National Hat Day Celebrations

Any extra special plans for today? It’s National Hat Day today and we’re in celebration mode with our Fall/Winter Clearance Sale. If you’re on the HY email list, you’ll know that we just made the annual event even better by taking an additional 10% off the sale prices (which are already reduced by up to 65%).

What better way to celebrate this special day than with the long overdue acquisition of a hat you’ve been eyeing, like that fur felt fedora The Como from Borsalino — now offered at the best price you’ll ever see?

Don’t forget to load up on shirts, pants and sweaters from designers including Robert Graham, Nat Nast and Tommy Bahama — after all, you’ll need some good-looking duds to go with all those new hats.

Take time to browse — we’ve put up quite a selection, but remember that inventory is limited so for best selection, put your order in today. Once a size, color or style is sold out, no amount of crying will help. I’ll feel for you, of course, and deeply, but it’ll still sting and you’ll have to be strong.

Happy National Hat Day!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

How Many Hats Do You Own?

Although there are certain men among us who admit to not owning even one hat (!), those fashionable gents who do wear flat caps, fedoras and pork pies tend to own at least a few hats, if not several. I suppose I have about ten favorite hats and caps — per season — that I wear, plus some that have seen better days (but I still use in a pinch).

Because I sell hats for a living, which entails meeting and working with hat designers, going on photo shoots and so on, I’m obviously in the enviable position of having access to all styles of hats in numbers that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

On the other hand, it can be very trying for a hat lover such as myself to constantly be presented with the latest newsboy or fedora from master hatters like Borsalino and Wigens, and be introduced to new designers like Eugenia Kim and Victor Osborne. I continually see updated looks or some unique design that puts a new hat in my ever-growing list of favorites.

For instance, when Biltmore came out with The Peluche, a remarkably beautiful pork pie hat with its long, uncombed nap, it made the unequivocal declaration of my new favorite fur felt pork pie (Makins’ Salome — the brushed dress hat with rope trim) feel dishonest. There was in fact an absolute tie between the two impeccably designed and flawlessly made hats that left no room for preference.

Loving all well-made, stylish hats equally, the only solution to hat-hoarding must be either an intervention (ha!) or a larger cupboard/temperature-controlled display case. I’ll leave you to decide which path you think I’ll take.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Thoughtful Fashion for Men in 2013

In Bill Cunningham’s first On the Street segment for 2013, the fashion photographer says the trend in men’s fashion is moving from dress-down Friday disheveled to thoughtfully and wonderfully dressed.

The difference is as striking, he adds, as when fitted jackets and trousers appeared in the 1950s replacing the very full silhouette seen in the decade prior.

Mr. Cunningham’s slideshow, a weekly feature in the The New York Times, is not specific to men’s hats, but in viewing the images, you’ll see everyday well-dressed men (in a cold Manhattan) wearing everything from an enormous Russian fur ushanka to a great-looking fedora, as well as a variety of flat caps, newsboys and watch caps.

He concludes that the overall direction that men’s fashion is taking is “to clean up your act. The dress-down Friday is not going to work.”

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

A Look at The Foldaway

This fur felt fedora by Christys’ London has been quietly racking up five-star reviews, and being one of my all-time favorite hats, I thought I’d share in the celebration:

• David from Little Rock calls The Foldaway a great hat, saying: I love the hat. This purchase was a replacement for my old and well worn one that was ready for retirement.

• DRS says it’s “as good as the first time.” Meaning? “My purchase from HY of the Christy’s Foldaway trilby is my second such purchase, having lost the first in a NYC cab. Still the best.”

• Martin G. of New York concurs, calling the fedora “A very fine hat. I like the fact that it can be shaped and it is not rigid. Sizing is accurate. This is my first day wearing it and confidence is high.”

• In California, Christopher C. posted this review: “I bought this hoping it would look as good on me as it did in the picture. I was pleased. Since it is a foldaway, it is thinner and more casual looking than a standard fur felt hat. It is still quite striking.”

• Dale C. says: “I like to take a hat when I travel, but they always end up getting crushed in the aircraft overhead bin. This one rolls up nicely and fits in my carry on or blazer pocket. It sometimes requires a bit of manipulation to get it back to the desired shape, but this is a very small issue for the convenience of a fine fur felt fedora roll-up.”

• His “favorite hat by far”, R.B. from South Carolina posts: “I now have two fur felt fedoras for winter wear. This is far and away the better of the two! It only comes in Burma so I wear it with greens and browns. If they had the same hat in Grey to wear with blues and blacks, I’d get it and give my other fur felt away.”

• Gary M. finds The Foldaway versatile, saying: “I’ve had this had for at least three years. You really can crush it, or roll it up, Then “re-inflate” it, reshape it, and it’s ready to go. It can assume a variety of shapes. Its only drawback is that it is limited in how dressy it can look. After few years the re-shaping makes it look a bit shabby, but it still works great as a less formal hat. I’m still wearing it that way.”

Thanks, as always, for making HartfordYork.com your go-to online hat store and for taking the time to provide feedback. Very much appreciated.

Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York