Club Obi Wan

In another thread,
s7eng wrote:

I had a friend who had a custom hat made and he made the mistake of getting a very short (burr style) haircut right befor the fitting. He then dicided to let his hair grow out and then the hat never fit agian

Is this a problem that can be corrected?

Most folks use the foam inserts, such as the type supplied with Akubra hats, to fill in the space left by the missing hair. As it grows out, the foam is then removed until the next haircut.

Regards! Michaelson

Sure, keep your hair cut short! Now that the smart-@55 answer is out of the way....

The hat can be stretched some by the hat owner with a hat stretcher. If it needs to be stretched much, I would say send it to a hatter to have it reblocked and resized.

...and of course, FDM's answer is the best one. I use my retainer/stretcher all the time. Of course, it won't help if your hat is already to big due to a haircut.

Regards! Michaelson

ah yes but i beleive we are looking at the exact opposite of that problem right now Michaelson

Maybe a head stretcher is in order.

Regards! Michaelson

i'd go with FDM's answer....why grow your hair out while getting a custom hat made? kinda like going to mcdonald's for all your meals after the tailor sizes you up for your next suit.

all right, all right, be nice (....is what the little voice in my head is telling me now).....here's the solution, cut a 1 1/2" strip of hair around your head the same length as when you got fitted and the hat should fit nicely. you'll also have that nice locking feature like lego which will ensure that your hat will stay on, even in a hurricane! (i'm ducking under the plymouth now and laughing maniacally )

Michaelson wrote:Maybe a head stretcher is in order.

Regards! Michaelson

would that be a bicycle pump like in the cartoons? just stick it in the mouth and start pumping until your head is the desired size?

'Tom and Jerry' crosses my mind at the moment.

Regard! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:'Tom and Jerry' crosses my mind at the moment.

Regard! Michaelson

Scandinavia, you get the OTHER shoulder! I'M the angel this time, you got to be the angel LAST time. Sheesh... :junior:

The problem will work itself out naturally as he ages.

In the meantime he should be persuaded to get his hair cut short again. When you got a nice hat you don't need fancy hair.

Michaelson wrote:Most folks use the foam inserts, such as the type supplied with Akubra hats, to fill in the space left by the missing hair. As it grows out, the foam is then removed until the next haircut.

Regards! Michaelson

That's exactly what I do. I even have the foam inserts from when I got my Akubra left over for just such a reason. In fact, I think a piece is still sitting in my Akubra right now.

Also, here's a quick solution:

http://www.villagehatshop.com/sweatbands.html

I used to sell these all the time at the Village Hat Shop when I worked there. People would get 'em if we only had hats that were bigger than their heads in stock, and they didn't want to wait for an order or transfer to come in. The only thing I don't like about these is that the stick'm on the back of them that keeps them in place is some seriously strong stuff, and if you leave it in place too long, some color comes off of the real sweatband when you pull it off.

He grew a mullet! Maybe when it falls out he will be able to wear it again. He did have some nice pics taken with it before he regrew the hair. Of course we all ribbed him about it at the time. Nice picture of him and his wife over the mantle in a hat he can no longer wear (and paid a pretty penny for).

If my memory serves me he did try to have it stretched, but it fit so snug on his head it didn't do the trick.

I've never had a hat re-sized. Will that change the shape or anything (assuming it's only a size or so)? I ask because I'm considering it, but the shape is so.... perfect. I'm afraid of screwing it up.
Chewie

going down is size, no problem. Going up in size i

going down is size, no problem. Going up in size is a problem. Going down you have a little extra to lose no big there. going up you are going to lose something ( crown height of brim).

By keeping the hat on a stretcher, will the leather sweatband eventually lose its elasticity and maintain its size, the way felt does with successive reblocks?

Though I don't use my hat much like most of the folks around here do, I find that wearing it for a whole day tends to make it shrink or grow even so slightly that it will fit my head and my hair for the time being. Sure enough, if you got fitted 'skin close' I could see why there would be a problem if you would let your hair grow. I'd go about wetting the sweatband and wearing the hat for a few hours until dried... Just speaking from personal experience. I guess my hat size shifts around a bit... Due to bigger/smaller head(huh?)/hair/felt/climate/transpiration/hair-do and what not? Like mentioned with fiddling around with the sweat band, my next option would be the stretcher and then a reblock. I'm no expert, just speaking from personal experience using only water applied to the swat band.

Regards,
Swindiana

By keeping the hat on a stretcher, will the leather sweatband eventually lose its elasticity and maintain its size, the way felt does with successive reblocks?

It really probably depends upon the leather. But generally speaking, I would say yes. It would take a long time though. All of my hats, the new ones have shrinking sweats when you perspire in them. Leather just shrinks when it gets wet and dries. With me it is no big deal. If I grab a hat to wear and it is a bit small, I just steam the sweat and crank it out on the stretcher for a few. The shrinking sweats are part and parcel of wearing hats. Of course, the plastic sweats don't shrink,but who wnat plastic next to the head? If you wear hats, invest in a stretcher. Fedora