Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/804303
STYLE Photo by Chris Witzke Louisville natives Rachel Bell and Kate Welsh were living together in Las Vegas several years ago and wanted to stand out at Derby, so they made hats inspired by Vegas showgirls. "We went up to the Turf Club and people started asking if we would sell (the hats) off our heads," Bell says. Now the Hat Girls, as they're named, have a pop- up shop in Norton Commons that's open through Derby, though the store could potentially become permanent, Bell says. Welsh currently resides here; Bell does too for Derby hat- making season — January through May — and lives in New York the rest of the year working as a bartender and in a hat factory. In this photo, Bell stands next to a skirt she made 12 years ago out of her mom's old Derby Festival T-shirts. "I just wanted to make something to wear to the infield," Bell says. "This gothic, Lady Gaga-esque hat (on Welsh, left), I'm assuming it's from the '30s or '40s. It's from this woman we call our aunt. She has a collection of vintage hats from the 1900s-1940s. We use those as inspiration." — Mary Chellis Ausঞn