New Hat Day
Hi, my name is Wade and I have a hat problem. I know this isn’t my usual adventure or cycling post but bear with me. Baseball caps, beanies, fedoras, straw hats, rain hats, hiking hats… I’ve got them all. I mean who doesn’t want to have the right hat for the occasion. Oh, that’s just me… well, ok then. I wear hats so often I’ve even had people get surprised when they learn that I actually have hair. Nope, not wearing the hats to hide a shiny dome but rather because I’m just lazy and don’t want to comb my hair — and I like them.
Despite the number of hats I have I struggle to find ones that fit well. Most hats are fairly round in shape. However, my head is more of an oval — imagine an egg laying on its side. As any kid that’s played with blocks knows an oval will fit in a circle but there’s all sorts of gaps on the sides. I’ve stretched, pulled and twisted my hats trying to get them to fit with little success, so I’ve been on a quest to find a hat that fits my odd-shaped noggin. In the back of my mind I held out hope that I could get a custom hat one day.
Little did I know there is a custom hat maker, Folklore Hats, in town. Portland has a great makers culture and plenty of hipsters wearing hats so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Even more, it’s only a few blocks from my house. What surprised me is that I’ve walked by Folklore countless times without realizing what it was. There are all sorts of cool machines in the window but I had never taken the time to see what it was inside. Once I realized it was a hat shop I knew I had to check it out.
One day I decided to drop by and see what they had in the store. When I walked in I was greeted by John Fish, owner and chief haberdasher. He was in the middle of working on a hat but stopped what he was doing to welcome me and was more than happy to talk with me about the shop, equipment and the hats. Walking into the store was like walking back in time. It’s filled with all sorts of vintage hat-making equipment. What’s even more impressive is that all those machines and tools have been restored and are fully functional. John uses these machines on a daily basis to make all of his hats. Even the ribbons on the hats are vintage and come from deadstock lots that he finds around the country.
After speaking with John for a few minutes it was obvious that he is passionate about what he does. I think he likes finding and restoring the old equipment as much as he likes making the hats. It’s refreshing to run across someone with so much passion for what they do. You can see it in everything he does.
After seeing the shop and what goes into the hats there was no way I was going to leave without ordering one. The idea of ordering a hat seems simple but when it’s 100% custom it’s not that easy. So many many choices: felt type and color, ribbon color, crown height, brim width, shape, style… and the list goes on. One of the coolest parts is getting your head measured with a crazy multi-fingered machine that ensures the hat fits like a glove, even if you have an egg-shaped noggin like me. After ordering it’s time to wait. Bespoke hats are beautiful but not instant gratification. John makes each hat by hand one at a time so that’s to be expected.
The day my hat was being finished John called me so I could come by and watch him put on the final touches. I wanted the hat to have a slightly aged distressed look. To do this John has to oil certain parts along with heating and actually using a brush to leave burn marks in the felt. It’s a fascinating process that adds lots of character to the hat.
I have to say it’s really cool to get to watch something being custom-made for you. I was able to tell him exactly how I wanted it to look up to the last minute. Now I have a true one-of-a-kind hat that is made just for me and my noggin.
