By: Bimol Bee
Submitted: 2011-12-15 04:56:27 | Word Count: 590
If you dream of Indiana Jones' Hat, don't worry you're not alone. There're people having the same dream. Of course it would be much easier for you to purchase this kind of hat 80 years ago, but nowadays it's rather difficult to find a good fedora. Earlier one could hardly see a person not wearing this hat. It has a sharp brim, classic shape and symbolizes dignity. Today we live in the time of superstores, low prices and unfortunately lower quality. So, where can one get this stylish thing?
One of the options is to contact Marc Kitter and his partner Steve Delk, who used to make the fedoras used in the latest Indiana Jones film, called "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". By the way, Bernie Pollack was the costume designer for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".
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But what does a real Indiana Jones fedora look like? The best high-quality fedoras are made from fur-felt, not wool. And it should be mentioned that the highest quality fedora is produced from beaver. Manufacturing a good fedora is a difficult time-consuming process. The fur needs to be manipulated in different ways and transformed into actual "felt", probably the toughest fabric ever known. The fibers of this felt are interlocked in all possible directions that makes it almost impossible to tear. Such a fabric is extremely durable.
The purest beaver felt used for the production of hats is made by a traditional manufacturer. In fact, it's the highest density felt ever known to mankind and it certainly adds to the durability of the hat itself. The manufacturers even add water-repellant to the felt in the process of manufacturing.
Thus, the most valuable fedoras are hand-crafted over a wooden block. The latter offer the opportunity to the felt to breathe while it dries on them. This detail is not always visible to the customers but it provides the hat with durability. It may sound ironical but one of the most important parts of a high-quality fedora is the one you seldom pay attention to: the sweatband. In fact, it's the only part of the hat that touches the person's head. And your durability and comfort greatly depend on the quality of the material used.
Fortunately, Kitter's hats have excellent sweatbands made from kangaroo hide. These hides are usually tanned by an Australian company. Further, they're cut and transformed into shrink resistant leather sweatbands which are highly appreciated by customers in different countries of the world.
The final element is the lining of the hat which is made from the high-quality bridal satin which usually looks and feels like silk. Its advantage above silk is that it's more resistant to dust, dirt and sweat. The manufacturing process usually takes more than fourteen hours by hand but the result is worth it.
So, the Indy Fedora is a classic Fedora with a brown brim and a dark brown ribbon. The major thing about this kind of hat consists in its quality which is always hidden in the details. The blockshape traditionally used for the Indy Fedora is uncommon today. Most of classic hats nowadays have a tapered crown and are produced from lightweight felt (pure rabbit or rabbit beaver combination).
A really high-quality fedora should protect its wearer from such weather conditions as heat, heavy downpours, high humidity, snow, etc. The advantage of this hat is that it does it with style and even after a heavy rain you can go to the restaurant.
