F. H. Clothing Co. “Loves You Just The Way You Are”
In Quechee, Vermont
It started with a hat. A very fat one.
Joan Vinick Ecker started her business, F.H Clothing Co. (sometimes still called Fat Hat) now located in Quechee, Vermont, 46 years ago with “one floppy, drapeable, shapeable, very fat hat, (for whatever shape your head’s in)”, which she sold on the street across from Lincoln Center in New York City. Someone from the New York Times saw her and had to ask—what else did she make besides hats? And, having recently witnessed a few passersby on 7th Avenue wearing a particular item, she replied “ponchos.” And so Fat Hat’s clothing line was born.
Joan does not know how to sew.
She does, however, know how to build and grow a business. F.H. Clothing Co. makes over 30,000 garments each year, sells to a large upscale artisanal catalog (Artful Home) as well as to 140 boutiques around the country. The flagship store is housed in “a big old barn” on Route 4 in Quechee, Vermont. Walk in there and find a comfortable showroom filled with great looking clothing that “loves you just the way you are,” meaning it is crafted for bodies of real women. (I know whereof I speak as Fat Hat clothes constituted part of my law professor/business casual wardrobe for decades.)
“ . . . we (that is, Joan) design our clothing here in Quechee, buy fabric mainly knit in the USA or woven in Turkey, sew all samples here at the store and do all of our production in NYC so it’s ‘made in the U.S.A on purpose.’ “
F. H. Clothing Co is a store with real customer service. Many’s the time when I have emerged from a dressing room under Joan’s or a salesperson’s discerning eye, to be told (with honesty) everything from “That looks great on you,” to “No, this style isn’t working for you. Maybe try a different top.” And two or three were then presented for consideration. Need a longer length, a scarf to go with, something not quite right? No problem. Where else do you get this kind of thoughtful, personalized shopping experience:
“. . . if you walk in the back and downstairs [Joan will provide a tour], you’ll see our sewing operation, sample room, the fabric room, old school shipping area, our cutting room and the huge collection of all the patterns we’ve created over all these years, kept on purpose so you are always able to ask for a a garment you love from 10 years ago and we can make it right up for you.”
It’s not an entirely a one-woman show. Joan’s daughters, Jenn and Sara, have been a part of the business since childhood when they would accompany their mother to craft shows, traveling in the “way back” with the inventory. Jenn now runs the retail store and the craft shows; Sara is in charge of the production in New York City. Joan also credits her pattern maker and seamstress, Lak, because “she not only makes my drawings become clothing, but she also is there to shorten, make longer, make narrower, make wider so customers in the store always leave happy.”
F. H. Clothing Co. also sells clothing from other manufacturers. And yes, there is a men’s department at the Quechee location.
Any retail business faces challenges. For Joan that means trying to find US-made fabrics when possible and dealing with the volatility brought on by tariffs for fabrics purchased overseas. Finding retail sales help in the Upper Valley is difficult. Running the business also has its rewards: designing the clothes, choosing patterns, choosing colors, but most of all, according to Joan, “Watching women try on things that really look great on them and seeing . . . their faces when the unexpected makes them smile in surprise.”
F. H. Clothing Co. is located at 1 Quechee Main St (just after you turn off of Route 4) in Quechee, Vermont. For more information, the company website is here.
(All photos courtesy of Joan Vinick Ecker)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.