When Debbie Clolinger goes to work, she heads into the workshop at the back of her midtown Mobile home, as acoustic guitar music – usually by Fairhope’s own Roman Street – plays in the background. Her workshop is “organized chaos,” she says, filled with boxes of fabric and feathers as well as various hats in progress.

The spacious dining room of her house serves as the showroom for Deb’s Designs in Mobile, where she meets with her clients. On this sunny, cold morning, one of her repeat customers has left three dresses for Debbie to use as inspiration to make matching headgear. “She has three events and three dresses, and she needs a different hat for each one,” Debbie says.