Hello, I am Greg Mitchell aka The Hat Whisperer, sole proprietor of The Hattery Vintage in Mingus, Texas USA. Native Texan, and lifelong resident of Fort Worth.
Forever a student of western heritage, history, and culture. My childhood heroes were Roy Rogers, Clayton Moore, Audie Murphy, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood…well, you get the picture. Though I was raised in the city, I always wore boots and jeans and checkered shirts, (like Roy), and of course, hats! An avid gatherer of collectibles, memorabilia, antique tools, and folk art, I’m fascinated by old books, photographs, and newspapers. During the mid 1970’s my Dad owned the old Stockyards Drugstore on the corner of North Main St. and East Exchange Ave. in the Fort Worth Stockyards. When he bought the old drugstore I helped him get it ready to reopen, because it had been closed and abandoned for several years. The store was full of old products, equipment, and artifacts from a bygone era. Sadly, my Dad had no appreciation for history and ordered me to “clear the shelves” and make ready to stock them with new sell-able merchandise. I was able to salvage precious few items from the store and the beautiful soda fountain. My heart was breaking with every trip to the dumpster! Anyway, once we got the store ready to open, I received a bonus of a $40 gift certificate to the business next door…Coker’s Western Hatters. I went in to order a custom hat, and after a tour of the factory, I was hooked. I visited the hat shop every day while my own hat was being made and observed as each hat was made to order in a specific quality, size, color, crown height, brim width, trim, and accessories… even the name of the hat owner printed inside the leather sweatband in gold leaf! Then the hat was custom fitted, creased, and shaped when the customer came to pick it up. Before long, I was pitching in and helping with some of the simpler labor intensive tasks of hat-making! Not for money… for LOVE! By the time my own hat was completed, I was hired as a hatter’s apprentice! Well, for the next 10 years or so I progressed to a journeyman and master hatter level, general manager, and store manager. But my favorite job of all was creasing and shaping the hats, and seeing the happy faces of the people who wore them! I found that I had an eye and a heart for that part of the business…a knack…a gift in fact. I could converse with someone, get an idea about their preferences and their personality. Look at their facial shape, their build, height, shoulder breadth, etc. and know just what would look best on them. So, I let people choose, and direct me, and will shape the hat the way they want it, but if they don’t know what they want, I am seldom wrong about what will look best on them and what they will end up really liking to wear. Comfort is imperative, appearance is just as important, but secondary because the hat will not be worn if it is uncomfortable. A really good-looking hat that is uncomfortable just hangs on a peg. Proper fitting is essential. I love for someone to bring me a hat that they bought somewhere else but never wear because it doesn’t fit right or look good. They usually walk out with that same hat that fits well and looks GREAT.
Come to The Hattery Vintage. Let’s talk.