The Story of the Indiana Jones Fedora
February 2, 2010 7:00 AM   Subscribe

If adventure had a hat, it would be produced by Adventurebilt Hat Company, the company founded by a man who wanted his own fedora (just like Junior's) and ended up supplying his hero's movie studio.
posted by GatorDavid (40 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well those hats look pretty awesome and I think I wouldn't mind owning SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY FUCKING DOLLARS?
posted by mightygodking at 7:03 AM on February 2, 2010 [13 favorites]


Somehow the exorbitant price made me want one more.
posted by slogger at 7:16 AM on February 2, 2010


wow! cool looking hats, but way too expensive.
posted by Dick Laurent is Dead at 7:18 AM on February 2, 2010


The internet is made of hats.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:20 AM on February 2, 2010


...Steve and Marc continued to take in orders from a growing list of loyal customers, most of whom were gearheads from the Indy community, but also included an anonymous movie star who wished to remain private.

So - Tim Matheson, Peter Coyote, or Tom Selleck?
posted by Iridic at 7:21 AM on February 2, 2010


Iridic, why not Harrison Ford himself?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on February 2, 2010


Some days, I wish hats would come back in as a fashion statement (damn you JFK!), so I have a chance of getting a decent quality hat for less than a paycheck.
posted by madajb at 7:27 AM on February 2, 2010


$650? No wonder he freaks out when he loses it in the movies.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:27 AM on February 2, 2010 [4 favorites]


The 'real' Indy hat was made by Swaine Adeney Brigg in London, and are a mere £190. The first link tells the story of Spielberg and Ford entering the shop in 1980, and will also sell you one today.
posted by dowcrag at 7:28 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]




Talk about expensive hats. My kid's crew was filming a Subaru commercial in Vancouver back when Crocodile Dundee was the spokesperson. They started filming and realized they had forgotten to bring his signature hat.

The closest place to get one was L.A.. The kid (who was back in L.A. at the time) was called, he located a hat, got a first class ticket to Vancouver (shipping it would have taken too long), had to lay over for a couple of days (meaning hotel and food costs) and then flew back..

I'm thinking that hat cost the ad company about $3,000.

And, as for good hats, just get a Tilley.
posted by HuronBob at 7:36 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I supposed that he already had one of the original hats, EmpressCallipygos. No doubt he occasionally pairs it with a Han Solo vest and wears it to breakfast.
posted by Iridic at 7:39 AM on February 2, 2010


Wow. I picked up a new Filson wool hat for camping and whatnot, and my wife thought I was silly for dropping one tenth of what these "Indy" hats are selling for. But my old one (a $30 Eddie Bauer hat) gave me about 10 years of outdoor wear, and is still in fairly good shape aside from the inevitable fading. I figured if the $30 hat gave me 10 years, the $60 hat ought to give me 20. Does this mean if I buy the Indy hat I might as well make sure it fits my son, because it would outlast me?

I like the idea of a fedora, really, but for most people wearing one on a daily basis seems like you're trying too hard or something. I like my current hat, but most of the time it sits quietly on a shelf waiting for my next camping, hiking, or fishing trip, etc. Had I paid $650 for it, I think I'd be afraid to wear it anywhere. What would be the point in that?
posted by caution live frogs at 7:39 AM on February 2, 2010


I supposed that he already had one of the original hats, EmpressCallipygos. No doubt he occasionally pairs it with a Han Solo vest and wears it to breakfast.

Sadly, the original hat was stolen by a one-armed man.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:43 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Sadly, the original hat was stolen by a one-armed man.

Does he point without medicine?
posted by Dick Laurent is Dead at 7:49 AM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]



Somehow the exorbitant price made me want one more.

Prestige Pricing!

posted by The Whelk at 7:52 AM on February 2, 2010


Everyone should have at least one nice expensive hat. I've been a lifelong fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan, so before I moved from Austin to Houston my wife and I went to Texas Hatters in Buda, who made Stevie's hats.

The entirely flat brim didn't look right with my face, so we tweaked it until I ended up with this (obligatory glamour shot). ISTR it was around $300.

I'll never spend that much on a hat again, but it's one of my prized posessions and means a lot to me.
posted by mrbill at 7:57 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I agree with HuronBob about the Tilley. Didnt they used to come with a guarantee to protect you from death, if you died while wearing it you got a refund but you had to apply in person? I was sure I saw that in the store but cant find it on the website.
posted by shothotbot at 7:59 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


This is what I love about the Internet. It exposes me to this whole pocket-world surrounding some object or activity that I've never given a second thought. People who spend years of their life trying to recreate the perfect Indy hat. Who knew?
posted by adamrice at 8:00 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


this is just what a peripatetic, endearingly-awkward geek needs to wear during his casual-sex shenanigans.
posted by dunkadunc at 8:18 AM on February 2, 2010


That hat looks cool as hell on the big screen, but when I see someone in real life wearing one, cool is usually not the word that comes to mind.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 8:19 AM on February 2, 2010


My grandfather, a carpenter by trade, always wore fedoras. He had a couple of good ones that were reserved or wearing to church or out to dinner. He had one that was his everyday work hat. It was sweat stained and had wood dust caked into various seams. It wasn't dirty. It was well used. It smelled of him with a musky scent with its blend of Old Spice and sawdust. I loved that hat and asked for it when he passed away. My family couldn't imagine that I wanted his old beater so they threw it away and gave me his newest church hat that he'd only worn twice. It just wasn't the same.
posted by onhazier at 8:25 AM on February 2, 2010 [3 favorites]


For a lot less than $650 I can print out my own SERVICE UNAVAILABLE page and fold it into a hat.
posted by DU at 8:28 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Mr. Bill, you should wear your nice hat.

I have a good Akubra hat, and I wear it almost every day. It shades me in the summer and keeps me warm in the winter. It's distincitve, too, so I can be recognized from far away.

I didn't buy it as a collector's item -- if I had I would store it away somewhere. A hat is for wearing!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:31 AM on February 2, 2010


Somehow the exorbitant price made me want one more.

It belongs in a museum.
posted by FatherDagon at 8:33 AM on February 2, 2010 [4 favorites]


It's amazing what the proper hat can do for you.
posted by Sailormom at 8:36 AM on February 2, 2010


I'm not much of a hat person but damn do I love those boots.
posted by cazoo at 8:53 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Pepsi BlueHat?
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:10 AM on February 2, 2010


Everyone should have at least one nice expensive hat.

Ages ago, I picked up a nice looking fedora from an antique store for about $20, as it happened, it turned out to be a really nice vintage Dobbs original.

It makes me happy that every once in a while, I get to pull it out. It takes dressing up to that just slightly more slick level.
posted by quin at 9:17 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I've got a weird head or face or something - every single hat ever put on my misshapen melon makes me look like an extra in the Lake Ungerspittle Dinner theater production of Guys and Dolls
posted by The Whelk at 9:21 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


While nothing would make me happier than getting a $650 custom hand made fedora, Bailey of Hollywood makes perfectly decent hats for a reasonable price. My current winter fedora is over four years old at this point, and while it could probably use a trip to the dry cleaners, it's in fine shape. While you can't order them online, for some stupid reason, any city larger than Portland is almost certain to have a haberdasher somewhere, and every time I've been into Portland's or Seattle's any hat I might have been interested in wearing was around $50. I expect this hat will last me a few years yet, so thanks Adventurebilt, but no thanks.
posted by Caduceus at 9:32 AM on February 2, 2010


I'm not much of a hat person but damn do I love those boots.

I just bought some new boots last week that look nearly identical to those, down to the top non-eyelets ("hook" eyelets, I think they're called). They were from L.L. Bean, come with a lifetime warranty, cost about a third the price, and aren't sold out.

Link.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:55 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Does he point without medicine?
posted by Dick Laurent is Dead at 9:49 AM on February 2 [1 favorite +] [!]


Eponylynchical.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:38 AM on February 2, 2010


every single hat ever put on my misshapen melon makes me look like an extra in the Lake Ungerspittle Dinner theater production of Guys and Dolls

You say that like it's a bad thing.
posted by mikelieman at 10:58 AM on February 2, 2010


"When we first formed Adventurebilt Hat Co. it was our goal to make fedoras as were seen in the old days, but we wanted to make our hats tough - as tough as the cowpoke's beaver hat of yesteryear. We succeeded in doing that by using the best felt available: pure 100% beaver."

Another to add of the list, headed by those who wrap and package confectionery of the fudgical variety, of careers you really don't want have to admit to at a posh dinner party.

"Me? I shave beavers."
posted by titus-g at 12:02 PM on February 2, 2010


I can't speak to the hat, but I would like to purchase a t-shirt with that logo on it. MADE TO MEASURE BUILT TO LAST
posted by aparrish at 12:29 PM on February 2, 2010



"Me? I shave beavers."

Obvious joke titus-g, but the acquisition of that beaver fur isn't quite as funny.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 3:15 PM on February 2, 2010


Ironically you can buy a quality hand made beaver felt hat for one sixth of the price. Its called ebay and the search query is "vintage fedora." Search for vintage Royal Stetson, Borsalino, and Dobbs. For about 120 bucks you can get a mint vintage fedora made of a quality far higher than the majority of similarly made hats today (although I can't speak on this particular company). The craftsmanship on a well cared for vintage fedora hat is truly amazing. I have a few old borsalinos (my great uncle was a Borsalino hat salesman in the 50s - and quite a dandy) and I'm pretty amazed by the attention to detail, the minute stitches in the band and liner and the overall quality of the hats. They seem like they could last another 100 years or so...

That all being said...I barely ever wear them. Dorks have co-opted the might fedora :(
posted by jnnla at 3:37 PM on February 2, 2010



You say that like it's a bad thing.


Every hat in the world makes me look like I'm 13 and in a bad costume. I would like to know if there EXISTS a hat that makes my freakish celtic head and big-add diamond face look like a human being rather than a poorly dressed paper-puppet.
posted by The Whelk at 3:54 PM on February 2, 2010


Even worse than the Debonair Sysadmin, you run the risk of being mistaken for this guy.
posted by Mendl at 6:28 PM on February 2, 2010


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