Off and on for many years I searched to try and find the historical doll collection that my mother had designed. In November, 2024, while searching once again, I came across a website about the dolls that I had not seen before. When I read that “the mystery remains as to who the 24 year old designer was,” I spoke aloud and said, “That’s Mamma!!” The site went on to say that rumor has it that she might be of Asian descent. I had to laugh because our mother was Texan to the core!! At the end of the website, there was a place to respond. It said if you want to “ask a question, report a find, or just say Hi and Yes, we do buy dolls.” So, I did reply with how I had periodically searched for years to find the dolls and stated that I was the daughter of the 24 year old designer. Needless to say, I heard back – from Tammy Trujillo. From that time forward, she and I have been in contact. When Tammy asked if I would be interested in coming to the United Federation of Doll Clubs Convention in Norfolk, VA, I didn’t hesitate to reply “YES!” and finally have a chance to tell our Mother’s story and honor her as a designer, mother, and person.
Her mother was the influence in her life to become a designer- Velma Elliott, another true-blue born and raised Texan, had moved to New York City in her early adult years (around 1919 or 1920) where she attended and graduated from Traphagen School of Fashion. She designed for Western Isles Import Company of New York City for many years. She raised her 2 children in New York.
In 1942, she moved back to central Texas to live on a ranch with her siblings and other family members. But, she continued to design – she set up large cutting tables in the family room to make children’s dresses. She had 6 foot pedaled sewing machines. She made dress patterns out of tissue paper and used sharp cutting shears to cut layers of material 1 inch thick. She kept her contacts in New York City and sold her designs to Saks Fifth Avenue and Newman Marcus in Texas and New York.
She was known for the smocking done on many of her designs. She cut the yokes for the smocked dresses and sent them to Mexico to be smocked and then shipped back to her. Her sister would hand paint designs on some of the dresses. Velma would then put the dresses together and make a rag doll to go with each one.
Her business became too big and she moved it into a building in the small community close to the ranch. It was called, “Velma Elliott House of Design for Children”. She had 20+ power sewing machines and hired local ladies to help with the production. She had sales reps across the US – Chicago, San Francisco, and Texas and sold dresses to such stores as Lord and Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Newman Marcus, Sakowitz, and Marshall Fields.
She was in the dress-making business for many years. I say all of this because of her influence on our mother. Obviously, our mother saw professional dress designing first hand.