Hats in The Belfry Review + $50 Giveaway!

Updated: The giveaway is now closed, and we have a winner! Congratulations to April G. (#19). I'll be in touch this week with more details about your $50 gift card to Hats in the Belfry!

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by Elizabeth

Editor's note: Elizabeth was sent a hat from Hats in the Belfry to review, free of charge, and they're providing a $50 gift card to their Belfry hat line to a lucky reader. She wasn't compensated otherwise and the opinions and thoughts in this post are her own.

I've been undergoing a little bit of a personal life transformation of late. Early last year, something in me just snapped, or woke up maybe, and I decided I was tired of looking sloppy at every opportunity. I'm a SAHM so I didn't want to wear my prom dress to Kindergarten drop off, but I wanted to be dressed nicely most of the time, and I wanted a small but deliberate wardrobe that I could mix and match easily so that I'd never be stuck in front of a closet full of clothes that didn't fit, didn't go with each other, and that left me nothing to wear. 

And it was very successful! It's been life changing, actually. (If you want to read about it more detail, you can read about it at my personal blog under the "What I Wore" tab, but be forewarned, there's a lot of pictures of me in dresses.)

The final pin in my "dress less like a giant slob" plan was outerwear, because it's winter and nice outerwear is part of the package. After I rounded up some nicer coats, I started to wonder if maybe, after 30 some odd years of wearing nothing but knit hats with pompoms, if maybe I might like to look for a more dressy winter hat. I tried on a few but I had yet to bite the bullet, and then the lovely folks over at Hats In the Belfry sent me one to try out (I chose the Irene cloche), and the good news is that I loved it! I loved it. 

It's definitely more dressy than I'm used to, and it took me a few minutes to get used to it, but now I just love it. It makes me feel like a grown-up! A well-dressed, warm grown-up. I've mashed it up into my purse more than once now and it's taken it like a champ, and it looks so much better with a dress and a nice longer winter coat than a knit wool hat does. I really am just crazy about this hat!

Hats in the Belfry has a ton of other options (from super inexpensive to splurges) and in all different styles, too. And today, they're giving away a $50 gift card to a Style Lush reader.

Giveaway Details:

GIVEAWAY: For a $50 gift card to any Belfry Brand hat on Hats in the Belfry (you can see the full line here)
TO ENTER: Comment on this post answering what hat you'd like to put your gift card toward
GIVEAWAY ENDS: January 15, 2013 at 11:59pm PST
WHO CAN ENTER: Anyone! 
EXTRA DETAILS: One comment per reader. Winner will be selected by random.org, as an update to this post by January 16th (so come back here next week to see if you won).

Good luck and happy hat wearing!

PS: Thanks to Hats in the Belfry for the giveaway. If you want to connect with them on Twitter or Facebook, feel free!

Comments

[Ashley M.]

Is it wrong to say that I love them all?!

[Ris]

Oh my goodness I could definitely use a beautiful new cloche hat!

[Emily]

Oh, I love the detail (and color!) of the wool contour cloche.

[Kristen]

I really like the herringbone mod cap. All of them are so cute!

[Courtney]

Maybe the San Diego Amore

[Kimberly]

Ok I am loving the Betmar Sequoia - Woll Felt Cloche and am seriously thinking about picking it up either way!!

[Mary]

I like the Precis Tweed Mod Cap quite a lot.

[Allison]

I think I look terrible in hats, but yours is SO GREAT! Maybe it would even look good on me! I also really like the Belfry Polly Wool Crusher Cloche.

[Jessica]

I've always wanted a big floppy sunhat and the San Diego Jessica hat looks like it'd fit the bill! Now if only Colorado had beaches.

[Kathy]

Fedoras all the way

[Michelle]

I love that mod cap ... or maybe one of the wide-brim sun hats.

[Kelly P]

Since I live in Az and don't have much use for wool hats I would go for the San Diego Audrey, which I love! I totally have a use for a sun hat :-)

[kathleenicanrah]

oh, I love that wool wide brim hat-- these are all awesome!

[Brenna]

You look so cute! All of their hats are adorable, but I loved the Deux and the Street Ada.

[Katie Greenlaw]

Oooh....these are gorgeous. I love the Irene. I'd love to become a hat wearing girl.

[EG1972]

The raffia sun hat - dreaming of summer already! Thanks for chance to win!

[EBR]

I love the military hat!

[April]

I love the hat you're wearing, and I'd love one similar in a different color! I actually just got one similar and in black, and I feel like a second hat would help so I don't feel like I just always wear the same hat all weekend, every weekend. =)

[April G.]

They're all so cute! I would get the Irene cloche.

[Di]

Would it be wrong to say I want one of everything? But those knitted, brimmed caps are perfect. I need a warm hat, but I like one with a brim, since it seems bright sun is a migraine trigger.

[Jessica]

I'd get the Betmar Ella - Speckled Wool Cloche. I've always wanted a cloche but never felt it looked like "me" enough to spend the money on one!

[Em]

I like the one you chose, the Irene.

[Melissa]

So many cute ones!! I like San Diego Amore and the kangool shower proof beret.

[A.]

I've always wanted to try a hat with a bill, like the Belfry Piri - Boucle Mod Cap.

[SandyW]

I like the wool crusher.