Casgliadau Arlein

Brown riding (hunting) hat, made from a core of black Polypropylene plastic covered with brown cotton velvet, lined with black and red synthetic fabric & padded with Polyurethane foam; tail of brown Petersham ribbon.

Hat is covered in 6 triangular sections of brown velvet fabric. At the top of the crown, there is a domed button (Ø = 4.5cm) which has three scalloped cut-outs around its edge. It is covered with brown velvet fabric. Upper and lower surface of peak are covered in 2 pieces of crescent shaped brown velvet fabric.
Hat is partly lined by a 10cm wide strip of black synthetic lining which is stitch-secured along the outer edge of the hat (black machine stitches), but is loose towards the crown. This loose edge can be adjusted by a draw string of white Nylon (?) cord (to be tied at the rear). The ends of the cord are covered in plastic to prevent unravelling. A rectangular black label with unfinished edges is held by the stitches (black thread) which create the sleeve for the drawstring. The label bears the hat's size in gold print.
The section of the black lining that is closer to the outer edge of the hat is padded with a c. 5cm wide strip of Polyurethane foam which is secured to the lining with 4 horizontal rows of stitches using clear, monofilament Nylon (?) thread. Below the foam (between the turn-back of the brown velvet and the hard black plastic) is a further padding strip of black felt (c. 3.5cm wide) which is adhered in place.
The upper part of the crown has a lining of red synthetic fabric which is adhered to the hard black plastic over a padding layer of Polyurethane foam; its edges are raw. It is joined to the foam with diamond-pattern quilting stitches using red thread. There are two black-painted metal eyelets, one on each side. An additional oval patch of red synthetic fabric (raw edges) is adhered to the centre of the crown. It is of a different weave and slightly darker colour than the red lining fabric. This patch bears the maker's mark printed in gold.
Just beyond either side of the peak is a brown elastic band (1.2cm wide) which can be secured around the chin. It is held by the seam attaching the black lining. The elastic can be adjusted by threading it through a black painted metal fastener. In this case, the elastic does not appear to have been used to fasten the hat to the head, but it was pushed up and adjusted to lie flat against the centre front of the hat, above the peak. A bow (tail) made of brown Petersham ribbon (2cm width) is stitched to the centre back of the hat. The ends have raw edges, cut in an inverted V-shape and are c. 9cm long.