HATS OFF TO COWGIRLS

Brittany Cobb’s Flea Style offers design-your-own Stetson experiences while Lizzy Chesnut brings the boots.

BY ELAINE RAFFEL

It’s rare to see Flea Style founder Brittany Cobb without one of her signature hats. The So-Cal native has been wearing them her whole life. “It’s always been a part of my wardrobe. I’ll take a basic hat and throw something fun on it, just to switch it up.” People noticed. “And then they started asking me if I’d help style theirs.”

Brittany’s aha moment came soon after. “When Covid hit, we had this huge 15,000-square-foot space in our Frisco location that was supposed to be used for events. That obviously wasn’t happening,” she says. It was time to get creative. “I thought, let’s put a hat bar in there until events come back.” The idea took off. “We created a place where people could do an activity with social distancing and forget how crazy the world was. Customers loved it.”

Today there are Hat Bars in all four Flea Style locations—the largest in the Deep Ellum flagship. The process is personal and experiential. Clients start by selecting a hat from an array of shapes, colors, and prices. “From there we just have fun,” says Cobb. “You grab a tray, pick accessories that we curate from local makers and flea markets, then create a hat that completely reflects your unique style.” Among the choices: feathers, brooches, charms, dried flowers, vintage scarves, and more. “A lot of hatmakers are about the designer, about their vision. What we do is flip the narrative. What do you love? We speak to people’s stories and heritage and history, then bring it all to life.”

Especially popular are Hat Bar parties—think birthdays, bachelorette, girlfriend get-togethers. The site also hosts corporate and charity events; Maison Cartier held one here. Collaborations with local businesses add yet another dimension. Stetson, for example, invited Cobb to their Garland factory to create an eponymous custom hat. “We launched with five colors. They’ve been best sellers for us,” she says. And inside the Dallas Flea Style, Fort Worth-based City Boots has a shop-in-shop. “It’s been a great partnership for us,” says founder (and fellow SMU grad) Lizzy Chesnut. “Hats and boots just naturally go together.”

Both women epitomize cowgirl cool, albeit in their own inimitable styles. For Chesnut, that developed growing up in Amarillo, where boots were a mainstay. “When I started college, I wore them all over campus. Tons of girls were interested, but 10 or 15 years ago, nobody knew where—or how—to buy cowboy boots,” she says. The only choices were either super-pricey or cheap. There was nothing in the middle that spoke to a fashion-forward demographic and, at the same time, honored the tradition of cowboy boot making. “Our goal was to design something feminine and female friendly,” says Chesnut. “Like handbags, you can have a whole wardrobe. My personal favorite is the lightning bolt— something that’s never been done on a boot.”

For fall, a collection of seasonal limited-edition designs is on tap. And with the Cattle Barons Ball right around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better. “We’re all about celebrating everyone’s individual style,” says Cobb. “Custom hats are over 50 percent of our business right now so we’re just leaning in and watching it evolve.” P