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Emily Stephens has a few hats on these days, but of those hats, shaping them is by far her favorite one to wear. She is one of the few female hat shapers in the nation. “It’s a dying art and there aren’t many of us left,” she said. She learned the art from an older gentleman that creased hats at NRS. “Tommy Bishop encouraged me to learn how to shape hats,” said the 22- year-old from Paradise, Texas. “I learned from him and others and adapted what I learned into my own style.” Here are a few of her thoughts about her passion:
- This is a true art form as it is based solely off of feel for the hat. You must have the right amount of steam in order for the fibers to loosen and then constrict as you mold the hat with your hands and the hat cools. By doing this you are locking the crease into place.
- I find that the coolest thing about shaping a hat is that no two hats are the exact same; they are fully customizable to the person that is wearing it.
- You can tell a lot about a person by the hat they wear upon their head and it never ceases to amaze me. You can generally tell what part of the country they are from, what discipline they participate in, and if you have been shaping hats for a long time you can even read the hat and tell a lot about the personality and lifestyle of the person it belongs too.
- The hat industry is booming as cowboy hats are starting to expand in to the mainstream world. I believe this is because individuals idolize the western lifestyle and believe it to be a “simpler time” even though that couldn’t be further from the truth as the western lifestyle has been built on blood, sweat, and tears. It is so amazing though to get someone fitted for their first cowboy hat and see them beam with joy.
- Cowboy hats are so special because they are with cowboys and cowgirls from all parts of the world, from sun up to sun down, carrying so many memories and stories.
