New Line of Full Size Hats

Photos of my new line of full size hats are finally here. These are men's hat styles, with nice Roan leather sweatbands inside, but the ladies like them too. Here's one photo of each color I have finished in each style at the moment, but I can also make custom color combinations.

'Neville' is a mod style derby with a stingy brim. It can be made in handsome heathered long-nap felt as seen here, or in a regular flat fur felt like the other hats.



The 'Blue Beat Trilby' has an early 1960s-inspired fedora crown, and a snap brim that flips up in back.


'Jake' is a slightly triangle-shaped crown paired with a stingy trilby brim. The front of the brim can be flipped up or down, depending on your mood.




Ready-to-wear sizes are
Extra Small / 21"
Small / 22"
Medium / 23"
Large / 24"
But I can also do custom sizing between sizes or up to 24.75" upon request, if I can get an accurate head measurement. If interested, let me know.

These hats and more will be available for sale at ADS Hats and Dark Garden in San Francisco shortly, and I'll be listing them on Etsy over the next few days.

In case you want to see more, the full set of photos from the shoot are available on my flickr page.

New Toy

My newest toy just arrived - a Cummins Initial Machine! It's dated 1889, and looks like this.



It's used it to punch perforated letters into leather sweatbands on hats. You spin the big wooden knob in the middle, which turns a dial with letters around the outside, to select the desired letter. Then you slip the sweatband into a slot below the dial, push down on the knob like a lever, and little metal pins perforate the sweatband to create the letter. The letters come out looking like this.



When every single guy on the street used to wear a hat, lots of hats looked alike, and most theaters, nightclubs and restaurants had hat check booths to hold men's hats while they were in their establishment, it was handy to have your initials in your hat to make sure you received the right one back.

I'm happy to be able to give this tool a new useful life, and look forward to many years together marking the size into ready-to-wear hats, customer initials on custom hats, etc.

Two New Top Hat Styles

Working on prototypes for two new mini top hat styles. One is a little bit larger than the Belle Epoch with straighter sides, it should be great for straw and has lots of surface area for decoration. The other is short, like a John Bull style hat, and asymmetrical.

Global Spread Continues

I just sold a hat to somebody in Finland!