Hi All, I'd appreciate some info on my Stetson Indy Fedora. I picked it up years ago at a thrift store, or perhaps a garage sale and don't know much about it.
Here are some pics
It's pretty soft and dusty. It's also a bit big on me, an eighth or perhaps quarter size, but the price was too good to pass up.
In the past I've had good experiences shaping wool military berets with hot water. I've always bought my berets large and shrunk them to fit in the shaping process. Could I shrink down the fedora in a similar fashion? Also, is there a way to stiffen up/shape this thing so it holds it's "Indy" shape better?
I'm not too keen on shrinking a hat. Try getting some felt or craft foam and tuck a strip under the sweatband to make it tighter.
Ad for the shape, it looks like it could use a reblock. But of you want to try a do it yourself job, many hat vendors sell spray-on stiffener. Steaming the hat a little might also reactivate the stiffener.
If it were my hat, I'd have it reblocked as an open crown by Art Fawcett, Optimo, Penmann, or somebody like that.
I am not a hat expert by any means, so I cant give you any info on the hat, but I will say that I bet that thing didn't look half bad in its day. Has a very good Raiders crease IMO.
As for reshaping it and making it look like it's not smashed, the only thing that I know of would be to have it re-blocked. Actually....can you re-block wool hats? Anybody?
Ok, sorry that I wasn't much help, but it lokks like a pretty decent hat.
If I'm not mistaken, that is the fur felt version that I begged my father for many many moons ago. It should do fine with reblocking. It's just an ordinary Stetson dress hat in the end, and perhaps better quality than is currently made.
The liner is the fur felt liner, but it appears to have been put in crookedly.
I had several of the licensed fur felts and they varied in quality. The ones I was told were made of pure beaver were magnificent, although not very screen accurate. They retain their original shape even after heavy steaming and multiple rebashings.
Those of lesser quality did not hold up nearly as well. Here is one of the good ones:
