Willie Otey Kay

Willie Virginia Otey Kay (March 17, 1894 – September 25, 1992) was an African-American dressmaker. She was known for making wedding dresses and debutante gowns for almost sixty years, becoming one of the most sought-after designers for women's formalwear in North Carolina. Kay began her dressmaking business during the Jim Crow Era, catering to both black and white clientele. She dressed young women being presented to society at the all-white North Carolina Debutante Ball and the all-black Alpha

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April 10, 2026

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"“I enjoy it. You have to like what you do, no matter what it is, to make a success of it.”"

"Sometimes I surprise myself. I may not know exactly what I’m going to do when I start out, but ideas come as I go along.”"

"It would take you forever to bead the laces to go on it.”."

"I have bleached the lace and it came out. I hope I understood you to say it would be alright to take it apart in motifs for that is the only way it would look alright with the other lace. I have trimmed the other lace and it has been beaded. Will be calling your daughter shortly of a fitting."

Willie Otey Kay

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