While wandering the streets of Alessandria, I came upon this lovely little hat shop called Borsalino. Too bad the shop was closed when I was there. I would have loved to have spent some time inside trying on a few hats.
Little did I know when I took this photo that Borsalino was a famous name of a hat company. According to the History of Straw hats & Felt hats – Borsalino hats page of the Hat History website, Giuseppe Borsalino set up the first artisan workshop for the production of felt hats in Alessandria, Italy. Check out the website for more interesting facts about the Borslino hat company.
Close up of the store name:
Does anyone know the Italian word for “hat store”?
shave ice & gelato 
Mi dispiace – non ho un’idea.
Not a clue, sorry! Love the post and pictures!
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I think I fixed my commenting problem. There was a mistake in my email. I ADORE Borsolino!!! The hats are just the most beautiful. I want one of the men’s classic design with the thin leather trim. Fabulous.
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Hi Girasoli, great photos! Too bad the store was closed, that would’ve been fun for you to check out all the great hats. I enjoyed reading the history of that store, really interesting how their family business grew into worldwide success like that.
Cool post! Have a great weekend!
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Hat is cappello (plural is cappelli) and store is negozio, so I’m guessing it’s “negozio di cappelli”.
I have an interesting story about hats: I have a cousin in Palermo who is a fan of the American Wild West. He’s favorite American film actor is John Wayne. When we first met 10 years ago, he told me that he would love to have a hat similar to Wayne’s hat. I promised him that I’d try to find one in Arizona. Five years later I made good on my promise. I brought him a hat from a store named Saba. I carried it in a big hatbox through two domestic airport security checkpoints and two in Italy. On both Italian checkpoints I was stopped and asked to take out the hat from the box not because they wanted to make sure it was indeed a hat, but because they were very curious to see a ‘real cowboy’ hat. My cousin is fascinated by this hat as it is the rest of the family. He wears it only on very special occasions, like when he goes hunting with his buddies.
The Borsalino store has a beautiful store front and an elegant entrance. What a shame that it was closed. Great photo of the facade.
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Leslie, glad you enjoyed it.
Di, I guess I will just have to return again when the store is open! I don’t understand why Alessandria gets so much bad publicity. I thought it was a wonderful little city.
Kathy, I too enjoyed reading about the history. I would not have bothered to look it up if I didn’t decide to do this post.
María, now how simple was that? I looked for the name in a few of my vocabulary books and don’t know why I couldn’t figure it out on my own. Thanks!! Very cool story! That is so funny that they were so interested in the hat! I bought a cowboy hat while living in Colorado. I loved that hat. I don’t know what happened to it. Somehow it must have been lost in the move to Hawaii.
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