I was so drawn to her it was as if she was yelling out to me “Hey, I’m over here, come get me!” Vintage shops, estate sales and similar fun are always on my radar of must do’s. You have never seen anyone’s neck crane so quickly to the left or right when an “estate sale” sign pops into my line of vision. I was at my monthly favorite, Our Sisters’Closet, when I found my treasure.

Founded in 1998, Our Sisters’ Closet helps thousands of men, women and teens with clothes and job training programs. Our Sisters’ Closet is something I like to support as often as I can. Click here for more details on My Sisters’ Closet.

I have a process when I go to these places. Quick overview checking the whole area out first, then room by room that pique my interest next. This process has served me well over the years not only for finding treasures but a time saver to what sometimes could be a whole day experience.

My treasure was found at the very end of my Our Sisters’ Closet tour this particular day in March 2025 tucked in an alley way with an array of bags, totes, and a few non-descript hats. She was in all her bubble gum pink glory sitting atop a much-used rough looking Styrofoam head, the kind that is used to display wigs, I nearly gasped and grabbed her before anyone else walked into this narrow hallway. My whole body felt a surge of excitement as if I had just found a deep lost treasure. Carefully I studied my bubble gum colored bowler type hat closely. She had a very thin lip of bright red around the lip of the hat, the broader red ribbon around the base of the hat. Delicately above the red ribbon at the base, an assortment of the sweetest dogwood flowers complete with light pink petals and pale green leaves and all around the base, the most delicate red netting. Just as I finished my gushing assessment of this beauty, my thoughts immediately went to her former owner. I could imagine in my mind’s eye the former owner wearing this beauty to church, baptisms, baby showers, maybe even a wedding? I got a rush about the taste of raw honey in your mouth about this woman almost as if she was channeling me. In my mines eye I also envisioned her as diminutive and perhaps a little round but with a delightful smile and twinkly eyes as if to match her charming hat. Maybe like me she was so drawn to the hat, she had to have it, regardless of price or her husband’s thoughts. The label inside the hat in big red cursive says “Doris”.

“Doris” went to her first social outing here in Mobile, Alabama, a Kentucky Derby Day Party. She was the life of the party and many commented when not on my head, she resembled a custom designed birthday cake. I can only imagine the places she will go and has been. Geaux Doris

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