As Promised Hats

Hats not hate:

So thanks for hearing out my recent rant. Not to detract from it in the least here is that article about hats.

Hats are a great accessory and the modern world just ignores them. I mean plenty of people have a baseball cap or a cowboy hat but how many times have you put on a boater, bowler, bucket, cabby, casual, chauffer, civil war, derby, dress, engineer, fedora, fishing, fur, gambler, gaucho, Greek, golf, goorin, gus, kepi, military, newsboy, open road, pith, pork pie, sombrero, straw, and 'tom mix to name a few. I mean seriously hats make the outfit, make the costume, set the mood.

Seriously, every United States President until Kennedy wore a hat during their inauguration (Kennedy took his off and left it at a chair). But what probably killed the hat was the automobile and less head room in smaller cars... Not kidding look these up. People have all kinds of theories about why gentlemen stopped wearing hats.
But I digress, the point of this article is hats are epic and you should get some. Some bad asses who wear hats (fictional and real in no particular order): James Bond, Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes, Abraham Lincoln, Charlie Chaplin, Al Capone, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Depp, Tim McGraw, John Wayne, Queen Elizabeth, Frank Sinatra, Diana Keaton, Cary Grant, Sammy Davis Jr, Diana Princess of Wales, Winston Churchill, Bing Crosby, Popeye, Carmine Miranda, every bad ass in the United States Navy, and those Shriner's.

So some of you might be thinking I am mad as a hatter at this point. But I assure you I have not ingested enough mercury ... yet for that to take its course (look it up hat humor). The point of this whole article is to show wrapping an old top hat in some ribbon and spare cloth and make it have a dashing new look.

So here goes: Go to and Arc, goodwill, garage sale, secondhand store, costume shop, or date a hat makers and go get yourself a hat. I like the beaten and the down trodden....
Read all the instructions before you start.

What you will need:

A Hat, I took a top hat for this project
A ribbon,
some scrap cloth,
glue

Anyway, My hat.

Part 1. First step, Wrap the ribbon around the hat, then tie it in a knot (I chose red) as this is for a vampire. Tie the ribbon in a knot or bow or glue it in place.

Part 2. Take a piece of scrap cloth, place it at the front of the hat. In this example also red.

Part 3. Take my second piece of cloth in this case mine is a bad ass lacey number with skulls bats and bugs (I used this stuff while making boots and a vest and had plenty left over for the hat). Wrap it around the hat tie it in a knot.

Part 4. Tuck the edges of materials in so that they are hidden.

Part 5. Trim excess material to desired lengths. I kept the excess length because I liked it.

Part 6. Now that you have your hat how you like it. Take it apart and add glue.... Or you can do this on every step (I however never glue cloth on because I might want to change the hat at a later date, and I am a cheap sob).

I thought I would dress
in baggy pants,
big shoes,
a cane and a derby hat,
everything a contradiction:
the pants baggy,
the coat tight,
the hat small and
the shoes large.
...Charlie Chaplin

PS As of today I am a Graduate!