Stefanie Somers:
From Miss America to Tyler

By Lisa A. Lawrence (sort of!)

It wasn’t easy tracking down Stefanie to get this interview.  It’s not that she’s not cooperative, she’s just on the road and doing twenty things at once.   After months of attempting to interview her, I finally pinned her down on August 11, 2003 just before midnight by telling her the entire issue of HM was being held up by her!  Within an hour and a half, I had what I wanted.  And it’s so funny, I’m tempted to print it exactly as she wrote it!  I am going to edit it, but largely, these are Stefanie’s words.

“I was born in Baltimore, but it only took me about 30 years to get to Texas.  I LOVE it here!” Stefanie exclaims,  “Oh yeah, family background, let’s see…Jewish dad from Brooklyn, Southern Baptist mom from Kentucky. Quaker school. I had to turn out a bit odd, don't you think? No siblings. One look at me and dad had a vasectomy.”

 

"Education?  Remedial reading in 1st grade. Those Quakers don't mess around. Skipped 8th grade, college at 14 (yes, for real) dropped out at 16. Went back at 18, dropped out again at 19. Sociology, English, Physics.....I was all over the place. Discovered ballroom dancing.....do the math, it was the disco era :-)  Discovered that I actually had the gene for dancing! Coulda fooled me.....and every gym teacher I ever had. Began competing....and winning! High point was 3 US Amateur titles in 1982 (please DON'T do that math!) Went BACK to school a third time and this one took. For, of all things, Theatre Arts! To this day I'm one thesis shy of my Bachelor's! Never had anyone ask me about it on my resumé though!”
 
Asked about her prior work experience, Stefanie continues her rambling, “Ah, therein hangs a tale or two. Or three. My first company was, I believe, around the age of 6 or so. I made these really cute little book markers. Little mice made out of felt with long tails and a pom-pom at the end. Couldn't keep up with the demand. Hmmm....maybe that was why I was in remedial reading. I was a workaholic at the age of six.”

”My first jewelry company was ‘Isis Creations’, at around age 14. Liquid silver, semi precious stones, heishi beads......you know, the part of the 70's that was really the tail end of the 60's? State fairs, craft shows, back of my boyfriend's car at swap meets.......I did pretty well with that. For the life of me I don't know why it never occurred to me to take jewelry courses at college! They did offer them...I think...It was so long ago....”

”When I got a little older, I went to work for my mom (always a bad idea, by the way!) who owned the "IT" clothing store in Baltimore, O'Ney's. I became her jewelry and accessories buyer and learned all the black magic of retail sales planning, open-to-buy, when to mark down, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. All that good stuff. And may I say ‘Damn, my mom was good at what she did! We even dressed Oprah before she WAS Oprah!’”

“For a few years, I even opened a spin-off jewelry store under the aegis of O'Ney's called Opus III. That whole whirlwind of buying, both for O'Ney's and Opus, was quite a trip. I'd take the train to New York at least once a month, stay a few days--usually alone--go to the trade shows and I was only 19 or so!

Lord did I learn a lot! How to deal with manufacturers. New York manufacturers. And how to buy what sells, not just what you like. THAT's a tough one!”

”My dancing ‘hobby’ became my profession somewhere around 1985 when I opened my own studio. Ironically enough, the night of our grand opening party, afterwards the whole staff went out dancing (of course) to celebrate. My dance partner and I were, well, clearing the floor, as we called  it :-) at one of our favorite places at about 1 in the morning.  When we came off, this guy walks over to me and hands me his card. He offers me a role in the national touring company of CATS; right then and there. Yup, CATS was in Baltimore that week, playing right down the street. I checked him out and he really WAS who he said he was. Agony, absolute agony.  What you’ve worked and wished for for years. Handed to you on a platter - just as you've signed the lease papers that say you can't take it. Ooh, that hurt. That bruise took a long time to go away.”

”So, Foxtrot, Samba, and Rumba, for the next 5 years or so. I taught, competed professionally, the studio did quite well. Then a ghost from the past came to visit and splat; that chapter was done. My knees gave out. Doctor said that was it; No More. He'd actually said that a few times before. He said he meant it this time and the pain was quite different. Okey-dokey. So.......now what?”

”I knew I didn't have the type of mental wherewithal to be able to stay with the dance business and not dance.  It had to be a total split. I went home and looked a those old stones.  Hmmmm, did I even remember how to use pair of pliers? One way to find out!”

"Okay, so the muscle memory in the hands was pretty good.....Well, I can always make jewelry FOR ballroom dancers.........jeez, I didn't know where to buy stones, except the flat ones for dresses.......I must be nuts! Alright, now there's a familiar area! Fools rush in and all!”

"And so I rushed, grabbing everything I could grab about jewelry along the way. I read everything that looked like it might be even marginally helpful, joined everything that promised anything, and slowly, millimeter by millimeter, worked my way up the ‘"food chain.‘ I think I bought my first stones from people that were so far removed from "wholesale" that they were more like "retail x 10’. Now I buy from ‘The Austrians’ themselves. And THEY called ME! Boy that was a neat day!”

"Our clientele now is sort of a group of niches: Ballroom dancers of course, lots of pageant work, especially Miss USA®, Miss Teen USA®, and Miss America® (we have at least 15-20 girls in each of those pageants every year.) We also do quite a bit of freelance work for The Walt Disney Company. Anything from Crowns and Tiaras for park characters (Cinderella for instance!) buttons for Mickey's tux, to 100 pairs of the same earring for the Christmas chorale group. Then we have our regular wholesale clientele, which is mostly pageant/evening/bridal boutiques, spread pretty much all across the country. We do a lot of custom work there too, which is always our favorite!”

In 1992, when Stefanie was pregnant with her daughter Danielle and was on strict bed rest orders, her Mom dragged out all of Stefanie’s old Barbies.®  “She found a copy of Barbie Bazaar® for me and I was STUNNED!” Stefanie recalls, “I thought, ‘My God! You mean adults can still play with dolls? How COOL!!!!’  So when my doctor let me out of bed, I decided that I would get my daughter a few dolls from the year of her birth. Right.  ‘A few’ blossomed into, well, more than a few. Danielle is also now a manic doll collector, so all that in-utero stuff must have rubbed off on her! ” 

”I don't currently collect Barbie as actively as I used to.....just Silkstones®..... Mackie..... special series....dolls that really strike me. Let's just say I have A LOT of Barbies. And one hard and fast rule:

NEVER COUNT YOUR DOLLS. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. No good can ever come from it. NEVER.

I also collect...working up in size....

Fashion Royalty®
Candi®
Tyler Wentworth® & friends
Alex®
Clea Bella® is working her way in
Cristina St. Clair® has a chair being held for her
Several of the Franklin Mint® dolls
Tonner American Models® (Robert......please articulate these babies & bring them back!!!!!)
C.E.D.® is one of the best things to hit the doll world since I've been in it!
Cissy®

....and more than anything else, above any one line of dolls, I love and adore repaints. I cannot draw my way out of a sock and my admiration for the artists that can transform the personality of a doll is absolutely boundless.”

”It seems that I've always had a few dolls around the studio (that's where UPS® comes, after all!) and one day I had a doll arrive in which I just hated the jewelry.  The scraps on my desk just happened to be the right colors. Ta-da! So I've been tweaking stuff for my dolls for a long time. I've put things up on eBay® every now and then. I just haven't had a lot of time to come up with enough inventory to actually do a show! Yeah.....I'm a little apprehensive too....”

”I have also done jewelry to go with outfits/dolls that other designers have done. But, I'd say that, so far anyway, I've been more like the icing on the cake. They've done their part and then I come in and decorate. I'd love to do something that relies more heavily on jewelry though; something that would be a true collaboration in the future. Anyone game?”

Stefanie’s website, www.stefaniesomers.com, still doesn’t have a great deal of doll jewelry on it… but she’s getting there.  I’m hoping the feedback from this article will pressure her into offering our dolls a larger variety!  Everyone email her to bug her about it!

Stefanie taught herself how to make jewelry by reading books and magazines, “trial, LOTS of error, and a couple of boxes of stuff that look like you scraped it off the bottom of your shoe. You can't be afraid to fail. If you are, take up something safe. Like skydiving.”

Stefanie gets her inspiration in a variety of places. “I think I own every book on fashion and costume history, jewelry history, and the great designers. Sometimes you get inspiration from weird places, like mistakes, technical problems. Some days the creativity is there; some days it just goes elsewhere. You have to find your muse and learn to listen.  Oh, and very important; Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. But you really do have to figure that one out for yourself!”

From conception to finished product, Stefanie's jewelry pieces can take her anywhere from 15 minutes to several weeks. She has a separate 4000 square foot building on her home property that acts as her office, workshop and warehouse.  Her commute is killer; about 200 yards!  Stefanie had a staff of up to 25 people but found a larger business wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  She now aims for a little more consistency, which she finds to be difficult when you’re in the fashion market!
 

Stefanie, among her many other talents, is also a writer!  "I was a columnist for Dance Teacher Now for about 5 years and for PAGEANTRY Magazine for about 3 years.  Writing comes real easy."

Stefanie’s last words (yes, eventually she does come to an end!) “Don’t be afraid to ask if I can do something.  Because if I can't do it, I'll try to find them someone who can.......That sparkle is NOT what just your dolls should enjoy....sparkle is for everyone!  ATTITUDE is EVERYTHING!!!!!!"