| [G&G] ​​Few hatters build truly custom pieces the way Shorty Koger does anymore. Her brass and cast-iron machines are at least as old as her parapeted 1930s-era saloon-style storefront in the Oklahoma City stockyards, where they sit, hissing and steaming and bobbing with rich felt. For one, the equipment hardly exists anymore—much less anyone who knows how to use it. "It’s hard to find somebody to make a hat," says Koger, buttoned up to her chin in a Western shirt, her own tan cowboy hat expertly perched. "This whole business is a lost art." |