Hat’s, hats – and more hats – on just about every available surface in the house.

“My mother was a dresser, and when I was a little girl I would lie on the floor watching her put on her suit, her gloves, her hat and her shoes, and I thought, When I grow up I’m going to do the same thing.” And she has.

Dorothy Mae Lee, who has been a home health nurse’s assistant for the Dallas County Health Department for the past 15 years, has achieved her goal.

Lee’s home is opulently decorated – beautiful mirrors, dried and silk flowers, chandeliers, candelabra

– and filled with her carefully selected clothing.

Lee, who has been buying her own clothes with great delight and frequency since she was a teenager, says that for the past 20 years she has primarily gone to two shops in Montgomery,

approximately twice a month – Hob Knob and Head-To-Toe. Lee said that she has done commercials for the two shops and also for a couple of churches over the past two years.

Lee estimates that she has 75-80 complete outfits and about 125-130 hats.

She has the complete inventory of her collection in her head and buys elements of an outfit that are interchangeable.

Anytime Lee goes out to an event that formal wear may be worn – church services, parties, special functions – she’s dressed to the nines.

Particular items of her wardrobe are coming in and going out continuously. But some of her favorites remain part of her permanent collection.

When Lee is ready to part with an item, she most often takes it to Goodwill.

Even when she’s out shopping, Lee is careful to coordinate

the elements of a less formal style of wardrobe.

But when she’s home, anything goes, she said. “I want to be comfortable in my home. I will scare you to death (in my home). I let it all hang out. I relax

in my home,” she said.

Lee, a graduate of Selma High School, says that she was raised in humble circumstances and has had to work hard to achieve a level that allows her to make these purchases that mean so much to her.

“The Lord has blessed me,” she said. “I came from a family of 10 children – 7 boys and 3 girls. Three of the boys have died. I always wanted this (the abundance of clothing), and the Lord has blessed me with this,” she said. “The Lord blessed me and surprised me with all this. I’m constantly impressed with the goodness of God…. I associate with everybody, none are excluded. Life is so good. I want to give back to people out there. I just love people,” she said.

After high school, Lee worked for 14 years in Selma Industries, a clothing manufacturer that went out of business, as a special machine operator.

Then she moved for two years to the Department of Human Resources in the field of protective services, followed by stints at two home-health agencies.

Then Lee attended Wallace Community College and went to work for the Dallas County Health Department where she’s been assisting people in their homes for the past 15 years.

Lee is an active member of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church whose pastor is the Rev. L.L. Ruffin.