M.A. Mueller

Lindy Hofmann | Hat Designer

Surrounded by a colorful riot of imported flowers, silk ribbons and exotic feathers in her Hilton Head workshop, the owner of Honey Vine Hats rarely sits down as she cheerfully labors to create her one-of-a-kind head fashions. “I’ve never made two hats alike. A lady never wants to be seen wearing the same hat as someone else!”

She originally began life as a milliner 14 years ago when she moved to the island to protect the golf and boating folks from the sun in style, but her elegant designs soon caught the attention of the horseracing elite up North. Every spring, six weeks before the Kentucky Derby, Lindy and her husband Larry pack up a 20-foot trailer and head to Louisville, where she sets up a temporary shop just for Derby folk.

“In the grandstands, no one is looking at your outfit – it’s all about what you’re wearing up top.”