NAME: Carol Schaffeld
AGE: 55
OCCUPATION: Milliner, owner of Peaches Fine Millinery
Winning Best in Show at Chicago’s Hats 2005 and earning titles at the official Kentucky Derby Museum’s Annual Hat Competition in 2009, 2010 and 2012 is just a drop in the hat for Chickamauga-based milliner Carol Schaffeld. Since she opened her shop in 2008, Schaffeld has fitted more than 2,000 people with her creations – many of whom seek her out for a custom crown in honor of derby season, which will kick off May 4 with the Kentucky Derby.
? The craziest thing about the hats is that it never crossed my mind that I would do something like this. I grew up abroad. My dad was a builder, and when I was about 6, we moved to Northern Ireland, so I started school there and went to British schools. When you think about the British, you think about the hats … and they never gave up their hats like American women did. Then we moved to Germany and my dad was building for American companies that were starting to go overseas like Volkswagen has come here. We lived in Brussels, Belgium the last year we lived there and then we came back to the states and came back to Birmingham, Ala. I had southern roots, but I had to practice saying ‘Y’all … y’all …’ to fit into the Birmingham scene.