Club Obi Wan

So this is my first foray into the fedora section of the message board...

Re-watching KOTCS yesterday convinced me I had to have a fedora myself. Price and small waiting lists being priorities, I went with a Federation Deluxe IV. It was in stock and should be sent straight away - and I'll let you know when I get it. Provided I got the size right (I went with a size 60), I will probably be asking your advice on how to shape it in a few weeks' time...

Congratulations. It's a great hat. Be sure to post some pics when you get it.

Cool Moomintroll avatar by the way

Cheers
Alex

Congratulations! Can't wait to see what you get & do with it.

Cheers!

Dan

braver then me, I was not ready to attempt to shape my own hat just yet so I went with a custom shaping. Will be interested in seeing before and after shots on this.

Terrasolo wrote:braver then me, I was not ready to attempt to shape my own hat just yet so I went with a custom shaping. Will be interested in seeing before and after shots on this.

It's not very hard. At least that's what I have read and what I keep telling myself! "It's not hard, it's not hard, there's nothing to be afraid of..."

Jens_Hoppe wrote:

Terrasolo wrote:braver then me, I was not ready to attempt to shape my own hat just yet so I went with a custom shaping. Will be interested in seeing before and after shots on this.

It's not very hard. At least that's what I have read and what I keep telling myself! "It's not hard, it's not hard, there's nothing to be afraid of..."

LOL, I'll track your progress, it might just convince me to have a go.

Guys, shaping these hats (especially the Fed) is not hard at all. Take your time... the felt is pretty forgiving, and just keep checking in the mirror. I love to bash my own hats, but I also remember the first one I did and I was nervous to even touch it. After I mustered the guts to bash it, I was okay. In fact, a few weeks later, I just mashed the whole thing up and sat on it. It still came back just fine and looks great. The main thing-have fun with it!

-Corey

Congratulations on your new hat! I have a Fed III and I love it. And from what I hear the Fed IV are even better.

Good choice. From what I've seen, these new Feds look great. I got one three years ago. The old block was ok, but nothing like this new look. I had mine reblocked by Fedora, and the shape is just like my AB.

Shaping is a breeze. Just follow some of the good advice on here. NO STEAM!!!!! And turn it. Any questions, PM me.

After only a week, the hat has arrived! It looks beautiful.


... And it's too big. My measurement of 60 must have been a bit on the large side. However, I can bring it into size by applying foam strip all the way around the inside of the brim, so I am guessing that a 59 would have been perfect.

I have also, possibly a bit too impetuously, applied Akubra's "step 2" in their sizing guide, ie. sprayed water on the sweatband and subsequently heated it with a hairdryer, and since that wrinkled up the sweatband a bit (without seeming to do anything about size), for all I know I might have lost my right to return it...

And no, I haven't made any serious attempts to shape it yet.


What to do? As I wrote, the hat can be made to fit, but is foam strip all the way around an unsatisfactory solution?

Depending in how many size you must shrink it. If the hat is a 60 and you need a 59 the adesive foam it's a perfect solution. Wear it for a while: foam will go in shape and the sweatband will shrink a little. Remember: better a larger hat than a little one!

Of course, if you have a 60 and need to shrink it to a 56...this is a problem!

Jens_Hoppe wrote:After only a week, the hat has arrived! It looks beautiful.


... And it's too big. My measurement of 60 must have been a bit on the large side. However, I can bring it into size by applying foam strip all the way around the inside of the brim, so I am guessing that a 59 would have been perfect.

I have also, possibly a bit too impetuously, applied Akubra's "step 2" in their sizing guide, ie. sprayed water on the sweatband and subsequently heated it with a hairdryer, and since that wrinkled up the sweatband a bit (without seeming to do anything about size), for all I know I might have lost my right to return it...

And no, I haven't made any serious attempts to shape it yet.


What to do? As I wrote, the hat can be made to fit, but is foam strip all the way around an unsatisfactory solution?

someone else here said they got a 60 which was too big, returned it, got a 59 which was too small after realizing it shrank half a size after a week and then got a 60 again. So give it time to shrink.

My head measures a 59 but I'm still going to get a 60 and trust hatsdirect when he says it's really a 59.5

It's better a little larger than smaller. Put the foam inside and it will fits perfectly. Then the hat will shrink a little, naturally, during next months. My Fed III was quite large, now it fits perfectly without any artificial shrinking.

I have posted a couple of pictures in the Fed IV thread.