Hat Sellers in the SF Bay Area

[Kilted_Surveyor]

Hello All!
I have been reading the Fedora Lounge for a while and I decided to join up! Since I am new to the SF Bay Area, can anyone direct my lovely bride and I to a reputable hat seller or millinery in Northern Cal? Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Donato]

Hello All!
I have been reading the Fedora Lounge for a while and I decided to join up! Since I am new to the SF Bay Area, can anyone direct my lovely bride and I to a reputable hat seller or millinery in Northern Cal? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Mostly for women:
http://www.patrickbay.com/spring2004/spring2004.htm
www.jaxhatz.com

Fedoras:
They have a shop in Sacramento (scroll down):
http://www.villagehatshop.com/store_locations.html

From the yellow pages:
http://san_francisco-ca.yellowusa.com/Hats_Retail.html

 

[Donato]

Here are a few others, but not all in the Bay area:
Hollywood Hatters - Hollywood
Baron Hats - Burbank
Fedora Primo - Santa Monica
World of Hats Pasadena

 

[Will Morgan]

We ( David Morgan ) provide Akubras to the hat guys in Oakland!

http://www.hatguys.com/

 

[Michael Bradley]

Fino Fino in Menlo Park has men's and women's hats. Men's by Optimo (lots of panamas, a few felts - Graham visits once a year), Bailey, Biltmore, Borsalino (and more); women's by the shop owner, Carolyn Busch, and several other local milliners.

www.finofino.com

Carolyn is very knowledgeable, very helpful (extremely good at helping you pick just the right hat), very pleasant and fun to work with.

Michael Bradley

 

[Mike H]

I'll second the Hat Guys in Oakland. I've bought several hats from them.
They know their business and have a great selection on hand.

 

[PapaSimone]

previous post

Hi,
I wrote this for another Lounger who was getting to know San Francisco.
Hope it is helpful

Dude! You live in San Francisco! The best way to discover your hat size and check out some amazing vintage stuff is to follow this 10 point plan for vintage success!

1. Take a friend and start at the corner of Stanyan of Haight and head East.
2. Pass McDonalds and the lure of Amoeba records (save a little cash) and the gnarly dude spare changing.
3. If you need a snack stop at Zona Rosa Burritos and get the Taco Zona Rosa. Lots of food for little cash (again you will need it, do drop a dollar in their tip jar though, nice folks)

4. Hand your wallet to your friend and tell them not to give it back to you until leave your next stop.... La Rosa. Amazingly beautiful vintage clothes and nice hats and way too expensive (see http://www.sfheart.com/vintage_secondhand.html). Ask the very nice staff to try on hats until you find a size and style you like. Check out what the staff is wearing. Ask them what they are wearing. People who love vintage love to talk about what they have on. Ask to try on a hat that is made out of fur felt. Try on something made out of wool. Hold the hats by the brims, not by the pinch and feel how the material feels. How heavy. Ask how old the hat is. See if a previous owners initials are on the sweat. Think about the previous owner for a second. How cool! Wearable art! Try on the caps. Thank the staff and leave. Tell your friend to keep hold of your wallet.

5. Tell another gnarly dude "no thanks" to what ever it was he just mumbled.
6. Cross the street, watch out for that guy in the pink leotard on the unicycle "Pink Man!" and enter Decades of Fashion. Remind your friend he/she has sworn to hold your wallet.
7. Repeat process of step 4. Try on lots! Touch the material.
8. Tell your friend to give you your wallet back...no seriously dude... give the wallet back!
9. Head down the block to the Goodwill. As Goodwills go, there is a lot of highly skilled competition among the upper haight hipsters for the treasures inside. Remember part of the trill of vintage is the hunt. Check out that jacket. Can you belived someone once wore, maybe loved that hideous jacket. Mel must have loved it. He stitched his name in it. Only $3 bucks! Consider wearing it ironically. Nothing cooler than making something new and cool again by wearing it out of context. Perhaps you'll be lucky and find the same thing you liked at La Rosa and it costs $7. Again coolness credit for finding it at the goodwill for just a couple bucks. Require your friend to buy a few things too and leave carrying your goodwill bag with pride. Notice on the street that the true hipsters are carrying the generic goodwill bags not the Aardvark or Wasteland bags from down the street (beautiful stuff there too though).

10.Head to a cafe and order coffee even if you don't like coffee. Find a seat outside. Slip into the bathroom and put on at least one "find" and wear it back to your seat. Don't just wear it, own it, you didn't just buy that hat, "This? No I've had it for years" Try not to think about the new item. Discuss school, other kids at school, girls, boys, talk about what you like, how messed up the world is right now and how you would change it. The fog is rolling in and it's getting cold. Finish up your drink. Bus it so that cute espresso jockey doesn't have to and wear the item back out.
When you get home, slip out of your find, stick it in your back pack so nobody makes a dumb comment about your find. Don't pull it out again until your alone again and then decide it you like it. If you like it. Wear it!

 

[Bugsy]

!!!

Cable Car Clothiers in San Francisco has a wonderful selection of hats including some English brands and Borsalinos.
www.cablecarclothiers.com

 

[Vintage Betty]

Fino Fino in Menlo Park has men's and women's hats. Men's by Optimo (lots of panamas, a few felts - Graham visits once a year), Bailey, Biltmore, Borsalino (and more); women's by the shop owner, Carolyn Busch, and several other local milliners.

www.finofino.com

Carolyn is very knowledgeable, very helpful (extremely good at helping you pick just the right hat), very pleasant and fun to work with.

Michael Bradley

I second Fino Fino. Carolyn is quite knowledgeable about hats.

In case you drive by Los Gatos, be sure to SKIP the hat shop in town; it is a complete waste of your time and money. For best use of your time, you can't go wrong in San Francisco with the advice given above.

Vintage Betty

 

[DavidVillaJr]

HA HA You live in TRACY!!!

I work here every day M-F.

It's a nice town. I grew up here, moved away for college, and back to work....

Can't get away from this place.

dv

 

[Damon Falzone]

Custom hats at Paul's Hat Works.

 

[jamespowers]

I second Fino Fino. Carolyn is quite knowledgeable about hats.

In case you drive by Los Gatos, be sure to SKIP the hat shop in town; it is a complete waste of your time and money. For best use of your time, you can't go wrong in San Francisco with the advice given above.

Vintage Betty

I third it. If Carolyn can't get it, she will try to for you.
Oh and she knows a guy who cleans women's hats.

 

[feltfan]

I'll second the Hat Guys in Oakland. I've bought several hats from them.
They know their business and have a great selection on hand.

I encourage you to search this site for other comments
about the Hat Guys and Paul's Hat Works. Regarding the Hat Guys,
I have not purchased a new hat from them, but they do not
know about cleaning, blocking, or repairing. Regarding Paul's,
I guess it depends on your tax bracket. But the shop is
worth seeing.

I live in the SF Bay Area. Sorry, can't recommend a
single hat store anymore. I encourage you to do as
others have recommended and stop by vintage stores
now and then and see what's around.