Harlem's Heaven Hats goes on a pop-up tour this summer

For over 30 years, milliner Evetta Petty and her boutique, Harlem's Heaven Hats, has been one of the gems of Harlem's fashion and retail scene. Her hats grace Vogue covers and A-list celebrities, as well as Harlem's stylish church ladies.

While everyone from the churchgoers to the society women at New York’s charity luncheons has donned Evetta Petty’s hats, this summer she decided to take her spring and summer collections on the road throughout upper Manhattan. Her traveling pop-up shop kicked off this past week on May 29 at Manhattan’s Grand Bazaar, located at 100 West 77th Street.

“It’s horse race season, and I’m used to my store being packed this time of year,” Petty said to FashionUnited. “We just finished working with clients for the Kentucky Derby. We have the Belmont Stakes coming up, on top of the Royal Ascot Races and polo matches. I haven’t had big crowds in my shop since COVID-19. I decided that if people weren’t coming into the store like they used to, I would take my hats to the people.”

Petty recently took her pop-up tour to the Brooklyn Museum, where she was met with a great response. Next month, she will join local Harlem retailers and vendors at the brand new Harlem Bazaar. The Harlem community wanted to bring together artists, merchants, and designers to one space in the neighborhood and create an outdoor retail experience like that offered at the Upper West Side's Grand Bazaar and Downtown Manhattan's Union Square. The new Harlem Bazaar will open on the third Friday of every month from June to October at the State Building on 125th Street.

“People have been very excited to meet me after seeing my hats everywhere for so long,” Petty said to FashionUnited. “This is also a great way to let people know what I do. Some people have seen me on TV talking about hats, and they have seen my hats on magazine covers. I have been doing all these interesting things I am proud of up in Harlem. I am glad I am getting out and letting people know about the excitement going Uptown.”

Trend forecasters and retailers say people are wearing hats less, but Petty rebukes this notion. “The idea of people not wearing hats anymore isn’t true,” she said to FashionUnited. “In popular culture, we see celebrities wearing hats. Young men are wearing hats again, including fedoras and wide brims. Women are back to attending horse races, tea parties, and sorority conventions after COVID-19 lockdown.”

Petty attributes the trend of young women wearing hats again to the two royal weddings we have seen in the past decade. When Prince William married Duchess Kate Middleton, there was an increase in the search for fascinators. When Prince Harry married Duchess Meghan Markle, there was also an increase in popularity and search for hats. During Markle’s time as a working royal, she was also known for sporting hats and fascinators that would “break the internet.”

“Before the royal weddings, it was a challenge to get young women to wear hats,” Petty said to FashionUnited. “Women would spend so much money on these expensive hairdos, like weaves and braids, and of course, they didn’t want to cover them up. After the royal weddings happened, they wanted that Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle look. This created a global hat buzz.”

Petty also said there has been a rise in Derby-themed parties, and people are dressing the part. This gives the opportunity to don Sunday best hats.

Her pop-up tour might just be getting started, but with horse race season in full effect and customers loving hats again, Petty looks poised for success. She could be coming to a part of Manhattan near you any weekend now.