stinker
New in Town
- Messages
- 15
- Location
- Dallas, Texas
I was delighted to find the Fedora Lounge and really enjoy reading all the hat news and views. It will definitely stay on my browsing list. Following is a long post detailing my recent hat shopping expedition to San Francisco.
I'm in native Texan in Dallas where being a hat affectianado is tough, but, has it's rewards. With few exceptions, there is little opportunity to shop for nice dress hats around here. Peters Brothers in Ft. Worth has a few dress hats, but, mostly cowboy stuff. I think they have been in the same location downtown since the 1915 or so. The Resistol plant in Garland is nearby, but, I haven't found much there. Probably should stop by more often.
Most of my hats are from the west coast... several shops in the San Francisco Bay Area plus Bernie Utz in Seattle. After a two year hiatus. I recently went to San Francisco on a 4-day hat buying binge and bought an absurd number of hats. I'm not disclosing how many, but, I held it down to the "low two digits". The Bay Area has the best selection of hat shops I have found.
The Hat Guys in downtown Oakland is an all time favorite of mine... heck of a hat shopping experience. I had not been there for two years, but, they recognized me as soon as I walked in. They have seasonal clearance sales and send out postcards announcing 25 to 35 percent off for shoppers. I missed the sale period, but, took the postcards with me and after a little jiving, they were nice enuf to extend me the discount on straws. Spent two days there browsing and buying hats... nice ones! A dark brown Biltmore Royal felt and a n-i-c-e Puerto Fino fine straw are worthy of mention.
Berkeley Hat Shop is just outside the UCLA Berkeley campus on Telephone Road. They carry a wide variety of styles there as you might imagine with Berkeley clientele. Hey... what do you expect outside the gates of Berzerkley? Anyhow, they likewise recognized me as soon as I walked in... maybe there is a message there! I usually shop for utility grade hats at Berkeley as that is mostly what they stock. Heck of an experience shopping for hats in Berkeley just before Halloween! Strange folks with strange ideas about dressing up strangely for Halloween! I mean R_E_A_L_L_Y strange! They keep a nice supply of hat bands there and I picked up five while there. Berkeley has about the best prices I've found in the area so I always browse there first before looking elsewhere. Ended up buying three felts from them.
Then I headed over to the Mission District of San Francisco to a couple of new shops I got a lead on but had not previously shopped. Bought a real nice light Bailey beige straw with a C crown and very nice wide brim at the place on Valencia. Then over to another shop on Mission Street that had a lot of pimp hats and clothes. Even though I'm not a pimp, I found a really nice Stacy Adams blue (very) felt with a nice blue/brown fabic hat band. It is an unusual color, but, very distinctive when worn with the right clothes. They had a suit and vest that matched the hat and band, however as aforesaid, I am not a pimp. I was tempted though!
And on Friday, I finally got in to the Top Hatter shop in San Leandro just south of Oakland. I'd been there twice before and they were closed EVERY time!! I'll have to say it was worth the effort, though!! Top Hatters is owned and operated by the same couple since the 1950's. They are elderly and keep the door locked (rough neighborhood south of Oakland Colesium). The building is absolutely bizarre in layout and construction. And EVERY and I mean EVERY room (and closets and hallways) is STUFFED with men's and women's hats! Only one lane to walk through the halls and most of the rooms. Outrageous snooping thru closets and little rooms nestled away. They no longer do hat blocking, but, all the equipment is still there... lots of it! Many, many hats to choose from. All are very neatly stacked with plastic sheets between them and every stack has a hand written label which shows current inventory on sizes available. Very nice men's dress hats and lots of utility grade hats. I am told that the folks in Oakland are really into hats... especially Sunday hats for women. A very humbling experience to see all the choices available in fancy (read: outrageous) women's Sunday-go-to-church hats. Didn't buy any hats there... I think I was a little overwhelmed by the experience.
Sunday was spent looking at a couple of shops in a seedy area south of the Mission District. Keep your doors locked while there! Did not buy any hats on Sunday.
I didn't have time to stop by a couple of my favorite hats shops in San Francisco that are worthy of mention. Mrs. Dewson's on Filmore Street is always an experience. "Da Purveyor to Da Mayor" as she calls herself because former Mayor Willie Brown buys his hats there. Interesting selection and a bit pricey. Mrs Dewson is a nice black lady who, more often than not, is under the influence of something that makes her very entertaining to talk to. And, no matter what kind of hat you wear when you go to her shop, she'll always imply that it is a P.O.S. and she wouldn't sell such a sorry hat. Bought a nice custom very bright red hat box (I think it glows in the dark!) from her a few years ago and got a lot of snickers carrying it through the airports!
Then, there's Paul the Hatter on Geary out by the coast. Absolutely amazing and stunning fine Panamas. Methinks the cheapest hat I have seen there was $700 with some of the finer hats going for up to $10,000. Paul is very interesting guy to visit with. He goes down to Columbia and buys the cores and then finishes the hats in his shop. (I think he lives behind the shop). Several movie stars buy their hats from Paul. Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover et al. I hope to own one of his Panamas some day.
I mentioned earlier Bernie Utz in Seattle... A really neat shop with large selection downtown near the market. I bought one of my favorite Borsolino straws there about eight years years ago, and then, while sitting out on the pier having Sunday brunch at Fisherman's warf in San Francisco the damn wind blew my hat off and in to the bay!!! I was SICK!!! I tried to hire a waitor to jump in a retrieve my hat (no takers) and then rented a tour boat to try and find it. Bummer...
Had a nice affirmation when I got back from SF Monday and went to a meeting on Tuesday wearing one of my fine new acquisitions. An attractive young lady there gave me a real nice compliment on my hat. One thing lead to another, and, ahem... I mentioned rewards earlier in this post... it is nice to wear nice hats in Dallas!
I'm in native Texan in Dallas where being a hat affectianado is tough, but, has it's rewards. With few exceptions, there is little opportunity to shop for nice dress hats around here. Peters Brothers in Ft. Worth has a few dress hats, but, mostly cowboy stuff. I think they have been in the same location downtown since the 1915 or so. The Resistol plant in Garland is nearby, but, I haven't found much there. Probably should stop by more often.
Most of my hats are from the west coast... several shops in the San Francisco Bay Area plus Bernie Utz in Seattle. After a two year hiatus. I recently went to San Francisco on a 4-day hat buying binge and bought an absurd number of hats. I'm not disclosing how many, but, I held it down to the "low two digits". The Bay Area has the best selection of hat shops I have found.
The Hat Guys in downtown Oakland is an all time favorite of mine... heck of a hat shopping experience. I had not been there for two years, but, they recognized me as soon as I walked in. They have seasonal clearance sales and send out postcards announcing 25 to 35 percent off for shoppers. I missed the sale period, but, took the postcards with me and after a little jiving, they were nice enuf to extend me the discount on straws. Spent two days there browsing and buying hats... nice ones! A dark brown Biltmore Royal felt and a n-i-c-e Puerto Fino fine straw are worthy of mention.
Berkeley Hat Shop is just outside the UCLA Berkeley campus on Telephone Road. They carry a wide variety of styles there as you might imagine with Berkeley clientele. Hey... what do you expect outside the gates of Berzerkley? Anyhow, they likewise recognized me as soon as I walked in... maybe there is a message there! I usually shop for utility grade hats at Berkeley as that is mostly what they stock. Heck of an experience shopping for hats in Berkeley just before Halloween! Strange folks with strange ideas about dressing up strangely for Halloween! I mean R_E_A_L_L_Y strange! They keep a nice supply of hat bands there and I picked up five while there. Berkeley has about the best prices I've found in the area so I always browse there first before looking elsewhere. Ended up buying three felts from them.
Then I headed over to the Mission District of San Francisco to a couple of new shops I got a lead on but had not previously shopped. Bought a real nice light Bailey beige straw with a C crown and very nice wide brim at the place on Valencia. Then over to another shop on Mission Street that had a lot of pimp hats and clothes. Even though I'm not a pimp, I found a really nice Stacy Adams blue (very) felt with a nice blue/brown fabic hat band. It is an unusual color, but, very distinctive when worn with the right clothes. They had a suit and vest that matched the hat and band, however as aforesaid, I am not a pimp. I was tempted though!
And on Friday, I finally got in to the Top Hatter shop in San Leandro just south of Oakland. I'd been there twice before and they were closed EVERY time!! I'll have to say it was worth the effort, though!! Top Hatters is owned and operated by the same couple since the 1950's. They are elderly and keep the door locked (rough neighborhood south of Oakland Colesium). The building is absolutely bizarre in layout and construction. And EVERY and I mean EVERY room (and closets and hallways) is STUFFED with men's and women's hats! Only one lane to walk through the halls and most of the rooms. Outrageous snooping thru closets and little rooms nestled away. They no longer do hat blocking, but, all the equipment is still there... lots of it! Many, many hats to choose from. All are very neatly stacked with plastic sheets between them and every stack has a hand written label which shows current inventory on sizes available. Very nice men's dress hats and lots of utility grade hats. I am told that the folks in Oakland are really into hats... especially Sunday hats for women. A very humbling experience to see all the choices available in fancy (read: outrageous) women's Sunday-go-to-church hats. Didn't buy any hats there... I think I was a little overwhelmed by the experience.
Sunday was spent looking at a couple of shops in a seedy area south of the Mission District. Keep your doors locked while there! Did not buy any hats on Sunday.
I didn't have time to stop by a couple of my favorite hats shops in San Francisco that are worthy of mention. Mrs. Dewson's on Filmore Street is always an experience. "Da Purveyor to Da Mayor" as she calls herself because former Mayor Willie Brown buys his hats there. Interesting selection and a bit pricey. Mrs Dewson is a nice black lady who, more often than not, is under the influence of something that makes her very entertaining to talk to. And, no matter what kind of hat you wear when you go to her shop, she'll always imply that it is a P.O.S. and she wouldn't sell such a sorry hat. Bought a nice custom very bright red hat box (I think it glows in the dark!) from her a few years ago and got a lot of snickers carrying it through the airports!
Then, there's Paul the Hatter on Geary out by the coast. Absolutely amazing and stunning fine Panamas. Methinks the cheapest hat I have seen there was $700 with some of the finer hats going for up to $10,000. Paul is very interesting guy to visit with. He goes down to Columbia and buys the cores and then finishes the hats in his shop. (I think he lives behind the shop). Several movie stars buy their hats from Paul. Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover et al. I hope to own one of his Panamas some day.
I mentioned earlier Bernie Utz in Seattle... A really neat shop with large selection downtown near the market. I bought one of my favorite Borsolino straws there about eight years years ago, and then, while sitting out on the pier having Sunday brunch at Fisherman's warf in San Francisco the damn wind blew my hat off and in to the bay!!! I was SICK!!! I tried to hire a waitor to jump in a retrieve my hat (no takers) and then rented a tour boat to try and find it. Bummer...
Had a nice affirmation when I got back from SF Monday and went to a meeting on Tuesday wearing one of my fine new acquisitions. An attractive young lady there gave me a real nice compliment on my hat. One thing lead to another, and, ahem... I mentioned rewards earlier in this post... it is nice to wear nice hats in Dallas!
