About a decade ago, Carol Schaffeld made her first hat as a birthday gift for a friend. She made pansies from ribbon by hand to attach to the hat and matching purse. The friend happened to own a shop on Tremont Street and asked Schaffeld to make a few hats for her to sell.
Schaffeld decided she needed some training if she was going to sell her creations, so she attended a millinery workshop in Nashville the next month.
“I was hooked,” she said. “It was like a ‘eureka!’ moment. Separately, my talents were nothing much, but altogether they made a hat.”
She began making hats for friends of friends, and eventually quit teaching in 2007 and opened Peaches Fine Millinery in Chickamauga, Ga. She moved her shop to River Street in Coolidge Park in February.
“There’s a different energy there [in Chickamauga]. I worked with a lot of tourists into history and a lot of Civil War re-enactors,” Schaffeld said. “Here, I get more college kids and it seems to be more of a younger crowd. There’s always something going on here. On a pretty day, it’s packed.”
She’s excited about Riverbend coming to town, and the carousel is always a draw for customers. But the biggest events in Schaffeld’s business are during race season: the Atlanta Steeplechase, the Kentucky Derby, and the Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville May 10.
“My business keeps spinning until after that,” she said.
For four years Schaffeld has entered a hat in the Kentucky Derby Museum hat contest, and each year her hat has been one of 20 selected to be a part of the museum’s hat exhibit. She has become the go-to milliner for Chattanoogans attending the Derby or one of the city’s many Derby-theme parties.
“They bring in their outfits and everyone’s in a good mood,” Schaffeld said of her many race customers.
But race days and Easter Sunday are not the only times people wear hats, she said.
One of the most popular styles for both men and women is the fedora (called a trilby in England), said Schaffeld.
“It’s an easy hat to wear because there’s not much brim,” she said.
While “fascinator” hats have been around since the days of Marie Antoinette, they have gained in popularity due to the Duchess of Cambridge’s affinity for the headpieces.
“They’re more comfortable if you’re not used to wearing a hat,” Schaffeld said of fascinators, which are distinguished by a base of less than 4 inches.
Hats with sun protection are also becoming more popular, she said.
Schaffeld’s favorite type of hat is a 1920s-style cloche, which she said is flattering on just about anyone.
“Some people say they just don’t look good in hats, but that’s like saying you don’t look good in shoes,” said Schaffeld. “There’s a hat for everyone.”
In addition to hats for women, Peaches also carries hats for men and children as well as bags, jewelry and other accessories.