A new shop offering customers the chance to buy or hire handmade hats has opened in Cupar.
Joss Hindmarsh, 48, has opened The Hat Studio by Joss Designs on the Fife town’s Lady Wynd.
She describes the store as a “sweet shop for adults” with bespoke hats inspired by nature and colour.
Joss, a former lawyer, started to design hats after learning to make headdresses for samba dancers in Brazil when she moved to the country with her husband in the RAF.
She said: “I had to reinvent myself when we went to Brazil, as I couldn’t work as a lawyer there, and I went to work making big headdresses for the samba dancers.
“When we came back to Scotland, I learned how to make hats properly, and since then I have been working at home and my business has been getting increasing traction.
“But I didn’t have somewhere for people to come and see the work I do, so the idea for a shop was born and the right premises came up.
‘One-stop shop for pricing’ at new Cupar hat store
“People buy hats and wear them once, then they have to store them.
“It is spending money on something they are not going to wear again, so I also have a hire service.
“Customers can hire their hat, and a matching handbag, so have a one-stop shop on pricing.
“They are getting great designer products that aren’t only going to wear once.
“A hat can be worn five, eight, 10 times if it is stored well.”
The store – which has moved into the former Temptation cake shop unit – also has a workshop so people can make their own hats.
Joss says she has had a “lovely” reaction since opening with customers travelling from Edinburgh and Fife.
She added: “The shop is bright and colourful and joyful.
“I wanted it to feel like a sweet shop for adults.
“Small businesses are really suffering right now and I am trying to understand and tackle the affordability issue for customers.
“For similar money to buying a mass-made product, people can wear something unique.”
It comes after plans emerged for the Cupar Toymaster toy shop to close after 40 years.
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