Yesterday we went hat shopping to a place that we've been referred to several times. When I saw "we" most people are directing the suggestion to my boyfriend, Michael, since he's the one with no hair. Or, at least very little of it now that he shaves his head with a #1 adjustment on his hair trimmer.
We picked up way more hats than we expected (a total of 5) but that is because we found a lot to like and I offered to buy one of the hats as Michael's early Xmas gift. He got 2 more casual styles that he can wear when he's out running around doing errands and then he got a couple of more formal hats to wear with suits, and the last one is a PorkPie (sp?) hat that he'll wear out on the town especially to places like jazz clubs.
The staff at B. Utz is well trained and very knowledgeable about their products. They're also very attentive to the clients as well as the hats being pulled out of the display cases. I had no idea the level of care and maintence required for some of these hats and I learned something about the materials used to produce a good hat. Oddly enough Pacific Magazine had an article about this shop printed the day after our excursion so I'm sure there'll be a small pick up in their business in the next couple of weeks before Xmas too. They carry women's hats too which I didn't realize before we went to the shop. Usually it's men recommending the shop to other men so I was pleasantly surprised when I went in to see that I could try on some hats too.
The shop is between 3rd and 4th on Union and just happens to sit next to a fabulous Gelateria on the corner. Make a nice little day trip of it and treat yourself to hats and gelato. You'll be glad you did.
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