Ladies, how do you select a hat?

[Feng_Li]

I was walking about downtown Portland with my girlfriend yesterday, enjoying the beautiful day. She has always wanted a hat, so we asked at John Helmer if they knew of a good place to look, and the salesgirl very helpfully directed us to Pinkham Millinery only a few blocks away. The stock there is a bit out of her immediate price range, so she's trying to figure out what she eventually wants (and therefore how much money she needs to save).

We guys have it easy, fedora, homburg, bowler, topper, or cap, and everything is a variation on one of those. How do you ladies even know where to begin?

 

[Elaina]

Try them all on, and the one that bothers me the least, looks ok is the one I get.

 

[Lady Blue]

why do you think it takes so long to shop? there is usually no regularity of size and the amount of styles can be daunting or even bordering on ridiculous. Personally I prefer a mens' styles, but I do have some nice ladies' cloche hats and unisex hats that I've really just stumbled upon. Thats the way it goes most times.

 

[Honey Doll]

Frankly, it is extraordinarily difficult I think to select a ladies hat today. The styles are innumerable, but what you see in the department stores or even as side lines to the men's shops are often poor quality, poor fit, or slight in style. Then you have the far-over-the-top, can-I-wear-this-to-the-Kentucky-Derby type hats as well. Then if you add to your demands of quality and good fit a search for something with a vintage feel..... good luck!

Right now I'm in the market for a stylish spring hat with a vintage feel. I have a couple that I'm eyeing on Barabara Feinman's site. I have two from her already, the Film Noir in her Fall/winter collection and a very sweet topper a la Dita number that she custom did for me.

She does a very smart job if you are looking for custom work. Here's her site

http://www.barbarafeinman.com/

Honey Doll

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Wow Honey Doll, thank you soooo much for that link. She has some incredible hats. Actually she has a few cloches that are exact replicas of vintage cloches I own. I could do some damage there!!

 

[Honey Doll]

Glad to Help!

Wow Honey Doll, thank you soooo much for that link. She has some incredible hats. Actually she has a few cloches that are exact replicas of vintage cloches I own. I could do some damage there!!

Daisy -- give her a call. She's a doll to work with. I sent her a pic of a sweet little 40s topper and what she delivered is incredible! She'll do custom reproduction and so much more than what is on her site!

Honey Doll

 

[Lady Blue]

Honey Doll those hats are amazing! The designs are beautiful. Oh too tempting!