Smart, Alec

What a great place! First off, an amazing selection of hats, in all styles and colors, and of very high quality. Second, very knowledgeable and friendly service, going out of their way to put you in a hat or two that are going to suit perfectly. I’ll be back!

Was great help with getting a hat for my Halloween costume, the guy running it is warm friendly and ready for conversation and loaded with fashion advice.

Sometimes a man needs a hat — not a baseball cap, a proper hat — and when that happens Smart, Alec has you covered. (No pun intended.)
They stock a broad variety of hats, from flat caps to berets, fedoras, porkpies, bowlers, top hats and even a fez or two. Prices tend to be very reasonable as well.

A top hat covered in hundreds and thousands. No, really — A TOP HAT COVERED IN HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS. Kind of ridiculously amazing. It was in the window of Smart Alec and made me stop and venture inside to discover more of the Melbourne artist Louise Blyton’s incredible top-​hat creations, including one with rural road-​sign type things sticking out all over the place. I’m not really sure where you’d wear one of these — it would require the unlikely combination of being crazily flamboyant with an invitation to the Birdcage for Melbourne Cup. Then again, perhaps that is the market: the hundreds and thousands hat was $ 600 after all. There’s also a range of (more affordable) classic men’s hats inside, so if you’re after a trilby or fedora then this is the place for you.