Miami Gardens Senator Frederica Wilson is working on her own economic stimulus plan -- for the hat industry.
The 66-year-old state senator has a hat for nearly every day of the year, enough to fill up a room in her Miami house and keep at least one local hatmaker quite busy.
"You have different kinds of hats. Winter hats, summer hats, spring hats, Easter hats," Wilson told the Miami Herald. "And I have evening hats I like to wear out to dinner."
The democratic lawmaker likes matching her loud outfits with even louder headwear, sporting cowboy hats in bright pink, yellow, blue and just about every other color on the Senate floor in Tallahassee.
Though she says she's paid anywhere from $5 to $500 dollars on a hat, many of her caps come from Whittall & Shon, a New York-based fancy hatmaker with a store in Miami.
Owner Eliot Whittall frequently customizes hats for Wilson, dying them to match suits or adding rhinestones to add an extra flair.
"We don't do that for most people, but we know what she likes," Whittall told the Herald. "Even in Miami, where we're a little more flashy, we notice her around here. It's nice."
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Wilson says there's no occasion that doesn't call for a hat, something her daughter, Lakesha Wilson-Rochelle, teases her about.
"If she wears sweats, it's dressy sweats and a hat," Wilson-Rochelle said.
