How to Shape a Hat at Home - Easily Re-blocking Men's Fedoras, Trilbies, & More

#reshapingclassichats #garmentcare #notsponsored

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VIDEO CREDITS:
→ Script: Preston Schlueter
→ Camera & Editing: Chris Dummer
→ Cody Wellema

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Gentleman's Gazette

00:00 Introduction

Hats are a wardrobe staple because it serves both functional and aesthetic purposes that make outfits all the more stylish. Sometimes, however, crown shapes may not flatter you best or would look better with a different blocking, but you can re-shape them using the right techniques!

01:00 Hat Crown Shapes: A Brief Refresher
We have covered crown shapes before in our guide to the anatomy of men’s hats, but let’s have a brief refresher. Of course, the crown is the part of the hat that covers and conforms to the head.

02:48 What You’ll Need In Shaping A Hat At Home: Hat
03:26 Source of Steam
04:37 Source of Misted Water
05:11 A Round Form
06:46 A Basin of Water (If necessary)

The Hat Re-blocking Process
If your hat has a liner tipping inside of it, you’ll probably want to remove this before attempting reshaping so that the liner doesn’t stretch or tear in the process. This can typically be done fairly easily by flipping out the sweatband and cutting the threads that hold the liner in place with scissors or a seam ripper.

Liners can be reinserted if you choose, but personally, I find them to be a bit of a nuisance. So, I just leave them out of my hats after taking them out for reshaping.

07:59 Step 1: Boil Your Source of Steam
08:04 Step 2: Introduce Moisture to the Hat
08:15 Step 3: Place Your Damp Hat in the Path of the Steam
08:30 Step 4: Stretch the Hat on Your Round Form
08:56 Step 5: Place a Center Crease in Your Hat
09:23 Step 6: Place Your Center Crease
09:50 Step 7: Pinch the Front of Your Hat
10:13 Step 8: Begin Flattening Out the Crown
10:38 Step 9: Use Your Hands to Shape
10:58 Step 10: Add a Bubble Shape to Your Crown
11:22 Step 11: Hand-shape a Point in the Front
11:42 Step 12: Leave Your Hat Undisturbed for a Few Days

11:58 Additional Pointers for Hat Reblocking

Using these methods, hopefully, you’ll be confident and or curious enough to attempt reshaping your felt hats at home. It may sound and seem difficult at first, but trust me, it’s actually a relatively simple process. I was actually somewhat shocked at how easy the process was when I first attempted it and I was pleased with the results I got that first time. Of course, like anything else, it might just involve a bit of trial and error. If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.

16:42 Outfit Rundown

[andrekershaw]

Thanks for another great video. I discovered this channel quite recently, and quickly became obsessed. For the first time in my life, I am intentionally building a classic and thoroughly thought-out wardrobe befitting a mature adult. More than that, I am paying attention to detail in all aspects of life, and developing a deeper appreciation for beauty, elegance and longevity. My gentleman's journey has just begun. Regards from South Africa :)

[ajb]

Saved once again by Gentleman's Gazette.

[stephen]

Over the years, as my hat collection grew from ball caps to more grown up styles, I've acquired a hat stretcher, assorted brushes and a steamer. The steamer, from urpower, works great for not only hats, but wrinkles in clothing as well.

[phillipj.moodie]

Great nostalgia for me. I recently threw out a solid wood hatblock because no one was interested in using it. In 1950 my mother used it when the newly built local technical college started courses in pattern drafting, dressmaking, hat making and the use of a set of different diameter brass balls on steel shafts with wooden handles to heat over a spirit lamp flame to shape decorative cloth flowers to decorate the hats. My mother taught me to do all of that because I have good technical skills, which created my interest in the design and manufacturing of men's clothing. Phil.

[Griphcode]

Yes a New Gentle men video for the gentlemen. Hats is important .This is my favourite channel because of how good content they do

[msparks]

Because of this video I have successfully brought some of my vintage hats back from the brink. I’ve learned to care for my fedoras thank to your videos.
There are not a lot of hat shops where I live and so I am limited on the care I can provide for my hats. Thanks to these videos their life expectancy has increased dramatically

[TheBlueBaron]

Thanks for this. I've had to fix my straw Boater's hat recently, as it somehow became misshapen last year, and it feels good knowing I did it right. I finally got the confidence and the time to try re-flattening the brim and crown with steam, and it worked like a charm. I just wish I'd done it earlier as summer -and thus beige suit and boater's hat season- is now past its peak. Oh well; it's not like I managed to go out much this summer anyway due to COVID - I'll just enjoy it while I can and be happy knowing that I'll have it ready for next year and can now fix it again if need be.

I've also managed to fix a dent in one of the low crown top hats I own so I could resell it, and have started fixing the brims on the lesser quality top hats I ordered in bulk to sell at local Victorian historical events. I'm not sure how soon that will be with the pandemic still going, but a gentleman should always be prepared.

[m.p.jallan]

Great thanks. Hats look good, Preston wears a hat well, not that others dont, just Preston looks very smart in his.

[Ebolson]

Thank you, I got caught in a downpour last summer and my straw hat got a bit misshapen since I just set it down to dry, gonna give this a try. Lucky for me it’s a fairly cheap hat I got from Kohl’s so if I mess up it’s not a major loss.

[viclucyzia]

Thank you. Now I just need confidence to try this out on my hats. I'm nervous as they weren't cheap.

[josephcampese]

good job Preston. preparing for that video must of been daunting. btw, not to put to fine a point on it but, to the new hat wearer, when Preston says know your hat size, he doesn't mean; small medium or large.

[madaddams]

Very interesting, as a dedicated hat man, I like an everyday hat to go with my glad-rags too, so if I messed one up trying this, I wouldn't be too bothered.
I have a request though. I have a bowler hat, which is my size, but uncomfortable to wear as it needs a slight stretching, especially as the hat is an oval shape, and my head is a round shape, think Oliver rather than Stanley.
Could you please do a video explaining how to make such an adjustment? I have a hat stretcher, but it seems to me, to fit lengthways, and not widthways. If you can do such a video, or point me towards one if you have already done so, I would be most grateful.

[cowboycody]

Don't use too much steam it can cause the hat to felt. If it does felt just stop. Let the hat dry for a day or two and you can do it again.

[Clarkson]

Good video. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I need to change the brim on a hat

[andrewralte]

Man the video quality is spectacular for the 40s.

[ernststravoblofeld]

This is actually something I need now. Does that oven heating method stiffen up the felt? I have one that is a bit too flexible to hold it's crown shape, and I thought I'd ask before trying a heat gun.

[spokaneslim]

Nice video! Preston, I don't know how you can tolerate the shrieking kettle. Easy solution: I made a "nozzle" out of tin foil to fit over the kettle's spout. I shaped the end of the foil nozzle into a flat opening like I see on professional hat steamers. Before I heat the water, I open the kettle's spout (so no whistling), and slide the tin foil nozzle on. Happy steaming!

[pukovnikklefeld]

I've found that a cheap steam cleaner (expensive ones may output other things too AFAIK) is a very good tool for shaping hats. Mine is from Lidl. It outputs a concentrated stream of steam and comes with an "adapter" that has a shape very similar to the professional hat steamers. Unlike some dedicated hat steamers though, this cleaner has a switch to let steam out and as such may not waste as much water. Also, the additional spray bottle is unnecessary as it has a lot of force, more than a kettle.

[roterfuchs]

I love that Max Headroom's son has gone into broadcasting.

[dr.s.p.]

Great as always. I personally use a steam iron; its wide concentrated jet streams cover much more than a kettle in my humble view. Then I can iron the brim (with a cloth) and give it a final blast and start reshaping.