Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Montgomery.
Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We started at a pinup contest at a bar Mother Truckers (may she rest in peace – such a fun rockabilly bar!) A new gal in town, Alyna Ohanian, and I become quick friends. She asked if there were any pinup groups in the Dallas area, and I replied there wasn’t, and we both decided to make a happy, supportive, and uplifting girl group. We started off with about 20 members, and we are now about to grow to 100 members three years later! Dallas Pinup Dolls are an empowered group of vintage-lovin’ ladies that seek to spread positivity, generosity, and fun!
We Doll value friendship, authenticity, humor, mutual respect, confidence, and advocacy for underprivileged community members or groups. The four pillars of our organization are the following:
DIVERSITY: We welcome ALL women with open arms, from all backgrounds, all ages, all shapes and sizes across the DFW metroplex. You do not need to be “born” female, we accept those who identify as female, live locally, and are interested in vintage styling, from the more traditional vintage style, modern pinup, rockabilly, vintage goth, etc.
ACCEPTANCE: We accept EVERYONE for who they are and give them love, respect, and support. We have women from a variety of ages, a variety of bodies, a variety of orientations and preferences and opinions.
OUTREACH: Our biggest goal is to help our communities through volunteer work and charity. We love working with domestic violence organizations such as Genesis Women’s Shelter, pet adoption agencies such as Paws in the City, veterans organizations such as local VFW’s. We actively support social causes such as Black Lives Matters, LGBTQ+ and pride, and trans rights. Although COVID has affected some of our community service works, we are still strong online with a very active Facebook group, still helping out the community through donations.
EMPOWERMENT: We are not a community that tears down other women; we uplift and support the women in our group. We encourage and empower them to achieve their dreams.
COVID may have affected our events for this year, but we are looking out for 2021 to be a super fun year!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With any group of strong-minded individuals with powerful opinions and convictions, there will always be some bumps. We’ve had some growing pains as well – we grew VERY quickly and had some organizational hiccups. We always learn from our mistakes, listen to our members, and act on what our members are saying. Through some leadership updates, we have found an amazing mix of women who voice their opinions, requests, and feedback honestly and openly, without much drama.
You get what you put into Dallas Pinup Dolls. If you don’t put in a lot of effort, you don’t get a lot in return and won’t get to know the group well. If you put in a bit of effort, you interact with members. You have a voice – you will be known, well supported, and loved!
We’d love to hear more about Dallas Pinup Dolls.
Dallas Pinup Dolls is an organization that supports and raises donations for charitable and nonprofit organizations. We are in the process of applying to be a nonprofit organization as well!
I am the President and Founder so I oversee the entire organization. I have five Vice Presidents of various areas, finances, communication, community engagement, fundraising, managing our welcoming committee for new members, and event organization. Those Vice Presidents have assisting officers and committees under them.
I am beyond proud of the charitable donations we have raised for the organizations we support. Community service is the one thing that brings us all together, whether it’s making sandwiches for the homeless for Soupmobile, gathering goods for the Genesis Women’s Shelter Store, donating canned goods and organizing a volunteer day at North Texas Food Bank – no matter what we are doing, we are HELPING OTHERS. And that is key to helping the community thrive.
The thing that sets us apart is our style. We look straight out of the 1950s and 1960’s – with our hairstyles, our clothing, and our posing! We have vintage STYLE, but we do not have vintage VALUES. We support ALL members of our community. And while we have your attention with our classy style. We can tell you about an amazing organization we are focusing on and how you can help us support it!
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in the Chicago and Milwaukee area, in a small town called Kenosha, Wisconsin, right in the southeastern corner of the state. I moved to Plano when I was 16 years old in 2001 – and have been loving the DFW area ever since! I am very happy and proud to be here.
Growing up – I was always a bubbly, social, outgoing gal. I almost had a big group of friends and a large social circle. I was a musician and played viola, and I went to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts specializing in music. I also love a striking art piece, a good horror story, all types of music, and going on a traveling adventure.
I got into the vintage scene with my son’s father. He invited me to a local classic ar show in Deep Ellum called the Invasion. One of my girlfriends did victory rolls in my hair and I wore his car club’s t-shirt. I LOVED it and felt like I had found my people – the badass hot rods, the swingin’ music, the FASHION! The clothing is what sucked me in. And almost a decade later, I’m still dressing up almost every day!
Contact Info:
- Email: dallaspinupdolls@gmail.com
- Instagram: @dallaspinupdolls
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/dallaspinupdolls
Image Credit:
The one with the pink background and blue dress: Sarah Hardcastle with Dynamite Dames Studios
The one with the big straw hat and knee exposes: Alfredo Arteta with Arteta Photography
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