California Millinery Supply

Amazing. A fly in Amber. Where else can you buy a brand new handmade French veil from the 40’s? Even if you have no interest in hats this place is worth the field trip. But please buy something– it will be a tragedy if this store ever goes out of business! The owner is incredibly nice and helpful.

Walking through their doors is like stepping back in time to the glamorous Era of old LA. Irene is a wonderful shop keeper and is so welcoming to her customers. I had such a lovely time chatting with her about vintage crafting to the history of Los Angeles. I was amazed this store has been in LA since 1939– wow! This shop has many wonderful items (bases, lace, decorative items) for vintage hat making, and at a good price. She told me this shop is last of kind in the United States, but she gets a lot of orders from around the country because of her items. I will definitely go back not only because of their items, but also because of their warm and friendly environment– including two sweet cats named «Bear» & «Rita Too». Swing on by to support a great store or just to chat with Irene

Not the tidiest location but what do you expect? With many vintage ribbons, bows, accents and trims, these moderate to some what over-​priced items are bound to have a little dust. ($ 1.50 for 1 thumbnail size «vintage» butterfly wasn’t a great deal but is still less than the price of a happy hour beer so I’ll take it!)
Irene is incredible. Very hands off, but knowledgeable and helpful if you ask her. She was a former stage and costume designer and now owns and operates this one-​of-​a-​kind shop. She readily tells you that some items can be bought for less at places like Moskatels because the are not handmade or vintage, like the $ 15 accent flowers.
Also a bit overpriced IMO — but why not! I figure I’m not just paying for the tangible item but for Irene’s experience, expertise, time and guidance… And that made everything feel a little better. All in all, after tax, my bill was roughly $ 55 for supplies for 2 headpieces.
Now — time to let the fun begin!

I was just walking around and decided to search for a millinery shop. I was so happy that there was one in walking distance… go figure! Super friendly service, gorgeous vintage materials and new materials… my imagination went wild as soon as I walked in.

I was only in town for the day and made sure to stop in to take a quick peek at what this store had to offer.
My mistake, however, was thinking that a quick peek would suffice. If you have never been here before, give yourself plenty of time to look around. One could get lost in all the amazing stuff that this place has to offer.
I spent 45 min inside and felt like I barely skimmed a portion of the surface. So much vintage French veil! I just wanted to hop behind the counter and start playing with all the hat forms. But alas, time was of the essence. That will be saved for my inevitable next visit.
The guy who was working that day was extremely nice and helpful. I love it when businesses let you explore at your own pace and are there if/​when you might need help. The owner was there chattin’ up my guy as he hung out waiting for me to do my thing. She seemed very nice as well.
I highly recommend this place if you are into making hats or costumes. I will definitely be returning!

I found this shop by accident and was so glad I did! The woman who helped me was incredibly knowledgeable and the prices seemed good (I have never bought millinery supplies before). I would definitely return.

The owner, Irene, is super knowledgeable in the trade and friendly. They carry tons of great finds and plenty of vintage trimmings! I love stopping by anytime I’m in the area. I went in there for buckram and came out with more ideas as well.

I make sure to make time to visit California Millinery Supply when I am in LA. I had 2 vintage hats (1 from the 30s and a perch hat from the 40s) and this is where I knew I could find beautiful unique veils and trim (silk ribbon, velvet leaves) for them.
Yes, you have to have patience and approach it as a treasure hunt, but what finds! My friend walked away with a white veil with red dots in a diamond pattern, and a pink veil adorned with leaves and flowers. I found a bandeau style veil decorated with silver and black Vs.
If you’re going to go through the bags pinned to the end of the shelves (dusty on the outside, clean inside), bring some moist towelettes in your purse.

I love this place. they have so many options.
service is great and friendly, there is only 1 person running the store i believe she is the owner.
Yes the place is rundown and very dusty.
but who cares!, your getting great quality on everything here.
If she doesn’t have it she will recommend you other things.
worth stopping by and taking a look for your self!

Okay, I’m not one to give bad reviews when people are nice, but this place was extremely disappointing.
First of all, I am a beginning milliner, which was the first thing I should NOT have said when I met Diego, who tried DESPERATELY to push his «classes» on me and tried to show me all of these things he could do and why and who he was trained by and who they were trained by and he uses the traditional method not the modern method which is actually modern but still traditional and blah blah blah blah BLAH. Whew. I had JUST walked into the place and had a full HOUR on my meter (minus 20 minutes) when Diego wouldn’t. shut. up. All I wanted to do was look around this beautiful mess of stuff and find some treasures, but I couldn’t shake the guy. New customers walked in, and he wouldn’t stop talking. I looked at my phone and he wouldn’t stop talking. I swear to bejeezus, this guy needs to get a social clue. Kind of spoiled my excitement for looking around the store.
As for the store, it looked like a highly disorganized costume shop. Nothing was visible, and I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to dig through the boxes that were piled to the ceiling. There was a haphazardly hung maroon sheet with a looming sign «DO NOT ENTER» pinned to it, and a busy sewing machine working steadily behind it. I assumed that was Irene (Irina??) working in the back, but I didn’t dare enter, so I don’t really know…
There were a few trims that were nice, and their collection of netting, crinoline, and horsehair is good, and they carry a variety of pre-​formed and wired buckram hat frames, which look okay (they don’t use wire joiners, just the overlap method, so beware if you don’t like this on frames!). They don’t carry felt hoods, only capeline, and they don’t carry wire joiners (clearly). Also, their fabric selection is lacking (mostly synthetic fabrics… find some less dusty in the fashion/​garment/​whatever district), HOWEVER, they do have a bunch of accidentally vintage fabrics that might look awesome on the right hat. As for the question of credit cards: YES, they accept all cc’s, including amex and discover. I was pretty impressed by that, considering the nature of the store.
The place has an interesting vibe to it, but it REALLY needs to be cleaned up. There are 40 year old hats hanging from posts in the front of the room (which would be cool if they were pretty, but they are faded and dusty and have not seen hands (or a head, for that matter) in probably 10 years).
I only went to the store because their website is horrid, and from the Unilocal reviews, I just had to see what everyone was so excited about. It wasn’t worth the hour drive it took me to get from the west side of LA to downtown.: /

Blink, and you’ll miss this place just walking past it. Tucked inside a long narrow space with shelves crammed full of treasures from floor to ceiling. Be prepared to DIG to find exactly what you’re looking for, as things are stocked away in cardboard boxes and not really sorted all that well.
That being said, this place is worth the drive for the collection of vintage french veiling alone. True french veiling is no longer being produced, so I come here when I’m looking for something delicate and «just right» to finish off one of my hats. All sorts of styles are available, however black has been the most popular color and is therefore the hardest to find. All the other colors of the rainbow are at your disposal though!
Good selection of hat frames at reasonable prices, including some more unusual pieces. I was able to pick up an adorable tricorn hat frame for $ 8. Go elsewhere for feathers, though, as these deteriorate pretty easily and the vintage options here look a bit worse for the wear.

Ok… so I haven’t been there but I sure order enough over the phone. I live in Northern Cali and there is nothing available here… well there is but she charges and arm and a leg.
I usually by my supplies when I’m home visiting the UK but some times I ran out and so I needed something a little closer, then I found California millinery supply on line a couple of years ago and was so excited. they have a web site but it seriously needs updating.
So I started to order my veiling, frames and other what nots and was so pleased with the pricing.
Not ever stepped foot into this store I always wondered what it was like, Then I happen to read the reviews… and got so excited. this is my kind of shop… seems every one calls it a treasure trove.
so what of she is a hoarder all these perfectly organized shops like Micheal’s or Joannes have nothing to what this lady carries. She is always so nice on the phone and so is her employee. and
never have had a complaint with them.
Even though I have a huge dislike for LA.(sorry LA peoples) but it sure is worth the drive to go there and trust me I will.
If you have no imagination… and use the word «like» alot in your vocabulary… then don’t bother visiting this fantabulous magical place. Xo

Love this TREASURE!!!
In regards to the Negative review about how this place is a mess and how the owner is a hoarder: /​This might be so… but guess what!!! I for one love this place just the way it is, What do you expect with a place opened for like such a LONGGGG time. This is not your typical WALMART or Michael’s, etc.
This place is a TOTAL. GEM!!! and the few times I’ve been there the owner has been very helpful and carries all the supplies I’ve needed and then some… they carry vintage everything and newer supplies too! that’s what gives this place that feel of going back in time.
Just shows that ppl do not appreciate vintage.
I guess, she won’t be seeing those who placed negative review there anytime soon… she doesn’t need your pushy and impatient attitudes taking up her air in this lovely shop. Better for us… we get to TAKE.OUR.TIME and go through her MESS… ha ha ha

The owner is a hoarder! everything that she has ever had in the last 60 years in in this store! Bags and bags and bags of newspapers and magazines. The supplies she does have are covered in dust and they were at least 40 years old. I was just looking for some veiling and trimings. Some of the veiling was actually had dates like 10÷17÷67 written on the boards. Doesn’t fabric start to deteriorate after a while! And there was NO traditional russion net veiling anywhere in this place. The person who’s review said this is a one stop shop for a birdcage veil must have made a pretty weird looking veil. The veil they did have looked like plastic chicken wire. The feathers were all smushed and falling apart. This place is a total mess. The only thing that was worth buying the entire store were some hat frames. Don’t even bother going here. You are better to find your supplies online. I have no idea how this lady stays in business.
Oh and the frames we did buy were actually very expensive.

One thing must ye knowe: This is a Strange place.
This is a good thing, and a bad thing.
Depends on what you want and how much time you have.
If, for example, you are interested in dreamily digging through piles of the past’s bounty of ribbons and veiling packed in yellowing paper, strangely finished bits of trim, and dusty pins of old felts and straws to find something you recognize as a long-​lost artifact you would never find in the neon world of a Joanne’s, well, you’re in ShangriLa. This is your kind of place. If you are a hobbier, then this may afford you some treats.
If on the other hand, you are a milliner or a craftsperson who is on a budget and a clock, this is servicing equivalent of stepping into the hut of Max the Magician in The Princess Bride. It looks like it, for one thing. You’ve entered an old world where card files are used, phones are not heard, people are gently batty, and everything wanders about until it finds itself. You will be told no to most of your questions, or «You can look over there and see.»
It’s a complete wall of old magazine box-​bins with everything everywhere, semi-​organized and everything liberally covered in dust. And the woman who helped me (who opened the shop at 1:00, as it said on their answering machine, not at 12:30, which it said on their door), actually looked like a fairy godmother, with wacky hair and thick glasses that perched on her nose with the help of some unexplained white padding. She really was sweet, but not of much help.
I ‘d come looking for wired ribbon and she frankly said she had none — at least that was true, because in the dim lighting (another problem for checking color) as I sifted through dusty bins getting filthier by the minute, I could see that wired ribbon wasn’t invented when most of their stock was created.
Hence I had to buy buckram to make my summergarden tea hat, which wasn’t my initial plan, and finally found with her help two readymade pieces that would suffice with a bit of editing. I also found some amazing deep blue purple ribbon and some HUGE thick wide silk blue-​purple ribbon I haven’t seen since my sister wore crinolines when I was a small child.
And here’s the odd part: The store does do its magic. I looked at the amazing ribbon I’d just discovered, and then, voila! The hat I had envisioned suddenly morphed in my mind into something I remembered vividly from a 1939 movie. AHA!!! I said. And now I had a new vision of what to do.
So there you have it. It’s a strange, bizarre kind of a place. If you’re thinking of charging in with your P.A. in tow to make off with stuff in a half hour, good luck to you. You’re in for a shock. But there’s great stuff in it. If you want to do some archeology.

From all of the glowing reviews, I was expecting a wonderful place overflowing with fabulous millinery supplies. I was terribly disappointed. This place is like something you might see on one of those hoarder shows. What a disaster! There is ZERO organization to the place. Stuff is everywhere. I have no idea how they know what they have in stock as everything is haphazardly placed.
I wanted some feathers for a hat I am making. There was only one staff member there and she was busy with some woman buying enormous numbers of hat frames and yards of buckram and there were a bunch of fashion design student-​types with hat frames waiting to be rung up, so there was no one to ask where I might even begin locating the feathers I wanted. I’m serious… there are boxes of feathers behind the dirty glass counters that are piled to the ceiling. There are feathers in little shelves here, there and everywhere with all sorts of other items thrown in because there is NO organization here. I don’t have 3 days to go through this place looking for a certain type of feather.
I’m sorry, but three inches of dust doesn’t make something vintage. It just makes it dirty. Vintage requires TLC. True vintage materials shouldn’t be jumbled and stuffed in dusty plastic bags and boxes. There are dusty boxes strewn about and the magic marker writing states that the box contained a certain type of feather. Surprise! It didn’t. It contained some other type of cheap feather that looked like something had been gnawing at parts of them and some other detritus rolling around in the box. I was expecting some sort of vermin to come crawling out of some of the shelves because the place is THAT dusty and dirty and crammed with haphazardly strewn stuff. After the lack of quality I found in several boxes of feathers that weren’t even the right type of feather according to the magic marker writing on the outside of the box, I didn’t waste anymore time foraging through the filth to try to find the type of feather I initially came in for. I feel sorry for people who don’t know that the feathers there are incorrectly labeled, poor quality and many are damaged. I don’t even know what these poor saps are being charged for these feathers as nothing was marked.
If you want a hat frame, they actually have many of those and they are hanging and stacked on shelves behind the main cabinets and it seems someone actually thought it was a good idea to try to keep those in one place. If all you are doing is buying a hat frame and covering it and decorating it yourself, buy the buckram frame here and get the heck out. Their flowers, feathers and ribbon are all over the place and they are dusty and many even dirty and stained. There were a few rolls of fabric towards the back of the store and they were really dusty and dirty. If you actually block your own hats, move along, nothing worth seeing here. A total dump. Not even worth the parking fee.
I’ve been buying my millinery supplies online and after reading all of the praise for this place from Unilocalers, I thought how great it would be to have a local supplier. I’m going to keep buying from many of the online millinery outlets because this place is just an absolute mess.

WOW! This place is totally AMAZING. Super old school, their cabinets, shelves and chairs are full of vintage character. This is shabby-​chic for REAL, y’all!
Prices are very reasonable, and the young man at the counter was helpful and friendly and let us take our time to look and touch the bazillion things they stock.
I got the Russian netting I need, but now I’m trying to think of some sort of excuse so I can come back. Can I say WOW again?!
(Oh, I’m not sure if they accept credit/​debit card payments since the place looks pretty old school. I paid by cash and I would say bring cash too, just in case.)

When I was a kid Pirates of the Caribbean sort of scared me, until we got to the treasure chest cave with a million glittering jewels. Then I wanted to be that skeleton.
California Millinery is a treasure cave, overflowing with your favorite things. It’s fruit salad, a toy box, an ice cream counter with sprinkles, The Big Rock Candy Mountain. Everywhere you turn, tasty treats are stacked to the ceiling. Glossy cherries, candy ribbons, sugared gemstones, frosty pearls, you want one of everything. It can feel a little overwhelming, if being overwhelmed feels like you’re five again and it’s Christmas morning.
Plus, they can help you learn how to hand block a hat.
Making fashionable little girls and boys pee their pants since 1939.

Walking into this place, I felt like a young Gabrielle Chanel might as she embarked on her millinery career.
It’s been around since 1939 and has a lot of vintage findings and trims for hats, hat forms, veiling, feathers… I mean it’s really almost too much.
It’s like a little treasure box and I’m so amazed that a place like this exists, it feels like stepping back in time. They also have info on hat making classes that are around town.
If you are even remotely interested in making hats or fascinators you must check this place out.

I was so overwhelmed when I first walked into this store. Irene gave me 15 minutes to walk around the store to explore and then she approached me and asked if I had any questions. Of course I did! I told her that I was interested in making fascinators and cocktail hats, she showed me all of the different frames the store had. Then I asked her about netting and she showed me the aisles with many different colors, textures and styles. There are frames, ribbons, trimming, feathers, rhinestones, fabric galore. Hat crafting heaven!
Irene offers great insight into hat making, as well as insight to the neighborhood and culture. I easily spent 1 ½ hours of the 2 hours I was in the store just chit chatting away with Irene. This probably is the only place to buy millinery supplies (in the world) and I hope this store stays around forever!!!