Daily Inspiration: Meet Brook Briddle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brook Briddle.

Hi Brook, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Brook has always loved hats! According to his mom, when he was little- he would wear everything from a football helmet to cereal bowl on his head. He’d often visit the local western store in Glenwood Springs, Colo (where he grew up) and spent much of his time watching them shape hats. After, high school he headed to Durango, Colo for college -where he jokes he spent 6 years being a freshman. However, it is in Durango where he 1st learned the art of hatmaking> working for legendary hatter Kevin O’Farrell. Brook would work with Kevin for some time before moving on and working at a few different hat shops – eventually going out on his own and starting Powder River Custom Hat Company in Elizabeth, Colorado (about an hour south east of Denver)

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Brook never really set out to be a hatmaker- it just happened to come easy to him. He had cowboyed/ranched for a living, and rodeoed, as well as guided and outfitted. Even played the roles of cowboy extras in movies and commercials > so he came from a very western background and lifestyle- but when he 1st walked into the original O’Farrell’s Hat Co, at just 19 years old asking for a job, Kevin O’Farrell wouldn’t hire him. Kevin explained that hatmaking was an art and he had no interest in hiring undependable college kids. Brook walked out the door/ half way down the sidewalk- but turned around went back and kind of told Kevin off (asking for a chance to learn the art of hatmaking and promising to be reliable). Brook just felt he could do the job. Later, Kevin would often refer to Brook as his son rather than his apprentice- but also so much of what Brook has learned comes from years and years of trial and error. He doesn’t make many mistakes these days- but he’s been building hats for over 30 years now. Yet, he still doesn’t consider himself a master hatter quoting his Dad > Brook says “why are you still doing something if you’ve mastered it” so Brook always tries to build each hat better than the last and he still strives to learn new things and different ways of going about it!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Brook Briddle is a hatmaker building the finest quality true beaver fur felt hats. A lot of hatters will get hats pre-made, they’ll decorate them with ribbons, and bows, accessories them, and maybe even burn initials on them. They’ll probably shape the hats while you wait- but there not actually custom building the hats there more trimming and shaping pre-made factory hats. Whereas, Brook completely handcrafts each hat- nothing is pre-done or just assembled/ each one of Brook’s hats is handmade from scratch. Also, unlike bigger hat companies that mass produce hats Brook’s hands are the only hands that touch each hat because there’s a big difference in true custom made hats versus just custom production. Since, each hat is completely custom made, your really just limited by imagination in terms of what style Brook can build. Customers ask to have certain styles of hats built off movies, or they’ll bring in pictures of hats they like, sometimes they’ll bring in their great grandfather’s hat and ask Brook to recreate the style for them. And then some come in and have no idea what style of hat to do and Brook is great at looking at their face and saying you know with your jawline let’s go this dimension on the crown or let’s do this size brim so each hat matches the customer’s face and looks like their hat. In addition, each hat is also custom fit. A machine -called a conformer -goes on each customer’s head and takes the shape of the oval of the person’s head and then Brook builds a model around that / and measures the customer’s head- so every Powder River Custom Hat is custom fit for each individual customer. The fit of Brook’s hats is one of the things he’s most well known for! Each customer’s name also goes inside their hat -custom made for- so from start to finish everything about the process is truly custom.

What’s next?
Brook wants to always carry-on tradition! Hats are very popular right now and your seeing more pop-up hat shops because hats are currently very trendy so Brook jokes and says “right now it’s a good time to be a Cowboy” because he remembers when that wasn’t always the case. However, it’s important to Brook to keep building hats the traditional way, using the best materials< like the beaver fur hat bodies/ just like John B Stetson made the very 1st cowboy hat of. Brook says he has no intention of sacrificing quality just to build hats faster. He's not into the tricks and illusions sometimes showcased on social media when it comes to building hats. Brook is concerned with building a hat that's a tool. Whether your a real cowboy or just a cowboy at heart Brook wants to build a hat that lasts (stands up in all the elements) and is made to be worn/used! Brook Briddle has been in a hat shop for a good majority of his life – having Powder River Custom Hat Co on Main Street in Elizabeth, Co for well over 20years he hopes to be there for many many more years to come.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Powderriverhats.com
• Instagram: powderriverhatco
• Facebook: Powder River Hats

Image Credits
Cowboy Trades Association (CTA)
And Mayson Briddle