A Denver-Based Artisan Shares Her Story Creating Quality Custom Hats
Coleen Orr, founder of Cowboy Up Hatters, lifts the lid on hat making
Coleen Raised on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, Denver-based Coleen Orr started making hats in 1992 using only vintage equipment. | Photo Jensen Suta
Coleen Orr has ruined a lot of hats in her time, but for good cause. Affectionately known as the Hat Lady, Orr has specialized in custom-made rabbit and beaver felt hats since 1992, and her extensive collection of equipment and tools hails back over a century.
Raised on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, Orr has worn and been around hats her whole life. When in 1991 a friend asked her if she could fix one, it set her off on a new trajectory. At the time she was working in a hospital, but on a whim she asked for time off, packed up her car and went in search of traditional hat-making equipment. The hunt ended in Corpus Christi, Texas, and she drove home laden with her vintage finds.
Hats Custom hats are made using rabbit and beaver felt, using antique equipment she sourced from across the U.S. | Photo Courtesy Cowboy Up Hatters
Fast-forward two decades and a move to Denver, where Orr opened her shop, Cowboy Up Hatters. In between making custom hats, Orr cleans, reblocks and restores old ones. It is a labor of love. “When I started, there were no cell phones or internet, and the equipment didn’t come with instructions, so I learned by trial and error,” she says. “Finding supplies was a challenge back then. I’d get in my car and drive across the country, knocking on doors until someone was kind enough to share information—hat making is a tight-lipped and secretive business.”
Orr can tell a lot about a person by their hat. “Hats talk to me all day long,” she says, laughing. “I can tell if a person is left- or right-handed, if they work in a horse barn or a dairy, if they smoke or wear good cologne.” She can distinguish a California buckaroo from a rodeo cowboy, and an outfitter from an auctioneer.
Steaming the Hat After a head is measured using a 100-year-old metal conformateur, a floppy felt hat body gets steamed, pulled, pressed, finished and hand-stitched. | Photo Courtesy Cowboy Up Hatters
When it comes to a custom hat, Orr wants it to embody the character of the wearer. “I look at how they wear their hat, incorporating their personality into the style of both the crown and brim, along with what they will be doing in it. Hats are meant to serve us.”
Clients start by wearing a 100-year-old clunky metal conformateur to get the exact measurement and shape of their head. They next pick out a crown style and a brim profile. Using a floppy felt hat body (think of a droopy dunce hat), Orr gets to work on the basic form, which she steams, pulls, presses, finishes and hand stitch- es, all using equipment that far outdates the user.
Hat Display A wall of Orr’s custom hats doubles as an art piece in a Colorado home. | Courtesy of Kimberly Timmons Interiors
The process takes about one week, but Orr will only handle the hat for around six hours total. “There’s a lot of setting and drying time,” she says. Since she began her business in 1992, she has seen a huge rise in the popularity of hats, many of which are factory made.
“All hats are made the same way, but you can tell a good hat by the quality of the felt. Factory-made hats are standard round or long oval shaped, but most heads are grateful when donning a custom fit.” Orr has lost count of her personal hat collection, but she has one for every occasion. “I’m never without one,” she admits.
Hat Molds After getting the shape and measurement of their head, clients pick out a crown style and brim profile specific to the hat’s purpose and how it will be worn. | Photo Courtesy Cowboy Up Hatters
Hat Care Tips
Lay a hat upside down
to keep its shape.
Brush dust off regularly, and don’t handle it (oils from skin soak into the felt and cause dirt to stick).
The best place for your hat is on your head. Otherwise, hang it on a peg so you can grab it on your way out the door!
The weathered look Aside from making custom hats, Orr re-blocks and restores hats for clients. She says she can tell a lot about a person by their hat. “Hats talk to me all day long.” | Photo Courtesy Cowboy Up Hatters
PHOTOS – Jensen Suta, Cowboy Up Hatters, Kimberly Timmons Interiors
