Ever spend a hefty amount of money on that must-have staple piece for a special occasion, only to wear it once and then have it disappear into your closet’s wire-hanger abyss for the rest of time? (Yeah, me too.) No one wants to be caught wearing that funky pair of pants or neon jacket twice. It’s especially tricky when it comes to hats and fascinators, which some women might wear only once a track season, if that. Then they’d have to continually buy a new one every year.
Enter Jennifer Perron. “I was visiting a friend’s house in Saratoga near the track as she was moving in, and I noticed this elaborate fascinator on her desk and commented on how beautiful it was,” Perron says. “She told me how she purchased it for a party for $300 and wasn’t sure if she would ever have the opportunity to wear it again. I immediately thought to myself, ‘Too bad you couldn’t have rented the hat for the day.'” This was the chrysalis of her business, Lady Luck Hat Rentals, which, in its first year of business, has taken Saratoga Race Course by storm. “It’s been really well-received; people have really been open to renting,” says Perron, who credits Rent The Runway, a popular online dress and accessory rental company, for also helping pave the way for Lady Luck. With a menagerie of hats and fascinators ranging in price from $20-$80, Lady Luck offers one-day hat rentals, with a concierge service that delivers the hat/fascinator of your choosing directly to you, either at your home (if you live within three miles of Downtown Saratoga) or Saratoga Race Course. Perron’s hat designs come from many different designers from the US to the UK, so clients have a variety of styles to choose from. (Maybe you caught some of Perron’s hats atop heads at saratoga living‘s “The Races!” Party or at saratoga living Day at the racetrack!)
Maybe most importantly, Perron understands that the summer crowds that flock to Saratoga’s historic racetrack are a mix of net-worths. “What’s so fun about Saratoga is that you don’t have to be dressed to the nines to enjoy fascinators and hats,” says Perron. “You get a total range here, from casual-fun-cute to super-ultra-glamorous.”
Keep an eye out for Lady Luck’s pop-up shops around Saratoga (last week we saw her outside Homessence!), or click here to rent a hat online.