Jeeves and Wooster Lampshades

Hidden Art's Jeeves and Wooster lamps, inspired by P.G. Wodehouse's novels, are jolly good. They are also jolly expensive: £450.

Jeeves Wooster (pair price) [Hidden Art via Selectism and Coolhunting]

[#1 posted by elisd , January 27, 2009 10:05 AM]

This is a neat idea, but ~$650 for two is completely nuts.

You can make one of these for the cost of the hats ($100 for the two at a costume shop?) plus some super-cheap lamp kits. The only work required is finding the center of balance of the hat and cutting a little hole there for the cord.

[#2 posted by pork musket , January 27, 2009 10:27 AM]

I think it would be slightly more involved than sticking a socket through a hat. You need insulation to prevent fires and some sort of reflective surface to get any sort of usable light out of it.

[#3 posted by TharkLord , January 27, 2009 3:22 PM]

This collection seems to represent Jeeves' preferred selections for Bertie and himself. Otherwise we would also have the Straw Boater and the "Alpine Joe" hat.

[#4 posted by devophill , January 27, 2009 3:37 PM]

I'd imagine even Jeeves would not want to dust a wool felt lampshade. There's a reason those things are kept in boxes.

[#5 posted by elisd , January 27, 2009 5:09 PM]

PORK MUSKET @2:
Good point about fire-proofing.

No one follow my instructions above. You will probably burn your house down.

[#6 posted by nekochan , January 27, 2009 7:09 PM]

no, totally follow Elisd's instructions, except instead of a cheap kit, use a cheap, but professionally made hanging light, for the reflective inside and slight insulation. and maybe treat the hat with some alum, if ehow is to be believed.

I hope to see cheap knock-offs on etsy or something soon.

[#7 posted by kaelsleeps , January 28, 2009 3:32 AM]

I used to make homemade lamps by dismantling old ones. You typically get a light bulb (with or without some kind of housing) attached to a cord, which you can then transplant into some other object. Sometimes you might need to add other pieces for reflectiveness or to separate the hot parts from the flammable ones. Care and common sense can keep you from starting fires or otherwise endangering yourself.

DISCLAIMER: random internet people are not to be emulated wantonly, especially when electricity is involved!

[#8 posted by zenbeatnik , January 28, 2009 7:58 AM]

Or, you could use compact fluorescent lamps. They generate very little heat. DO NOT use halogens.

[#9 posted by Talia , January 29, 2009 4:08 AM]

I love these so very, very much. Im not handy or inventive in that way at all, I wonder if I could manage to pull one of these together despite that. Do want. Very much.

[#10 posted by userw014 , January 29, 2009 5:50 AM]

This sounds incredibly dangerous to me. The silk might qualify as a "flame retardant fiber" (from a too-brief google for "combustion temperature silk"), but the other materials in the hat are going to be exposed to high temperatures if an incandescent bulb is used. (According to the same source I visited, silk starts crumbling at 100C.)

The tops of these hats would HAVE to be vented!

To any amateur lamp makers out there - check out the difference in construction between incandescent bulb sockets designed for unenclosed applications and for enclosed applications the next time you're at your favorite hardware store. The sockets for enclosed applications are often CERAMIC with special high-temperature wiring insulation.

[#11 posted by Peaceflag2007 , January 29, 2009 7:41 AM]

LEDs and a silver inside lining

it would be cool to have one hovering over a chair where a person is sitting

like one of Mike Mignola's floating crowns

[#12 posted by MayorMike , January 29, 2009 7:45 AM]

Brilliant! Oops. Sorry for the pun. I wanted to do this with my Devo energy dome flower pot hat. Totally forgot until now.