Barbara Feinman Millinery is a custom hattery in New York City's East Village. Feinman hats are made by two other milliners using a 100-year-old sewing machine and various materials.
Feinman
Feinman studied English at Vassar College and worked 20 years in corporate jobs before taking a millinery class at the Fashion Institute of Technology and switching careers. Her work has been described as elegant and of "impeccable" workmanship with a "dash of whimsy".
Feinman has retired and sold her business to her former partner Julia Knox. The business is renamed East Village Hats now and has moved over a block to 80 East 7th Street. Julia Knox has added hat making classes taught by herself and guest teachers from around the world. Julia Emily Knox is an English milliner, trained at FIT New York, she leads a small team of milliners at East Village Hats, where they hand craft the hats on the premises, using traditional tools, methods and materials. Feinman sold her hat designs through retailers until opening her shop in 1998. The millinery store was a member of the nine store Designers of the East Village Association or group. It was located in an area that has "a history of anarchy, counterculture and edginess." The store is unusual in having hats made on site. Feinman works with business partner, Julia Emily Knox and milliner Katherine Carey to "hand-block and hand-craft hats from start to finish using techniques and equipment scarcely changed since the 19th century". Styles range from fedoras to cloches and fur hats, as well as retrofilm noir and cocktail hats with face veils. The hats start at a price of $250. The store also stocks jewelry, and sunglasses.
Reception
Barbara Feinman Millinery was number four in New York Magazine's 1998 Christmas shopping guide "50 Great New Stores" list and included in the "New York Magazine Shops — A Guide to the Best Stores in New York" in 2000. Customers range from uptown matrons to Japanese tourists. Brookelynn Starnes from the showCloak & Dagger said she wears Barbara Feinman's Panama-style hats.
Comments on hat wearing and buying
Feinman suggests trying hats on when shopping for them because "two hats can look the same, but a small difference in proportion makes a big difference when worn" and to "stay away from small hats if you have big hair" in favor of a "loosely fitting hat that that frames face." Her motto is "If you want to stand out, wear a hat," and she has said that "There really is no substitute for a handmade hat."
