Inspired by the Hats Crafted by
Baron Hats for
the Coen Brothers'

Hat crafted for Josh Brolin that never appeared in the movie!

One great joy of working on productions is to watch the development of ideas from initial inception to what finally goes up there on the screen. Sometimes the "vision" is so clear that it never changes from beginning to end, and other times, it changes so drastically that you don't even recognize the initial concept!

And then again, you can work for days or months on a project, only to see it totally scrapped in the final production, like seeing a complex and expensive scene end up on the "cutting room floor". However, this is the creative process of filmmaking and is to be expected.

A case in point is the hat that Oscar® Nominated "True Grit" Costume Designer Mary Zophies conceptualized  for Josh Brolin's character of the evil and murderous "Tom Chaney" in  the 2010 remake of "True Grit", which was then crafted by Baron's Master Hatter Mark Mejia.

Whereas the equally "free form" hat created for Jeff Bridge's character of the heroic "Rooster", (also available on our website), which exuded a curmudgeonly "favorite uncle" quality to it, Brolin's hat conveyed the terrifyingly numbingly dead "eyes of a shark". Unfeeling. Without warmth, or any soul. It is purely "functional". Something on the head to keep the sun and cold out. Nothing more.

Since most of Chaney's possessions came from murder or forcible theft (the gun he carries in the movie is the one he took from Mattie's father after he killed him), perhaps the hat too was something stolen as well from another victim. It conveys something "off" about the character, since it neither possesses the cliché of the bad man's "black hat", or the low-brow wide brims of nefarious gunslingers. The fact that the hat has binding, yet absent of a hatband, helped to show a "creature" who feeds off others, and infects whatever he touches.

For whatever reason the Coen Brothers, or Josh himself, or a combination of them along with Costume Designer Zophies, decided that instead of this hat affectation, it was better to make his character even more "out cast" and raw-edged by removing the hat completely. Something that was rare in a character both in Western films, and in the reality of the real West. Perhaps after camera tests and even some actual footage, it was found that making his evil as "naked" as possible worked better.

Baron decided, since the hat was so eloquently designed and so unusual, that we should offer it as a Limited Edition.  A great Collector's Item to actually possess a reproduction inspired by the hat that was created and crafted for Josh Brolin, but never appeared in the film and can be found nowhere else.

The hat, which we call the "Chaney", will have a Limited Run of only 100. Each will be custom made to order on the original blocks. You will also receive a special Limited Edition-Collector's Item numbered Custom Certificate of Authenticity, along with a stitched and etched leather hatband with your special Limited Edition number of the hat engraved in the band.
 

Engraved Sweatband Sample

You can order the Limited Edition "Chaney" either new, or aged. It will be crafted in the same special 100% Western Fur Felt as the original.

All our custom hats are packed in a specially constructed Baron hat-box, which you can use to permanently store your Collector's "Chaney" for safe keeping.

Have a special number you would like to have for your Limited Edition? E-Mail us your request to see about availability. We also have a Flex Pay Payment Plan for this custom order at no extra cost or interest. Our Classic Reproductions hats are custom hand-made-to-order, so please allow eight weeks for delivery. If you MUST have the hat sooner, e-mail us for special Rush Delivery prices and your delivery date needs to: rushorders@baronhats.com