Try on a hat and you try on a personality. Unlike trying on clothes, hats don’t make you feel fat. Hats don’t judge you and point out your flaws like looking at yourself in a cosmetics mirror or a mirror in a swimsuit dept. Shoes can make your feet hurt but hats don’t. So why don’t more people buy/wear hats?

We recently discovered Goorins hat store in North Beach that is worth its weight in gold as a source of entertainment, social interaction and personal preening. In fact, my hat-averse husband bought one after the ministrations of one of their expert staff and the supportive comments of shoppers. People trying on hats support each other. It’s a friendly kind of shopping. We saw guys and gals trying on fedoras, cowboy hats, watch caps, woolen hats and aviator caps. They were all younger & hipper than us and we felt younger & hipper in their company.

Goorins is a fourth generation haberdasher and their shop has the feel of the old west with warm woods and antique posters and furniture. It’s a trip just to be there and they have both traditional and the latest in haberdashery. There are plenty other hat stores around and hat depts. in many stores so there’s no excuse not to discover the pleasures of headgear therapy. Randy Newman‘s song had it right with “You can leave your hat on.” Hats are sexy!

So, after over an hour of playtime at Goorins, my guy bought a dashing newsboy cap.  We took it out for a spin last weekend during a drizzle — he in his new cap and me in my ancient, beloved fedora. Both hats kept our noggins warm & dry and reminded us of our fun afternoon of dress up play in the hat store.