# problem with a hat



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I bought a snap brim pearl Grey gangster hat back in 68, during Bonnie and Clyde. Id had one before, and then swiped my dads before that. ANYWAy, i had it cleaned to watch Gangster Squad. They did fine, but there was stains on the hat band . Is there any way I can recolor it? 
Im afraid to take it off the hat, and/or mess up the ribbon.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

You probably can't do anything to fix the ribbon color, unless you take it off the hat. And if you take the ribbon off, it might just be easier to put on a new one. Hats usually are trimmed with Grosgrain (pronounced Gro-grain) ribbon, comes in many colors, stripes, and widths. It is a nice tough ribbon, common in fabric stores.

Have you checked with the folks who cleaned the hat, about changing the ribbon for you? Otherwise you might find a store that sells fine felt hats and ask them about getting the hat refurbished with a new ribbon.

Is the hat company still in business? Contacting them might give you options. They might do the ribbon for you, or have a "local" contact that does things like ribbon replacement. 

Other ideas would be checking Western Stores or Western Horseman Magazine, to find hat refurbishers. There were several places that used to advertise fixing up your favorite old Western hat that looked like a herd of cattle ran over it, to a rather stylish, CLEAN and newly blocked hat you could wear anyplace.

Felt hats of quality are pretty tough, so ribbon removal is not going into the "surgery" stage. Trying to add color to ribbon still on hat, will PROBABLY bleed that color into the gray felt for a BAD STAIN. Stained felt would be REAL difficult to get dark colors out of. Darker colors on hats fade faster than light colors, this is both ribbon and felt on the top of hat itself. Getting ribbon replace with another quality ribbon is probably an easy job once you locate the right people. 

Perhaps a local person that does alterations on clothing, could do the ribbon for you! Asking at fabric stores, Wedding shops, places that rent wedding Tux's, fine mens clothing, could find you such a person. Good luck getting the hat fixed up. Sounds like a really nice one. My husband wears snap-brim Fedoras to show horses with, does give him a GREAT look.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I took the hat to be cleaned at the only place known in Tulsa Okla. They said they couldnt do anything about the rib bon.
The ribbon has a boe tie of sorts on the side, whether real or fake I dont know.

Dont know if the ribbon is sewed to the hat or not.

Hats a Stetson.
The place I took it to be cleaned is a , as they bill themselves, North, South, East, and Western wear store. called CaLLENDERS.


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

Hi, I am a newbie,
Your hatband probably came from a company called, Offray, do a search for them. I worked for them as a color matcher. We had a large contract with Stetson and dyed a lot of hatbands. The main office seems to be in PA now but the plant is still in Anniston, AL. I went by there a few years back on my way back from Huntsville, AL. With a little bit of luck they might help you out. At least it is worth a try. Goodhors is right, it is Gro-grain. I do not have any contacts there anymore, all of my buds have retired I wish I could help.
A western store would be my first choice also. They should be able to fix the hat band as well. Do a search in Anniston, Al for OFFRAY ribbon. Call them up and ask, them Alabama folks have always been helpful and friendly.
Dsmythe


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

C M Offray & Son Inc at 2100 Mccoy Ave Anniston AL, 36201 (256)236-7531
Here ya go I found them.


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