Local Etsy of the Week: A Heads Up on Innovative Hat Shops

House of Nines Design

Etsy is often like a thrift store -- it can require a lot of time and patience to pick through a lot of crap (or more importantly, overpriced crap) to find the really well-crafted gems. In order to take the guesswork out of your valiant attempts to support local artists, each week we provide you with a few awesome shops.

In case you missed missed it, last week's Etsy of the Week featured cards for every occasion, from birthdays to apologies. Snail mail may have gone out of style, but hopefully it inspired some party invitations, so you can make use of this week's sweet headgear.

If you don't have a special occasion coming soon, you'll want to make one up -- few hats get as dapper as those found in House of Nines Design by Tricia Roush. The shop features classic bowlers, fedoras, and top hats, each designed with a touch of elegant flair. Veils, hand-rolled pheasant feathers, and ribbon adorn these chic pieces and are clearly created with the refined in mind.

William C. Cole/Aya Kasper

Equally classy yet a touch more flamboyant are the hats at Hikari Design by Aya Kasper. Here, sequins, peacock feathers, and butterflies are the standard adornments for these fascinators. You can even acquire specifically themed ones for holidays such as Halloween. Promenades may have long since gone out of style (much the way of the previously bemoaned tradition of handwritten cards), but at the very least these may call for an afternoon at Dolores.

Pinkie for Pink

As an honorable mention, if your style is more "Nouveau Children's Birthday Party," check out the cute party hats at Pinkie for Pink. Yep, they're just like the old school cone birthday hats of childhoods past, but with the upgrade of feather accents and custom numbering (and even though most feature single digits, two numbers could probably fit on there so everyone can join the fun). Whether your look of choice is Disney princesses or dinosaurs, there's definitely one to suit your celebration.