Top Tykes With the Drop of a Hat

With spring just around the corner, it may be time to dress up your little tyke for a special outing. Besides donning a pantsuit or dress and good shoes and socks, try adding a hat.

“Hats are one of the biggest accent pieces for kid’s clothes,” says Gloria Cipri-Kemer, owner of Kiddie Kastle in Cypress. “They add a lot of flair to any outfit.”

Take a look at children’s fashions today and you’ll see many hats paired with dressy and casual clothing. At Lucy Max in Laguna Beach, store owner Bernadette Whelan says the company makes hats to go with just about every dress the store carries.

If your little boy or girl has a favorite current heroine or hero, you may even be able to find a hat and accompanying clothing. “We carry ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Aladdin’ hats with matching outfits,” says Stacy Miller, junior assistant manager at the Little Folks Shop in Brea.

The following sampling of stores carries a wide variety of image-enhancing hats for your little one:

CHILDREN’S ORCHARD

These stores sell a number of hats, including a Flaphappy cotton sun hat with a wide brim, which Jennifer Graves, manager of the Lake Forest store, says can be turned up and pinned to imitate a “flapper look.” The hat comes in white, pink, red and a floral pattern of pink, fuchsia and teal green ($9, small to extra-large).

For a frilly girl’s hat, Graves suggests the Easter bonnet. This cotton hat has a round top with a small brim and goes well with a fancy dress. It comes in white with an attached pink or white satin ribbon or lace ($6, for newborns to Sizes 2 or 3).

The boy’s version of the Flap-happy hat is a cotton baseball-style cap with a flap that falls down in the back to protect the neck from the sun’s rays. It comes in solid blue, red, white, yellow or pink and primary-colored prints in animal, jungle, cowboy or surfer themes ($9, small to extra-large).

The stores also carry boy’s Easter bonnets with a round top and small brim. These are white cotton with white or blue piping around the brim ($6, fit newborns to age two).

22953 Ridge Route Drive, Lake Forest, (714) 951-0444; 28971 Street of the Golden Lantern, No. A 107, Laguna Niguel, (714) 249-3736; 13771 Newport Ave., Tustin, (714) 832-7373, and 20519 E. Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, (714) 693-2828.

KIDDIE KASTLE

This children’s hair salon sells a variety of hats and hair accessories and specializes in making custom hats to match outfits.

In boy’s head wear, you’ll find a Marvel engineer hat with a choo-choo train on the front. This is a denim blue with horizontal white stripes ($6, small, medium and large). The store also has a denim fisherman’s hat in primary colors ($6, small, medium and large).

For girls, the store has a Kids’ Precious wide-brimmed white or pink straw hat with ribbons and felt flowers in lavenders, pinks, aqua or lilac ($15, infant through large). There is also a straw hat with attached glazed fruit that comes with a matching handbag ($25 for the set, infant through large).

The Allison Rose soft cotton “flapper” hat is round with a turned-up front. This is trimmed with lace and comes in white or a pink and peach floral pattern. You can find small, medium and large ($12 to $19, depending on detail of lace).

4460 Lincoln Ave., Cypress, (714) 527-0527.

LITTLE FOLKS SHOP

At these stores, you’ll find a variety of casual kid’s hats, including a girl’s baseball-type hat in pink, orange, lime green, black, white or purple. This is 100% cotton with an elastic back ($3, one size fits all).

The stores also carry a 100% cotton hat that has a scrunched cap and floppy soft brim that is sewn back, creating a small flower. This hat comes in solid colors of light and dark pink, purple, denim, lime green, white, black or orange ($7, one size fits all).

For boys, you will find 100% cotton baseball-style caps in a variety of colors, including solid navy, white or red brims with pin-stripe caps of the same color. One hat has a baseball patch embroidered “Baby Slugger.” These are available in small, medium and large ($3).

The stores also have Universal Industry’s 100% cotton caps that feature several sports teams. The Giants hat comes in royal blue with the team name embroidered in red on the front. The Chicago Bulls hat has a red brim, black head and a red bull on the front with Chicago Bulls written in white. For baseball, there is an all-blue Dodgers’ cap with “LA” written in white (all $8, one size fits all).

Brea Mall, (714) 671-1536; Buena Park Mall, (714) 952-0475, and Mission Viejo Mall, (714) 364-6392.

LUCY MAX

Here there is a boy’s Imagine Kidswear baseball-style cap with a black neoprene brim. One side of this reversible hat is solid blue, while the other is a multicolored print in bright surf colors of blue, green, pink and red ($14, one size fits all).

Also for boys there is a Carole Amper natural-color straw cowboy hat with multicolor Indian beads circling it ($13, small, medium and large).

In girl’s hats, the store carries a Lucy Max box-style hat in 100% cotton. This comes in a floral pattern of pinks, blues and greens. There is a flower made of eyelet and a button sewn on the front ($14, small to extra-large).

Keep the sun out of your little girl’s eyes with a Lucy Max floppy hat. This 100% cotton hat is navy and white floral with a large blue cotton fabric bow piped with white rickrack attached to the front ($14, small through extra-large).

380 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach, (714) 494-3114.

NORDSTROM

These stores carry a variety of spring and Easter hats, including a Carole Amper girl’s fold-up white straw hat with assorted pastel silk flowers clustered on the fold. The flowers come in pink, ivory, yellow or peach ($21, Sizes 4 to 12).

Also by Carole Amper is a boater-style straw hat with a turned-up brim. This comes in natural-color straw with white, pink or olive ribbons hanging from the brim. There are three silk roses in assorted colors on the front ($24, Sizes 4 to 12).

For boys, there is a variety of sports caps for four to 13-year-olds by makers such as Gotcha, Quiksilver, Billabong, Cross Colours and Nike. The hats come in a variety of solid and striped colors ($15-$20).

Brea Mall, (714) 529-0123; MainPlace/Santa Ana, (714) 972-2020, and South Coast Plaza, (714) 549-8300.

PETITE BONHOMME

This store specializes in “unique quality children’s clothes,” says store owner Karin Michielsen. In boy’s hats, there are Flaphappy caps with the flap in the back. These are 100% cotton and come in blue, red and yellow ($9.50, infant to extra-large).

Also in stock are Tyke, Jungle Rags or Rainbow Road baseball caps in primary colors as well as navy, denim and black and white zebra-striped. These are 100% cotton and come in infant to extra-large ($6.50 to $9.50).

For girls, the Rainbow Road bushman hat feels like denim but is 100% cotton. There are multicolored flowers on the front made from French ribbon. The bushman comes in white, natural or black ($24).

Also from Rainbow Road comes a wide-brim hat with the front flapped up. This is 100% cotton and comes in white with multicolored French ribbon flowers on the front ($13.50 to $16.50, Sizes 6 to 18 months).

109 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente, (714) 361-3651.

PETITE MARCHE

This store carries a variety of kid’s clothing by American and European makers. In hats for girls, there is a Jackie B white straw hat with small pink tulips on the crown and yellow daisies on the brim. The hat has a a small brim that turns up all the way around. Pink grosgrain ribbon ($26, toddler to Size 14) circles the crown.

They also carry Heartstrings and Lyka Bear clutch cotton hats. The fronts turn up and each has an attached bow. They come in fuchsia, pink floral and a red bandanna print ($29, Sizes 4 to 6x).

For boys, there are 100% cotton Weebok and Choozie bseball hats in primary colors (Weebok, $14; Choozie, $8, toddler Sizes 2-4). Or for boys, there is a Fix cotton sun hat with a strap that ties under the chin. “This gives good coverage from the sun and is easy to carry,” says store owner Janine Trout. The hat comes in white or a geometric print in primary colors ($14 to $19, infant to two years).

369 E. 17th St., Westport Square, Costa Mesa (714) 642-4714.

THE VILLAGE HATTER

This store carries hats that can be worn by both boys and girls, including a Weebok fisherman’s cap in a denim blue and green print. This 100% cotton cap has a brim all the way around ($15, infant through youth).

The store also carries 100% cotton baseball-style caps with a red bill and gray crown. These come with team logos from a variety of sports, including the Raiders, Dodgers, Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox ($8, youth sizes).

Fashion Island Newport Beach, (714) 640-1440.