View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
Darth Lars Guest
|
Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 7:38 pm Post subject: The original Hoth hat
|
|
|
I have recently been to Finse, Norway which was used as the setting for Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. I was there together with ~40 members of the 501st and the Rebel Legion, most of us from the Nordic countries ("Nordic Outpost"/"Nordig Garrison").
We stayed at the hotel "Finse 1222" which was the base camp for "Chapter 2 Productions" in Norway back in 1979. Several scenes were shot literally right outside the door of the hotel.
The hotel had an original Rebel Hat in a glass cabinet .. and the staff was willing to allow us fans to handle it, wear it and take pictures with it as long as we promised to be careful. They were so trusting -- I almost couldn't believe it!
I took the time to examine it and to take a few pictures of it for you guys.
The hat could be said be made of three pieces:
1. An inner cylindrical hat.
2. A quilted cover around the inner hat.
3. The bills attached to the front of it all.
It was made from two types of fabric:
- A medium-weight twill in a very light tan color. Almost, but not quite white. I'll call it "light" hereafter for simplicity.
- A slightly ligher and softer twill in a slightly darker tan color. I'll call it "dark" from here on for simplicity.
The edging around the bill and the back are not woven ribbons - they are actually just strips cut from fabric.
The cylinder has a slit in the back that goes a little bit more than half-way up. Over the slit is a strap of velcro which allows the hat to be adjusted for different sized heads. The sides of the inner hat is double layers of fabric, while the top oval is only one.
The padded cover is made from two layers of "lighter" fabric. The most part is quilted with padding in-between but above a certain line there is neither.
The bottom edge is curved, and the front edges are slanted so that they meet at the tips at 45 degree angles.
Both front edges has white elastic on the insides, attached with zig-zag stitch.
The edging around the bottom/front is of the lighter fabric. The chin strap is sewn onto the outside and is closed with white velcro.
There are three small loops of "darker" fabric on the back of the hat. They are stitched to the cover at the top and closed with white velcro on the bottom.
There is a flap of darker fabric over each ear. Each is double-stitched at the top and closed with velcro.
The comm radio was attached to the left ear flap with a thin fishing line. There are stains left from the comm radio prop - possible from its black paint. The comm radio was gone, unfortunately, but it has been well researched already and I believe that good resin replicas are available.
The edging around the top is the "darker" fabric -- and this same seam is what holds the quilted cover to the inner hat. The seam starts below the bill, but the edging starts where the bill is attached.
I can not tell much about the bills, except that it is stitched all the way around to the rest of the hat. There is a simple ribbon of the darker fabric in the crease attached to the bills only at the two corners.
There are also, some obviously hand-made stitches at these corners.
One curious thing about this hat, that I forgot to take any pictures of, is that it comes with a oversized chin cup made of fabric. It has a top and a bottom, with a seam in a curve so that it cups the wearers chin. The bottom part is lemon-shaped (for lack of a better word) and the top part is more angular. It is very wide. In the movie, I have seen only Han Solo wear this, but I have spotted background extras wearing it in high-res publicity pictures. This chin cup is double-sided, made from the light fabric on one side and the darker on the other. It is sewn to a long strip of the same type of elastic as is used in the hat.
Hopefully, this post will have answered a few long-standing questions that hat-makers have had about how the hat was constructed.
... We can also settle any "white vs. grey vs. tan" debate: It is tan. Period.
Now go and make your own hats!
/ Johan
Last edited by Darth Lars on Fri May 07, 2010 4:16 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grey Jedi (Donna Keeley) Rebel Legion Reserve

Joined: 14 Nov 2002 Posts: 11333
Medals: 9 (View more...)
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 12:24 am Post subject:
|
|
|
Johan, you are AWESOME!!!
Thanks so much for these reference photos. How very kind of the staff to let the fans get an up close look at the hat.
Several members of my Southern California Garrison made the trip and I've been enjoying their Facebook photos. One of them did his Darth Vader in the snow with a bunch of Snowtroopers.
I love being a geek.  _________________
 |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Lonescout (Angelo Marcano) Rebel Legion Reserve

Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2176 Location: Outer-Rim-of Lakeland USA Medals: 5 (View more...)
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 1:58 am Post subject:
|
|
|
WOW! Nice Find! _________________ _______________________
Former UCGR & RAID DXO
Former RaKura BCO & BXO
Former RL Liaison to the FLG
Former BSN Admid. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Amalphiea (Kellie) Detachment CO


Joined: 16 May 2007 Posts: 6234
Medals: 5 (View more...)
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 2:48 am Post subject:
|
|
|
Very cool!  _________________ Kellie Hendley
Rebel Legion Rebel Of the Year
Terrapin Base XO
The Wretched Hive CO
Legion Costume Judge
Legion PR Team
 |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Hollis DZC () Active Legion Member

Joined: 30 Mar 2010 Posts: 193 Location: Northern California Medals: None
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 2:45 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
Awesome, awesome and awesome!! And now begins the waiting...to see who can construct the fabled "Hoth Hat"!!!
For there are many Hoth Troopers waiting for their hats!! _________________ An Endorious Basterd! |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
JedHead (Matt Tolosa) Active Legion Member

Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 5989 Location: Lucasland, CA Medals: 2 (View more...)
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 4:56 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
That was very cool of the staff to let you guys do that. Now, you have to track some of the Hoth extras to see if they have other costume pieces.  _________________ "You like me because I'm a scoundrel."
http://endorbase.org/
In Loving Memory of Chanel Vanecek, aka "Padme_Skywalkr" (Feb. 7, 1980 - Oct. 25, 2003) xoxo
http://endorbase.org/members.html |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Darth Lars Guest
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 5:59 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
Yeah.. When we started to talk to norwegians there, there were a few people who knew people who had been extras, but none who we met directly.
Various props have been carelessly left behind after the production. A few years ago, in the summer, a part of a gun turret was found. It had been covered with snow for 25 years. Nobody knows how many props that are left.
Back to the hat: The lower rim of the inner hat is showing below the bill. There may also be parts of the white elastic peeking out of the sides. These details have previously been mistaken for a balaclava.
A whole bunch of RL/501st members have posed with the hat on.. and it appeared in the 501st group picture as "the empire's prize". I blame Steve Sansweet ... he had sent a greeting, tipping the imperials off that the hat was there.  |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Bell (Ashley) Rebel Legion Reserve

Joined: 19 Dec 2009 Posts: 138
Medals: 1 (View more...)
|
Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 6:53 am Post subject:
|
|
|
What a amazing find. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Luc Skywalker (Luc Massey) Active Legion Member

Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Posts: 810 Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada Medals: 5 (View more...)
|
Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 2:17 am Post subject:
|
|
|
This is AWESOME! Wish I had those pictures when I made my hat. _________________
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Le prix de la liberté est la vigilance éternelle. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Mastershane (Shane Gordon) Active Legion Member

Joined: 30 Mar 2003 Posts: 871
Medals: 2 (View more...)
|
Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 7:36 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
I would love to see some pictures of it on someone. front, side, back. _________________ What's the matter Col. Sanders? Chicken?! |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
TI-9827 (Tapio Komulainen) Rebel Legion Reserve

Joined: 10 Apr 2009 Posts: 659 Location: Finland Medals: None
|
Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 8:26 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
 _________________ "Space may be the final frontier but it's made in a Hollywood basement" RHCP, Californication |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Banzai88 ()

Joined: 24 Apr 2010 Posts: 41 Location: SoCal Medals: None
|
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 4:57 am Post subject:
|
|
|
Cool seeing it up close and inside. They look very well constructed for a costume piece--nice details. The shot of it on are very helpful as well. _________________ Banzai88
 |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Obey Wann (William Blackburn) Active Legion Member

Joined: 01 Jun 2002 Posts: 3632
Medals: 1 (View more...)
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Schph Gochi (Phyllis Schulte) Active Legion Member

Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Posts: 17274 Location: Mokena IL Medals: 18 (View more...)
|
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:34 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
WOW!!
Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much for taking the time to document the entire experience!
All us "Hoth-heads" are certainly thankful for your efforts!
jumping up and down that I managed to get the hat color right....
mine is what is called "natural" or "ecru"....which is about as light as you can go before you hit white..
 _________________
http://livefromthegalaxyfarfaraway.blogspot.com/ |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
scoobyonekenobi (Rob Clark) Active Legion Member

Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 110
Medals: None
|
Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 2:06 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
Very cool Find thank you for sharing this  _________________ Size matters not. Do or Do not there is no try
Rob 'Scooby' Clark
Han Solo/X-wing/TI/TZ/TB-7805
Http:\\myspace.com\gotscoobysnacks |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|