Thursday, October 27, 2011

Hartford York

The onslaught of holiday catalogs has begun at our house. The most interesting in today's batch was the latest from hat purveyor Hartford York. I've never shopped here, and am only marginally familiar with their catalog, but being a hat guy I peeked.

Included are hats of all styles from top hats, flat caps, fedoras and ear muffs, from manufacturers including Stetson, Borsalino, Christy's, along with stylists unheard of by anyone not a mad hatter.

Buying a hat is not unlike buying a lamp shade. A successful outcome is more likely if the object to be covered (lamp or head) is present, and is part of the buying experience. Fractions of an inch matter, as gentlemen's hats are sold in 1/4 inch or 1 mm increments. That's why catalog hat shopping only works when either you are replacing a known favorite hat with its identical twin, or price shopping for a chapeau you've tried on elsewhere.

Oddly, all Hartford York hats, save Christy's, are sold, small, medium, large, with no indication anywhere of what a s, m, l, xl is. Since each manufacturer's range is likely different, HY's hat are guaranteed to fit only the very lucky few.

Should you need a hat, buy locally. Buy from a pro. The few dollars extra it costs will pay dividends forever while you enjoy a hat that fits, and enhances your appearance.

Every man looks good in a hat.

Toad

5 comments:

Barbara said...

Amazing. There's a catalog I don't receive??!!

JMW said...

I did not know about this catalog, and yet it features a middle name bestowed upon my husband and son!

Old Polo said...

As an owner of several custom made hats, Toad, I'd say your advise was "Spot On"!

Anonymous said...

THAT GAAAAAAME LAST NIGHT!

-Flo

Hartford York Hats said...

Hi,

I'm the marketing assistant and publicist for HartfordYork.com, and would like to let you know that do have sizing charts as well as a video about how to properly measure for a hat.

The dedicated page at HY is www.hartfordyork.com/hat_size


Buying locally and trying on hats in person certainly makes sense, but there is simply no shop in America with the range of product HY carries.

We also provide a happiness guarantee: if you are not completely happy with your hat, return it for a full refund and we'll pay the return shipping.

Feel free to check out the customer testimonials at Hartford York

www.hartfordyork.com/category/testimonials

or touch base directly with the CEO, Steve Singer at steve@hartfordyork.com

Thanks!
Stephanie