Have a favorite Cowboy Hat from one of your favorite Westerns that you’d like reproduced in exact detail? 
Fill out our Custom Hat Form, and we’ll get right back to you with a price quote!
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Quick Links: "The Saddle Master" (Rio Bravo, Etc.) - "The Rio Westerly" (4 pt Crown) 
"The JB Books" (The Shootist) - "The Cogburn" (True Grit)
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Baron Hats takes great pride in having been one of John Wayne’s favorite hat makers both for his classic movies, and for his personal use. For over 40 years, Wayne loyally came back time and again to the Baron Hats Studios in Burbank, California to have his hats made. As with everything in his life, he was very demanding, stubborn, and knew EXACTLY what he wanted, and didn’t settle for anything less than original and flawless hats in every respect! That is why we took such great pride in the fact that he came back to us! Whether they be “Sunday Going To Meetin' Clean and Polished”, or “Rio Bravo Bullet-Holed and Aged” (with our exclusive process!), Wayne demanded perfection, the best materials, and an almost insane respect for detail! And Baron delivered! In fact, we still have most of his blocks, which Mr. Wayne himself had to approve before we used them.

Perhaps the most requested western custom hat we get is for a reproduction from one of Wayne’s classic portrayals, from his early days at Republic, through his breakthrough performance in “Stagecoach”, through his “Cavalry Trilogy”, and “Rio” classics… all the up to perhaps the most emotional charged: his “True Grit/Rooster Cogburn” and his last stand in “The Shootist”. Through the years we have had literally hundreds of requests to create a series of hats inspired by the spirit of Wayne. It is with this in mind that we pay tribute to Mr. Wayne in our “WESTERN LEGENDS COLLECTION". The hats are not only collectable, but of course functional western hats based on the milestones in Wayne’s career, as vast and dramatic as the Man himself!

Owner and Master Hat Maker, Mark Mejia has decided to create a series of hats that exemplify these celebrated phases of his amazing life in films. Each hat will symbolize these classic chapters, taking a bit from the films of that era. That way, we can create something that is like no other “Wayne” hat created, but will also sparkle, shimmer and shine with the recognizable details of his beloved characters. Since Mark will only create something that is both timeless and legendary, it may take some time for him to decide which new hats he'll add to this special collection. So come by often to see when a new “Western Legends Collection” hat arrives! Please note: The color of your hat will be just like the original. However, because of the many variances in computer monitors, the color you see on your screen may be slightly different that the actual custom made hat. Rest assured, you are getting the original hat in the original color!

If you would like advance notice when a new “WESTERN LEGENDS COLLECTION" reproduction or other exciting Baron hats are about to be released,  please SIGN UP to receive our Newsletter!

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Crown: 4 ½” Four Point “Monument” 

Brim: 4” “Windblown Mesa” front and back bend 

Hatband: “Hand-weathered” yellow Officer grade gold Cavalry fob

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THE “J.B. BOOKS”

“…In My End Is My Beginning…”
Inspired by the hat worn by Mr. Wayne in his last film, “The Shootist” 

Of all the hats in the Western Legends Collection, our “J.B. Books” has to be the most classic, emotional, and grand! If ever there was a more bittersweet finale, and a hat to go with it, it’s the one Mr. Wayne had in his last movie, “The Shootist”.  He wanted something that expressed grandeur, strength, and authority, and yet, what with the famous “galloping wave”-shaped brim, also expressed both an independence and a delightful whimsy. The hat has an extra High-Crown with one of the most stunning of his trademark “Teardrop” folds towering on top. He also makes a very special statement about himself by embellishing the hatband with real snakeskin! The hat, like the man himself, expresses steadfast class and courage to the very end. Just as the character in the movie learns he is dying of cancer, so did Mr. Wayne,  who learned before shooting began that his own fight with the real life “bad guy” would create a final “shoot-out” as well. The movie, as in life, had Mr. Wayne searching for a dignified “good-bye” in accordance with his own code of honor.

This is a hat to be worn with the same sense of courage, and of history, of times past, of legends and landmarks, of icons and true-to-life one-of-a-kind heroes. It is the final, and true personification of greatness in all its distinguished definitions. In creating this hat, inspired by the legend, the character and the movie, and most important, the man, Baron Hats has crafted the “J.B. Books”. Made in either Top XX Hand-Brushed Fur Felt, or the highest quality 100% 200XXX Beaver, Owner/Master Hatmaker Mark Mejia methodically hand-forms each hat utilizing one of Mr. Wayne's original high-crown tear-drop blocks. 

 Mark wanted to do something extra special for this hat, so he searched the country and found actual snake skins that are naturally harvested from licensed merchants in Texas. He then personally hand-works and treats each skin to create an unique real skin hatband, as in the original. 

“The Shootist” as a movie is a masterpiece. Both solemn and superb. Bittersweet. Filled with last wishes, and future dreams. It was both sober and elegant, and yet at the same time shimmered with a lasting message of hope. A fitting end to Wayne's career and a fitting beginning to his forever legend. We believe this hat pays homage in all respect and with all humility to a man who made us believe in the hard-fought spirit of America.

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 “THE COGBURN”

Inspired by the hat worn by Mr. Wayne for his Academy Award™ winning performance in “TRUE GRIT” and again in “ROOSTER COGBURN”  (Eye patch not included!)

No other actor wore more hats, in more ways than one, than Mr. Wayne. We get requests for dozens of them, since his hats are as much a part of his legend as he was! However, of all the hats, the one that gets the most requests of all, is without a doubt the hat he wore in “True Grit” and again when he reprieved the character in “Rooster Cogburn”. No one in the world could pull off that character. Wayne was “getting up there” in the years, but could still beat “anyone in the house” with one hand (and one eye) tied behind his back! He was ornery, stubborn, dyspeptic… yet kept his mountain-like strength, stature and class. It was Wayne doing “Wayne”… the man giving himself a homage. And one truly deserved! 

In fact, at the Academy Awards™, running against such giants as Richard Burton, Dustin Hoffman, Peter O’Toole and Jon Voight, Wayne got his Oscar®, perhaps more for a body of work than just one film, from his loving peers, who also gave him the longest standing ovation in Oscar® history! And his acceptance speech was one of the shortest, must heartfelt, and the classiest in history as well. Maybe that’s why this unique black hat for a good guy has such a place in all our hearts. Baron Hats, which proudly made so many of Mr. Wayne's hats, finally offers a reproduction of this sought after hat. 

We call it “The Cogburn”, inspired by Rooster’s hat. 

This is a high crown, wide brim hat for a big soul and a bigger heart. Wear it with pride and with the kind of humble class that only a legend could pull off!

Crown: 6” High crown converted Tear Drop Brim: 4 1/2” Wafture shaped neaten-razor edge Hatband: 1” layered  leather with filet