The past few decades have seen a lull in the hat arena, but things are looking up. A dedicated hat shop called Singer & Monk will open in the Bishop Arts District in late October, offering fedoras, bowlers, and other old-school toppers.

The shop comes from a collection of friends, including the owners of Cigar Art Oak Cliff, the cigar shop next door. A spokesman says that Singer & Monk will have up to 80 hat styles, along with a few "gentlemen's accessories."

Other options will include derby hats, Panama hats, and flat "pancake" caps. They'll have high-end hats and a good selection of midrange hats for those who want a nice chapeau without breaking the bank.

Cities such as Austin, Los Angeles, and New York have all sprouted classic hat shops. Dallas has the House of MacGregor, the custom hat maker in Oak Cliff. In recent years, the city has seen the emergence of like-minded retro concepts such as the aforementioned cigar shop, barber shops like High and Tight Barbershop in Deep Ellum, and Prohibition-themed bars such as Parliament and Truth & Alibi.

Singer & Monk will hew to the classics, eschewing baseball caps and typical cowboy hats. "We'll have some cowboy-style hats, like the 'outback' hat, but not traditional cowboy hats, not when there are places in North Texas that already do that," their spokesperson says.

Some of the known hat brand names they'll carry include Brixton, the Los Angeles-based hat maker, and Country Gentleman, from New York. Eventually, they'll start selling a private-label line as well. "We'll make an effort to carry hats that others aren't selling," the spokesperson says. "We'll try to respect other stores."