It sounds, at first, to be a simple question. But when you consider the different options and styles from all the different movies,
it is difficult to answer. In this post, I am going to cover some the characteristics I personally look for when looking
at an Indy hat in general. Some things you may know, some you may not.
Also, I’ll touch on things that frustrated me when I would try to shape a hat to look like a particular scene. Keep in mind that
some things are, to me, more important than others. These are things that, when I watch the movie, my eye is always drawn to.
At the same time, I am going to cover some things that I don’t feel are discussed enough.
As far as hats go, I like the profile of the Raiders hats the most and some of the LC hats. Whereas, I don’t find the TOD
hats very interesting. Simply because I don’t think there was much thought that went into the hat for that movie.
BTW, this turned out the be the biggest nitpick I have ever written. So, I will apologize in advance for the length and download
time. With that being said, let’s get started.
The Hat
There are, in my experience, 5 basic parts to the overall appearance of the Indiana Jones hat. Those parts are the
front view, the side view, the pinches or bashes, the ribbon and the brim. I am not going to talk about the liner simply
because I don’t feel, at this time, it plays a major part in the over all look of an Indiana Jones fedora. I will talk briefly
about the sweatband in conjunction with the brim.
The Front View
The front view is the most common view because it’s the one most viewed in the movies and the one you see when
you look in the mirror. It’s this view that is in many of the photographs and stills we model our hats against. When
I think of the best front view, the Raiders hat is the one hat that comes to mind.
Pictures courtesy of MK
The crown is untapered. Meaning, the edges (in a 2-D view) appear to be parallel. Some people have termed this
a “stovepipe” look.
The crown also has two heart-shaped bumps on the top. These are often seen from straight on. However, if the hat,
head or both are tilted back, it could appear to be straight or slightly rounded. Before I understood what was
going on, this was a frustration for me depending on what scene I was shaping my hat to emulate.
Here are some photos of some hats that I feel have had really good front views.
Here are some photos of some hats (all mine) that I feel have had some really bad front views.
Even Indy had his share of bad front views.
The Side View
This view is often overlooked. It’s only after several reblockings does one notice this view. You really need two
mirrors to see this view as the hat is sitting on your head. For the side view, I often pull a little Last Crusade influence
into the mix.
Pictures #1 & #3 courtesy of MK
Again, the crown is again untapered. The back of the hat will always be straight as well as some or the entire front.
Sometimes it is even more so. In some scenes, the back of the hat is almost a reverse taper. Meaning, the 2-D line
or edge leans away from the hat rather than towards it. The front of the Raiders’ hat has a backwards slant that starts
just above the ribbon. In almost all cases, the part that is covered by the ribbon is always parallel with the back
of the hat.
Picture courtesy of MK
The Last Crusade hat is straight all the way to the top and parallel with the back of the hat.
The top of the hat will have a nice curve across the top.
Picture courtesy of MK
Here are some photos of some hats that I feel have had really good side views.
Here are some photos of some hats that I feel have had some really bad side views.
(Note: The only reason the Pre-Blocked H.J. is listed is because it just didn’t look like any of the hats from
the trilogy.)
There are a few anomalies observed many times with the Raiders hat. The hat can have a very tapered appearance
depending on which angle the hat is viewed.
Additionally, the observance of a reverse taper has been seen in some still photos. Reverse taper is where, on
the front view, the edge of the crown appears to be moving away from the base of the hat rather than remaining
parallel as seen earlier. This creates an additional indentation just above the ribbon of the hat.
Some theories that cause reverse taper are:
• Over tightened ribbon
• Actor’s hair on the inside pushing out on the hat.
• An additional bash on the backside of the
hat that, when viewed from the front, causes this effect.
• Stretching or distorting the hat lengthwise out of its oval form.
• Side bashes pushing the felt further out
• Small little bash or dent towards the back of the hat.
The Bashes or Dents of the Hat
The bashes or dents of the hat are probably some of the most difficult things to create properly in order to make
an Indiana Jones hat look correct. Pushing a bash in one direction may make the hat distort in unpleasant ways
in another. The thickness of the felt is a key and often missed factor of successful hat bashing.
Where does the term bash come from?
Seeing as how most people, including me, in the hat community hadn’t heard of the term bash before, this
question is often asked. The first time most IndyGear fans read the word bash was probably in the following description
on the IndyGear main page.
From the front, the Raiders hat had a very tight crease down the center. In the other movies, the center crease was“Last Crusade saw the return of a fairly distinctive hat profile. While not as dramatic as the Raiders hat, the
LC sported a tall (though not quite as tall as the Raiders?) untapered crown, and more of an unbashed look, i.e.
not the tight pronounced pinch and bash of the Raiders fedora. In addition, the brim appears to be slightly
narrower with more of a prominent upward curl - really more of a snap-brim as compared to the Raiders fedora.
The Raiders hat had more of a permanent downward curl to the front of the brim, rather than a true snap-brim.”
not as defined.
The tight front crease is primarily created by the side bash. That style calls for the felt to be pulled closely
together in the front of the hat. This also produces the rearward slant that was earlier mentioned.
Picture courtesy of MK
The Last Crusade hat also has a center crease but it’s less defined than Raiders. The felt is pinched near the top.
But, then it flares out, as it gets closer to the ribbon.
From the side, the dents are not as deep and defined as in Raiders. If fact, many of the desert shots in LC appear to
little or no bash to the hat whatsoever.
The LC style will help keep the front and back edge straight and parallel due to the fact that the felt is only pinched
at the top.
The center dent of the hat has been the cause of confusion and concern for a good deal of time. If you make the
bash too deep, on some hats, it will case the sides to taper. If it’s not deep enough, it doesn’t create the correct
looking profile. I have found that if the felt is flexible enough, you can create a very deep center dent without
concern for taper.
Below are photos of center dents from the three movies. The Raiders is deep and pointed. In Temple of Doom,
the center dent looks like it was almost an afterthought. In LC, the dent looks very shallow and undefined except
for the front.
The Ribbon
According to the IndyGear mainsite, the ribbon was 1½ inches.
Picture courtesy of MK
For the most part, the ribbon that ships on the Federation and Fed. Deluxe are, for me, ideal. I really like the
double bow. It gets really high, like the back of a 1957 Chevy and calls attention to itself. I like tri-fold on the
center of the bow. And, I even like how some of the ribbon from underneath shows through.
I think it gives it character.
The “Flying V” isn’t that important to me. It is where 2 creases in the material flare out from the center of the bow.
You can read all about that on Dalexs’ website.
It has been observed that the bow of the hat is slightly towards the front of the head in Raiders. This is not observed
in any of the other movies. The cause for this, I feel, if from the hat being turned. 3thoubucks has a website dedicated
to and explaining the Raiders turn and other possible modifications. I am only going to discuss the turn and what
I see from it.
The Brim
I truly believe the brim of the Raiders hat is as flat as flat can get when the hat is setting on a table (or office chair).
It’s only when the hat is placed on the head that the head “deforms” the sweatband. This combined with how the hat
is placed on the head and the dimensional cut will cause the classic Raiders “swooshes” that we see and take on
a completely different appearance.
So, what exactly are we supposed to see?
The first thing to look at is what is happening over or above the right ear. There is a very pronounced swoop that starts
almost in the back of the hat. And, peaks over the eye and then starts down and doesn’t stop till it reaches
the brim front.
Picture courtesy of MK
On the left side where the bow is at, the brim does something different. It folds or bends up towards the side of the hat.
It’s different from the right side. There are some shots in the movie where the brim on this side seems rather flat.
I personally believe that it’s due to wear-and-tear or not turning the hat.
So, when the hat is viewed from the front, there are two different shapes going on. One side is straight and flat and
the other side is swooped up.
The front of the brim has a few unique things going on. First, is the additional little swoop over the right eye
of the wearer.
The second thing is a small hump in the brim around the forehead.
Finally, the back of the brim is rounded all the way around. The felt actually dips down slightly before it makes
it way back up and ends.
So, these are just some of my observations. If you are like me, you are never satisfied with the look of your hat and
will spend countless hours in front of a mirror tweaking, pushing and adjusting. Hopefully, what I have learned
will help make your time a little more productive.
High Regards,
Pyroxene
Now THAT is what I call going into detail. If there is anything that should be added to the hat section of the main site, this write-up is it. Thanks Pyro
:junior: -IJ
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