Norfolk boutique owner dies unexpectedly at 63

NORFOLK

Shirley Woolfitt, 63, known for her eclectic taste, hats and boutique, died unexpectedly Thursday, her husband, Robert, said.

She was trained by Rose Cory, milliner to celebrities and the late Queen Mother. In 2008, Woolfitt took over the Melange boutique on Shirley Avenue in Ghent and renamed it eclectique Melange. It offered her signature hats and shoes and accessories plucked from around the world. The boutique later expanded to offer apparel, but it closed in January. A scaled-down incarnation of it recently opened as Melange inside Mystic Mermaid on 21st Street.

On Tuesday, Woolfitt and the shop's revival were among the subjects of this writer's Between the Seams style column.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Woolfitt will be buried in Indiana, where she has family, her husband said.