Fedora Thoughts...

I was researching places to purchase a good Indy Fedora and I came across a local place that was listed at indygear.com in Buffalo, NY. The guys name is Gary J. White. I called him and asked him about his "Indie Hat" He then asked me if I wanted the real thing. I asked what he meant. He said he made the hat for Last Crusade. I was in shock. Can anyone confirm this? I was going to go to his shop next week. He said he has a wall of photos and stuff. So I am assuming he would have one of him and Harrison. The hat is $400 If this guy actually made one of the hats for Last Crusade, I will spend the $400. Just wanted to know if anyone can help confirm this for me. Thanks.

EDIT: Nevermind. I just read the review of the Gary J. White hat at Indygear Not worth that much even if it is authentic.

If you want the original get a Herbert Johnson, if you want a cheap one get an Akubra, if you want the best get an Adventurebilt.

IrishLuck1980 said:

I was researching places to purchase a good Indy Fedora and I came across a local place that was listed at indygear.com in Buffalo, NY. The guys name is Gary J. White. I called him and asked him about his "Indie Hat" He then asked me if I wanted the real thing. I asked what he meant. He said he made the hat for Last Crusade. I was in shock. Can anyone confirm this? I was going to go to his shop next week. He said he has a wall of photos and stuff. So I am assuming he would have one of him and Harrison. The hat is $400 If this guy actually made one of the hats for Last Crusade, I will spend the $400. Just wanted to know if anyone can help confirm this for me. Thanks.

EDIT: Nevermind. I just read the review of the Gary J. White hat at Indygear Not worth that much even if it is authentic.

Click to expand...

Gary White has been making claims like that at least since the early 90's, when he did a terrible job of reblocking one of my Herbert Johnsons. He told me he was sure that Herbert Johnson was not the original manufacturer and that the man who had made the original movie hats was dead. I suspected he was just trying to sell me one of his overpriced hats.

Lee Keppler, who had sold me 2 Herbert Johnsons, told me he had called White too (in response to his ad in the Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine), and that he thought White was "full of it." That was enough for me, since Lee knew a lot more about the hat's history than most of us at that time, but just for additional verification, I called Richard Swales of Herbert Johnson, who sent me a letter confirming that he had made the original movie hats.

Now, Swales may have made the original hats, but Herbert Johnson, unfortunately, is not the company it used to be and does not or will not make an Indy hat that looks like the original Raiders fedora, with the distinctive stovepipe crown.

But if you want the original Raiders hat from the original manufacturer, you can now buy one from magnoliclothiers.com. They buy the hats from Herbert Johnson unassembled, and Steve Delk of Adventurebilt uses his spot-on Raiders block to create a beautiful replica of the Raiders fedora.

Through the years I have owned 7 Herbert Johnson's; Steve and Magnoli's version is the only one that I was completely thrilled with as soon as I removed it from the box.

Adventurebilt also made the hats for Indy 4, of course.

Jack

Adventurebilt is also looking into the possibility of offering a FACTORY MADE version of their Indy 4/Raiders style hat that will look exactly the same as their custom, handmade hats, but be a lot less expensive and available for immediate delivery.

That is not official yet, but if it does happen it will be great news, especially for younger fans who will be able to buy the "right" hat the first time without going through a lot of costly trial and error-- and at a price everyone can afford.

Jack

The more I read the more I am leaning toward the adventurebilt hat. I think that's the one I'm going for. Next Halloween my wife and I are going to dress up as Indy and Marion from Raiders. I look like Harrison, same face and body type and my wife looks like Marion. I'll post pictures next year.

Adventurebilt is supposed to be the best, and from photos I have seen I agree. But be prepared to wait a long time. Steve is now working on November orders from last year. Indy IV put him 5 months behind schedule. A cheaper and quicker alternative is the custom Indy fedora from Peters Bros. The PB is pretty stiff though, so it will give you a splitting headache if it's the slightest bit too tight. (And to get an authentic Indy look, the fit needs to be good and snug)

Want to find one myself

I'm gonna go into Kansas City sometime to try and find one. I don't want to buy a hat without looking at it in person and trying it on.