Nope, never. And yeah it gets plenty hot. I switch to a straw if it gets too bad for beaver. I have a lot of conversations with people here about wearing a hat in the baking sun. It's usually, "Aren't you awfully hot in that hat?" I do three things: I ask them if they ever saw a cowboy out on the open range without his hat (I work with a lot of Texans). I point out all the laborers working outdoors wearing hats. If practical, I walk them under a sun shade in a car park and ask if they are cooler or hotter out of the direct sunlight.

I recently have received lots of nice comments on my AB deluxe. The funny thing is, virtually NONE of the compliments acknowledged the hat as an Indy hat! However, when I wear my pecan colored Art Fawcett with the bound brim and diamond crease I hear, "Nice Indiana Jones hat..." all the time!

Same thing happens to me. In my brown fedora, generally no Indy comments. In my Sahara colored 'Michaelson' - "Hey, Indiana!"

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Michaelson]

Weird, it's the exact opposite for me. When wearing brown, I get an occasional Indy reference (if any mention at all), but no one has EVER said a word about a fedora on my head when it's a color OTHER than brown other than to compliment it as a nice hat.

Regards! Michaelson

[binkmeisterRick]

When I wear a fedora and a big mustache, I get "Hey, Michaelson!" comments.

[Michaelson]

[Ian]

Well I was wearing mine in the sun last weekend and got a 'Hey J.R.' comment.....

Ian

[Michaelson]

You're kidding?!! Most folks over here have forgotten who J.R. even was!

Regards! Michaelson

[Ian]

You're kidding?!! Most folks over here have forgotten who J.R. even was!

Regards! Michaelson

I did have to ponder it for a while.... I almost chocked on my scotch when I heard it...

Ian

[Hollowpond]

Just so you know, JR drank Bourbon and branch water not Scotch ...

(I am soooo disturbed that I know that!)

[binkmeisterRick]

It's better than being called "Boss Hogg!"

[Ian]

Just so you know, JR drank Bourbon and branch water not Scotch ...

(I am soooo disturbed that I know that!)

Oh I wouldn't know...My mum made me watch that other one.....Dallasty or something....

It's better than being called "Boss Hogg!"

Sir I was not in a Veee-hear-cul at the time...

Ian

[beaverlid]

The old Adventurebilts still get praised because they look better with age. There is nothing in the hat world like a broken in fedora.

[Michaelson]