Where can I buy a hat?

[xela]

15 years ago I bought a cheap fedora at the late lamented surplus store in Harvard Square. I kept meaning to replace it with a better hat, but it kept failing to die in spite of being thoroughly crushed a dozen or more times.

Alas, it disappeared at some point this spring. And I'm having a hell of a time finding a replacement. A friend recommended Keezer's in Cambridgeport if I wanted to go the cheap route again: they do indeed have hats that resemble my old one — but in sizes S, M, L, & XL rather than proper hat sizes. An L sits on top of my head; an XL rests on my glasses. Which is probably why men's hats traditionally come in roughly a dozen sizes. Another friend recommended The Walking Company; the staff at the Burlington Mall store thought they might carry hats later in the summer.

I'm more than a little reluctant to buy a hat online: It's very much something I want to try on and look in the mirror. So does anyone know of anyplace in the Boston area that a reasonable range of traditional men's hats?

And if not Boston, surely someone knows of a place in New York? I'm likely to be there later this summer, and if I have to wait til then, I will.

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[dcltdw]

If you do go online, check out noggintops.com. I know you said you don't like online, but I got my fedora from them. Partially I went with them because they break down sizes more finely. (The other reason being, I wanted an Indiana Jones hat, and they sell it -- I'd have to doublecheck mine, but I think it's the Stetson Temple, with the feather removed.)

I also discovered (after ordering) that they have excellent customer service. For free, they'll send you hat spacers to stick in the brim to help with the fit. I ended up tossing them, because I didn't need them at the time. Then I cut my long hair off: oops! Hat fits much less snugly now! So I emailed them asking if I could buy some, and they sent some out free. Woot!

Sooo I'd ask (caveat emptor and all that), but I'm fairly certain if the size is wrong, you can send it back and get a different size without any hassle. If you don't like the look, hmm, dunno about that, but my experience led me to believe they'd say "dude! don't wear the wrong hat! sure, you can have store credit". Whether that's true, I dunno, although looking at their FAQ, it seems like it might be. Still and all, caveat emptor.

Hmm, I should order a safari hat from them. Hmm.

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

It's not that I don't like online — I do almost all my shopping online, including clothes and shoes. But hats are one of those things where I really want to be able to try on several in person and compare them in the mirror. It's almost certainly not a viable business model for hats, but if someone did the Zappos thing (free no-questions-asked returns, they pay shipping both ways), I'd be all over buying a hat online.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

There's a store in central square not far from Teddy's that sometimes has that kind of hat in the window. I'll try to remember this weekend to look for the name. (no promises about my memory, though).

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

If you're thinking of Tello's, I've tried them already. If you're thinking of someplace else in Central, I'd love to know about it.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

Tello's is so not a hat store.

Teddy's shoes in Central square has hats, and I think the Italian clothing store on that same block has hats (that's likely the one that lauradi7 is thinking of).

Tony goes through about 3 hats a year. It's unlikely you'll find a fedora this time of year that's not crappy thin felt -- most of the ones that are good but cheap are light wool.

However, there's a store called Toppers on Tremont Street in Boston (walk down from the Park Street station towards Boylston, it's near the CVS I think.

Downtown Crossing is probably a good place to look in general.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

They were closed by the time I went past, but it looked like both Rulls and Teddy Shoes have fedora-shaped hats. Since it's summer, they may not have wool in stock, I suppose.
http://citysquares.com/cambridge/central-square/retail-shopping/clothing-accessories/rulls

[narya.livejournal.com]

I don't have a specific answer for you, but I often find it works to search Amazon for a few examples I like the looks of and then see if the manufacturers of those examples know of a local place where they're sold.

[noire.livejournal.com]

Toppers in Boston. There is/was one on Newbury St. and I think there's one now kind of across from the Park St. T stop. They're not super cheap, but they have a good selection and the prices are reasonable.

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll check them out.