SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Hatsationals’ Haberdashery’s owner, Joyce Locks, won’t let a customer buy it unless it looks good.
“It is overwhelming for them,” she said. “There’s too many colors and choices to figure out. But that’s what I’m here for you to figure it out for them.
” “Then if I don’t like what they put on their head,” she clicked her tongue and mimed, taking off a hat, “off it comes because I have too many choices. They have to look gorgeous. But the key is, they have to feel gorgeous and empowered.
” Locks was driven to hat-making by a personal need. Down in Florida for one of her horse’s races, the humidity and her “frizzy, not pretty curly” hair didn’t get along. She didn’t have a hat and couldn’t find a hat shop to remedy the issue.
When she came home, she opened her store for people in Saratoga looking for a similar remedy, selling her hats in Congress Park, a block and a half from her current storefront. Saratoga Race Course approached her there, and 15 years ago she began (and still does) selling hats during race season. It got to the point where her house was full of hats and she told her husband it was “brick-and-mortar time.
” Now her store is lined from ceiling to floor with hats, bags, and accessories, the jazz crooning through the speakers, making it an immersive experience just to step inside. “I try to use every square inch of the real estate I can because I try to put everything out,” she said. “Oth.