Does a Haberdashery Need a Hat-Check Girl?

Black-and-white abstract drawing with an ornate rectangular border surrounding interlocking mechanical and organic shapes, loops, and curved lines.

Haberdashery, 2026. Graphite and ink on paper,
approximately 6½ × 5 inches. Bill Hendricks.

I am going to BE A HAT CHECK GIRL!

Me too! I’m gonna go right to the top
I’m gonna be a hat check girl
At one of those East Side, high-class restaurants
Take your hat, sir! Take your coat, sir!
Take your vest, sir! Take your pants!
Take your socks, sir! Take your shoes, sir!
I can hold them while you dance
Take your eyes, sir! Take your ears, sir!
Check and see if you are free
How about it after hours, I’ll take you and you’ll take me!

From “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This”
Sweet Charity (1966)
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Music by Cy Coleman

Love the song. Love the musical.
A haberdashery needs a hat-check girl, no?

My drawing Haberdashery somehow brought out
the hat-check girl from Sweet Charity.
And come to think of it, my friends Eugene and Silvano
met at a coat check in New York.
Funny how these things connect.

Author: Bill Hendricks -- Shadowmason

I’m a Minneapolis-based artist working in watercolor, gouache, oil, drawing, and mixed media. After teaching art and design for many years, I returned to making art fully. These days, I spend my time drawing, painting, experimenting, and paying attention to what shows up. I often work small. My work moves between observation, memory, and imagination. Some pieces lean surreal. Some stay close to what is seen. What interests me is what begins to emerge when I stay with the work long enough. On my blog, you’ll find both my artwork and my reflections. I’ve come to see they are connected. What I learn in the studio often changes how I see my life, my relationships, and my community. In that way, art has become more than making objects — it has become a way of understanding and being in the world.

Hope you leave your thoughts.

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