BHS Day 27: Zelda Wynn Valdes

Hi! Today is the final Art and Fashion Spotlight of this year's series and picking today's entrant was extremely difficult to do. I've been wanting to profile today's entrant since I started the series, but I always found other people whose names I'd never heard of so I featured them first. I've heard today's entrant being circulated in recent years, so I felt like I could hold on a little longer to feature her. Then I came across another entrant--who I'll be featuring in the first Art and Fashion Spotlight next year--and I wanted to feature him just as much, so for the entire month of February this post sat in my Drafts folder with both names in the title, waiting for me to choose one. I finally made my choice last Friday, when I prepped this last week of posts. I kinda wish I could do a Double Spotlight, like I do when I can't pick a movie for SUTS lol, but each entrant deserves their own day. I will be kicking myself for the rest of the year if I don't finally put out this post because I've been waiting for so long, and here we are. If you've done your homework on Black fashion designers you may have read all of this before as most of the same information is being circulated. I apologize. Let's get to today's entrant!

Name: Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes, 1901-2001 Profession: Fashion and costume designer Why is the Spotlight on her today? For her contributions to the world of fashion Notables:
--was the first Black person to open a store on Broadway 
--became known for her signature designs meant to accentuate and enhance the hourglass shape of a woman's silhouette, providing a look of high-class designer glamour
--at the beginning of her career, worked in a high-end boutique and eventually became the first Black sales clerk and tailor of the boutique
--was able to dress some of the most popular stars of the time, both Black and White, from Ella Fitzgerald, Marian Anderson, Eartha Kitt and Gladys Knight to Marlene Dietrich and Mae West --was one of the founders of and the president of the New York NAFAD, or the National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers --was the designer of the iconic Playboy Bunny costume, which later became the first service uniform registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office --was a longtime employee of Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theater of Harlem, where she designed costumes for over 80 productions for the last 18 years of her career --helped revamp singer Joyce Bryant's career with her designs
--designed for an entire bridal party when Nat King Cole married Marie Ellington Further reading links:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (this site may not be secure so be warned)
Quote of the Day: 
"I just had a God-given talent for making people beautiful."