Q: Can I restyle my hat at home, using steam from the kettle?

A: It seems today that every child who turns into a teenager also becomes a hat styling expert. He knows that they have a kettle at home that emits steam, and he already knows how to “fix” his hat. Afterwards, they come to me with a ruined hat, claiming, ‘Look, what happened to my hat?!’ So I ask them, ‘How much water/steam did you pour on your hat?’ You need experts to style a hat. Also, it often happens that the hat accumulates dust, and then you go to a chassunah or anywhere else with a high humidity in the air. What happens is that the humidity saturates the dust inside the hat, resulting in white stains. That’s why you must be careful about cleaning your hat regularly, before the dust settles and gets absorbed in the hat.

Q: What makes a hat more or less expensive?

A: At Ferster, the investment in the hat determines its ultimate price. “Two primary parameters determine the hat price: Type of material and level of density,” Ferster says. “The longer the process that the hat undergoes, the stronger and more durable it is; and if this involves a few extra hours of work, then the price goes up.”

This is a significant point that Yeshiva students should know. At Ferster, all the brand names do not represent cosmetic or optical touches to the hat, but rather the quality of material that the hat is made from. For example, the relatively cheap Barbisio is made with a lower density level than the Brandolino, etc.