Hat Stores-a list

[DougC]

Houston is a nice drive away from Lockhart where Texas Hatters is located; David knows what he's doing. I stopped by to check out a hat for my father-in-law and ended up getting a tour of the shop and his hat making technique.

 

[John Galt]

Paul's Hat Works in San Francisco. Never been inside, but I have spent some time looking through the window. Sadly they are not, to my knowledge, associated with the Fedora Lounge or Classic Style magazine.

Paul's Hat Works Since 1918
6128 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94121
Phone: (415) 221-5332

http://www.paulshatworks.com/

I have been there. It is a neat old shop way down Geary & the ladies, some or all of whom apprenticed with the longtime former owner, are nice & enthusiastic. I've had very mixed results on repairs though. They made a beaver fedora worn by Pres. Obama on the cover of Cigar Affectionado, or some such magazine, which was given to him by a personal friend who is one of their existing customers.

 

[Panacheman]

hate to say it but Dave the proprietor of Wolfs retired from the haberdashery game in 2011 i was a life long customer as it was the most local to my little neck of the woods. when he was clearing out the shop he sold me several of his hat blanks and gave me some tutorial on shaping, stitching, and ribbons. great guy sad to see him go but wish him the best of luck

 

[barrowjh]

Hat Stores near French Quarter, NOLA:
On a business trip to a company with headquarters just 3 blocks off of Canal Street, my hotel half-way between that headquarters and Canal street, and I spent my evenings pounding the French Quarter and around the hotel sniffing out hat stores. Not that I didn't have a beer or two along the way . . . .

Shushan's on St. Peter St. next to Jackson Square - based on their website I expected an impressive establishment but instead it was really a small shop. Clearly GREAT use of internet marketing, as they must have close to 100% of their inventory on-line. I bought a couple of purple pugs anyway. 9 blocks from the hotel.

On the way to Shushan's I encountered Fleur de Paris - a custom millinery shop, with a display of men's hats (the panamas in the window caught my eye). Kimberly Benn Gondrella is the hatter within, and she has access to a deep facility beyond the retail area where there are blocks with which she makes bespoke men's or women's hats. The place has been in business for 40 years and from what I could see their inventory of hat ribbon is DEEP. I visited these ladies twice, they are on 523 Royal St. They provide lifetime services on their hats, re-furbing and re-accessorizing women's fur felt hats ad infinitum. I was impressed.

Meyer the Hatter - on St. Charles, just one block from my hotel front (Carondelet), in business now for 120 years. This is a retail establishment with fur felts and panamas from all the major manufacturers. They have a robust selection of pugarees in a tall stack of plastic drawers next to the spiral staircase near the back of the store. I felt obligated to buy one pug. Impressed again!

Goorin Bros. at 709 Royal St. - a retail establishment, but not nearly as robust as Meyer.

LA Red Hatter - somewhere on Dauphine between Bienville and Conti. Went by this place twice, closed, had a be-back sign on the door but the hour had long passed. From the street, the inventory in the window looked like Goorin, another retail establishment, but cannot say for sure.

Whew, wore me out pounding the pavement to see all of these, and I passed at least one more whose name I forgot. All of them were full of Cuencas (Brisa-weave panamas) with sewn brim edges, looking good with various ribbon treatments and priced in the $100 - $130 range. Our PB used to regularly provide us with Cuencas with back-woven brim edges and real leather sweatbands for under $50!!! Wow, whatever happened to that? Too many complaints from people that just did not understand the deals PB was providing us. In some cases you could score PB hats with backwoven brim edges for no more than $35, could buy 3 for less than just one of the retail sewn-edge panamas that proliferate now.

For anyone traveling to NOLA, or closer to NOLA than any other hat source, consider a visit to Fleur de Paris and Meyer, these are within 5 blocks of each other! You can get a bespoke hat from Ms. Gondrella at Fleur de Paris. I asked where they get their felts, and from what I could tell, they had no knowledge that Winchester existed. Those that have Teter's email address, pull his chain, need to do some marketing to these gals.

 

[fedoracentric]

JWHats out in Utah has done some work for me. Reasonable prices, quick turn around and attentive.

 

[gman41]

J.R. Tobacco

I just drove back home from a week in Pawleys Island SC and made a stop at J.R. Tobacco Exit 97 on Route 95 in North Carolina, I believe the town is Smithville.

I picked up a Stetson Sante Fe for 56.00 which I thought was a great deal. I have a twill for the summer and the Stetson will wait until the cooler weather for now. It was great to be able to try it on before buying it.

Next door is a western wear store that had the same hat for 70.00 This same western wear store had a full hat shop inside where it looked like they did custom work although the hat maker was not working at the time I was there.

They had some real western hats which I never felt before. Hard and starchy brims which were thin. They made a noise when you flicked them with your finger against them. Way too western for my area of New Jersey but looked more of a Mexican style than American cowboy.

I just thought you might like to know this and stop by if you are in the area. Looking at the internet I now know it is a good deal for the Santa Fe.

 

[tropicalbob]

Has anyone mentioned Holland Hats? Nice selection, particularly of Borsalinos, and at reasonable prices. About a week before Christmas last year, we decided to go up north. I called the store and spoke with Bruce, the owner, who was really helpful in choosing the hat and size, and then he got it to me in two days! Hollandhats.com

 

[WesternHatWearer]

For Westerns:
Baldwin Hats
Tel: (541) 610-9978 (cell)
Email: info@baldwinhats.com
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1202
Sisters, OR 97759
Shop open by appointment only
Not an FL member or Vendor.

 

[vmtrevino2]

The Hat Store
5587 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77056
www.thehatstore.com

Miller Hats
11110 Bammel North Houston Rd
Houston, TX 77066
www.millerhats.com

 

[hatsRme]

Okay, I have a great reason to gently bump this thread...

Going through some photos on an unidentified SD chip this week, this photo (dated 2011) showed up. I don't know who took it; maybe one of my daughters with me in mind. The area code on the tiny sign above the door (on the right side) is for NYC, so I'm hoping Besdor will remember where this was, or is. Just curious!!

 

[TheDane]

Hi Charlie, Google pointed me in this direction: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/young-s-hats-nyc.38680/

Hope that helps

 

[TheDane]

It looks like the shop moved at some point: http://www.villagevoice.com/best-of/2008/shopping-and-services/best-hat-store-6448651

 

[hatsRme]

Thanks, Ole! I knew that Young's eventually morphed into J.J. Hat Center, but was curious about this site being a "Clearance Center."

 

[jlee562]

Just caught a clip on the local news....Apparently Hat Guys in Oakland is several months behind on rent and received a three day notice. The owner says years of successive protests in the downtown area, and the decline of hats among the younger crowd has made it tough. Apparently they're trying to rally a sale to generate cash flow, but their website is down at the moment.

Will link the local news clip if I can find it later.

Also, saw this on another local site. Another custom hatter in San Francisco that I had no idea about.

https://www.hampuihats.com/gallery

Guy seems like a bit of a hippie, but has an interesting focus on Native American bead work and accoutrements.

 

[belfastboy]

Just caught a clip on the local news....Apparently Hat Guys in Oakland is several months behind on rent and received a three day notice. The owner says years of successive protests in the downtown area, and the decline of hats among the younger crowd has made it tough. Apparently they're trying to rally a sale to generate cash flow, but their website is down at the moment.

Will link the local news clip if I can find it later.

Also, saw this on another local site. Another custom hatter in San Francisco that I had no idea about.

https://www.hampuihats.com/gallery

Guy seems like a bit of a hippie, but has an interesting focus on Native American bead work and accoutrements.

Interesting gallery of hats. Any idea on his pricing?

 

[jlee562]

Interesting gallery of hats. Any idea on his pricing?

Here's the original article which shows:
http://hoodline.com/2017/02/hidden-divisadero-hampui-medicine-hats-a-tucked-away-hat-shop
Wool/rabbit blend 'prefabricated' $140-$250
Custom $400 for European, $500 for hare/beaver, and $600 for pure beaver

 

[jlee562]

Also, here is the piece on Hat Guys
http://abc7news.com/news/oakland-store-in-danger-of-closing-cites-protests-as-cause/1740969/

 

[belfastboy]

Here's the original article which shows:
http://hoodline.com/2017/02/hidden-divisadero-hampui-medicine-hats-a-tucked-away-hat-shop
Wool/rabbit blend 'prefabricated' $140-$250
Custom $400 for European, $500 for hare/beaver, and $600 for pure beaver

My Spirit Guides tell me that at those price points stick to the custom hatters here on the Lounge!

 

[belfastboy]

Also, here is the piece on Hat Guys
http://abc7news.com/news/oakland-store-in-danger-of-closing-cites-protests-as-cause/1740969/

When you read the Yelp reviews it seems like their problems are more than just the protests. It seems as though they have lost their way and in retail regardless of the product that is a death sentence.

 

[hatsRme]

https://www.hampuihats.com/gallery

Guy seems like a bit of a hippie, but has an interesting focus on Native American bead work and accoutrements.

What?!! A genuine Hip-PIE, Jared?! Those kind are hard to come by now. And his Medicine hats really work. I just perused the pages of pictures, and I feel much better!

Thanks for bringing this one to light, sir! Unique, and well-done!