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 CUSTOM HAT DREAMS COME TRUE!
Have an idea for that “dream hat” you’ve always wanted, but could never find? Seen a hat in the movies, on television or in a magazine that fascinated you… and suddenly you realize you just have to own one just like it?
How about that custom cowboy hat from your favorite western, or cowboy hero? Was there a hat you once tried on, looked amazing in, but at the time just couldn’t bring yourself to buy it, and now you’re kicking yourself? Did you or someone you care for lose a favorite hat, or perhaps it was destroyed, and you’d love to have an exact replacement made (does it get more romantic than that?!). Is there a famous style, or a rare obscure hat you’ve always wanted but never thought you could find or afford? Do you have a favorite photo of a relative wearing a hat you’ve always wanted custom made for you or someone in your family? How about famous hats in history, to display, or wear as a special costume, or to use educating others? Or a hat that springs up in the illustrations of your favorite children’s book? Or that drawing you drew, or better yet, your children have drawn that you’d love to have made into a “real live” hat for yourself, or to give to them for that once-in-a-lifetime gift?
Well, when it comes to custom hats, the possibilities are endless. And you’re come to the right place. Especially since here at our Baron Hat’s Studio WE CAN CREATE IT FOR YOU!
Next to our Classic Reproductions, are biggest request throughout the world is without a doubt, from people who want us to make a special custom hat for them. Most of the time, it’s a hat from a famous movie or TV show, and they are very specific.
For example, we received an e-mail from a woman in Boston who wanted us to make the infamous hat as described in Marguerite Duras’ classic novel, “The Lover”. The hat was very dramatic, being that it was a man’s hat worn in public with scandalous rebellion and delight by a young girl.
 Something a girl never did in 1920’s Vietnam! The hat, virtually a character onto itself, was a symbol of sexual awakening, power and control over one’s lover, and the woman who wrote to us, wanted a hat just like it was described in the book, and in the subsequent popular movie. Being sticklers for accuracy, our research department discovered that the hat as described in the book was slightly different than the one worn with such sensual grace and great seductive effect by actress Jane March, playing “The Young Girl”, in the cult classic 1992 MGM Motion Picture, “L' Amant” (“The Lover”). So we informed
her of our research and the discrepancy, and she decided to buy one of each style!
But one doesn’t have to be so specific about the details of a hat when they contact us with their custom hat dreams. We recently received a letter all the way from Novokuzneck, in Siberia. It was from a man who had once seen a hat in a movie when he was a small boy, and the vision of that hat had haunted him all his life. He knew very little about the movie, having seen it only once in a tiny theater near his frozen village, but he had always wanted one just like it! In part his letter said: “…all I remember about the movie is that the man who wore the hat was standing in a doorway, waiting for someone, and was so stubborn he won’t move from his spot, even when water started dripping on his head from a leaky ceiling right above him… so the water continued to drop on his brim… and when enough water collect on his brim, he slowly took off the hat and drank the water, right before going out to battle!” He had always wanted a hat just like it. He thought it was a long shot, and he apologized for having so little to go on, but wondered if there was any way we could ever track down the hat, or even know what the movie he was talking about! Of course we did! Immediately! It’s one of the great “hat scenes” in movie history! 
The movie was “Once Upon A Time In The West”, and the actor playing the killer cowboy was the legendary Woody Strode. The hat was black, and was an adaptation of the US Calvary hats of that era. The brilliant director, Sergio Leone, had cast a group of famous western character actors for that amazing opening title sequence. They are all part of gang headed by Henry Fonda (playing the most amazing bad man in Western movie history), with orders from him to wait at a train station and kill the man who gets off the train. At the end of the titles when the train arrives they go out to “greet” the lone departing passenger, only to all be gunned down in seconds (by Charles Bronson)! It was obvious that Leone wanted Woody Strode to wear that specific hat as a homage to all the times he played a Calvary solider in John Ford movies (he was in Ford’s “stock” company), like “Two Rode Together”, and “Sergeant Rutledge”. The man from Siberia got his life-long dream of a hat! And
since Baron's is especially known for their custom cowboy hats, it was a
perfect match!
Many times people have a hat in mind, and send us photos, other times we find it in our massive hat library of books, clips and illustrations.
 To the left is an example of a order we received from a man in Ohio who wanted a straw hat just like that worn by actor Darren McGavin who played Kolchak on the classic Universal Studios/ ABC television series, “The Night Stalker”.
He sent us several photos of the actor from the series. From this we were able to create an identical hat in our customer's size.
(We're now happy to offer
this hat for sale).
But again, we need very little to go on in order to find the hat you need! Just give us whatever details, no matter how small, and like a crime investigation unit… we can piece it together and get you exactly what you want!
Many times our requests are for, as we stated before, historical or “famous hats of history”.
Many museums, parks, schools and universities, and “character recreators” and “Reenactors” (we’ve done many hats for those amazing folks who do the Civil War and Revolutionary War
reenactions).
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