Yolanda Cellucci's advice as Waltham fashion icon turns 90, "Don't let anyone discourage you"
WALTHAM - Waltham native and fashion designer Yolanda Cellucci is about to turn 90 but she's definitely not slowing down.
Who is Yolanda Cellucci?
She's a fashion designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, author and TV host.
Most people know Celluci for her iconic Waltham store Yolanda's, where a health spa, beauty salon, dress boutique and more were all under one roof.
"Don't let anyone discourage you because they told me it wouldn't work. They told me that from the beginning. The banks told me it wouldn't work, but it did," Cellucci told WBZ-TV.
But her love of fashion started much earlier as a teenager, when she couldn't afford a prom dress.
"My mom said, 'Well if it's too expensive for you, you're going to have to make it,'...and I went to the fabric store, and my eye went right to the silver sequins and the fantasy tulle, and I made myself a princess dress. I sat on the floor, cut it. And the best part of the story is...I won queen of the prom with my little homemade dress," Cellucci said.
Yolanda Cellucci's wigs
She had many challenges during her rise to the top. As a young wife and mother, finances were tight and stress caused her to experience hair loss.
"I started just putting wigs on and people would say your hair looks so beautiful. My mom needs a wig, or my sister is in the hospital with cancer. So that's when I started the charity work. And I started helping these people. I didn't get paid, I just did it. And I would wear the wig to the hospital and when I'd take it off for them because they had lost their hair from cancer, they felt more comfortable with me," Cellucci explained.
Those interactions sparked something in her and giving back became a way of life. Cellucci began volunteering with the Salvation Army.
"You see the people coming to eat, people to get clothing, people to get warm, and it just warms my heart because I've been very fortunate in my life. I've had a very good life, I've been very lucky and to give back makes me feel good. And that's how I get my happiness, seeing the smiles on people's faces," she said.
Cellucci's philanthropy would open her up to a whole new world of celebrities, dressing stars like Fran Drescher, Natalie Cole and rubbing elbows with politicians like former President Ronald Reagan, former House Speaker Tip O'Neill and many, many more.
"I treasure it. I treasure all those memories," Cellucci said.
Yolanda Cellucci's 90th birthday
Cellucci most recently celebrated her upcoming 90th birthday by raising more than $90,000 for five local charities - Friends of the Waltham Senior Citizens, Middlesex Human Services Agency, Our Girl Linda Foundation, Waltham Lions Club and The Salvation Army of Waltham.
The party was also a part of an annual fundraiser in honor of Cellucci's late daughter Linda, who lost her battle with esophageal cancer in 2018.
"Linda was a very vivacious model here in Boston. Everyone loved her. She'd come down the runway smiling, and she loved to dance because she twirled from a little girl. That's how I started writing the children's books. We now have four children's books all about our girl, Linda, which is called Lindy Lou," Cellucci explained.
In addition to being an author, Cellucci also hosts a Waltham cable access show Yolanda Style and Glamour. But if you ask Cellucci about her proudest accomplishment, she'll tell you it's not the celebrities she's met.
"My family, more than anything. I think that watching them grow and be successful as they are and being polite and helping out," she told WBZ.
As her grandson Dimitri shared with us, they are just as impressed by her.
"It's inspiring. It's 5 a.m. and she'll be in a full pantsuit ready to go," he said.
And if you haven't noticed, Cellucci wears a lot of white. She said white reminds her of baptisms, weddings and represents new life and new beginnings. She said you also have to have a really good dry cleaner.