Club Obi Wan

Okay guys I've had this hat for about two years. It's a custom made Art Fawcett fedora that I won on board the Queen Mary. I just never wear it because it doesn't seem "Indy" to me. When I wear it I feel more like a cowboy. WHAT'S wrong with it? Does it need to be trimmed? Rebashed? What?

I need all the advice I can get as I will be wearing it for Halloween. And while I have all your attention... wasn't there a pattern to make a homemade MkVII bag? You can find the pics of the hat by following this link...

http://web.mac.com/bradjchrz/Site/Photos.html


Help me club Obi Wan your my only hope.


-DocIndyJones

looks like the brim isn't dimensionally cut. could probably use 1/4" or so taken off the sides IMHO.

crown looks great though.

Yep, it looks like you just need to trim the brim, and if you want the Raiders look, pinch the front a little tighter. Other than that, the color and shape look pretty accurate.

As in Tips how to go about trimming the brim? I mean is there somewhere I can go to make sure I don't screw it up? Do I trim it all the way around or just the sides?


Thanks for the input thus far.


-Brad

Just on the sides - if you can find a piece of chalk you can make a thin line (probably measure about 1/8th or 1/16th of an inch in the very middle of the sides, depending on how dramatic a change you want - a little goes a LONG way). You can use regular scissors, but you want to make sure they're sharp. After you trim it, take a piece of fine sandpaper and lightly rub it along the edge of where you've cut to make it look like the rest of the brim and not raw.

Pinch your brim a little tighter, and enjoy your hat a little more, and you're all set.

Nice lid!

In Christ,
Shane

I think there was a tutorial somewhere here on the forum that had a pic of what the brim should look liked from the top. The front and back should be 2 3/4" and the sides should be 2 5/8".

the total brim width from widest point to widest point should be about twice as wide as your face from beginning of ear to beginning of ear through your eyes. to be accurate to the proportions in raiders, anyway. your hat is actually pretty much dead on.. maybe a LITTLE bigger. however, you could just cut it.. I'd say go 2 3/4 in the front and back, 2 1/2 on the sides.

best way to do this is measure out with a ruler on a flat brim and make a pencil mark at the right points. give yourself about three marks for the front, back, and sides, and then just cut with a really sharp pair of scissors. you can go to 2 5/8 first to see how you like it, and then trim by eye from there. you have to decide for yourself where you want to start tapering from the front to the sides, I would have it depend on where you snap the brim. after you cut everything and like the length, sand it down with 100 grit. you won't take too much off this way as long as you don't go nuts, so I wouldn't factor it in to your measurements at all. sand down where it goes from front to back a bit more to emphasize the taper.

ok, maybe that's not the best way, but it's how I did it the first time, and it worked fine.

http://www.indygear.com/gear/akubra.shtml

Check out this link. It's a good tutorial on the main site.

I think the hat looks great! Maybe more of a pinch in front and the slight trim on the brim and you should be good to go!

MB

This poses a few questions for me:

How many 'gearheads' will be at this Halloween party? If none, who's going to know one way or the other?

Are you planning on wearing this hat AFTER Halloween, and in other situations besides with your Indy outfit? If so, why bother going through the effort of making it 'gear correct' by trimming the brim?

Personally I have no problems with it's current appearance, and it will look GREAT with any suit or jacket set up you wear AFTER the party in the future without messing around with trimming the brim.

A hat by Art Fawcett is not something I'd personally want to take a pair of sissors to myself....and yes, I do own one.

Just my personal observation here, but I'd leave it alone...enjoy the party as is, and then enjoy it AFTER the party with other combinations.

To MY eye, the hat is dimensionally correct in appearance to your head shape and size. No problems seen from my prospective, so I think you'd be making a serious mistake making any changes......but then, it's your hat.

Regards! Michaelson

The hat looks fine.

Thank you indy89! You said exactly the same thing I did, but did it MUCH better and with fewer words!!

See, there's at least TWO votes you need to just leave it alone!

HIGH regards! Michaelson

I think the best idea yet is to leave that hat alone and send it to me. I only posted that link for those who really want to know moire about the brim trim. I've seen a number of Art's hats in person, and while I don't own one yet, they are very nice hats. Doing a brim trim is fine on Akubras and the like, but for certain hats, leave 'em be! Michaelson brought up a very good point—if you're the only gearhead at the party, you could wear a Members Only jacket and an outback hat and everyone but you would think you're Indy.

Hang a rope on your belt for a whip, and bingo, you're Indy to most folks, as bink says!

Regards! Michaelson

Wanna be Indy? This is all you need:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2064503_make-in ... stume.html

Step Two:...... For low-budget Indies, a satisfactory whip can be made out of tightly woven rope attached to a sawed-off broom handle.

I rest my case.

Regards! Michaelson

Sounds like my first whip....except it was an electrical cord from my moms old "swag lamp" and I think the handle was an old pool cue.

Michaelson wrote:

Step Two:...... For low-budget Indies, a satisfactory whip can be made out of tightly woven rope attached to a sawed-off broom handle.

I rest my case.

Regards! Michaelson

Step Four: You'll notice that Indy wears a "fanny pack", a leather bag at his waist (to hold his gun, money, etc.) This is a good addition if you can find one, but wearing no bag is probably better than a silly-looking one.


As step four says, make sure to get yourself a leather fanny pack

I’m with Michaelson and 89. Leave the hat alone, it looks great.

If you start messing with the brim you’ll get it trimmed then realize one side’s not the same as the other, so you trim a little more off. But then you realize you trimmed too much, so now you have to take some off the other side. Next thing you know you’ve got a stingy brim and you’ll be posting here looking for a cheep DP to fill the gap until you can get a new Indy hat.

Don't you DARE perform amateur surgery on an Art Fawcett hat!!!! Wear it as is. Then, if you don't like it - I will gladly give it a loving home, even if it isn't my size. Please! I'm begging you. Don't cut that hat! Give it away to a stranger at a bus stop before you take scissors that hat!

(No, I'm not joking at all)

Y'know, I'm with Michaelson and Indy89. I like the way the hat looks.

I'm with Chewie. I'll be waiting at that bus stop for the hat.

Looks great as is.

DocIndy, it does look a bit wide on the sides, but I find I am in agreement with the 'don't trim it' crowd. Just think of it as a bit of 'caricature in yur character', and wear it proudly(and as previously stated, you will probably be the only one besides us on the forum who know any different). Have a great Halloween party

Matching brim width to ones face is an important consideration, especially when ordering a custom hat. When I ordered my Hoosier from Art I also ordered a Fed from Hats direct. The Fed had the same dimensional cut brim as the Hoosier. I got my Fed before my Hoosier was even on the block and imagine my horror when I tried it on and I looked like a kid wearing Dads hat

Well there was nothing left to do but trim the brim on a brand new hat. I set a compass at 1/4 in, scribed a line on the brim all the way around, took some sharp scissor and cut the brim, then smoothed the edge with 220 grit sandpaper.

I then e-mailed the pictures to Art, asking his advise on my Hoosier. Art agreed that the smaller brim worked better with my face (too much brim ) and change the specs on my hat. When I got my Hoosier it fit perfect on my head and the brim width matched my face.
The moral of this story is, if your having a custom hat made, send your hatter a picture of your self, preferably wearing a hat.
That said, it's your hat and if you feel you can do a proper job go for it if not either keep it the way it is or send it back to Art for a trim.
Bob.

Leave it be, brother. It looks good enough for average folks to get it, maybe by next year you can get another you like better. It looks good as it is anyway.

Can someone email those people and tell them Indy did not wear a freakin' fanny pack....he's an adventurer not a tourist at Disneyland.

Doc:

To anyone but the discriminating, that hat, as is, captures the essence of "Indy." There are many hats, begging for a good trimming and reblock, your Fawcett is not one. With a jacket, whip or whip facsimile, and some panache, it is unlikely you will be mistaken for anyone but Doc Jones.

BTW: Most Halloween revellers are too inebriated to care about the subtle nuances of a costume. Hit the high points: your hat, as is, will carry the day.

Sincerely,

well, since I was the only one who really said to cut it, I don't want you to think I was looking to give you bad advice.. I had no idea your hat was too fancy to risk brim cutting lol. but I will say this.. when I first came home with my camptown, it looked great, but I thought it was too big on my head.. kind of cowboy hat looking. so I cut a #### off the brim, and now it looks great. in fact, I'll probably take some more off tonight because I still think it fans out too much on the sides and in the back. I'm glad I did it... but I guess maybe you shouldn't?

Ultimately, it's the choice of the wearer whether or not to cut the brim of any hat. However, if you've ever seen one of Art's hats in person, you'll see that they are top notch fedoras and true works of art, just like Steve's. In fact, it's been stated that if you want a great Indy fedora, go with an Adventurebilt, but if you want a great "vinatge" non-Indy hat, go to Art. Steve will vouch for his work, too! I'd venture to say that many of the other hat offerings, the Akubras and the Camptowns, etc., are made to be modified to an extent. Not that I'm ragging on the other hats (because I'm not) but from the hats I've seen in person and owned, Art pounces his hats to a different kind of finish than the other fedoras. Trimming the brim of one of Art's hats may produce different results than expected unless you REALLY know what you're doing! I've only ever trimmed a brim off of beater hats or fedoras that I wouldn't mind messing up. But for hats like the Adventurebilt or Art's, I think I'm going to trust the hatmakers' skills on that one.

Well after I won the hat I talked to Art out on the deck and told him I was interested in an Indy Fedora. I've ALWAYS since I was a boy desired one. He stated that he had never before attempted to make one and that he would try is best. He did an outstanding job. It's truly is a work of Art (pun intended) but it's not Indy to me.

I haven't decided what to do as of yet. I should of just bought one of Steve's hats when I had the chance, I loved the Head Peice to the Staff of Ra on the inside of the lid. But now that he's a celebrity and most likely backed up with orders, I don't know when I'll have the funds or he'll have the chance to make more.

I remember I actually attempted to trade someone on The Queen Mary my custom hat coupon for an Adventurebuilt... but alas no takers. Thanks for all the advice guys I'll give it some thought.


-DocIndyJones

While you're thinking Doc, consider these options;

1. I've dealt with Art many times. He's avery reasonable man. Contact him and tell him you'd like him to make some alterations to the hat. Tell him to alter the brim to what you want, and I'm sure he would reblock the hat as open crown if you wanted to do your own bash.

2. Normally, I would never suggest this. However, if the hat really isn't what you're looking for and is just going to sit in the closet, why not sell it? Measure the inside of the hat for size and try to get enough to buy an AB while they are still at the current price. Place the order as soon as you get the money and just be patient. You may have to wait, but if you're not going to wear the one you have now, what's the difference? And I think even Art would rather the hat get worn by somebody else than gather dust.

Chewbacca Jones wrote:While you're thinking Doc, consider these options;* * * However, if the hat really isn't what you're looking for and is just going to sit in the closet, why not sell it? * * *

Or, trade it.

If the size is right; Fed regular, JPD, Stetson?

Sincerely,

Have you tried just reshaping the brim? Curling the edges more and getting that more warped effect? That would make a big difference I think and definetely worth trying before you go cutting anything.

Ken

i had an indy hat made for me much in the same way as this hat. the brim was not dimensionally cut and measured just over 2 3/4" all the way around. when i tried to curl the brim on the sides to compensate, then it would look very much like a cowboy hat as there was too much junk in the trunk.

Hey Doc...I'm with Ken on this one. I'd just try to reshape that sucker a bit. Give the sides an upward curl, flip the back up a tad and tighten up that front pinch and I think you'd be happier with the way it looks.

-Rabittooth

Man ,
Dont touch it i know alot about toy collecting and its pretty mutch the same here is goes,
remember what old toycar,train that you opened up
tore out the pagage and then played with? you loose the wheel and the base but then about 30 years later you find it all broken up from playing when you want to sell it but its in bad condition
and looses the money
its just the same thing older things get the more expensive they get
but after playing no money is worth the fun you had with it.

Sorry if that sounds like Belloqs statement about his watch but its the same thing if you mess with your hat sure money cant match the fun you had messing with it but if you modify it it will loose its value.

If it was up to me i wouldnt touch it, it looks like a fine hat as it is pretty good aswell.

But the coice is up to you.

Remember to CHOOSE WISELY.