Club Obi Wan

Okay, as I've already spent lots on various props recently, I do not have the sufficent budget to afford a great hat... namely, $50 is about as high as I can go, including shipping. My last fedora (a j. peterman with a custom ribbon) has gotten too threadbare to hold its shape anymore, regardless of steaming or spraying, and I need a new one by Halloween.

I was going to get one of the "official" Indy hats and cut the pin, but if those are the dorfmans that everyone is railing on I may want to rethink that. I got one a couple of years ago for a kid and it looked great on him, so I figured that it would be fine... - my question is this:

Are the "official" hats genuinely bad hats, or are they just not all that screen accurate? If the latter, is there any way to help this, i.e. squeeze the front tighter, etc?

If they ARE truly bad hats (and remember that I'm new to the clothing aspect of the gear, I've spent most of my money/time on props, so no elitism for its own sake, please, I beg you) then what is a price comparable hat that WILL work?


When I'm older and richer I can afford one of the fancy ones, but for now...

What size hat do you wear and when do you need it by?

Up until now, the always generic "large" has fit me like a glove with anything from j. peterman and many period hats (i.e. top hat, derby). In terms of actual hat size, I'm afraid I don't know.

I need it by around October 20th or so.

The Stetson 1984 licensed hats were quite decent i think. I found one on ebay time ago for 14 dollars i think.

Have a look...


It was in great condition, no taper!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/e ... G_0792.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/e ... G_0788.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/e ... G_0789.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/e ... G_0790.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/e ... G_0787.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/e ... G_0786.jpg

The one concern I have with Stetson's was the hat's are made from wool. So when it gets wet the hat shrinks to the point of making them unwearable.

Guess I'll stand up and say it...

Hi, I'm Jerry, and I wear a DP. Not even a fur one, but the nice cheapy wool one I picked up for $30.

I am finally upgrading to a quality hat. But having had the DP for a year and working it the whole time, I think I'm qualified to answer this.

It is NOT a 'costume' hat - it doesn't look like something that needs a little rubberband under the chin because you are going trick-or-treating.

But it is not a quality hat, either. It is a fast-made mass-produced hat. The sweatband is not leather, it is...er...something else.

But it is still a real hat, too.

It will not look like an accurate Indy hat w/o work, like reblocking. But to non-IndyGear members (or even non-hat-aficianados) it will still look like the Indy hat. For a quick costume, it is ideal.

To make it look closer, you need to start playing w/ reshaping it a bit - the top bash and dents, primarily. That just requires getting the crown(top) carefully wet and rebashing it. JohnNdy's bashing tutorial will show you how. ( http://www.whyaxis.net/indy/hatshaping/hatshaping.html )

The crown is not Indy-regulation-height, so it will never look right from all angles (without a complex reblock) - it just isn't tall enough. My advice is to get the front dents right, get the top bash close or don't worry about it. When I got the top bash perfectly accurate on a DP, there was no material left for the sides to stand up straight enough, it looked more like a Hershey's Kiss.

When I sacrificed the top bash - and let it go more into a diamond shape (NOT the original tear-drop) - then I could get the front dents to look better.

The real secret is to get it to release that tear drop crown - wetting it, then letting it DRY in the open crown (i.e. big round dome shape) position was required to make the tear drop not come back anymore. I also turned my hat so the front pinch didn't line up w/ the front of the old tear drop bash, so I wasn't fighting against the 'memory' of the old impression - i.e. I wasn't allowing it to fold back into the old tear-drop bash.

You can also forgo all this work if you get it too close to Halloween and are afraid of bungling it. Out of the box, it's a passable LC hat for Halloween as is. If you've seen any pics of me out there to date, I'm wearing a DP on my head. (See pics near bottom of page 2 in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=12455&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50)

Anyway, that is what you can do w/ $50. If you had $100, I'd point you at the Akubra, which you would also bash yourself. The only other options w/ the $50 is lucky ebay hits, a thrift shop perhaps, and the generousity of your fellow board members. Heck, maybe you can even get one LOANED to you. Mine is slated for an...experiment, so it's booked at the moment.

Good luck, and let us know how you do.

J

Check this thread, then maybe shoot a PM with an offer

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?t ... highlight=

I have a nice Akubra Fed Deluxe I will let you have if you wear a 7 1/2. Measure your head and if it is close to 23.5 inches, this hat will fit you - PM me and we can haggle.

Thank you, everyone... out of panic I ordered a dorfman yesterday so that I'd be sure to have one... I'll do my best with the reblocking tutorial. Thanks everyone, especially Jerry.

I'm glad we have another Mississippian on board! I started out with a dorfman too so don't think your the only one out there who is.

Dorfmans aren't BAD hats, they are just not accurate. Also, they have no liner and the wool ones don't last long. Still, it is a good hat.

- I wore one for maybe 4 to 5 years.

Fedoraman wrote:I have a nice Akubra Fed Deluxe I will let you have if you wear a 7 1/2. Measure your head and if it is close to 23.5 inches, this hat will fit you - PM me and we can haggle.

BTW, I sent you another PM about that Akubra.

The Akubra Federation has been one of the best fedora's I've ever owned. It was exactly what I was looking for all these years, not too expensive but held up wonderfully.

You have to bash it yourself, then you're on your way.

After Halloween, I would save up and get an Adventurebilt. It's never too early to save to buy the best.