Hey Gals & Gents! Welcome to Hey Sailor!
Here's the Nitty-Gritty on Hey Sailor! Hat Designs...

Hey Sailor! founder and designer Kat Toronto grew up in the wilds of the San Francisco Bay Area in eclectic and artistic households with both parents encouraging her artistic sensibilities. Kat spent three years at the California College of Art in Oakland, California studying textiles and photography before transferring to the Kansas City Art Institute, where she received her BFA in fiber design, with a focus on fashion and costume. Her inspirations are drawn from curious and diverse sources: from 18th century fashion illustrations, to the decadent and decaying glitz of early 1900's circus sideshows, and the deadly femme fatales of classic film noir.

Toronto continues to incorporate similar elements and themes while focusing on her hat designs. "Much of the inspiration for my hats comes from the glamorous era of the 1930's and 1940's, I cannot help but begin to salivate at the sight of a pert little tilt hat with gratuitously flowing veil and hand crocheted snood." She was first inspired to begin making hats when she found herself singing for the band Ragwater Revue. Although there was quite an array of vintage hats to choose from online and elsewhere, none of them had the more whimsical qualities she so longed for. She began collecting antique millinery feathers and trim along with taxidermy alligator heads, small wooden ships and all sorts of other vintage oddities to adorn her hats with. "At each of our shows I continuously received compliments on my creations and more than a few offers to purchase them on the spot right off my head!" This motivated her to begin creating a varied collection of hats that she could offer to gals and (guys!) seeking a more unique item. And so began Hey Sailor!

Since its launch, Hey Sailor! has quickly built a world wide reputation with a growing customer fan base and has outfitted the likes of saucy burlesque starlets, pinup queens, 18th century dandies and femme fatales. Toronto plans to bring her fanciful vintage inspired designs to the world and in the meantime build her own millinery empire.

Hey Sailor! hats are painstakingly hand made from new, vintage and antique materials. All of the feathers, veil, sequins and other little what-not's are hand sewn onto the hats to insure durability and all of the hat bases are either hand constructed from buckram or purchased new and chosen for their solid construction and period styling.