Turning Heads

An Ole Miss graduate’s unique custom hatmaking business is sitting pretty.

Written by Eugene Stockstill | Photographed by Joe Worthem

Mary Landrum Pyron seems to have a head for at least two things. Hatmaking and business. Her hat shop, ML Provisions in Crystal Springs, appears to be turning heads all across the globe.

After emailing her, for example, a group from the Netherlands came to Crystal Springs during a six-month sabbatical just so a woman could get a custom-made hat from Pyron.

“I thought it was spam,” she said about the email.

It took Pyron a while to get back home to Mississippi. She graduated from Ole Miss in 2016 with a degree in hospitality. “I’m from a family that loves to entertain and host people,” she said, explaining her degree. “I like using my hands and creating things.”

But after graduation, she drove to Wyoming in her Toyota 4Runner and wound up staying there for five years.

“I didn’t know a single person out there,” she said. “I went there to find myself. I wasn’t ready for a big-girl job.”

She bought a western-style hat, went to work at a ranch, and thought she’d move in six months to do event planning in Washington, D.C. That was before she fell in love with the mountains, snows, smells and adventure of Wyoming. She later went to work at a ski shop and at an airport.

Skiing. Fishing. Hiking. Horseback riding. Cooking 18 pounds of bacon at a pop, so to speak. Pyron did just about everything you can imagine there would be to do in that wide open part of the country.

“The ranch was untouched by civilization,” she said. “We would drive two hours to fish a stream, and we wouldn’t see anyone.”

While in Wyoming, Pyron started making hats, then made the big decision. She came back to her home in Crystal Springs, crying off and on for two months after she left Wyoming.

“You go from living this big full life to being back in your hometown, and I was living with my parents,” said Pyron. She remembers thinking, “What have I done?”

“It was all a gamble. I had to figure it out,” she said. “I had no clue if this was going to work. I thought I might work for my dad part time and sell a few hats.”

Well, a few hats sold turned into more than a few sold, and before long, Europeans were emailing her about her handmade products.

ML Provisions sits on 1,200 acres of family land in Crystal Springs off Interstate 55. Browse mlprovisions.com to find out more about the products Pyron offers, or just about anything else you may be wondering about concerning hats and hatmaking.

If you want one of Pyron’s hats, though, you’ll have to make an appointment to go see her in Crystal Springs. She doesn’t ship. She does work parties, graduation events and corporate gatherings, and you might be lucky enough to catch her in the Grove or at the Dixie National Rodeo.

That said, many who make the trip to see Pyron turn it into a full-blown excursion. Mary Wesson Sullivan of Jackson went on a recent weekend with friends to ML Provisions. It was her second time to go.

“The first time we went because we’d always wanted to go. We made a whole night of it,” she said. “This time, we went about 1 p.m. The first time I went, I got only one of the felt hats. After I left, I was sad that I didn’t get a straw hat.”

So, back she went with a group of friends to the rustic environs, walls filled with hats and accented by other classic Southern decor throughout the place. They brought snacks and went from station to station as each order went from being a customer’s description to a hat perched on a happy head. One of Sullivan’s friends used a special pen to write a message on a hat being given as a gift.

“They make you feel like you’re old friends. It’s not like you’re buying off a rack or off the internet,” she said. “It was almost like tailgating.”

That kind of hospitality, in addition to the hats themselves, has helped word spread about the business. In fact, Pyron says she spends zero dollars on marketing.

“It’s all just organic advertising,” she said. Word of mouth, in other words. “We have customers come in because they’ve seen hats on other people in the airport.”

How did she first know she was really going to make a go of her business? A man from Birmingham, Alabama, bought one of her hats in Mississippi, then later bumped into her in a Wyoming restaurant while he was wearing it. (She still goes back, on occasion.) She knew she was onto something.

The busy season is from October to February, so now may be the ideal time to visit ML Provisions, no matter how off-the-wall your request. Pyron has one customer with a purple hat with a purple alligator band and matching boots.

She doesn’t just make cowboy hats. When this writer asked if she could make him a tam or wool flat cap, she didn’t miss a beat.

A few technical details about the custom felt hats, for those really interested. Pyron makes 50x hats (a blend of beaver and rabbit furs) and 100x hats (pure beaver fur). The 100x ones hold up better in the rain. You can return to have a hat reshaped. Avoid leaving hats on a dashboard or anywhere in a hot car. Remove gunk from a hat with sandpaper, lint roller or air compressor. And remember that at least in Pyron’s eyes, if you buy from her, you’re not just buying a hat.

“My hats are works of art. Normal art sits on a wall, on a shelf,” Pyron said. “My hat is art that you put on your head for an adventure.”

The Oxford Hat Bar

A local hat pop-up shop owner is drawing crowds for her customized hats.

Ole Miss graduate Sydney Gunner is crazy for hats, and she hopes you will be, too. Plenty of folks seem to be already. Her business, The Oxford Hat Bar, looks like it has customers flipping their wigs for the latest hat styles.

The Oxford Hat Bar opened last year, Gunner said, and it just took off.

“I started it because I always loved clothes and fashion and shopping,” Gunner said. “I didn’t expect to travel as much as I have.”

The business is located in the Oxford house Gunner shares with her husband, a campus minister in town. Because it is an at-home business, you can’t just stop by, browse and purchase hats. What can you do? Schedule a private party or a pop-up event, or keep your eyes peeled for a new pop-up.

What’s a pop-up event? Just what it sounds like. A business hosts Gunner, who brings her wares to the business, and customers flock. In addition to local pop-ups, she has had an event at a boutique in Nashville and at a wedding.

One of Gunner’s main modes of advertising is Instagram. Visit @oxfordhatbar to see a panoply of available hat styles. Gunner’s hats come from either Mexico (straw ones) or from the American Hat Company in California. Then she customizes them for her clients. Gunner designs her own ribbons and decorative add-ons for the hats.

How big is business? She is already booked a few months in advance. Well, pretty much booked.

“I could probably schedule a few more,” she said.

Gunner doesn’t seem to mind all the activity.

“I love what I get to do every day,” she said.