Bates

Bates ist ein sagenhaftes Hutgeschäft in der Jermyn Street. Diese Straße ist ja ein totales Männerparadies. Frauen kann man hier nicht brauchen, die schickt man besser hinüber in die Bond Street. Und dann probiert man in aller Ruhe phantastische Hüte an. Bates fertigt eine eigene Marke mit ganz feinen, leichten und sehr eleganten Hüten.

These days, Bates Hatters operate from the premises of Hilditch and Key (73 Jermyn Street). This unfortunately means that space is fairly restricted, but they seem to have a big store room and can retrieve almost any hat they got even if it is not on display.
The quality of Bates hats is very good, and they choice of different styles is just overwhelming. However, nowadays, the demand for gentlemen’s hats is reduced to special occasions, and therefore a shop of this caliber is under threat of getting completely obsolete. Additionally, its biggest competitor, Lock Hatters, is just around the corner on St James, and they do ladies’ hats as well and seem to survive on the Ascot business.
Price-​wise, Bates comes in a little cheaper than Lock (prices vary considerably between different hat styles), and the quality in my opinion is just as good.
A great shop for an anachronistic product !

Amazing! Rein in den Laden — Verkäufer sieht aus dem Augenwickel den Kopf meines Mannes — spricht: Size 61 — zeigt auf zwei Stapel — mein Mann zieht zwei Mützen raus, legt eine gleich wieder weg — probiert «passt» — zur Kasse!
Toll, eine Mütze innerhalb von 8:38 Minuten in einem wunderschönen Laden gekauft. Was bedeutet mehr Zeit zum shoppen für mich!

This is such a cute old school hat shop on a lovely Jermyn Street in London. You walk in and the shopkeeper who has been managing the shop for about 40 years asks Can I help you? and you answer I’d like a hat please (thinking why else would I have come in to a shop that only sells hats??) They measure your head and then you have the tough job of choosing which type of hat, which style, which colour — even if you know what you want (the choice in here is so good it can be distracting). This is traditionally a gentleman’s hat shop, but trilbys can look good on the ladies too! It’s a wonderful family owned and run business, which has been around since the turn of the last century. They have everything from formal headwear, soft felt hats, panama hats and straw boaters, to sun and rain hats, tweed hats and caps. The shop itself has lots of character and charm and takes you back a hundred years! If you want a good English hat, this is the place.