@blade_hats Creation of a Top Hat with a Skull, totally handmade work www.bladehats.com #handmade #hatmaker #bladehats #heavymetal #inspiration ♬ sonido original – Blade-Hats
If your favorite fashion icon is Slash from Guns N' Roses and you appreciate quality craftsmanship, you should check out Spanish haberdashery Blade Hats. While not everyone can pull off a cowboy hat with a skull molded into the top, watching Marcos Souto, the owner of Blade Hats, create one his custom designs is undeniably impressive.
Using traditional millinery techniques, he cuts, steams, and hand-molds fabric over wooden hat blocks. He then hand-sews embellishments onto his bespoke hats that are anything but old-fashioned. Inspired by 80s heavy-metal rock bands, Souto's hats feature skull motifs, metal chains, and even playing cards. They attract a range of customers that travel from all over the world to be get a Blade hat.
Each piece is handcrafted and Souto shares the process utilizing his skilled techniques on social media. In one video, the hat being made is for a man who endured a 20-hour-long flight just to get Souto's beaver and rabbit felt hats. At one point, the hatter even lights his work on fire, letting flames create a velvety texture as well as the perfect amount of distress.
The techniques Souto uses were once the standard, but fell out of fashion once mass-manufacturing became possible. Paired with the rise of department stores in the late 19th century, artisanal hats have become a rarity. Given the laborious process, each hat normally takes about three to five months to complete. Luckily, with the magic of social media, you get to see the complete process within the length of a Metallica song. The amount of handiwork shown all at once underscores how much of an artisan Souto is. Even Slash himself owns one of Blade Hat's designs.
If you're thinking of swapping out your baseball cap for this artisan's custom headwear, you can check out the offerings on Blade Hats' website where the designs typically range in price from about $485 to $1,500.
Marcos Souto of Blade Hats uses traditional hat-making techniques to create custom goth glam hats that feature skulls on top.
@blade_hats Handcrafted custom-made Skull Top Hat worn and distressed In raw black #handcrafted #custommade #hatmaker #heavymetal #inspiration #bladehats ♬ sonido original – Blade-Hats
@blade_hats Handcrafted Skull Cowboy distressed black in Toquilla Straw WWW.BLADEHATS.COM #handcrafted #custommade #bladehats #inspiration #heavymetal ♬ sonido original – Blade-Hats
@blade_hats Custom-made Skull Crown BH in aged and distressed toquilla straw WWW.BLADEHATS.COM #handcrafted #custommade #bladehats #hatmaker #inspiration #heavymetal ♬ sonido original – Blade-Hats
For those not into skulls, he even makes his own sorting hats for Harry Potter enthusiasts to finally figure out if they're Hufflepuff or Gryffindor.
@blade_hats Handcrafted Sorting Hat Which Hogwarts house do you think you would belong to? #handcrafted #custommade #hatmaker #bladehats #harrypotterworld #inspiration ♬ sonido original – Blade-Hats
Blade Hats: Website | Instagram | TikTok
h/t: [Reddit]
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