A Head For Business
Forget the doilies, Oceanside entrepreneur thriving with handmade hair coverings
The Jewish Week, October 10, 1997
By Batsheva Dreisinger

Harriet Ostrow is sewing the seeds of success.

Her business in hand-crafted head coverings for women is thriving, making needle and thread her constant companions. On airplanes, at the ballpark, in the classroom – the Oceanside entrepreneur always seems to be creating.

“I can’t make them fast enough anymore,” says Ostrow, an orthodox mother of three.

Ostrow’s business odyssey began when she wanted to put her own creative mark on her youngest son’s bar mitzvah. As party favors, she designed more than 300 lace head coverings for women with fancy designs and colors. Years later, guests were asking for seconds.

“People started coming back to me saying ‘can I get this in navy? Can I get this in black?’” she says. “Then I realized there was a market for this.”

Since then, the head coverings have become a hot niche product in upscale Judaica. Sales of H.O. Originals have increased 15 times since it’s start as Judaica stores, hat shops, party planners, individual customers and others gobble up the inventory. They have proven popular in New York, and are making inroads elsewhere in the US, Canada and Israel.

These aren’t monochrome shmattes available in synagogue dustbins; layers of imported lace studded with appliqués are shaped to resemble leaves and flowers. Retailing at around $20, they are a fashionable middle ground between disposable doilies and bulky hats, ideal for travel, or a handy yet elegant head covering for funerals, or happier occasions.

“There’s nothing that I merchandise that has such quality handiwork available at that price,” says Michael Freiser, co-owner of Yussel’s Place in Merrick, NY. He cites H.O. Originals as a cheaper alternative to similar items available in crochet and other fabrics at nearly twice the price. “These really have outsold just about anything in the store of this kind,” Freiser says.

They also make great gifts, bought wrapped in tissue paper and a shopping bag. The head coverings are doing brisk business even in churches and Christian science stores, where they double as chapel caps.

Having a product in demand has changed Ostrow’s life. She quit her job in the intimate apparel industry to design full-time, running a one-woman operation from her home.

“My husband says you have to watch the time so you an pay yourself for labor,” she says. “I say, I can’t afford to pay myself for labor.”

With more than ten (10) years of experience in the lace industry and retail, Ostrow is no novice to the business world. She is already worried about over saturating the market. “I’d rather be more exclusive and sell to two stores out of twenty,” she says.

When Ostrow is not out marketing her handiwork, she is constantly crafting them, whether in bulk for weddings, or a special single design – creating new numbers is her favorite task. It takes approximately six hours to cut, sew, shape and label a dozen coverings.

Spare time? It’s a luxury she no longer enjoys. Her family sees the difference. “Dinner goes on the table,” she says, “and if anybody wants something they have to get it themselves because I’m off to the side sewing.”

Her husband, Bruce, recently had to rouse her from a sewing trance after the final out of a baseball game – she hadn’t realized it was over.

She never tires of, or gets bored by the work. “My biggest problem is Shabbos because I can’t sew.”

Ostrow has even tried her hand at mail order. She has heard responses from Miami, Beverly Hills and Skokie, Il. To meet the deman, she has built a workshop in her home. She is also considering product extensions, including wedding kits, bridal veils and evening hats. And perhaps the truest sign of success is that she is starting to hear about knockoffs.

“This is a real original and a great seller for women looking for something nice for the synagogue, or other occasions,” Freiser says. Ostrow says her head coverings also make perfect gifts for mothers-in-law.

“They’re like snowflakes,” she says. “No two are exactly alike when you make something by hand. I’m not Donna Karan, but H.O. Originals is a name people are starting to recognize.”