RALEIGH, N.C. - Long before the rage over a must-have Marc Jacobs handbag or a pair of 7 For All Mankind jeans, "it" girls in the Triangle wanted a Willie Otey Kay.
To have one of her handcrafted dresses - for a prom, a debutante ball or a wedding - was considered a style score. But getting one at the height of Ms. Kay's popularity was harder than landing the latest Jacobs bag.
Either you inherited one - which many women did from their mother or sister - or you sometimes waited a year or more for Ms. Kay to have the time to make one for you.
"She turned out the kind of pretty gown that women wanted to be seen in," said Louise Benner, the curator of costume and textiles at the North Carolina Museum of History. "The dresses were very flattering, very pretty."
Without ever using a pattern, Ms. Kay reigned in the region for nearly 60 years, creating hundreds of wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, christening gowns and party frocks often worn by wives and daughters of governors, senators, business leaders and society families - both black and white.
She was so good, some stores in Raleigh wouldn't let her in for fear she would take one look at a dress and easily knock it off for one of her customers, says granddaughter Mildred Campbell Christmas, who lives in Raleigh. One woman flew to Europe to buy a dress so Ms. Kay could copy the style. Then she flew it back to Europe and returned it, Ms. Christmas says. Ms. Christmas and one of her brothers, former State Auditor Ralph Campbell Jr., recently spent a lunch hour at the history museum telling stories about their grandmother and sharing her scrapbook full of portraits of brides and debutantes.
led tubesThe museum also displayed several new pieces from its collection of Ms. Kay's work including Mr. Campbell's christening gown, and out in the exhibit hall, a red velvet gown worn by Ms. Kay's daughter, the late June Kay Campbell, as part of the "What We Wore in North Carolina" clothing exhibit. More are at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center near Dayton, Ohio.
The bulk, however, are scattered around the state, likely carefully preserved and stored away in homes.
CATHRYN ZEVENHUIZEN has one. Ms. Kay made the wedding gown she wore in 1957. The dress was originally made for her sister, who wore it to her wedding in 1953. Years later, Ms. Zevenhuizen's two daughters wore it. Her daughter-in-law also has worn it, as has a family friend.
Last week, Ms. Zevenhuizen had a picture taken of one of her daughters wearing the satin gown with Venetian lace, long sleeves and a dramatic full train to show Ms. Campbell and Ms. Christmas.
"She was a dear lady," she said. "She was refined. She just appreciated good things."
Ms. Kay was 98 when she died in 1992. Those who knew her said she was patient and kind, creative and hardworking. Hers was the ideal personality for working with demanding brides or overzealous society moms who often turned submissive just to have the honor of Ms. Kay making their dresses.
Ms. Kay's clothes were never mass produced, and you couldn't buy one at a boutique. She advertised through word of mouth.
Part Louis Vuitton Replica Handbags of Ms. Kay's allure was that each dress was one-of-a-kind, and she never shared details about what another woman was having made. She had a walk-in cedar closet where she kept all the gowns she was working
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