Sara Sue

Sara Sue Sherrill Waldbauer was Richmond’s most recognized milliner, who worked from the Amethyst Room in Miller & Rhoads department store.  The south’s largest department store, Miller & Rhoads boasted stores from Atlanta to Washington, D.C.  Sara Sue created works of art from straw, silk, lace, flowers and ribbon, often acquired during her trips abroad. Richmond’s “ladies who lunch” crowd clamored for her creations, which were often inspired by Sara Sue’s travels. She began her illustrious career at the age of 6 when she fashioned doll bonnets out of her father’s old Stetson hat and sold them to her friends.

Sara Sue’s career at Miller & Rhoads spanned the early 1930s to 1973 when she retired.

As Sara Sue’s designs rose in popularity, so did her fashion shows.  Each of her collections centered on a particular theme that was parlayed into a fashion show filled with wit and whimsy such as “Stained Glass” (1948), which was “inspired by the beauty of Old World stained glass” and “Canadian Colorama” (1961).