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Born Sally Josephs in Scranton, Pa., she was the daughter of an inventor and one of six sisters who were taught to "sew, and sew well." She began designing her own hats and clothes at 14, went to Paris at 17 to study painting for two years. When she returned to Manhattan she went to work for Macy's, was hired away by L. Bamberger & Co. She married Hat Manufacturer Sergiu F. Victor in 1927, quit Bamberger's in 1929 to have a baby (now Manhattan Lawyer Richard M. Victor), then went to work designing hats for her husband. In 1934 her husband gave her $10,000 to set up her own shop. "I went through that $10,000 in a month," she says, '-'but it was a lovely shop." Since Lord & Taylor's had been featuring the Sally Victor hats, customers flocked to her shop. Within five years husband Sergiu closed his own operation and joined his wife. The Victors set up a subsidiary, "Sally V," to bring moderate-priced ($15 to $35) hats to young girls because "too many of them looked like Czechoslovakian farm women." "Sally V" now accounts for 50% of the business.
Designer Victor does not think a woman needs a hat for each season or each outfit. "A good hat can be worn any time," she says. "You can wear a black velvet hat in June or a white hat in November if the hat looks well."
As for husbands, they should remember that their wives are hatting themselves for compliments. "Criticizing a hat," she says, "is a husband's psychological outlet. It's a way he has for letting off steam. What he feels about his wife he says about her hat. If a girl's husband criticizes her new hat, she shouldn't blame the designer. She should consult a lawyer."