u/WeatherHatCo

A customer came into the shop assuming they couldn’t comfortably wear a cowboy hat anymore because of a cochlear implant.

Jack ended up building a custom foam block around it so the fit worked comfortably without pressure on the device.

Thought some people here might find the process interesting — and maybe encouraging if they’ve run into similar issues themselves.

Jack showing a foam head block shaped to fit around a cochlear implant

Thought some people in here might appreciate this recent before-and-after restoration from the shop.

This one came in pretty tired overall and needed a fair amount of work to bring it back around again. Nothing flashy — mostly careful cleaning, reshaping, sweatband work, and trying to bring some life back into the felt without losing the character the hat already had.

One of the things we enjoy most about restoration work is that every hat carries wear differently. Some tell pretty obvious stories.

Always satisfying seeing one leave the shop looking ready to be worn again.

BEFORE

AFTER

Thought I would share three recent custom hats that recently left the shop here in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

Weather Hat Co. has been around in one form or another since 1912, and these days my husband Jack handles the custom work, shaping, restoration, and rebuilds here in the shop.

These three were all built for very different people, which is honestly one of the things we enjoy most about the work. Different head shapes, different proportions, different ways people actually wear their hats day to day.

Most of our days are spent somewhere between steaming felt, shaping brims, rebuilding sweatbands, and trying to make hats fit the way they actually should.

Always enjoy seeing the hats and craftsmanship people share in here, so figured we would contribute a few ourselves.

https://preview.redd.it/kaqgay5e652h1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b6cb46ffe0f5ca34961c17376da529e2ffdfce3

https://preview.redd.it/txjo646e652h1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c66bbe9f5be6dbe346f9887ce337c6d6a6f02f6

https://preview.redd.it/zj19nz5e652h1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=289708d31d7d7c5eb2ce2efdf66a021c94347476

Hi everyone — Jenny here from Weather Hat Co. in Belle Fourche.

My husband Jack and I recently launched something new called The Hat Bar, and I wanted to share it here since we’ll be starting to travel around the Black Hills for weddings, gatherings, rodeo weekends, private parties, and other events.

The Hat Bar is a mobile setup where guests can choose from ready-to-wear wool felt or straw hats and personalize them on-site with bands, ribbons, feathers, conchos, and other details.

It’s meant to be interactive, approachable, and something people actually leave with and continue wearing afterward.

This is separate from Jack’s fully custom hat work at the shop — these are ready-to-wear hats styled live at the event itself.

We just launched the webpage and already have our first wedding booked for next month, so now we’re beginning to spread the word a bit more around the region.

If anybody wants to take a look, the page is here:
https://weatherhat.co/the-hat-bar/

Happy to answer questions as well. Thanks everyone.

https://preview.redd.it/cch52x0v252h1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=791fb520e5cec7b65f94cc9c2f79e03a469d1374

https://preview.redd.it/0n88tu1v252h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0830fd0379782d0f3f9caf92bbca39217d94a7c2

https://preview.redd.it/73ebvy0v252h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=674e1533d0ca9411b663d53f8ea3464947b32885

https://preview.redd.it/ohncw71v252h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e9c1b675f20b38b774b20fcb0b08482f69e09ed