Where to Buy Paper Planes in Brooklyn

Six shops in Brooklyn carry Paper Planes: Woodstack in Flatbush, Greenpoint, Sheepshead Bay and Brownsville, Tom Dick and Harry on Broadway in Bushwick, and Imax Fashions on Rockaway Parkway in Canarsie.

All five stock headwear, which means all five are likely to have the Original Crown, the New Era 9Fifty snapback the brand launched with in 2014 and still its most consistently stocked piece. If you want one today rather than in three days, that is the thing to walk in and ask for.

The problem with buying a cap in person is the wasted trip: you cross the borough and they are out of your size. Brooklyn has an unusual defence against that. Four of the six shops are Woodstack, and stock moves between their doors. If Flatbush is out, Avenue U might not be, and one call to (718) 284-3000 settles it before you get on the train.

That matters most if you want a fitted rather than a snapback. A 9Fifty adjusts and fits nearly anyone. A 59Fifty is sized to your head, so "do you have it in 7 ⅜" is a real question with a real answer, and it is worth asking by phone.

The two independents are worth the trip on their own. Tom Dick and Harry sits under the elevated train where Bushwick meets Williamsburg, on a block selling streetwear long before anyone called that neighbourhood fashionable, it opens at 11, an hour later than the rest. Imax Fashions is out in Canarsie, the far south-east corner most brands' store finders forget. Somebody from Canarsie opened it because Canarsie deserved one, and Paper Planes sells to shops like that on purpose.

And the logo belongs in a borough like this one. Co-founder Emory Jones has described the idea plainly: "You can be in the projects and make that plane and throw it out the window. And that plane will have you thinking I can make it to Paris." Arrive in your head first. Ask for the Planes New York colourway while you are in a place the brand speaks to directly.

One thing before you go. None of the six carries the entire range, they buy for their own customers, which is exactly why the selection differs. Call ahead for anything specific.