Michael D
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 90
- Location
- Denver, CO
Let me tell you about my experience buying hats in Europe.
Here in the states we go to a store that sells hats and we see the stock out in front where we can look at and try on what strikes our fancy. If we need a sales person to help we can ask.
About 18 months ago I was in Milan, Italy. I went with my son to the Martinelli hat shop. This is where he had bought my first Borsalino about 2 years before when he was living in Milan. I knew I could get another one for a good price. The shop is small, in the corner of an old building in the heart of Milan. We walked in and immediately I notice that there aren't any hats out and available to try on. I said the shop was small and most of it was taken up by hats stacked on shelves on the walls that went right up to the high ceiling. Of course they're not all Borsalinos but I suspect they're all Italian. Oh year, there were a few mirrors on the walls as well.
Suddenly I'm reminded of being in a hat shop in Barcelona, Spain in 1973 where I bought a tweed cap with a yarn ball on the top that I wasn't that crazy about, because it's what the salesman brought out and he insisted that it looked good on me and was 'muy esport'.
Back to Milan. The proprietor greets us and asks how he can help (in Italian, I brought my son along as translator). We tell him that I want a Borsalino and he asks what size, 60 cm. We also tell him that I want a 70mm brim.
He then proceeds to bring out the newest style that he said just came in. It also comes in a brand new color, Kangaroo. It has a leather hatband with a medallion displaying the Borsalino name. It's a low crown fedora with a wide snap down brim. in a fairly stiff (for a Borsalino) fur felt. I try it on. My son and the salesman say it looks good. I think that it's different than the other Borsalino I have and maybe that's good. I ask for a larger size. I compare them both. I choose the 60 cm one. I'm still not sure, but I'm exhausted from all the walking we'd been doing just to get there. (My son couldn't remember exactly where the shop was nor it's name so we ended up walking a couple miles after getting off at the wrong metro stop before we found it). So I say "Yeah, I'll take it."
I plop down 137 Euros ($150) and walk out with my hat. I go across the street to a bar where my wife, my other son and our Italian friend have been cooling their heels while we were hat shopping. I knew by then that I had bought another tweed cap with a yarn ball on top...
They all said that the hat looked good. I tried to convinced myself that I could live with it. Hey, it was a Borsalino!
All I really needed to do was go back to the shop and say I wanted to exchange it for something else. I didn't. I wore it home and put i on a hook on my wall with my other hats.
That's where it stays most of the time. I hardly ever wear it and when I do it's because I feel like I should, but I don't really like the way it looks on me.
So let this be a warning to all you hat buyers out there. If you go to a small shop where the stock is stacked on shelves and there's a salesman who is so anxious to sell you the latest and greatest hat be sure you know exactly what you want to buy because you may end up with tweed cap with a yarn ball on the top.
Anyone out there interested in a slightly used Borsalino in kangaroo?
Mike LOL
Here in the states we go to a store that sells hats and we see the stock out in front where we can look at and try on what strikes our fancy. If we need a sales person to help we can ask.
About 18 months ago I was in Milan, Italy. I went with my son to the Martinelli hat shop. This is where he had bought my first Borsalino about 2 years before when he was living in Milan. I knew I could get another one for a good price. The shop is small, in the corner of an old building in the heart of Milan. We walked in and immediately I notice that there aren't any hats out and available to try on. I said the shop was small and most of it was taken up by hats stacked on shelves on the walls that went right up to the high ceiling. Of course they're not all Borsalinos but I suspect they're all Italian. Oh year, there were a few mirrors on the walls as well.
Suddenly I'm reminded of being in a hat shop in Barcelona, Spain in 1973 where I bought a tweed cap with a yarn ball on the top that I wasn't that crazy about, because it's what the salesman brought out and he insisted that it looked good on me and was 'muy esport'.
Back to Milan. The proprietor greets us and asks how he can help (in Italian, I brought my son along as translator). We tell him that I want a Borsalino and he asks what size, 60 cm. We also tell him that I want a 70mm brim.
He then proceeds to bring out the newest style that he said just came in. It also comes in a brand new color, Kangaroo. It has a leather hatband with a medallion displaying the Borsalino name. It's a low crown fedora with a wide snap down brim. in a fairly stiff (for a Borsalino) fur felt. I try it on. My son and the salesman say it looks good. I think that it's different than the other Borsalino I have and maybe that's good. I ask for a larger size. I compare them both. I choose the 60 cm one. I'm still not sure, but I'm exhausted from all the walking we'd been doing just to get there. (My son couldn't remember exactly where the shop was nor it's name so we ended up walking a couple miles after getting off at the wrong metro stop before we found it). So I say "Yeah, I'll take it."
I plop down 137 Euros ($150) and walk out with my hat. I go across the street to a bar where my wife, my other son and our Italian friend have been cooling their heels while we were hat shopping. I knew by then that I had bought another tweed cap with a yarn ball on top...
They all said that the hat looked good. I tried to convinced myself that I could live with it. Hey, it was a Borsalino!
All I really needed to do was go back to the shop and say I wanted to exchange it for something else. I didn't. I wore it home and put i on a hook on my wall with my other hats.
That's where it stays most of the time. I hardly ever wear it and when I do it's because I feel like I should, but I don't really like the way it looks on me.
So let this be a warning to all you hat buyers out there. If you go to a small shop where the stock is stacked on shelves and there's a salesman who is so anxious to sell you the latest and greatest hat be sure you know exactly what you want to buy because you may end up with tweed cap with a yarn ball on the top.
Anyone out there interested in a slightly used Borsalino in kangaroo?
Mike LOL
