Club Obi Wan

Hi all. While a few Wested Indy jackets have passed through my hands, I have only had two Indy Fedoras. The first was a wool felt Steson that was stolen off the hat rack in a restaurant, and the second (its replacement) is a fur felt Stetson.

For some reason, I never really wore it out in the weather. Truth be told, I never really wore it much at all. I just couldn't get over that horrid "teardrop" bash of the crown and the too-small brim dimensions. Anyway, I had some work to do on the farm the other day, so I figured I might as well wear it...it's not like I cared if it got dirty. In the course of the day, I got caught in a pretty good rain squall and the hat got soaked, through-and-through. Turning lemons into lemon aid, this looked like a great opportunity to rebash it into some that at least looked CLOSE to a proper Raiders bash. I reformed it and set it aside to dry. A few hours later I noticed that the color had not only bled through the liner, but the ribbon was discolored as well! What's the deal? Are these things COMPLETELY for costume wear? What about us folks who actually wear hats when we WORK? I see an Akubra in my future.....

Stetsons are among the brands that have really unstable felt coloring. Yeah, an Akubra doesn't bleed. And if it ever did, then not nearly enough to actually complain about it.

The Akubra does bleed, but only if it gets really soaked. Wore mine in heavy rainstorm last week, and stained the liner a little.

The bleeding on the Stetson can also come from the finishing powders they use on their hats to cover up the poor dye jobs and low quality felt. I remember seeing a guy at a fair that was getting rained out and he had a noticeable stain of dye down the back of his dress shirt from his black western hat he was wearing. He was in front of me sprinting to his car as I was headed to mine.

I have a Stetson fedora that is not an "official" hat, and it is very good quality. I have hat no bleeding problems yet, and it has gotten pretty wet, though not soaked.

How old is your hat Chevalier? Not all Stetsons are bad and I dont mean to @#$% on your hat. The vintage ones are great in fact. Stetson is just not what it used to be. You can still get a higher grade/blends of felt from them these days but you will pay out the nose for it considering what you get. Unfortunately I have seen and heard of quite a few modern day hats (westerns more so) with bleeding issues. Throw a pic of your hat up here on the board. I'd like to see it. I always like to see fedoras people are happy with.
Fletch

Taper! Tapir, actually. Or should we just call these critters Stetsons?

Funky eyes on that critter.

Cheers!

Dan

When I was a teen my Dad looked like that if I came home late...

I have an oil-finished leather Akubra Outback that I wear when it's really raining...the water just beads up and runs off. Not very Indyish, but perfect for rainy weather. I bought a relatively inexpensive authentic straw Panama (from Ecuador) to wear in the summer and while I'm waiting on my AB. I made the mistake of wearing it in a light rain...really more of a "mist" than real rain...the other day and my bash changed over night! I was careful not to lay it up against anything while it dried, but some parts sagged and my brim became even lower....too low now. Wish I had worn my "rain" hat!

Dean

How old is your hat Chevalier? Not all Stetsons are bad and I dont mean to @#$% on your hat.

Not to worry! I actually didn't take it that way at all. My point was that at least some of the non"official" Stetsons seemed to be OK with respect to bleeding.
I am not sure of the age - I got it 2nd hand from Dr, Seuss here. I think it's over 10 years old.

Chevalier Krak wrote:

How old is your hat Chevalier? Not all Stetsons are bad and I dont mean to @#$% on your hat.

Not to worry! I actually didn't take it that way at all. My point was that at least some of the non"official" Stetsons seemed to be OK with respect to bleeding.
I am not sure of the age - I got it 2nd hand from Dr, Seuss here. I think it's over 10 years old.

Interesting... The Stetson that started this topic is at LEAST 20 years old. If I recall correctly, I bought it around the time Temple of Doom came out.

My 20+ year old Stetson's bled like stuck pigs when soaking wet, so it's not unheard of.

Regards! Michaelson