Berkeley Hat Company Has a Hat for Any Occasion, Even Burning Man

You name it, fedora, pork pie, stingy brim, messenger, beret, summer, winter, and I could go on and on.

Yelp

The Shop

I bought my first hat from Berkeley Hat Company online 15 years ago, an Irish flat cap in brown Harris Tweed.

Even though I’ve left it in a dozen restaurants over the years I still have it. Many thanks to the waiter at a Thai restaurant in Mountain View who ran after my moving car with the Harris Tweed in hand.

I recently bought another flat cap but in linen for Summer. This time I went to the shop on Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley’s iconic shopping street.

When I entered the store I was struck by the abundance of hats everywhere and their bright colors. In its long narrow aisles I felt shoulder to shoulder with all kinds of hats. They were above and behind me as well, displayed on the store’s high walls.

As to the colors, Berkeley Hat covers the whole spectrum from brown tweed to red berets and neon orange wigs.

Caps, stacked by size, bring to mind  Esphyr Slobodkina’s classic children’s book, More Caps For Sale.

If you need assistance while shopping, the young woman at the register is gracious and very helpful.

Hat Styles

The Yelp reviewer’s comments, “You name it” and “I could go on and on” are excellent descriptions of the store’s inventory. You can find hats for all looks, personae, and occasions.

Want to look professorial? Check out the tweed flat caps.

Want something grittier, say, the Boston Southie or waterfront look? Get a brimless flat cap (also known as a pub, Scally, Paddy, or duckbill).

The shop has a range of other styles, among them urban-looking fedoras (with and without a feather), outdoor hats, Panama hats, berets, Outback hats, and 10 gallon western hats.

Berkeley Hat lists a wide range of women’s hats. “We have tons of casual hats, UPF 50+ sun hats, rain hats, straw hats, felt hats, Church hats, outdoor hats, cocktail hats, cloches, fedoras, big brims, little brims, and military shapes.”

Not that hat styles are the exclusive dominion of either men or women. For example, women have worn fedoras since at least the 1930s. To modify Coco Chanel’s famous observation about the best color to wear, “The best hat in the whole world is the one that looks good on you.”

Novelty Hats

Berkeley Hat also offers tons of Kentucky Derby hats and fascinators. This category of fancy dress hats is not limited to horse racing. It extends to weddings, high teas, royal weddings, and events that call for a touch of flamboyance.

Expansive Kentucky Derby hats are a good lead-in for novely hats, which are perfect for events that have relaxed boundaries, such as Halloween parties, Burning Man, and cosplay conventions.

The oversized Mad Hatter’s hat fulfills Burning Man’s principle of radical self-expression along with providing full head protection from the high desert sun (ya think?).

Another hat for Burning Man is the pink flamingo hat. Who says that wearing a hat suggestive of a swinging lifestyle, tacky yard ornaments, John Waters, and avian elegance isn’t radical?

Berkeley Hat can help you with your entire get-up. “We have Costume Accessories like Wings, Masks, Cream Makeup, Fangs, Fake Blood, Fake Mustaches, Spirit Gum, Costume Jewelry, Feather Boas, Flapper Beads and Headpieces, Fake Pirate Hooks, Ostrich, Peacock and Pheasant Feathers.”

Give Berkeley Hat a try, even if you don’t consider yourself a hat person. You’re bound to find one that will make you smile. Who knows, it even might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.