Hats Off to New Orleans in the New Year

If you are itching to revamp your look for the New Year, why not start at the top? Nothing channels your inner Cary Grant or Marlene Dietrich like a smart hat, and New Orleans offers several establishments where you can order a high quality purchase and even customize your one-of-a-kind chapeaux. Donning  stylish headwear is essential to adopting the New Orleans fashion.

Cary Grant

Goorin Hatmakers was founded by Cassel Goorin in Pittsburgh in 1895. His sons moved the business  to California in the 1940s, and as their well crafted, sturdy hats gained popularity, they expanded across the US. They recently  opened their first store south of the Mason Dixon line on Royal Street,  just behind the cathedral. Shopkeeper Heather Ferdinand notes that the store’s New Orleans vibe is supported by the steady stream of music that comes from both inside and outside its doors. Its location in the heart of the French Quarter ensures customers enjoy trying on its signature hat styles to the sounds of Dixieland and ragtime. But Ferdinand also notes that many customers enjoy the songs cranked out by one of its employees, Sam Camaretto, a local musician who has regular gigs on Frenchmen street when he isn’t delighting visitors in the store with his tunes. Goorin’s hats range in formality and style, appealing to both the downtown hipster musicians in front of the store and the uptown attorneys who pop in for a handmade Fedora to keep off the New Orleans sun.

Just a few doors down from Goorin lies a different kind of hat store: one that offers a fully customizable experience for the woman who wants to wear a hat unlike any other in the world. Fleur de Paris is one of the few hat stores in the United States where you can create your personalized hat with milliner Kimberly Gondrella, whose line of millinery instruction goes back to Coco Chanel. If customizing isn’t a priority, the store is stocked with an abundance of feathered and beribboned confections available for purchase. Proprietor Joseph Parrino observed that his staff is there to guide clients through all aspects of hat purchasing and wearing. Visitors to Fleur de Paris are encouraged to try on many styles of hats, in order to find the best shape for their face, whether they are looking for an outlandish creation for the Kentucky Derby or just something to “go to the grocery store in.” He is proud of the “old -fashioned experience” his store offers to clients both locally and around the world. After Katrina, Parrino remembers that most stores scaled back, but he decided to “go big.” He combined his two stores into one salon offering not only hats, but also dresses, jewelry and hosiery. But the anchor of the store is the dozens upon dozens of delightfully decorated chapeaux, whose seasonal styles are featured in the store’s ever changing window.

Full confession: In September of 2005, I was invited to a wedding at the Tower of London. I was the only American invited and wanted to represent my country well, so of course, I immediately went to Fleur de Paris to create my custom hat. When I evacuated for Katrina, I brought it with me to show my family. Though I neglected to bring the suit, bag and shoes that matched the hat, I was savvy enough to pack my passport, and about a week after the levees failed, found myself on an airplane bound for London, with little more than a toothbrush and a Fleur de Paris hatbox. I found a matching outfit in London and while at the wedding, three different ladies asked me where I got my hat. A moment of triumph amid a time of tragedy.

If you are in need of a lift for the upcoming year, then go buy a hat at one of these fine New Orleans locales.  The minute you put it on your head, you will stand straighter, your step will be jaunty and brisk, and anything will seem possible.

Elizabeth Pearce is a culinary historian at the Hermann-Grima House, where she directs their hearth cooking program. She also gives cocktail and culinary walking tours of the French Quarter. When she’s not drinking or talking about drinking, she’s writing about drinking at Neat with a Twist. To find out more, visit Elizabeth’s website.

 

Tagged as: fedoras, Fleur de Paris, French Quarter, Goorin, New Orleans, New Orleans hat stores, New Orleans Shopping