Why The Big Deal If A Fedora Has Some Taper?

[Glenville86]

I read a lot of threads about taper of fedora and especially the Indy ones.

I have a healthy collection of all types of fur fedora style hats. Some are rabbit, beaver, rabbit-beaver mix. A few vintage as well. A few have some taper but it really does not bother me. Almost gives them character in my opinion.

Is there a reason for taper being such a bad thing?

[Michaelson]

Depends on the amount. Some taper isn't bad, but I had one once that tapered so badly it looked just like a witches hat.

Sometimes they taper unevenly, giving the crown a lop sided appearance.

The 'purists' prefer the pure stove pipe straight up and down crown of the original Raiders hat, and won't have anything less.

I'm not a bit bothered by SOME taper, but like I said, too much makes the hat just look silly on your head.

JMO, though.

Regard! Michaelson

[Screencapped]

I agree. Personally I think a hat with some slight taper looks better on me than one without. I have a large head (61) so a stovepipe on me looks like a Uhaul box.

[Texan Scott]

then it begins to look like the paramount logo

[Jeremiah]

My Adventurebilt has a hair of a taper and I don't mind at all.
Majority of my vintage fur hats have some slight taper but nothing out of the ordinary.

[Cajunkraut]

Taper is fine in 99% of fedoras unless you're going for the strict Raiders look. It's one of the characteristics that distinguishes that particular hat from all others.

[Glenville86]

I agree. Personally I think a hat with some slight taper looks better on me than one without. I have a large head (61) so a stovepipe on me looks like a Uhaul box.

I have a square Frankenstein head and cannot wear many hats with a shorter crown height. Sit right on top of my head.

Agree that too much taper is not cool but some taper is fine. See the point of the Raiders fedora being very straight. I am pretty tall and the look of the Raiders fedora on me makes me feel like a seven footer...lol

[backstagejack]

I don't mind some taper but I've noticed that the more hats I own the more I don't like it. My newest cowboy hat was a cattleman's crease and I didn't like it cause it' s ability to really taper So I relocked the hat and it's a decent stovepipe now and I love it. and this is a crappy Stetson. There's nothing wrong with taper, and to each their own. It just does't sit well with me for some reason.

[Chewbacca Jones]

On this board, we have our reasons (see all of the above), and tapered Indy hats are often seen as a sign of poor condition, or simply missing the mark on block shape.
For lovers of vintage hats, the taper that most new hats have is too much, and not representative of the style they wish to emulate. That's where I started out. Over time, I've come to realize that there is a limit to the taper that still looks good on me.

So, it's what works for the wearer. But looking for taper love on an Indy board is... like an archeological dig.

[Dalexs]

Taper? What you talking 'bout???

[Jeremiah]

I don't mind some taper but I've noticed that the more hats I own the more I don't like it. My newest cowboy hat was a cattleman's crease and I didn't like it cause it' s ability to really taper So I relocked the hat and it's a decent stovepipe now and I love it. and this is a crappy Stetson. There's nothing wrong with taper, and to each their own. It just does't sit well with me for some reason.

The majority of vintage hats you see and ones I have (20,I think) are far less tapered or have no taper. I think it has more to due with how they were bashed with diamond and tear drop creases. Most of those same hats would taper "slightly" if creased with a center dent. Well not my Stetson stratoliner though. The crown is so tall even a center sent does not taper it.

[jnicktem]

I personally just don't like my hats to be tapered. It's not a screen accurate thing it's just my personal feelings about it.

Check out this Adventurebilt Deluxe that I wore out and got tapered, and recently had reblocked by John Penman!

[Glenville86]

So my next question would be for reblocking a fedora. What is an average price for a hatter to reblock a fedora?

Some talented folks could do it themselves but I wonder at what price point of the fedora would having it worked on be justified? Taking into account the shipping, waiting and cost of the reblock.

I have one expensive one from Steve and a few at around the 250 - 300 range. All of these are beaver. The rest are mostly blended beaver/rabbit and were 200 and under except for the Henry.

Maybe the 100% beaver would justify a reblock at some point in the future if needed?

[Indiana Jeff]

Not an easy question to answer. Each hatter will have his/her own price point. Some hatters will only reblock their own hats, some will do it at a discount or gratis depending on the circumstances. In very general terms I would estimate $35-50 for the reblock. This doesn't include shipping or if other parts are necessary. For example, I had a hat reblocked that included replacing the sweatband and liner so that was more expensive than another hat I had reblocked that didn't need the replacement parts.

As to the "value" of spending the money, I would say with all of the hats you have mentioned, it is worth the price. A quality felt hat will last through a number of reblocks, coming back looking good as new and the felt will be more stabilized reducing future shrinkage (in case you're in the pool ) or tapering. If you spent $200-300 on a hat, to me it's a good investment to spend $50-75 (approximately including shipping) to bring the hat back to like new condition. Even as high as $100 you are spending half what your paid to get a "new" hat in return.



Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Chewbacca Jones]

I agree with Jeff, but would expand on his reply.
There are some very good hats (rabbit felt, generally) that are great candidates for reblocking, but don't cost much more than the whole process, maybe less if cleaning and part replacement is needed. The Akubra Federation is a perfect example. Many have had their Feds restored, rather than buy a new one. But why?

The answer; A hat can have value beyond it's price tag. First, why waste a good hat? Second, some people form attachments to specific hats, giving it sentimental value. Or maybe the hat is just plain hard to replace. Back to the Federation - you can buy a new Fed 4 with no problem, but a Fed 3? Not so easy. I'm faced with this very conundrum! I have a old Fed 3, and I prefer it to the Fed 4. But it will cost me more to reblock, clean it, and replace the sweatband and liner than buying a Fed 4. I have been procrastinating for 2 years, but in the end, I'll probably sink the money in fixing up the old one.

So, when it comes to refurbing a hat, the only question is, is it worth the cost to YOU?

[RJR]

You might spend some time on Fedora Lounge;several threads re reblocking.There is an item known as a hat shaper which is basically a plastic block worth $25+/-.Pretty easy to deal with a bit of taper.

[Mulceber]

I think a good deal of our aversion to taper has to do with a lot of the older members' memories (my own included) of getting into the hobby: for most of us, our first Indy hat was a dorfman-pacific (or something similar). Among its many flaws as an Indy hat, probably its most egregious was how tapered it was. Its other cardinal sin was its shoddy construction, which in turn made it taper even more. I think that gave a lot of us some strong negative associations: tapered crown = not screen accurate = cheap, disposable hat. That's not to say that all or even most tapered hats are crappy, just that many of us first got into Indy gear by spending 30 bucks on a tapered hat that was barely worth a nickel, and it gave us some ideas about how a hat should look.

[backstagejack]

The majority of vintage hats you see and ones I have (20,I think) are far less tapered or have no taper. I think it has more to due with how they were bashed with diamond and tear drop creases. Most of those same hats would taper "slightly" if creased with a center dent. Well not my Stetson stratoliner though. The crown is so tall even a center sent does not taper it.

Agreed, I mean look at any movie from the era (I've just watched 4 Bogart flicks this week actually) and none of the characters have hats with taper. All of them are straight sided walls and most if not all have diamond or tear drop creases. Even the characters with beat up hats don't have any taper. Really, it's not till the 50s and 60s do I recall seeing hats with taper as a normal thing.

[Indiana Jeff]

Nailed it, Jack. It was the 50-60's era of stingy brimmed fedoras that had the lower crown, tapered look. Period accurate to the 30's is a straight sided, wider brimmed hat.



Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Chewbacca Jones]

This photo is a great exhibit for understanding that not all styles work for all people. Three guys in low tapered crowns and narrow brims... and only one is pulling it off!

[Mulceber]

Nailed it, Jack. It was the 50-60's era of stingy brimmed fedoras that had the lower crown, tapered look. Period accurate to the 30's is a straight sided, wider brimmed hat.

Not so much the wide brim. Early and mid 30s tended to have relatively narrow or medium width brims. Look at James Cagney's early films if you want to see what I mean. Wider brims became more of a thing in the last couple years of the 30s and really took off in the 40s. In that respect, Indy's hat is a bit unfashionable for 1936. Maybe he was just a hipster and got into wide brims before they were cool?

This photo is a great exhibit for understanding that not all styles work for all people. Three guys in low tapered crowns and narrow brims... and only one is pulling it off!

I agree! I cringed so much every time I saw Jon Hamm wear that stupid hat.

-M

[Michaelson]

Well, there were sure a lot of wide brim fedoras in the old Dick Tracy serials, filmed in 1936 and released in '37!

Here's the series for your enjoyment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsDOT-W6bVs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards! Michaelson

[Mulceber]

Most of the ones I see there would be what I call the narrow to medium range.

[backstagejack]

These pics are all from the 1920s. I think it just depended on the person. Notice they almost all have not only drastically different hats of varying styles and brim size but also their suits are all cut differently, etc.









Also, keep in mind that Indy acquired his hat from "Fedora" in Utah. Way out in the West in 1912.... it's possible "Fedora" hat was just a modified cowboy hat. And Indy made sure his fedora's in his later days were cut similar. I don't really think so, but maybe? When you look at hats from the 1912 era mostly people are wearing "newsie" caps or bowlers. but I found this one pic that says its from 1914...

[Mulceber]

Thanks for the photos, Jack, and you make a good point about the enormous variety in these hats. None of them are tapered (except for a couple that have side dents), but it's all over the map with brim/crown/ribbon width - maybe that's what changed by the 50's - less variety.

Man, the guy on the left in the first photo has a HUGE hat...he looks like a baby wearing that thing!

[backstagejack]

True that - maybe that's what changed by the 50's - less variety. Man, the guy on the left in the first photo has a HUGE hat...he looks like a baby wearing that thing!

Less variety is probably definitely part of it, more mass produced products and less handmade by the guy around the corner? I mean some of them have drastically different suits, vests, etc. These pics are great.

[Michaelson]

Most of the ones I see there would be what I call the narrow to medium range.

True, but a MUCH taller crown than those seen in later years.

Regards! Michaelson

[Chewbacca Jones]

I love those photos! They are chock full of great visual data.

Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but in photo 4, the vests don't all button in the "mens" direction (by todays thinking).

[Michaelson]

Yeah, that one on the right is definitely a puzzle, as his coat DOES button in the 'men's fashion', but his vest doesn't!

Regard! M

[Michaelson]