Paul's Hat Works

[billyspew]

Keep it up, the blog is very entertaining, let's hope that Bettina ends up as famous as Binks is.

 

[Paul-ette]

Pets...

Bettina is quite a piece of work, we believe she does need some cat psychology. The next animal to arrive here will be my parrot, full name Parrotona, nicknames: Parrot, Tones, Mr. T. He's a baby conure.

~ Paulette

 

[Goose.]

...Also, our grand re-opening is going to be on Saturday, August 29th, if any of you would like to come email me (olivia@hatworksbypaul.com) your mailing addresses and I'll send you a formal invitation,

Keep up the great hat wearing,

~Paulette

Will there be food?

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Food?:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Paul-ette]

Grand Re-opening

There will be an "Open House" from 11-6 pm, than a more formal gala from 6-10, where there will be Champagne cocktails, hors d'oeurvres, music and possibly some stilt walkers...'Twill be quite exciting. The four of us are getting custom dresses made for the event....

~ Paulette

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Good luck Paul-ette I am on the east coast so I will not be there.

psssst (watch out for Goose if you are gonna have chow)

 

[jazzncocktails]

I hope the new Paul's is a gold mine for you ladies, and is a great success to boot.

Wish I could make it up for your shindig, but am back to teaching again after summer break. I do hope to be in San Francisco during the first weekend in October, though, and if that's the case, I'll certainly let you know in the hopes of stopping by!
Steve

 

[kaosharper1]

Where is the shop located? The blog is fun, but what's going to be in the store?

 

[Paul-ette]

Thanks for the good wishes....

....and always feel free to stop by!

The shop is located at 6128 Geary Blvd. between 25th and 26th avenues, San Francisco.

We will be making straw hats, from Cuenca and Montecristi, two different price points, as well as felt, Beaver 100, all styles as well as top hats. We have a lovely selection of vintage ribbon for all of our hats.

~ Paulette

 

[Pietro]

Paul's Hat Works has been sold

There was an interesting article in SF Chronicle today about Paul's Hat Works. Four young women have purchased the hat store from Paul and are trying to make a go of it. Good luck to them.

It looks like they sell more than classic men's hats and are banking on the coming of the long-awaited hat revival.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/13/MNCK19LCF6.DTL

 

[Lefty]

Thanks for the article. They've been posting here for a short while. Check out this thread, then click on Paul-ette and see the other threads she started.

 

[Paul-ette]

SF Chron Article

Pietro,

Thanks for posting that article and taking note! We bought the shop in June and reopened on August 29th of this year. I want to disclaim that a lot has changed in the shop since the previous owner, and as far as all of the claims to quality that previous people in this thread have stated, come in and decide for yourself. We're doing well thus far, thanks to Carle Nolte and other journalists, and we have decided to do reblocks and cleanings on hats as well. We are all four working hard to maintain quality and innovation in design with our hats. I hope you can stop by sometime!

~ Paulette (Olivia)

 

[Blackthorn]

my trip to Paul's Hat Works

Last year I bought a Dobbs vintage fedora on Ebay. The seller was very honest about the sweatband needing to be resewn, but it dated from the 1930s and looked pretty good to me in the pics. I bid $125 and won it, but once I got it I was stumped. I really hadn't considered just how bad it would be if the sweatband wasn't attached, or just barely. Although only attached by a few threads, the leather was in pretty good shape. The hat itself had a few small moth holes, but still looked pretty good, especially for a hat that had been made in the thirties. I was scratching my head about how to get it fixed and then I read about Paul's Hat Works in San Francisco. I took the hat up there to them in early December and they never blinked an eye. They looked it over, quoted me a $70 price and I left it with them. Two weeks ago I picked it up...and I have to say, it may be the best money I ever spent for a hat. Here are the pics of the day, and the store:

As you enter the store, take a step or two, turn around and look above the doorway you just came through, there are all these antique hat boxes:

I saw a familiar picture at the top and zoomed in. Yep, it looked like an old friend:

Last year the store was bought by four women who learned how to run the business from the old owner and are doing excellent work. They are very good at hatmaking and repairing. I only got pics of three of them:

This pic was taken when I dropped my Dobbs off to be repaired in early December. That's it sitting on the counter in front of Abby:

And here's the final product, as modeled by a happy customer:

And a close up of the hat after we got home:

If you live in the bay area of San Francisco and need hat work, or a hat made from scratch, and if you don't like the idea of sending your hat away, or of ordering a hat you haven't tried on, check out Paul's Hat Works.

 

[ValEag]

Nice review

Thanks for the review Blackthorn. Looks like they did a great job on your Dobbs, and the store looks like an interesting place to visit.

From this article, it looks like it all started in 1918:
http://www.hatworksbypaul.com/

Looks like that date is visible to the left of the door in your first pic.

Very nice pics too!

 

[Mr. 'H']

Good job!

I love reading about something cool and entrepreneurial like that. I have been following their blog since the girls posted "The Hat Mob" thread in SF a while back.

:eusa_clap

http://hatworksbypaul.wordpress.com/

 

[Blackthorn]

Thanks for the review Blackthorn. Looks like they did a great job on your Dobbs, and the store looks like an interesting place to visit.

From this article, it looks like it all started in 1918:
http://www.hatworksbypaul.com/

Looks like that date is visible to the left of the door in your first pic.

Yep, you are right, ValEag. I debated using this pic, and probably should have. It shows the date better:

Very nice pics too!

Thank you!

 

[Feraud]

A question.. does the Dobbs have an un-reeded sweatband?
Do you have any before or after pics to show the finished product?

Thanks.

 

[tonyb]

A question.. does the Dobbs have an un-reeded sweatband?
Do you have any before or after pics to show the finished product?

Thanks.

I was wondering the same thing.

I take it they reused the original sweatband? Is it also safe to assume they cleaned and blocked it and reused the original ribbon?

 

[Blackthorn]

I was wondering the same thing.

I take it they reused the original sweatband? Is it also safe to assume they cleaned and blocked it and reused the original ribbon?

Yes, they re-sewed the original sweatband back on. And they did indeed clean and reblock it and reused the original ribbon. As to it being a reeded sweatband, I don't know the difference, sorry.

 

[Blackthorn]

A question.. does the Dobbs have an un-reeded sweatband?
Do you have any before or after pics to show the finished product?

Thanks.

Feraud, I didn't take any "before pics." I wish I had thought of that. I can post some pics of the sweatband later tonight, if that will help on the reeded vs unreeded subject. Let me know if you want me to do that.