Just a glance through a crowd gives a good indication that hats are making a big comeback.

And to find out what’s all the rage, Le Petit Chapeau has a place on the Images Thanksgiving Studio Tour map. The little hat shop is located in Lakeshore Mews and is stop “U” on the popular annual tour that is celebrating its 25th year.

Artists and artisans of the region open up their studios to the public. New artists and some returning ones are added to the roster each fall.

For hat maker Meaghan Armstrong, it will be the first time with her own official spot on the tour, having been a guest at another artist’s studio several years ago.   

Armstrong, who grew up in Gravenhurst, moved to Barrie six years ago to open up shop.

Having earned her fine arts degree, she had also been working in theatre designing props and costumes. She was taught to sew by her mother and grandmother. And while her career didn’t start out that way, she discovered her true love was hats.

“I was sharing a studio with some friends and I made some polar fleece hats and people liked them,” she noted, adding that even in high school she fought for the right to wear a beret.   

One hat soon led to another and Armstrong became a firm believer that a hat is as important an accessory as any. She suggests people should have two hats per season. They should feel comfortable in their choice.

“I’ve had people stop me in the street and ask me where I got my hat … People feel different when they put on a hat. I’ve watched people transform. It’s like they light up when they put on a hat.”

Some people may think they lack the confidence to pull off the look of a hat. But Armstrong says everyone can do it.

To get started, she suggests trying a cap, but not the common baseball cap. Some attention to hairstyle may be required but most hats are accommodating. “Some hats don’t mess up your hair. You can wear them all day or crush them up and put them in your pocket,” she said, adding that it is acceptable to wear a hat indoors, and that traditionally men were the ones required to take them off.

Armstrong has created a strong fall and winter hat collection complete with a multitude of patterns and fabrics. Her Barrie store, as well as her Kenzington Market location in Toronto, carries an additional assortment of cocktail hats, and headdresses, as well as artsy-indie urban hats.

“I want people to not think people are looking at them and judging them. It’s amazing what a difference a hat can make,” Armstrong said, adding that the right hat, like a good coat, should last for years.

Painters, pottery-makers, wood-turners, photographers, jewelry makers, weavers and more are featured in the Images Thanksgiving Tour from Oct. 11–13. For more information, click the link or call 705-835-6213.

For more on Le Petit Chapeau located across from Heritage Park Gardens in Barrie, click its link, or call 730-1022.