Saturday, November 08, 2003
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| Our Offers | ||||||||
| Our Offers | ||||||||
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» Offering a full range of affordable head wear in wool and lite wool felts. » Rabbit and beaver blends for the mid range budget in dress and casual. » Budget and mid range western wear. » Show piece fur pelts up to 1000x in beaver in western wear. » Custom millinery for the discriminating bride. » Repairs, cleaning, blocking, stretching and general millinery work. » Custom made hats and services on request call or mail for quote. |
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| Custom Hats | ||||||||
| Custom Hats | ||||||||
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I just wanted to give you a bit more info about our custom hats... I have this unique ability where as I can answer any question correctly by just saying I do not know. I sometimes do answer this way as I rather not have to retreat and have to correct some half truth. About Beaver qualities , there is no standard set in the industry, be it with Stetson, Biltmore, Borsalino or Bailey or any other commercial hat maker or any other shop. However most do have a way of determining the beaver quality that follows most others. 5X is a Beaver and Rabbit or Hare blend and no specifics on the amount of each .. The custom hats we sale will have about 100% more beaver than any 5X hat produced commercially. The 10X hats we offer is the same as other shops call 50X as it is 50% Beaver 50% Hare or Rabbit . Our 50X is what other shops call 100X as it is 100% beaver felt ... Our 100X Beaver Pelt hats are Sterling Beaver and 100% belly hair. A 100X from our custom line is what others call 500 to 1000X beaver.. The way the quality of the beaver is determined in our custom hats is by first the density of the felt . A 100 X beaver felt should be very thin but very heavy and dense for the thickness.. a 100X should be thinner but 2 times as hard to push a needle through as a 10 X would be or a typical 50X in a commercial hat shop would be. Here again our 50X is 100% Beaver and a bit better quality that what commercial hat shops do call their 100X. You will find our 50X as or more dense and the same approximate thickness as the 100X in any commercial line. It will be equally hard to penetrate with a needle as any commercially produced 100X .. I am certainly not throwing off on any of the hat companies I represent as I have agreements with every major hat company in the world and many produce hats that lots of folks do love. The simple truth is however that many are in love with a name not the quality of the hat. You will not find better quality hat any where than one of our custom hats and that is not bragging its just simple truth. I hope to be able to serve you with any hat you desire but will continue to tell you that while I have many fine head wears , I do not have any that compare to the custom ones we build. I personally love a 3 " brim on my hats and a Borsalino Rodolfo that is a genuine Rodolfo retails for 350-380.00 in hat stores and for that money you can get a 50X beaver in 100% beaver where as they are selling a 5-7x beaver blend with a fancy name on the leather sweat band is about all. I love the look and feel of a Borsalino and the Biltmore a bit more but for me to invest that kind of money I prefer a quality custom hat. All my custom hats go to the you with your name embossed in gold in the sweat band, the quality and the date it was built. We use "roan" sweat bands meaning that they are not skived or split the customer gets top grade sheep skin. We are currently trying some goat skin sweat bands also, they seem to be a bit softer. On a custom hat we make it truly custom we offer many band styles. A grosgrain band matching or accenting the hat is no extra charge and can be any available width . self banding with a buckle is 20 dollars extra custom inlays can be 20-30 dollars extra and edge banding is 20-30 dollars extra depending on type grosgrain ribbon banding on edge is 20 extra matching or accenting the crown ribbon. This is all done by hand no machine used . it takes about 2 hours to sew on an edge band properly and professionally. other wise a pencil curl edge brim on western hats can run a bit extra and other wise not many things will cause the hats to go up in price. Our 5x ( 25% beaver) not 5% as others 5x are is 175.00 10X ( 505 beaver) is 275.00 50X 100% beaver is 375.00 100X 100% sterling beaver ( belly hair) 525.00 Thank you for the opportunity to tell you more about our hats. |
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| Who We Are | ||||||||
| Who We Are | ||||||||
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Feel free to contact us. Charlie Swindall at 276-926-6187 If you would like me to give you a phone call concerning fine hat, please leave your phone number in the box below and click the send button. I have free long distance calling In USA and Canada. action="http://wwp.icq.com/scripts/WWPMsg.dll" method="post" target="newWnd"> type=hidden name=body> name=subject>
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| Hats History | ||||||||
| Hats History | ||||||||
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You can trace the origins of the wearing of hats as far back as primitive man. Historical evidence has shown that some form of head covering was used for protection against the elements. Throughout early Egyptian, Roman and Greek times, the hat was worn as a mark of rank. It is believed that felt, the most common material used in hat making, was originally discovered by the nomadic tribes of Asia who were known to have used felted sheep's wool for making tents and clothing. Throughout the centuries both men and women have sported various forms of headdress but it was only in the late 14th and 15 centuries that hats started to be worn. During that period hats for men played an important role in men's clothing and were considered an important fashion item, unlike women's hats which only became considered as a fashion item in the 18th Century. As hats gradually grew in popularity during the 15th Century, an increasingly diverse range of materials were used for their production. Silk, velvet, taffeta, leather, felt and beaver were all favoured. During this period hat wearing differed between men and women. With women it tended to be restricted to the upper and middle classes as well as countrywomen, whereas with men it represented an essential accessory. During this period too, there was little difference in the hats worn by men and those worn by women. Many of the masculine styles tended to be sported by fashionable women and especially those belonging to the middle classes. Men's hats also tended to make a symbolic statement. The most notable being the formal tall stiff top hat representing the authority of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy and those who were involved in the professions and trades and the informal soft trilby felt hats which symbolised democracy and revolution and were generally associated with intellectuals, artists and country life. Most Popular Men's Styles over the Centuries Capotain - Early 17th Century, originally came from Spain. It was a tall hat, with a medium brim and tapered crown. Made from felt. Most popular colour was black. Sugar Loaf - Mid 17th Century - High Crown, stiff brim, it became associated with the dress worn by the Puritans. The Tricorne Hat (Three cornered hat) - 18th Century. Bicorne Hat - Late 18th Century - Most popular amongst artists and intellectuals. Top Hat - Mid 19th Century Coke Hat - Mid 19th Century - synonymous with bowler hat. Panamas and soft hats - became popular head attire from the mid 1800s. With styles such as the pork pie in both felt and straw and the helmet in straw being introduced in the mid-late 1800s. After this period men's hats varied little. To this day top hats and bowler hats continue to be worn for formal dress, with felts and panamas being worn for everyday wear. Millinery The term milliner dates back to Italy in the 16th and 17th Centuries when it meant supplier of fancy goods, such as straw hats, gloves and other accessories that Milan was renowned for. It was only in the 1770s that the milliner started to design and make hats. The decorative aspects of millinery were most notable in France, although England was the originator and developer of many styles of hats. By the mid 1800s, millinery had established itself as being on the same level as haute couture with the first important name in millinery being Caroline Reboux. Hats were designed specifically for the individual and were used to emphasise and even exaggerate their personal characteristics. During the late Edwardian period hats became very much a status symbol encouraging many more society women to develop their skills as milliners. Hats continued to be popular until the 1960s, when they underwent a steady decline. Millinery today has benefited from somewhat of a revival and the return of hat wearing is gradually becoming more common. |
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| Hat Etiquette | ||||||||
| Hat Etiquette | ||||||||
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Up until the late 1940's and early 1950's, hats were worn by gentlemen, particularly outdoors. It was considered "bad manners" to be seen outdoors without a hat or cap. President Kennedy was the first US President to be seen outdoors without a hat and from the 1960's on, the use of hats declined considerably. According to the Essential Handbook of Victorian Etiquette there are many accepted traditions concerning proper rituals that should be adhered to by gentlemen while wearing a hat. In the 1800's, hat etiquette was strictly followed and became second nature to gentlemen in Victorian times. Being that the frequent (or nearly constant) wearing of hats is a tradition of a by-gone era, it is important that those choosing to reenact that era be particularly aware of the proper etiquette that should be demonstrated by the wearer The Hat Ritual. There are two degrees of politeness:
Tipping your hat is a conventional gesture, done by barely lifting it off your head with your right hand (or the left hand if the right hand is occupied): By the crown of a soft hat, or the brim of a stiff one. Your cigarette, pipe or cigar should always be taken out of your mouth before removing or tipping your hat. This is a subtle gesture that should not be confused with bowing. A man takes off his hat outdoors:
A man tips his hat:
Indoors, a man always takes off his hat, except:
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