Club Obi Wan

Do you guys all have a variety of very similar Indy fedoras from different manufacturers? Do you have one Indy hat and other different types of fedoras? Do you have an Indy hat in several colours?

I'm wondering if I should get another Indy fed in the same colour or go for something different and was wondering how your lids stack up.

Also, could you explain why you collect the fedoras you collect - especially for those with multiple Indy lids.

Thanks in advance.

I have multiple lids, but for the reason that when a question is asked, or discussed, about this particular hat or that particular hat, I can answer from personal experience WITH the hat, rather than conjecture or 'I've read it somewhere'. It's all from hands on experience with one of my own, personally owned and worn hats.

Regards! Michaelson

Are they all Indy hats though? All the same bash/pinch? I kno wyou fancy a Last Crusade look - are all your lids a brown Last Crusade type or do you have a grey Bogie in the bunch?

Are some for work and some for dress? I ask this of everyone.

All but 4 are the same style, but mixed in color...grays, browns, silverbellies, even a black.

It depends on my particular mood, and what weather is currently going on that determines which one I'm wearing on any particular day....what I call 'the rotation'. Certain ones are my 'favorites', but as to one dedicated to dress, and one dedicated to work....not especially.

There ARE some I will NOT wear as work hats, as they're to nice, to old, or have a nostalgic place in my grouping, and I don't want them to become damaged.

Regards! Michaelson

Snakewhip_Sable wrote:Do you guys all have a variety of very similar Indy fedoras from different manufacturers? Do you have one Indy hat and other different types of fedoras? Do you have an Indy hat in several colours?

I'm wondering if I should get another Indy fed in the same colour or go for something different and was wondering how your lids stack up.

Also, could you explain why you collect the fedoras you collect - especially for those with multiple Indy lids.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Snake,

I have the following lids

3 Akubra Federations, Brown, Black and Grey

1 Peters Brothers Custom Indy, Brown in the Chachapoyan Temple shape, worn at the moment of Lil Jersey's arrival into the world.

1 Peters Brothers Michaelson Borsalino Custom, formerly owned by the legendary _, Cairo Styled !

1 1980's Era Herbert Johnson Poet (today's hat of choice, btw) reblocked by Fedora to perfect balanced Indy Shape, and , yes I do wear it !

2 Camptown Model 1936 Fieldmasters my prototype and Lucky # 13 (Don't forget my COW discount ! )

1 Adventurebilt Deluxe ( Steve... you are the bomb for the handmades, flat out.)

1 Indy Blocked Panama Hat (REALLLLLLY TALL CROWN, Cairo styled)

1 Optimo Midnight Black Fedora (Needs stretching to 7 5/8 for me, tho)

I have also owned a Keppler and a Fed Deluxe (both were very nice)

Now of these 7 of them are ostensibly Indy Hats, but NONE of them are the same in color, shape or style, so they all serve a purpose.

Why do I have them ? The brief explainations above sort of answer that, but as I said each does a different thing. The PB Custom, is a tough hat that I use in the field (prior to making Fieldmasters) and looks good with my horsehide coat. The Borsalino and the AB, finer hats more for brown and tan suits with my chestnut horsehide coat over them. The HJ...come on man its an old HJ ! The Fieldmasters brush up very nicely and soften well, but I have no fear getting them soaked wet or frozen and the sweat is ventilated (my trademark move). My Akubra is a do all, reblocked by Optimoand was my first lid, a sentimental fave.

Does this help you at all ?

Peace
Ken

I think everyone has to find their favorite hat style. It might be Indy or something similar in appearance or at least in spirit. I've gone through so many hats over the years that I don't really want to think about it. I found wearing different styles on a daily basis to be disconcerting. I never felt that I bonded with the hats. They felt almost like a costume accessory.
Now, I'm trying to keep a very minimal collection. I've identified "my hat " and it's the Akubra Cattleman. I've got one for really rough wear, and two nicer ones, one light colored and the other dark. I wear a hat everyday and these seem to suit me and meet my needs. I like the fact that these hats are different colors but the same shape and fit. It gives me variety while keeping my overall look the same. By having less and wearing each hat more, I feel more connected with them and actually uncomfortable when I don't have one close by. If you REALLY like the hat you have now but would like something additional, I recommend trying the same model and brand in a different color.

That's what I was thinkin', Havana, but I'm not real sure about it yet. It almost seems crazy to get the exact same thing... then again it doesn't.

Like Jersey has an entirely different lid for different situations, I can't pull off wearing my Adventuerbilt with a suit, but I put on a much less expensive, lower crowned wider brimmed Robert Hall fed, and it works fine. It's almost like the hat needs a certain context.

I am conflicted. I'll wait for more responses, but it's good to know what and how everyone else does too.

Well, just to be a little clearer in my answer....my regular hat that I wear more than any other ISN'T an Indy style of any sort.

Regards! Michaelson

It's a propeller beanie, isn't it?

I wish my secrets would not get out like that.

Regards! Michaelson

I do not feel compelled to have all my hats look the same. I have a mix of new and vintage hats of different colors and styles.
I believe there is a hat for every occasion.

Hey, Michaelson, how's that beanie I sent you? Oops. 8-[

I have a BUNCH of hats, mostly vintage. Though not an inclusive list, they include:

Adventurebilt "Indy" which I wear both casually and with a suit.

Adventurebilt "vintage" mercury body from the 1920s which I wear casually or with a suit, but not in the rain (it's a lighter brown).

1930s-40s grey Stetson Royal Deluxe. It's a C-dent.

Vintage Dobbs Cross Country, medium brown, shorter crown, also C-dent.

1950's Portis, very dark brown, C-dent, shorter crown and medium brim, slightly tapered in style.

Vintage local Washington DC hatter's fedora (no real brand name, per sae), gunmetal blue-grey, wide brim, center dent, tapered style

Numerous short-brimmed Champs, Dobbs, etc, that belonged to my grandfather.

A cheap Dobbs straw fedora.

A couple newsboy caps.

I go through periods where I rotate different hats, depending on my mood, though the Adventurebilts always seem to stay in the mix. I like center dents and C-dents and even the occasional pork pie. To me, hats are an extension of who I am and what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes I wear a pork pie when feeling in an especially jovial Buster Keaton kind of mood. I've owned an Akubra Federation before and liked the hat. In fact, I've even toyed with the idea of getting a Bushman from the DM website and putting a C-dent in it.

There's such a wide variety of hats out there that I can't imagine just having one kind. I figure I have more than one suit or outfit to wear, why not just as many hats?

bink

I tend not to answer these, since my answers are not always 100% Indy, but I guess that's what you are looking to find out, right?

I used to have an old beatup cowboy hat...lost the hat, but I kept the 'beatup' part. My 'other' hat is a beatup trailhat - one of those packable felt ones. It's a real mangled mess right now in the back of the truck, but just get it wet and it pops back into shape. (Gosh I love magic.)

That was my main hat before I got turned on to IndyGear, and I still keep it in the back of the truck if I get caught without and suddenly needing.

My main hat now is the AB, but I keep fiddling w/ the idea of picking up a non-Indy grey for dress occasions (I'm a color person...I can't always wear brown). A Bogie grey would work.

I don't buy a lot of extras of things that cost a respectable amount of money...call me conservative that way, or just cheap. Or just broke.

But my next hat will be a different style, a different color. Probably still a fedora, though.

J

Michaelson, should we send Jerry a beanie, too?

I really was going to put a propeller on my DP when I was done with it, but it went to a good home instead. Darn.

Indiana Jerry wrote:My main hat now is the AB, but I keep fiddling w/ the idea of picking up a non-Indy grey for dress occasions.

My dilemma exactly, but I was thinking of a black hat... also for dress occassions, since my brown AB is getting it's own 'hobo' like look developing. Kind of like you kids and your Raider's turns. *drops and rolls out of whip range, then runs serpentine to avoid pistol shot*

Dive under my Plymouth, Snake. There's nobody under there at the moment. 8-[

Regards! Michaelson

Snakewhip_Sable wrote:

Indiana Jerry wrote:My main hat now is the AB, but I keep fiddling w/ the idea of picking up a non-Indy grey for dress occasions.

My dilemma exactly, but I was thinking of a black hat... also for dress occassions, since my brown AB is getting it's own 'hobo' like look developing. Kind of like you kids and your Raider's turns. *drops and rolls out of whip range, then runs serpentine to avoid pistol shot*

Serpentine, Shel!

Gosh, I think that's when that hat STARTS looking good, but regardless... ...I know your dilemma. Picking up a black fedora to keep in more pristine shape while letting your brown get that 'lived in' look sounds like a nice balance with just two hats. That's kind of where I'm going, too...but I can't pull off black. Too much grey hair.

What's grey hair got to do with it? I wear my black hat quite often, and....hey....what's bink snickering about over there.....

Regards! Michaelson

Let's just say that on me - ME, mind you - it ends up looking like I'm Amish.

What's wrong with grey hair and a black fedora? If your hair is grey and your wearing a grey fedora, where your head ends and the hat begins may be indiscernable. That's why I'm leaning toward black.

Hey, look, a convenient red mark under this here Plymouth where one might hook a whip if he needed to... oh, wait. The red mark has hair sticking out of it.

uh oh.

8-[

Regards! Michaelson

Grey hair? (Nevermind.)

The color scheme just doesn't work for ME. But that's probably because all black doesn't work for me. If I were conscripted by a covert branch of the government to chase aliens, I'd probably end up a MINB. (Men In Navy Blue.)

OK the line-up:
1 Peters Bros, Indy, with my attempt at a turned ROTLA bash
2 Stetson Indys, 1 with a TOD -like bash, the other pretty much as it came from Stetson
1 Dorfman which I am in the process of re-bashing
2 Black Stetson vintage 3x beaver fedoras
1 Brown stetson, vintage 3x beaver fedora
1 Grey Stetson 10x beaver cowboy hat
1 Black 30x beaver Resistol cowboy hat
1 black 3x Charlie 1 Horse Cowboy hat
1 George Strait Resistol straw cowboy hat, bent just the way I like it,.
1 vintage Chicago Cubs Baseball hat
38 various NASCAR hats, including 1998 Daytona 500 Winners hat autographed by the late Dale Earnhardt
1 AB Deluxe, oh wait a minute, Marc is still working on that one

Rick

Indiana Blooze wrote: 1 Peters Bros, Indy, with my attempt at a turned ROTLA bash
2 Stetson Indys, 1 with a TOD -like bash, the other pretty much as it came from Stetson
1 Dorfman which I am in the process of re-bashing
2 Black Stetson vintage 3x beaver fedoras
1 Brown stetson, vintage 3x beaver fedora
1 AB Deluxe, oh wait a minute, Marc is still working on that one

Rick, these ones are all Indy style? Most brown, some black?

Mr. Sable Wrote:

Rick, these ones are all Indy style? Most brown, some black?

The The PB, Dorfman, and Stetson Indys are all brown, I guess you could say I am a creature of habit. The other stetsons are just generic, fedora bashes.

Rick

Oh yeah, the AB Deluxe will be brown also.

Rick

I have three Federations in brown, gray and black, all with the exact same bash (the brown one is in the avatar). These are my city hats.

I also have two Akubra Colly hats, one in Regency Fawn (basically light brown) and black. I trimmed the brims by 2 centimeters a few weeks ago and they are still huge, but have a nice tall crown and eyelets for ventlation. These are my country hats.

Also have a Panama which I'm saving for summer, with basically a fedora bash as well. Every one of my hats has a specific role, and I can easily choose which one to wear based on where I will be and what colors I'm wearing. I would feel uncomfortable if I had two hats the same color and style.