A tip of the chapeau to Winnetka’s Hat Lady Margaret Cooper
Editor’s note: This is the first of an occasional series on interesting women who have stories to tell over lunch.
Margaret Cooper is a lady who lunches. And dresses the part.
The 82-year-old retired Chicago Public Schools principal and resident of the same Evanston apartment building since 1963 heads north at least five days a week to dine at Winnetka’s Caffe Buongiorno.
“I have six closets. I have about 80 hats and they’re all over the house. And handbags? I’m a nut,” Cooper said. “When I bought the second apartment, I tore down the wall and it gave me room for all of my collections.”
Between the search for a parking space and the efficiency of meter enforcement in her hometown, Cooper finds Winnetka an easier place to shop and eat.
“Evanston has done a great disservice to their residents,” Cooper said. “It’s riddled with meters and if you’re one minute late, you have a ticket. I don’t like shopping under those circumstances.”
This perfectly dressed lady comes for owner Themis Vlahos’ calf liver. And the apple pies of his wife, Mary Jo.
“I started teaching in 1950, with a grand salary of $2,700 a year,” Cooper said. “I had to get a part-time job, so I started working at Mandel Brothers on Mondays, Thursdays and all day Saturdays in the sterling silver department.”
Her days spent in the department store allowed her to get to know antique dealers, which in turn led to her extensive knowledge of jewelry. Her position also funded her shopping habit and provided a 10 percent discount on purchases.
Cooper began her love affair with clothes, jewelry and hats — especially hats — at a young age. She took youth art classes on Saturdays at the Art Institute of Chicago. But she had ulterior motives for heading downtown by herself: window shopping. Chicago milliner Bes-Ben (a brother-sister act composed of Benjamin Green-Field and his sister, Bessie) was a weekly must-see.
“I’d get off at the top of Michigan Avenue, at Oak Street, just so I could see his store,” Cooper said. “One day he came outside to invite me inside his shop.”
And so began her quest to acquire hats — from vintage Chicago-based haymakers to modern-day British designers Philip Treacy and Leslie James. But vintage pieces are difficult to find, despite Cooper’s trips to the Chicagoland Vintage Clothing & Jewelry Show in Elgin and the Grayslake Antique Market at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
“People just don’t let go” she said.
This coming from the woman who purchased the apartment next door when it became available. She needed the closet space.
“I have six closets. I have about 80 hats and they’re all over the house. And handbags? I’m a nut,” Cooper said. “When I bought the second apartment, I tore down the wall and it gave me room for all of my collections.”
With so many closets, it’s hard for her to pick a favorite piece. And if her building was engulfed in flames, what would Cooper save?
“I need it all,” she said. “I’ll just have to go down with my clothes.”
By Meg Moore
Originally published October 20, 2011 in Pioneer Press Newspapers.
Reprinted with permission.