Derby Time: Hats in The Brook

Head over to MyScoop to read my full story...

Mountain Brook Village is no stranger to millinery. In the first days of the Birmingham village, Southern women flocked to a Montevallo Road shop for beautiful hats.  Decades later and just in time, Derby-bound Birmingham belles have descended on new spot in town for adornments (amusingly, it’s next-door-neighbors to the original millinery’s address). Get your wagers in girls—these hats are flying off the rack.

Nestled on a charming Montevallo Road, Christine’s has long stocked fine linens such as Yves Delorme and Sferra as well as fragrances that waft out the screen door to the sidewalk.  But after a trip to Paris, Jean Clayton found herself smitten with the beautiful hats in Parisian shop windows. It wouldn’t be long before she brought the flair to Alabama, by way of the 37-year-old shop.

“I started carrying Louise Green hats on a whim,” Clayton said. And with the first stock displayed on hat racks of Christine’s two weeks before Easter, shoppers delighted. “This has been very curious,” she said of the endeavor. “Women even come in buying the hat before the dress.”

Crafted by famed designer Louise Green, these creations are fit for royalty—after all, Gossip Girl’s Queen B herself (Blair Waldorf) has donned a Louise Green original, as have Britain’s royal family, Eva Longoria, and Paris Hilton.  The luxurious hats are unique to Birmingham, but can also be found a Neiman Marcus. There’s plenty to be a Louise Green or two shading a mint julep in Louisville this weekend.

Tickets, dress, and hat? Now that’s a Triple Crown we can bet on.

Christine’s | 2411 Montevallo Rd. | Mountain Brook, AL 35223 | 205.871.8297

How 'bout you? Are you Louisville-bound this weekend? Or just patiently waiting your turn like me...