Learn English – A name for hat collectors

analogynounssingle-word-requestswinterfest

The Stack Exchange Winter Bash 2013 has me thinking about hats, as my collection is growing. I know that the terms for people who collect specific things are generally obscure, but they do exist. Perhaps the most common of those types of words is "philatelist"— a person who collects stamps.

Is there a similar word for a person who collects hats?

Best Answer

There isn't really a specific word for someone who likes/collects hats (i.e. - you won't find one in a dictionary). But people who are interested in hats may well know that...

A hat maker is called a milliner.

...in which case they would doubtless understand this coinage that I found in Google Books...

Sadly, living in sunny, funny LA, l have to wait for bad weather to visit the milliner. lf you're a millinophile like me, don't miss The Millionairess.

Since wealthy people could more easily afford to buy lots of expensive hats, it's at least possible that "The Millionairess" is a deliberate play on words there, but probably it's just a coincidence.