By Peggy Sturdivant

“I’m a milliner.”

I overheard those words at Sunset Hill Green Market and immediately looked around. I’m not sure I’d heard anyone speak those words before.

Sure enough, the speaker was wearing a hat, one that suggested Robin Hood meets Maid Marian and their union is glorious.

Since that introduction I’ve had occasion to meet more of the hats (they all have names) and their creator Kelly Christy. She seemed immediately familiar to me. I’ve only recently learned that’s because of her strong resemblance to the other sibling who moved to Seattle. Her sister Roberta has worked at Ballard Market for 25 years.

When not making hats for her own label or those carried by Peruvian Connection, Kelly Christy works at the Sunset Hill Green Market. She lives in the neighborhood, is “a bit of a foodie,” and has always been in retail so the Green Market is a great match for her. As a bonus the customers get to see Christy’s original creations, and her presence restores a milliner to the block that was also historically home to a dressmaker.

Christy grew up the middle child of seven in Des Moines, Iowa. “I always wore hats, as a way of distinguishing myself in the family.” She was artistic and considered becoming a ceramicist. Instead, she opted for a fashion college in Texas of all places. However, it was studying fashion and millinery in Texas that led her to a location in the United States that still had a millinery district… New York City.

She had an eponymous studio and store in New York City over the course of 14 years. She closed the store during the recession, but never stopped making her original design hats. “Men kept me alive,” Christy said, referring to the steady demand by men for hats, even as women’s hats entered an economic slump. When she was ready for a change she chose Seattle over Chicago.

Judging by the response at her recent studio show at Soma Yoga on 70th NW, hats are back, for men and women. A local family stopped by to see Christy’s work without intending to shop. Both husband and wife put on hats that seemed like they had been made expressly for them (the man didn’t even try on others). Their daughter wanted one too, which caused great sadness when Frances, unlike her parents, did not go home with a Kelly Christy.

Belmont, Frenchie, Standish, Greta, Ari…Christy doesn’t know who or what the hat will become until their personality emerges in her hands. The felt comes from the Czech Republic by way of a dealer in Los Angeles. As she steams and shapes the felt, it lets her know if it’s for a man or a woman, more classical or fun, a pillbox or a wide brim. A Pixie or a Smarty. Christy makes classic hats but also whimsical ones, which may have buttons or bicycles, feathers or tiny picnic scenes. She also makes the kind of hats that are warm, protective and yet stylish. Even those who don’t think of themselves as hat people, suddenly realize they just may not have met their Happy Jr. yet.

Hand-stitched ribbon, a certain tilt of the brim…each hat is functional, wearable art. Christy has plans to do more textile work (leftover felt is calling) and become more involved in the arts community as she further settles in Seattle.

The origin of the word milliner dates back to when Milan was the nexus for women’s hats. Meanwhile in 19th century America millinery was an “acceptable profession” for the unmarried woman. Maybe even the married woman, unlike schoolteachers forced to stop teaching when they married. It’s coincidence that Kelly Christy is single, but no coincidence that a middle child needed to show her creativity and big personality by wearing a work of art. And now Ballard once again has a milliner.