“What are you going to do with that feather?”
And this is what I did with my Meyer Hatter feather. Nice, right?
Standing at the counter, I’m thinking that question must be for me since I’m holding a feather. I turn around and address the gentleman in a hat, “Ah, I’m going to use it to embellish one of my hats. I have lots of hats at home.” (The feathers of course are for the men’s hats but why not women’s hats, too?)
“Put it in your pocket,” he orders.
Me with Mr. Sam Meyer.
I take a second glance at the nice man and notice a name tag pinned to his shirt. It suddenly hits me that it’s Mr. Meyer, the owner of this grand old New Orleans hat shop, Meyer The Hatter located on St. Charles Street.
On a sunny Friday afternoon, the shop is bustling with customers. Many of them regulars served by Mr. Meyer’s grandsons. It’s a three generation business now, having started back in 1894 by Mr. Meyer’s grandfather. Today Sam Meyer, his two sons and two grandsons run the family business keeping customers from around the world happily donning stylish hats. Including Eric Clapton and actor Wendell Pierce from the NOLA television series, Treme.
Mr. Meyer tells me his go-to hat is the pork pie. “That’s what the English call it.” He’s been sporting that style for 40 years with no intention of switching.
I ask about women’s hats and apparently that’s something relatively new to the shop. They added women’s styles five or six years ago and only because “… women kept coming in and asking for hats.”
NOLA residents do like their chapeaux – both men and women. Perhaps it’s the sunny weather, the heat, or just good of fashion southern tradition. Whatever, this hat gal likes it!
A big thank you to Sam Meyer and to all the friendly folks at Meyer The Hatter. It was a pleasure!
Now this guy knows how to beat the heat with style. He was parked here on the corner of Canal and Royal streets on a partly sunny and humid Friday afternoon.
