Club Obi Wan

I'd like to start by congradulating all of you for such a wonderfull forum and for building such a great community!

My name is Hendrik Mattheeuws but people generally call me henkie, and
like most (all) of you I cought the indy bug
To make a long story short, I enherited a beautifull leather jacket from my
older sister, and since then I came closer and closer to a true indy-fan, and to this site and forum.

I have now grown out of that jacket, and got myself a (very) nice
state of art (brand) leather jacket to fit my size. But I have gotten an ich
for the fedora, and now I am here to ask you guys the load of questions I
have collected while being on this forum.

I'm still young (17) and I am searching for the fedora that will last for the
rest of my life! So I have decided I defenatly want an Adventurebilt
becouse of what I read here.
But now i have been reading lots of things like; Steve doesn't take any
orders anymore, they wont be shipped off to Europe anymore, and more
of these things.
Furthermore, as I allready said, I would like to have a hat that lasts a
lifetime, so it has to fit me right! I will get my hat size measured at a local
hat shop (I don't trust myself enough ) but from what I read there's
more to fitting than just the hat size. I have read something here and
I would like to ask (maybe to mr Fedora himself) if its possible to add a
photo to my order so you could see with your professional eyes what would fit me best!
Aditionally I would like to know how long the wait time will be (just to be
prepared) and what you people think of a guy my age wearing a fedora!

Well that's that, I'd like to thank you allready for taking the time to read
this hunk of newb-typed text and apologize for all of my typo's

sincerely yours, henkie

Welcome aboard henkie
I´m just one year older than you and I wear hats like Fedoras for many years now, so don´t be afraid of that
Just one hint, if you want an Adventurebilt, you could also just ask in the Cairo Bazaar, maybe someone has one in exactly your size and could ship it to europe, the same way I came to my one

Welcome to the forum. I believe Steve can take photos to make your hat better, but he's a bit hard to contact right now. He's got a lot to do these days. I believe he is taking orders again now, though. If you live in Europe you could order from Marc. He runs Adventurebilt Deluxe in Germany if I'm not mistaken. It's a bit more expensive, but I've heard good things about his hats.

As for the age, I'm 19 and it does occasionally feel weird to wear the hat, but it's all relative to the rest of your wardrobe I think. I don't personally feel that a fedora goes well with a t-shirt and jeans, which is 98% of what I wear, but I'm working on that, haha.

Besides the circumference of you head measured in centimeters there's the width to length ratio.
Take some outside caliper and measure your head front to back and side to side.


Round oval is 5/8 inch longer than it is wide
Regular oval is 1 3/8 inches longer than it is wide
Long oval is 2 1/8 inches longer than it is wide
X-Long oval is 2 7/8 inches longer than it is wide
XX-Long oval is 3 5/8 inches longer than it is wide
XXX-Long oval is 4 3/8 inches longer than it is wide

Welcome to the forum!
I'm one year older than you and I always wear my hat! I tend to wear it with a t-shirt and jeans which can be a big no-no to some folks, but I personally don't give a ####

Welcome Henke! I am not a hat expert, so I can't pretend to advise you, but, as I am 40 years older than you, I can say that, while your hat may last a lifetime, your hat size may not. I have gone from a 7 when I was 17 to a 7 1/4 to 7 3/8 (don't know the Euro conversion offhand). The reason is rather strange. I don't think my skull has gotten larger (impossible, as any anatomist will tell you), but due to the gritting and gnashing of teeth that accompanies the trial and troubles of a long life, my chewing muscles have bulged out the sides of my head, changing my hat size...

hehe ok im confident now that someone of my age looks good in a fedora! thanks for all the hints until now, they are indeed verry helpfull! I think I might place my order with Mark then, unless more hints and directions come up
regards, henkie

I've got nothing to add, everyone else pretty much covered it. Marc would be a great choice.

As for out-growing it, I wouldn't worry too much - if you do outgrow it, you can sell it in the Cairo bazaar section of this forum. You probably won't get as much as you paid for it, but you could probably get enough for it that you would only have to pay another $50-$100 for a new one. :junior: -IJ

Let me toss this in the mix. You are 17. When I was your age, I was measured for a new band uniform, and my head size was 7 3/8.

I'm a LOT older now (I remember Eisenhower when he was President, if that gives you an idea HOW old ), and my head size is still 7 3/8, so I believe you're where you're going to be for the rest of your life now....so based on that hypothesis, I'd suggest you proceed with the search for the hat.

Buy the best you can afford now, and move up as time and monies allow.

Regards! Michaelson

I do hope my head doesn't get any larger, maybe you just havent changed a bit since you were my age, Michaelson
I'm going to put my order with marc as you guys suggested, thanks for that.
Btw, I probably won't be a stranger here, as many have quoted, this place truely is addictive
(Oh and ps, if any of you wonder how henkie is pronounced, it's like hanky )

regards, henkie

henkie wrote:I do hope my head doesn't get any larger, maybe you just havent changed a bit since you were my age, Michaelson
regards, henkie

Oh BELIEVE me, there have been changes....just not my hat size.

HIGH regards! Michaelson

Michaelson, you're lucky on the hat-size thing. My head size has never really stopped getting larger. It's amazing that I'm not a mutant! (Well, not obviously so, anywa.)

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Michaelson, you're lucky on the hat-size thing. My head size has never really stopped getting larger. It's amazing that I'm not a mutant! (Well, not obviously so, anywa.)

Is that you, Barry Bonds?

Mine has gotten a little bit bigger. I have a Statesman I bought in Australia in the mid 1990s. I had to use sizer strips to make it fit then; now it fits perfectly. I buy the "gnashing of teeth" argument. I have two teenage daughters.

My 2 daughters are grown and gone, but the 'excitement' never ends.....

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:

henkie wrote:I do hope my head doesn't get any larger, maybe you just havent changed a bit since you were my age, Michaelson
regards, henkie

Oh BELIEVE me, there have been changes....just not my hat size.

HIGH regards! Michaelson

What, you mean you didn't drink coffee back then?! :junior: -IJ

Actually......yes....I did.....

Regard! Michaelson

What do you mean? Michaelson INVENTED coffee!

I should have paid more attention in my history class...that must have been one of the more important events of the 15th century. :junior: -IJ

Well, it was to me at the time....

Regards! Michaelson

See if you can find one of the original "Juan Valdez" commercials. Look real close... add some more facial hair....

Michaelson wrote:My 2 daughters are grown and gone, but the 'excitement' never ends.....

Regards! Michaelson

Well, after looking at Chewbacca's location and cross referencing to my story, I am convinced there is only one possible conclusion: living in Pennsylvania makes one's head get bigger. Think about it--Barry Bonds used to play for....wait for it....PITTSBURGH

Of course! He didn't use steroids, he's just from Pennsylvania! :junior: -IJ

IndianaJones wrote:Of course! He didn't use steroids, he's just from Pennsylvania! :junior: -IJ

Well, I'm about half an hour from Three Mile Island so stranger things have happened.

Well, I worked at a uranium enrichment plant for over 12 years back in the 70's and 80's, and though my head never got any bigger, I glow in the dark. Does that count?

Regard! Michaelson

hmm...that could be a good point. Hey, instead of giving him a urine test, has anyone tried scanning Barry with a Geiger counter? :junior: -IJ

Michaelson wrote:Well, I worked at a uranium enrichment plant for over 12 years back in the 70's and 80's, and though my head never got any bigger, I glow in the dark. Does that count?

Regard! Michaelson

And all this time we thought it was just the Pecards keeping you alive.

I am not a hat expert, so I can't pretend to advise you, but, as I am 40 years older than you, I can say that, while your hat may last a lifetime, your hat size may not. I have gone from a 7 when I was 17 to a 7 1/4 to 7 3/8

Funny, my head keeps getting smaller...most due to the fact that I don't have the same amount of hair that I did when I was 17!