MILWAUKEE — Mable Hawkins-West, owner of Hawkins Hats ‘N Things on West Fond Du Lac Avenue, knows how to dress.
She has sold church clothes and hats for more 33 years in Milwaukee, and this year, she plans to close up shop.
“I love dressing,” said Hawkins-West. “I have so many clothes, purses, shoes.”
Before she started her business in 1991, she was a machine operator at Briggs and Stratton for 30 years, but she always had a passion for fashion.
“I think there’s a certain way you get respect by the way you dress,” said Hawkins-West.
Hawkins-West said she will close her shop for good this summer. Her decision to close was made because of the shifting fashion trends, particularly among younger generations.
“Generation change,” said Hawkins-West. “The younger don’t wear hats. They don’t dress the way we used to. Being from the south, we had to have the hats, the gloves, the whole work done, but now, things are changing.”
Born in Mississippi, Hawkins-West moved to Milwaukee with her father and stepmother when she was a teenager.
“I got my dressing from my dad,” said Hawkins-West. “He loved to dress. He wore a suit. He worked in a foundry here in Milwaukee. Catch the bus. He never drove in a suit every morning. Get to work. Change clothes. Come home. He showered. He had a suit on, and I think it’s just part of me. I inherited that part of him that I like to look good.”
But Hawkins-West always tells her customers to dress for themselves.
“You dress for yourself,” she said. “Once you walk out, people will see you and ‘Oh, she looks nice,’ and that’s what life is all about. It makes me feel good when someone comes in and says, ‘When I was here before, you helped me pick out a suit and hat, and I got so many compliments on it.’”
It’s made her a staple in the city, and she loves to talk and help anyone who comes into her shop.
“I like to talk,” said Hawkins-West. “I like to interact with them and sometimes people come in, and you don’t know where a person is and they can be down and out, and they’ll say something about your smile, something about the way we talk that we connect, but I just love to talk and most customers, most ladies, we never even met, but we kind of make that connection by talking.”