chic style

Lydia Stuckey was designing costumes for Broadway shows when she accepted a gig to occasionally ready Maya Angelou’s Upper West Side apartment with fresh flowers — a simple task that evolved into a 20-year-long position as personal assistant to the author, poet and activist. Stuckey did it all, including sewing custom-made purple bridesmaid dresses australia for Angelou on the tour bus they used to crisscross the country. Now 59 years old and an assistant on theMaya Angelou documentary that is currently raising funds on Kickstarter, Stuckey spoke about what it was like to be Maya’s seamstress, aide, friend, caretaker, chef and mentee.In the first three years that I worked for Dr. Angelou, we traveled by plane but she felt that there had to be a better way. Prince — The Artist Formerly Known as — let her borrow his tour bus. We toured with that bus for quite a minute, and she decided she wanted her own. For 17 years, we traveled on a bus that was like a one-bedroom apartment. Her bedroom was in the back and the living room and kitchen were up front. She’d have her legal pad and write in the front of the bus, she’d sit and think, we’d discuss her next speaking engagement. At first, we did a lot of cooking, probably as a way to pass the time. I’d say, “I’m going to cook beef bourguignon, so let’s get the ingredients while we’re out.” It wasn’t a matter of having to cook, because we’d go to the best restaurants. We’d have to find a Morton’s or a Ruth’s Chris because those were her favorites.

We traveled with a portable sewing machine, which I would set up on a table in the bedroom to do all the dressmaking work, especially if we were pressed for time. For just that reason, on her tour bus I came to make the dress that Dr. Maya Angelou wore to her 80th birthday party. She would joke: “Sewing at 70 miles per hour!”

For her 80th, Dr. Angelou wanted to wear something with a similar off-the-shoulder silhouette to the dress she’d worn in the movie she’d done with Tyler Perry, “Madea’s Family Reunion.” I studied fashion design at Traphagen School of Design in New York City and I’d been building Dr. Angelou’s dresses since 1997 — only the ones for very special occasions — and I can copy something pretty easily. I brought her some swatches from Seventh Avenue in the Garment District and she chose the fabric she liked, a silk crepe de Chine with gold thread stitched in the shape of roses. I custom-made the dress to her measurements on the bus.

Oprah Winfrey threw Dr. Angelou a birthday party every five years. She decided to host this one at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. When Mrs. Winfrey first saw the space — as she recounted at the birthday celebration — she said, “This room is fit for a queen! And what queen do I know?” I had no idea what the room looked like beforehand but when we walked in, it turned out that Dr. Angelou’s dress matched it perfectly.

The party was a three-day affair. About 250 people came from all over the world. The night before was a big meet-and-greet to see who was in town. Then on the day of the party, Mrs. Winfrey had a place for the two of them to sit and they took pictures with every person from the party before we had dinner. And Sunday ended with a gospel service lead by BeBe Winans.

Because of her spirit and who she was, Dr. Angelou could wear a robe and something tied around her head and she maintained a certain presence. Even if we bought something off the rack, once she put it on, the outfit became Dr. Maya Angelou. She brought the things I made to life. She did not turn into Maya Angelou once she put on that beautiful wedding dress adelaide she wore to her 80th birthday party; I’m honored to say that my dress turned into Maya Angelou.