I can’t say enough how much I want you to wear and enjoy your JCMillinery hats! Don’t worry about ruining them, they are made to last and if life happens and they need a little love just give us a call and we will happily fix it up for you.

Recently I received an email from a client whose favorite hat, a custom version of our L’espionne fedora was damaged in her move across the country. The hat was completely crushed and had tear in the straw of the crown.

To bring the hat back to life I first removed the existing trim and inner headsize ribbon and put the hat back on the original hat block it was formed on. Using a combination of steam, ironing and pinning the hat returned to its original shape. From there, I cut off the existing crown (with the hole in it) and went through our Panama straw supply to find a new straw that was a close color match to the existing hat. Next, I blocked a new fedora crown and attached it to the existing brim. I refreshed and reattached the hats’ original trim and put a new ribbon inside to fit the hat to the clients headsize.

Voila, her hat is as good as new (but better because now it has a story to tell).

Click through the gallery below to see the process from start to finish: