Club Obi Wan

leather band looks sort of like the ones Stetson currently puts in their Higher end western hats (the gold stripes).

What color is the leather on the underside?

Lookin' good to me so far. I'm glad that Fedora got what he was looking for. Congratulations. Cheers

Yep, this has been a quest of sorts. I have wanted a belly beaver hat for years. I found beaver hats, sure, but non were the highest quality, the belly underfur. I have become a lover of fine felt, vintage quality felt and decided to go ahead and get it when I found out it was available, and that you could get it without all of the cowboy stiffener in it. Nutria and beaver felt is definetly different in denseness, looks, and feel that rabbit felt, and this appeals to me greatly. That is one reason I think the Optimo beaver/nutria blend felt must be something special. Of course, you pay for these fine felts, but from reading the Stetson Book, fine felt hats have always been expensive, even back when everyone wore them and there was much competition. regards, Fedora

Only thing Fedora that I can think of is




SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET !





It's nice to see craftsmanship like this.
You do nice work, my compliments

Fedora, how about some more pics of the finished hat? Front, side, back, and top would be nice.

Will do Dakota. I have been waiting for the sun to come out again. Here in the south, we have been getting rain daily, and when it is not raining the clouds are still there. I hope to talk my wife into taking some of me and the hat since you get a better idea of how the dimensions and overall look of the hat actually is on my head. I have been thinking about wearing it when we have my daughters wedding pics taken Sat. Don't know if I can pull that one off, but it would be nice to see it with my white tux. Fedora

Congrats on the pending wedding!!! High regards. Michaelson

Ditto the congrats on your daughter's nuptuals. White tux and a brown fedora.......hmmmm.......could be a song there.

Mywife just told me when I brought it up, brown does not go with a white tux. Since she buys most of my modern clothes, and matches them quite well, I will have to agree with her. So what color would go with it, I asked? White she says. White? I just can't see myself wearing white Raiders fedora folks, so I will be hatless. Pity. And thanks. I can't wait to see the savings in water, electricity and food after Sat. I could afford to finally get an accurate A-2. No more hats for me, well, maybe a few more vintage ones, but I am very, very selective now on hats. It will really take something special to come up for me to spend any more money on my favorite attire. regards, Fedora

A grey fedora should do fine with a white tux. BTW, congrats on your daughters wedding. Is this the last wedding on your dime?

-Sergei

I have a gray fedora!! And Sergei said it would go. Thanks. I have one more to pay for. That's what you get for having 3 daughters. My wife says she doesn't think she can take another one, and we are really pushing this last one to go to a convent-soon. regards, Fedora

We tried to sell our two to the the gypsies....unfortunately, they kept bringing them back. It was a small income maker though.... they paid US to get rid of them again. Regards. Michaelson

Fedora wrote:I have a gray fedora!! And Sergei said it would go. Thanks. I have one more to pay for. That's what you get for having 3 daughters. My wife says she doesn't think she can take another one, and we are really pushing this last one to go to a convent-soon. regards, Fedora

Great... if I didn't already have to worry that we have the only girl out of 10 boys from all our friends, now I have to fret about wedding costs!

I suppose the shotgun can work two purposes... scaring potential daters, and an incentive for the alter.

As I said in recent PMs, congrats Fedora. The rollercoaster's almost at an end... for now.

Mike

Wish that were true. No, the rollercoaster is just changing tracks. The ride will continue. Regards. Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:We tried to sell our two to the the gypsies....unfortunately, they kept bringing them back. It was a small income maker though.... they paid US to get rid of them again. Regards. Michaelson

Is that a trick you learned from YOUR parents?

Did my gold earring and head bandana give me away??!! Regards. Michaelson

Here she is on my ugly head.http://public.fotki.com/Fedora/hats/fed ... h_the.html There are a couple more of me at this site with the hat on. Looks just like my other hats. I wish my wife would have told me the hat was off center. It is easy to put a soft felted hat off center though. Ford did it. Fedora

MAN! That looks great Fedora. Nice job, but I don't need to tell you that.
Is it as comfortable to wear as it looks??

Very comfortable due to the softness of the felt. This felt is fairly thin, but heavy for its thinness. Still very comfortable though. Fedora

I wish my wife would have told me the hat was off center.

All I can say is WOW. I did not see a post where you discussed ribbon color. Is that a dark brown ribbon? It looks black in the pictures. This hat looks terrific. The off-center look sorta fit you anyways

Did I say WOW? Any rain in the forecast? Inquiring minds want to know what happens...

WOW.

Yep, that is the dark brown ribbon used on the Akubra Feds. Nice contrast with this hat. Thanks everyone. Fedora

Okay, where exactly are the pictures of this lovely beastie ?

Ken

Ken,

Click on the different colored text in Fedora's post. It is a Fotki album.

Peace,
Cliffhanger

Matt wrote: "What color is the leather on the underside?" The color on the backside is a blueish gray. Is this the one you were talking about? Rick wrote:"The off-center look sorta fit you anyways " You know me too well my friend. Fedora

Thanks, that is what I was talking about.
I still wonder what the difference is between modern leather sweatbands and vintage... the vintage hats always had a brown underside.
The brown color on most modern sweatbands is almost always topical.

Another interesting thing I have noticed is that the leather used in 30's and earlier is different than that of leather used in hats of the 40's and later, at least with Stetsons.

I don't know if this is the tanning process or what, the 30's hats leather holds up very well' the 40's hats leather dries out faster and becomes brittle because of the age. This is just an observation.

You're soooo right my friend. There's NO where to go from here! Looks PERFECT on you.

Wear it with pride and in good health!

Regards,

Marc