How to Telescope a Dress Hat

[fedhead]

Re: How to Telescope a Dress Hat

I had Tim bender telescope my 1858 dress hat then a friend of mine liked it so much he wanted it too so i used the soaking in water method and i achieved a exact match . Also if a guy is going to do this in the field i would of thought that the soaking method is the most practical.

[Arkansas Box Boy]

Re: How to Telescope a Dress Hat

Simply worked my hat till it was flexible, then folded it down.
And no, it doesn't trap water....

Photo Attached.

[Hiline]

Re: How to Telescope a Dress Hat

To reshape all my western hats I use a tea kettle and get it boiling. Hold the hat over the spout until it's soft and flexible, spin the hat around so the whole crown is soft. Then I smash the crown down like I'm turning it inside out then put it on my head. My head forces the center back up and forms the telescope effect. Pinch around the outside of the crown to crease it and let cool. It will retain the shape and it's original stiffness. If you get it wet and shape it you have to wait for it to dry before you can wear it, with this method your golden in about ten minutes. I reshape my hats all the time depending on what look I want. If it starts to get soft you can use pray starch to stiffen it back up.

Rob Rankin
Lone reenactor in Montana.

[fedguy]

Re: How to Telescope a Dress Hat

Regarding re-stiffening of hats, in 18th-century reenacting, we used a method on our cocked hats of coating the entire crown with white (clear) shellac. Made a REALLY sustantial difference (you could almost use it as a seat!). Was this method still in use by the mid 19th-century?

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: How to Telescope a Dress Hat

Hallo!

Yes, but as part of the forming process.

(One problem with "reshellacing" a hat is that the fur felt or wool felt does not always take the diluted shellac evenly- which when dry can cause whitish blotches and random splotching.)

Curt