I will have to agree Dakota..

Posted by Fedora from ppp-174.col.cableone.net on September 22, 2000 at 17:12:07:

In Reply to: Re: Important PB news, if you have a huge mellon like I do... posted by Dakota Ellison on September 22, 2000 at 07:56:16:

: : I just heard from Joe jr. regarding the completion/shipment of my fedora. I have a huge head. I forget the size he quoted, but my head is 24" around. I ordered the hat as follows:
: : Brim: 2 3/4" front and back, 2 1/2" sides
: : Crown: 5 3/8" from base to top of pinch, 6" over all.
: : Most of you are probably thinking this way to tall, as did Joe initially. He wrote me back several times, saying "Are you sure? That's awfully tall". As the dimensions were taken from a 554 model that I modified to meet these specs, I was positive. When he wrote me today he said the this crown height looked "awesome" on this size hat. Just thought my big melloned brothers would find this useful when trying to scale the look of the hat to meet their size. I also ordered it with a black lining. Some of you insist that white is the way to go, but they never showed the lining in "Raiders" and, when choosing gear, I look no farther than "Raiders". Aside from that my Grandmother had a huge collection of her Brother's and Father's fedoras from the 30's tucked away in the attic when I was little. She had them in every style and color, and I noticed that white linings usually only came in gray hats very light brown and cream-colored hats. The darker browns and blacks had black linings. Inspecting the hats made me raelize, too, that Indy's hat was not really a 'fedora' at all, even though I only seven or eight. Watch The History Channel's "Year by Year" sometime when they're covering that era. Fedoras are very low-crowned, flimsy, crappy little hats with bound brims in most cases. I support the notion that Indy's hat was most likely a modified Akubra. After all, Indy was really just a potluck of all the heroes Lucas loved as a child, and I guess the 'cowboy' influence had to show through somewhere. This last part is probably of no use to anyone, but by now you all know how I like to ramble....

: I wear a 7 5/8 hat and my PB is 5 7/8 crown heighth, 2 7/8 front and back by 2 3/4 sides brim and it's perfect. If your size is that big you might want a wider brim if its not too late.
: Cheers!

: Ellison

Really if you are gonna increase the crown height, the brim width needs to be adjusted up. Proportion is the key here. Personally, I think that fedora is gonna look a bit different using your specs. Just my subjective opinion of course. As far as those old fedoras you mentioned, there were quite some variations back in the old days. Not all brims were bound, not all had narrow brims, and not all had low crowns. I heard somewhere that the advent of more stream line autos had much to do with the crowns getting shorter, to accomodate men entering these cars. May be just a rumor though. I think all HJ Indy fedoras had white linings, and that is what I am trying to replicate. One thing about it, Joe jr. will give you what you want, although I am surprised that he didn't suggest a wider brim to go with your specs. Regards, Fedora

Follow Ups:

Re: I will have to agree Dakota.. Roses4jezabel@aol.com 02:06:52 9/23/2000 (1)
- Re: I will have to agree Dakota.. Cueball 12:55:58 9/24/2000 (0)

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: : : I just heard from Joe jr. regarding the completion/shipment of my fedora. I have a huge head. I forget the size he quoted, but my head is 24" around. I ordered the hat as follows:
: : : Brim: 2 3/4" front and back, 2 1/2" sides
: : : Crown: 5 3/8" from base to top of pinch, 6" over all.
: : : Most of you are probably thinking this way to tall, as did Joe initially. He wrote me back several times, saying "Are you sure? That's awfully tall". As the dimensions were taken from a 554 model that I modified to meet these specs, I was positive. When he wrote me today he said the this crown height looked "awesome" on this size hat. Just thought my big melloned brothers would find this useful when trying to scale the look of the hat to meet their size. I also ordered it with a black lining. Some of you insist that white is the way to go, but they never showed the lining in "Raiders" and, when choosing gear, I look no farther than "Raiders". Aside from that my Grandmother had a huge collection of her Brother's and Father's fedoras from the 30's tucked away in the attic when I was little. She had them in every style and color, and I noticed that white linings usually only came in gray hats very light brown and cream-colored hats. The darker browns and blacks had black linings. Inspecting the hats made me raelize, too, that Indy's hat was not really a 'fedora' at all, even though I only seven or eight. Watch The History Channel's "Year by Year" sometime when they're covering that era. Fedoras are very low-crowned, flimsy, crappy little hats with bound brims in most cases. I support the notion that Indy's hat was most likely a modified Akubra. After all, Indy was really just a potluck of all the heroes Lucas loved as a child, and I guess the 'cowboy' influence had to show through somewhere. This last part is probably of no use to anyone, but by now you all know how I like to ramble....

: : I wear a 7 5/8 hat and my PB is 5 7/8 crown heighth, 2 7/8 front and back by 2 3/4 sides brim and it's perfect. If your size is that big you might want a wider brim if its not too late. 
: : Cheers!

: : Ellison

:    Really if you are gonna increase the crown height, the brim width needs to be adjusted up. Proportion is the key here. Personally, I think that fedora is gonna look a bit different using your specs. Just my subjective opinion of course. As far as those old fedoras you mentioned, there were quite some variations back in the old days. Not all brims were bound, not all had narrow brims, and not all had low crowns. I heard somewhere that the advent of more stream line autos had much to do with the crowns getting shorter, to accomodate men entering these cars. May be just a rumor though. I think all HJ Indy fedoras had white linings, and that is what I am trying to replicate. One thing about it, Joe jr. will give you what you want, although I am surprised that he didn't suggest a wider brim to go with your specs.   Regards, Fedora

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