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Jaxon Hats

  • Jaxon
    EVERY MAN, ANY OCCASION

    Quality and Value are not mutually exclusive. These hats have been carefully designed and manufactured so that there is no compromise in the materials, the workmanship, the fit, or the styling. Because the world is getting smaller, Jaxon Hats is able to source the planet in an effort to bring customers headwear that meets the twin criteria of "Quality" and "Value". This is a new line, available at VillageHatShop.com in both the Retail and Wholesale sections of the site. This line will grow considerably in the months and years ahead so, if you are a hat lover, be certain to revisit Jaxon Hats on a regular basis.

sur la tête

  • Sur-la-tete
    sur la tête is the brain child of millinery designer Susan Lee. Ms. Lee began her career in hats while, as an art history student at The University of California San Diego, she worked part-time in sales at The Village Hat Shop’s retail stores in both Seaport Village And Horton Plaza. Her unique style, flair, good humor, and stellar work habits caught the attention of management. As fate would have it, the hat retailer’s long-time buyer and merchandise manager retired to full-time motherhood at the same time that Susan graduated from the University. She was offered the job, accepted it, and the rest is hat history. Susan literally traveled the world learning the millinery trade and buying hats. sur la tête represents her breakout from buyer to designer. Because of Ms. Lee’s background as a retail buyer, this line brings together her deep understanding of what a customer is looking for with the fashion forward flair that is pure Susan. And to top it off (pun intended), these hats go from manufacturer to customer without middle distribution – what that means to you is great prices. Enjoy – be the first on your block to wear a sur la tête.
VillageHatShop.com

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VillageHatShop.com Newsletter

For those of you who like news about hats, or like to buy and wear hats, consider opting into the VillageHatShop.com monthly newsletter.  Sometimes this short and simple email will direct the recipient to new hat information or resources, like The Mode In Hats and Headdress added this year to the site.  At other times, the monthly missive will feature a discount, like the one currently running.  Here is a sample email, the latest sent to the newsletter list:

Dear Village Hat Shop Customer,

Just a short note letting you know that we are extending the JAXON25 coupon through October, that’s 25% off any and all Jaxon Hats (except wholesale).  This extension of a coupon is a first for us, but the arrival of Jaxons to our warehouse is going slower than anticipated and many styles will continue to arrive through October. 

We have also added Gift Certificates to the site.  You may purchase either a Paper Gift Certificate or an Email Gift Certificate.  See the right column of the home page for details. 

Finally, if you haven’t seen the Hat Blog lately, take a look.  There are many new posts – access is via the left column of the VillageHatShop.com home page under Hat Resources.  There is a place for comments after each posting – we want to see what you think!

That’s All Folks – Thanks For Your Biz,

Fred, Tina, Bruce, Aoife, and Jill

http://VillageHatShop.com

http://Berets.com

http://JaxonHats.com

The newsletter is sent to only those people who opt in at www.VillageHatShop.com.  The list is not sold or made available to anyone or any other business.

By the way, that JAXON25 coupon code in the sample letter is good through the end of October 2005. 

Posted by Fred Belinsky on October 04, 2005 in Introduction | | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

HATS TODAY

Once upon a time hats were worn by virtually everyone.  A person was in fact considered undressed if he or she went out in public without a hat.  Furthermore, not just any hat would do, but rather the proper hat for both the times and the season was required.  Hats being de rigueur in society lasted millennia with the mode for men over the past few centuries passing from cocked hats to top hats to bowlers and skimmers, and finally to fedoras.  Then, about a hundred years ago, small niches of society (wealthy women, ivy league athletic fraternities, horseless carriage enthusiasts), claiming the banner of non-conformity began going hatless.  This sartorial heresy movement limped along for a number of decades having some limited effect on the hat wearing status quo.  Then in the early 1960s, the tipping point occurred.  Growing rebellion against authority and conformity and those hoping for a new day and order found an icon in a hatless American president.   In very short order, hats were not cool, showing hair was cool. 

Fortunately for those of us who make our living selling hats, the story does not end here.  Ironically, the issue that crippled our business some decades ago – that hat wearing was conformist and contrary to individual expression – is what will save it today.  As author and economist Virginia Postrel writes in “The Design of Your Life” (THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE AND NATURE WRITING, 2004), “Ours is a pluralistic age in which different styles can coexist, as long as they please the individuals who choose them.” What is salient for those of us selling hats today is inherent in Postrel’s next comment, “All this choice required technological and business innovations, but the shift expresses deeper cultural changes too.  The extension of liberal individualism – the primacy of self-definition over hierarchy and inherited, group-determined status – has altered our aesthetic universe.  Try as they may, official tastemakers no longer determine the ‘right way’ to look.”  Those of us surviving in this industry understand this message loud and clear.  We cannot keep bread on the table or send our kids to college on the strength of gray fedoras alone.  Hats will sell – one style at a time to one individual at a time.  We were caught off guard in 1960, but that lesson should give us an advantage in this new day and age.  One’s hat is now a personal form of expression – a very specific means by which the individual differentiates himself or herself from the pack.  Today, we hat sellers not only can survive, we are well positioned to lead. 

Fred Belinsky

The Village Hat Shop

http://VillageHatShop.com

http://Berets.com

Posted by Fred Belinsky on February 18, 2005 in Introduction | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (1)