LOUISVILLE, Ky. — ​​We’re just over two weeks away from the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. And for many people getting excited for the first Saturday in May, the hunt is on for the best Derby fashion—which includes hats and fascinators for the ladies. 

Derby headwear can cost hundreds of dollars on average, but Pix Shoes of Louisville is cutting the cost for customers looking to attend the Run for the Roses.

What You Need To Know

  • Carol Hampton is the owner of Pix Shoes of Louisville 

  • Hampton sells her Kentucky Derby hats and fascinators at a cost-friendly price

  • Hampton partners with local milliners to add color, feathers and other decorations to customers’ headwear

  • The running of the 149th Kentucky Derby will be Saturday, May 6 at Churchill Downs

Pix Shoes has been running their family owned and operated business since 1942. They sell everything from shoes, accessories, Derby hats and fascinators. And they’re doing it all at a fraction of the cost in hopes the Kentucky Derby can be affordable and fun for everyone.

“If you want a hat, this is where it is,” said owner Carol Hampton. “It started because I worked with my uncles, and we were shoe stores, but then women wanted hats.”

Kentucky Derby fascinators filled with flowers, feathers and beads display with shoes behind them at Pix Shoes in Louisville, Ky. (Spectrum News 1/Diamond Palmer)

This is Hampton’s 40th Derby season of selling hats and fascinators in every color and shape you can think of for a fraction of the cost. Hampton says the average price of her fascinators is $40, while hats will run you an average of $200.

“You can go other places and spend $600-$800 for a hat but most cannot and most don’t really want to. So I can offer them a big beautiful hat for $200,” said Hampton.

Hampton purchases the hats wholesale. Every day until the Derby, she’ll be getting more shipments of boxes full of hundreds of hats and fascinators.

“And I sell to a lot of local designers. They buy their bases from me since I do such volume buying. It’s economical for them to buy from me. And then they take them and spruce them all up,” said Hampton.

If customers don’t like what they see, Hampton can ask her friends who are milliners to add feathers, flowers or tulle. Her business model comes down to one thing.

“I love what I do. I think that’s why it works,” said Hampton. 

So far, Pix Shoes has sold nearly 2000 hats and fascinators this season. For her business, Derby hat season typically starts in February and she’ll continue to order more hats and fascinators until the week of the Kentucky Derby. The store also offers layaway.

Pix Shoes has previously supplied the Kentucky Derby Festival Court with accessories and shoes.

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