A supplement to the Albuquerque Journal, Thursday, August 21, 1997
BY PATRICIA GABBETT SNOW
For the Journal
GALLUP--Some might look at these richly colored, flowing skirts and velvet blouses and see a smart, trendy outfit for a special occasion.
Virginia Yazzie-Ballenger, 40, looks at them and sees her grandmother.
More specifically, she sees a tradition her grandmother and other Navajo women once represented that nearly vanished.
Yazzie-Ballenger is one of a handful of artists at the Santa Fe Indian Market whose medium is not clay or silver, but cloth. Her ever growing clothing line, called Navajo Spirit, is a blend of the traditional skirts and blouses her grandmother wore and the Southwestern-style outfits that have become a way of life in this part of the country.
She and her husband, Carl, operate their business, called American Indian Fashions by Virginia, from a warehouse and showroom at 2407 E. Boyd in Gallup.
The family business began as a hobby.
Years ago, Yazzie-Ballenger competed in pageants, where she captured such titles as Miss Indian New Mexico 1982. "I did a lot of traveling and had to wear traditional Navajo clothes," she said in an interview from the showroom.
But traditional clothes were nearly impossible to come by, so Yazzie-Ballenger's mother and aunt sewed the outfits for her, and she eventually took an interest in sewing herself.
In 1984, when Yazzie-Ballenger was working for the Santa Fe Railroad in Gallup as a train order clerk, she married Carl, a co-worker. A few years later, his job took them to Topeka, Kan., where she worked as a secretary.
There, the native of Lake Springs, N.M., discovered two things: She missed being around Indian people, and she had a knack for designing the clothes she had begun sewing as a way to unwind.
She began thinking about her grandmother, Glinth Bah, who had owned hundreds of sheep and married a medicine man. "My grandparents were considered to be wealthy, and I remember my grandmother used to wear velvet blouses," she says. "I remembered that she wore a lot of silver on her blouses. She passed away before I was a teenager."
Yazzie-Ballenger began sewing the traditional style of velvet blouses because "I think they're beautiful and so my kids and other people's kids could see and appreciate them."
She created six sample outfits and began taking them to Indian craft shows as a way to stay in touch with other Indian people, she says. She took orders and carried her sewing machine with her; but the business quickly got to the point she couldn't keep up.
The response "inspired us to go on," she says, and the couple began trying to turn Yazzie-Ballenger's hobby into a full-time business.
In 1988, they found their way back to Gallup.
Their first big break came when they landed a contract with QVC, the home-shopping television network, to sew Navajo pillows. They caught on like wildfire.
"We would work for a month, and they'd sell them out in 10 minutes," Carl says. The couple did that three times, selling 3,500 pillows.
Despite the pillows' success, the couple decided to focus primarily on clothing.
These days, Yazzie-Ballenger concentrates on designing the apparel, while several Navajo women sew the pieces in a workroom next to the showroom.
Cotton velveteen, crushed velvet and rayon velvet are shipped to Gallup from all over the country.
Yazzie-Ballenger still sews first samples herself, as well as the juried art pieces she enters in the Santa Fe Indian Market and other shows around the country. Those entries have netted her an office wall full of ribbons.
Last Year's Indian Market entry was a maroon velvet skirt and blouse that featured collar points, sterling silver fluted buttons, antique coins and commemorative coins from the 75th Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial. It took third place in the Traditional Sewn Clothing division.
Called "Grandmother's Beautiful Dress," the outfit won Best of Division at the 1997 Heard Museum Indian Fair in Phoenix and first place at the Red Earth show in Oklahoma City earlier this summer.
In the showroom, Yazzie-Ballenger's designs range from a Canyon de Chelly blouse for $31.50 to a Navajo reversible vest with a stair step collar that sells for $172. A short, unpleated velvet skirt sells for $84, while a longer, more traditional velvet skirt goes for $300.
It's difficult to imagine how such an elegant fabric as velvet became tradition among the hard-working desert-dwelling Navajos. Yazzie-Ballenger says the material came to the Navajo people when they were held captive in Fort Summer for four years by the U.S. government.
When a peace treaty was signed in 1868, she says, fancy fabrics were included in the gifts exchanged between the two peoples.
The Navajo people discovered velvet "provides a nice backdrop for the silver and turquoise" they wore, as well as the silver and coins they got from the Spaniards.
Yazzie-Ballenger says she believes Navajo women began sewing coins onto their blouses for a couple of reasons. "I think it might have been done for safekeeping, since there were no banks and no locks on doors. And the amount of silver on your clothing indicated your status and wealth."
The recent surge of interest in Southwestern-style clothing seems to be tapering off elsewhere, but in this part of the country, it's more than a fad. "It's a lifestyle," says Carl.
Article republished with permission from Indian Trader newspaper May 1997.
navajo fashions BY DUANE BEYAL
Virginia Yazzie-Ballenger, a native of this area, is an award winning dressmaker who captures the Navajo sense of beauty in the garments she designs and sews in a small shop in Gallup. Originally from Lake Springs, about 15 miles southwest of Gallup, Virginia and her husband, Carl, own Navajo Spirit Southwestern wear and produce hand made dresses, blouses and other items which have received awards at arts and crafts shows from Phoenix to Santa Fe to Oklahoma City. Virginia, 39, is of the Meadow People Clan, born for the Bitter Water Clan. The Ballengers have four children: Anna, 9; Courtney, 5; Amber, 2; and Greg, eight months. She and Carl have been married for 11 years. He is originally from Ruxton, Md. Virginia is a 1975 graduate of Gallup High School. She attended Loma Linda University in Riverside, Calif., and studied pattern making in Texas Women's University in Denton, Tex.
The Navajo styles of
Virginia Yazzie-Ballenger
Virginia began sewing as a hobby. When she became Miss Santa Fe Railroad Safety Queen, then Miss Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, then Miss Indian New Mexico, she found that traditional style clothing was unavailable so she began to make her own. (She may be her own best model and her image graces a recent Navajo Spirit advertisement in the Navajo Times.) "I found it was something I enjoyed," she said. "I enjoyed creating, designing and working with fabric so I continued to do it." Virginia and Carl, former employees of the Santa Fe Railroad, took advantage of a buy-out option when Santa Fe merged with Southern Pacific Railroad in 1987. Using their own money, they started their business in the basement of their home in Topeka, Kans., moved to the basement of their home in Gallup, and, in 1993, established operations at their current location. "When I was at the railroad I decided working as a secretary was not something I wanted to do the rest of my life," she said. "When we lived in Topeka in the evenings I designed clothes in a basement workshop. Finally, we decided to start our own business." "Neither of us knew our ambitions to own a business would lead to this," she said. All items are handmade by Virginia and her five-person staff. She designs and develops patterns and Carl manages the business end of things. A typical day finds both constantly on the telephone, workers measuring fabric, cutting and sewing, and the two youngest children underfoot. The staff consists of two seamstresses, a cutting table operator, an inspector, an office manager, Carl as general manager, and Virginia as "designer/babysitter." The workroom is cluttered with sewing machines, broad tables, rolls of colorful fabric, and stacks of patterns. The operation includes the workroom, a tiny business office, a small showroom, and a sort of daycare area complete with television and toys. Virginia embraces the flavor of Navajo tradition in the inspiration for her designs. "I try to use a lot of velvets," she said, "and my inspiration for old style Navajo blouses and skirts comes from what I remember of my grandmother and the clothes she wore." "I also get inspiration from old photographs of my aunts, cousins and other relatives and just ideas I have," she said.
"When I was abut five years old I didn't have any toys, just a paper doll," she said. "I'd look through Montgomery Ward catalogues and use plain paper to make dresses for my dolls. That was my first attempt at fashion designing--never knowing that's what my life work would turn out to be." Her mother, Chee Bah, taught her how to sew skirts and blouses. "We sewed by hand and my mother said a long time ago one lady acquired a sewing machine," she said. "The other ladies talked about how the machine made your clothes look like they were glued together. So they took corn, meat or whatever she needed to trade with her in exchange for using it." The name "Navajo Spirit" is appropriate. Taking an example off the rack in the showroom, she displays a Canyon de Chelly blouse, made of black velvet printed with gold and violet leaves, decorated with red brass buttons designed like conchos, and with a long, flowing matching skirt. "This is closely fitted with a tailored blouse," she said, "and would appeal to someone who might be going to a banquet or conference as a keynote speaker and is looking for something contemporary with a flavor of tradition." A black and white Klagetoh vest is made with fabric hand-loomed in India and is paired with a pleated black velvet, three-tiered skirt. A teal-colored Tsaile blouse is executed with crushed velvet trimmed with small turquoise stones. The effect is simple, elegant beauty. Other styles carry Navajo location names, such as Whitewater skirt, Canyon de Chelly tanker top, Chaco blouse, Bread Springs jacket, Monument Valley skirt, Shiprock vest, Ramah blouse and "Washindon tie." "Contemporary styles involve 'slenderizing' because women these days don't want dresses that look too wide or have too much fabric, "she said. "I try to adapt traditional styles to current trends."
To gain insight into these trends, Virginia subscribes to Women's Wear Daily, a publication that reports on the garment industry. Virginia has shown her work at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the Red Earth exhibition in Oklahoma City, the Gallup Ceremonial, Navajo Nation Fair and Santa Fe Indian Market. She is a member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association, New Mexico's Own, which promotes New Mexico products, and the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments. She also competed against names like Wrangler and Levis in wholesale shows in Albuquerque, Denver and Dallas. The market for her work is the Southwest, although she has received a request from as far away as Australia. Her customers are mostly women, ages 25 and up. "At first we had only Anglo customers because they are the people who usually see our work at shows and in catalogues," she said. "But now local people are finding out we are here so we are getting more Navajo customers." Her original velvet dresses average $200 to $400 and cotton versions average $75. The one-of-a-kind pieces that win awards at arts and crafts shows cost much more. Navajo Spirit is also developing a children's line of clothing. A short-term goal is to develop more sales through catalogues, an avenue through which Navajo Spirit has already seen success. "Catalogue companies consider hundreds of designs and they pick those with selling potential," she said. "If one of our designs is selected, they order and we manufacture to fill the order." Virginia's work was selected for the 1993 and 1994 editions of the Smithsonian Catalogue, a publication of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.. Her work has also appeared in the 1996 Southwest Indian Foundation Christmas catalogue. However, it was television that helped the fledgling business get from the basement to the present location when QVC, the shopping network, selected a pillow design. "That order got us out of the basement because we ended up sewing 3,500 pillows that year and we didn't have room in our basement for all the raw materials," she said. She made contact with QVC representatives at a wholesale show and with the Smithsonian at the Santa Fe Indian Market.
Virginia's skill and originality have been recognized time and time again. A partial list of her awards from 1991 to 1995 includes six best of class, 22 first places and countless second, third and honorable mentions. These awards were from prestigious shows by the Indian Arts and Crafts Association, Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Museum, Aspen Celebration of the American Indian, Red Earth, Eight Northern Pueblos, New Mexico State Fair, and other shows throughout the Southwest. The business has potential and Virginia is optimistic, although hard work underlines everything. "As a business owner you have to wear a lot of hats," she said. "Your employees depend on the paycheck. You have to constantly find new sources of fabrics." "This would not be possible without the support of my husband," she said. "When things get trying and difficult, a lot of times I become discouraged, but I've never seen him that way. With him it's always possible." As the interview ends, Virginia must attend to the infant, Greg. The toddler, Amber, follows. The telephone rings and sewing machines hum. A customer arrives to browse through the racks in the showroom. But for Virginia Yazzie-Ballenger, award winning "designer/babysitter," the children come first. Navajo Spirit is located in Gallup, N.M. at2407 East Boyd Avenue, Building 11(for those familiar with the town, it is behind the police station)815 W Coal The telephone number is 505-722-6837.Hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Friday and Saturday by appointment.E-mail address:fashions@cia-g.comfashions@NavajoSpirit.com HomePage:http://development.civicnet.org/webmarket/newmexico/ navspirit/http://www.NavajoSpirit.com
Phone us for more information or questions 800-377-6837 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. MST ... M - F
Closed Sunday.
Navajo Spirit Southwestern Wear
815 W Coal Ave ; Gallup NM 87301
505 722-6837
