Jim Keller's Military Accoutrements

Contact: Email is the best way using the Email address above.

When Ordering:

·         For a shako or hat, I will need the circumference of your head just above the ears.

·         For belting, I typically need an idea of height & waist. 

	American Shakos
Item	Description	Item List
	Tombstone Shako Shako uses vegetable tanned leather sewn in the traditional shape.  Brim is of heavy vegetable tanned leather. A leather pocket covers the seam and provides a pocket for the wool tapered tuft or plume. There is an internal hat band of soft suede leather with a natural linen liner bag to adjust the hat height. A soft leather foul weather band is sewn on the back half of the shako which can be brought down.  A tin eagle is centered on the 4 inch rosette.  A brass ring holds the wool cord and tassels. White wool cording for enlisted men available, silver cording for officers also available.	Tombstone Shako Wool Tuft, rosette & eagle button White Wool Cording Infantry Tin Plate
	American Marine Shako The American Marine shako is similar to the stovepipe British except tapered the opposite direction, with the top being wider than the bottom.  The brim is made with felt stiffened with light leather underneath.  A small pocket is sewn behind the plate to take the tapered red tuft.  Cording is a deep yellow. (Marine buttons, plate, and eagle button only supplied if you buy complete package).	Basic American Marine Shako Red tapered wool tuft Deep Yellow Cording Brass Plate
	American Militia Shako The American Militia shako is similar to the stovepipe British except tapered the opposite direction, with the top being wider than the bottom.  Unlike the Marine shako, the brim is made from heavy leather.  A small pocket is sewn on the inside to take the feather plume.  Cording is a double row of white wool knotted. A 3 inch rosette with an eagle button is adorned on the left side.	Basic American Militia Shako Feather plume 3 inch rosette with eagle button White wool cording
	Other head Gear
	Chapeau Bras The picture, shown to the left, is the standard British chapeau bras.  Officers were given a large scope on the design of their chapeau bras so size, shape, and decorations varied quite a bit.  Also, some were designed to fold flat while others were more of a bicorn and did not fold up.  Decorations usually consisted of a silk rosette, gold bullion tassels with a red wool tassel core, gold ribbon, and topped with the standard officer plume, (white over red for infantry). The hat has a red silk bag lining to adjust height.  It is hand sewn and uses wool Melton cloth covering a map board core. A wire frame keeps the shape for years to come.	Chapeau Bras Plume Spanish Bicorn
American Chapeau Bras	Gold Trim Design	Naval Bicorn
	Voltigeur Bearskin Hat This is the bearskin hat wore by the Canadian Voltigeur Regiment during the War of 1812. The hat is hand sewn bearskin with a leather front shield inserted inside, (and shellacked) to keep the bear hide from collapsing. Because of the high cost of bear hide, the customer must supply the bear hide or order enough hats to make the purchase of a bear hide worthwhile. A second option is to use a black sheepskin which has been treated to look very much like bear hide. The sheep skin is softer and it is not as course so it will not pass informed close inspection.	Please contact for pricing.  This is dependent on availability and current hide prices.  Typically, a bear hide is about $650.00 plus a few hundred dollars in shipping and permits as well.  There also maybe issues on border crossings of bear hide items. One hide makes about 4 to 5 hats.
	Dragoon/Leather Helmets Leather helmets are made in two halves sewn together along the center line.  Some have brims, some have front shields.  Horse hair plumes were common coming out of a fin along the top. An American Dragoon helmet is shown to the left. These are hand sewn and have a soft leather inside band with a linen bag liner to adjust the hat height.  Please contact for a cost estimate.  It is very dependent on the amount of sewing, the design and the research required.	Rev War Helmet
	U.S. Rifle Regiment leather helmet is shown to the left. It has a bearskin fin with a dark green plume and brass front insignia. To the right is another example of a dragoon helmet.  82^nd Regiment Helmet
	Rev War Caps Felt cap with silk scarf wrapped around lower edge and a horse hair bow on the side. There is a front felt shield. The cap is bordered by cotton twill with the front shield bordered by wool lace. Specifications vary on whether the border is black or white wool. The bow can also sometimes be augmented with bear fur or a feather.	Basic cap
	Horse Hair Cap Design Felt cap with silk scarf wrapped around lower edge and a horse hair bow on the side. There is a front felt shield. The cap is bordered by cotton twill with the front shield bordered by white wool lace. Specifications vary on whether the border is black or white wool. The bow can also sometimes be augmented with bear fur or a feather. A central fin holds a horse hair plume which drapes to the right side. The natural colour is blond horse hair but some units dye this to be red. Basic cap is as shown.	Basic cap        For other designs, please contact.
Swiss Army Shako WW1	Other Special Projects Hungarian Hussar Shako	Crimean War Rifleman’s Shako
French Marine Hat	Officer Beaver Felt Belgique Shako	Rifleman’s Persian Wool Hat WW1