MAE MAKES A WAY

A soaring tribute to a pioneering African American milliner whose shop is preserved in the Smithsonian Institution.

In effervescent prose—“She made sassy hats, classy hats, high headpieces, and low caps. She used bows and baubles, created ruffles and bustle”—Rhuday-Perkovich traces both Reeves’ family life and her career, from early years as a schoolteacher and student at the integrated Chicago School of Millinery to fame as owner of a Philadelphia shop with a clientele ranging from “church ladies” to celebrities like Marian Anderson and Ella Fitzgerald. Along with dozens of examples of elegant, usually understated hats on the heads of dark- and light-skinned customers, Pippins uses bright, flat colors to portray her dignified, confident-looking subject through the years (she died in 2016, at 104) surrounded by both her children and the ribbons, spools, tools, and fabrics of her creative trade. Interviews with her daughter and a Smithsonian curator, plus photos and a source list that includes leads to video interviews made a few years before her death, “cap” this introduction to a successful Black designer, entrepreneur, and community leader. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A pleaser for younger readers, particularly fans of fashion and fashion design, in search of role models.