Sally Spectra was the feisty owner of knockoff fashion house Spectra Fashions, which often made cheap imitations of couture offered by far more successful competitor Forrester Creations. When designer Clarke Garrison, Sally's former employee, who was working for Forrester, arrived begging for a loan of $100,000, Sally gave Clarke the money on the condition he pilfer six Forrester designs she could present as her own, then proved she had their conversation on tape when Clarke tried to back out of it. Sally also had Clarke arrange a meeting with Forrester Creations cofounder Stephanie Forrester, but Stephanie wanted nothing to do with Sally.

Impressed with Clarke's own work that he substituted for Forrester originals, Sally hired him to also design for Spectra under the name "Beau Rivage." Sally had to mend fences when her daughter, Macy Alexander, returned home from college, resentful that Sally had devoted more time to working than to her. Hoping to hook Macy up with Stephanie's eligible bachelor son Ridge Forrester, Sally locked Macy in a stateroom on the Queen Mary during a joint Forrester/Spectra fashion show, accidentally trapping Macy with Ridge's brother Thorne Forrester. Later, Sally sang a duet with Stephanie's husband, Eric Forrester, at a benefit organized by Macy and Thorne.

Sally offered Clarke half of Spectra Fashions and his own label if he married her, payable on their second anniversary. Though she almost stopped the wedding, feeling Clarke didn't truly desire her, Sally married Clarke in a pink wedding dress he'd designed.

Sally supported Macy when the Forresters didn't want Thorne involved with any daughter of Sally's. After Macy and Thorne toughed it out, Sally didn't get an invitation to their wedding, so Sally dressed as a man and sneaked into Forrester to discern the location of the ceremony, only to be arrested for stealing designs when, this time, she was actually innocent. Sally received a shock when she found a homeless, amnesiac Stephanie picking through Spectra's garbage; Sally distributed a flyer that led to the Forresters finding Stephanie, who had lost her memory due to a stroke.

Sally hired Eric's rebellious daughter Felicia Forrester, who had defected from Forrester because her family wouldn't give her designs a chance. When Felicia wanted out of the contract, Sally held her to it and put Felicia's seemingly awful environmental-themed designs on Spectra's runway, which the fashion press loved. Sally was hurt when Clarke demanded she abort their baby; she followed him to Hawaii and caught Clarke fooling around with supposed biographer Julie Delorean. The pregnant Sally wanted a divorce and gently turned down a proposal from her right-hand man, Saul Feinberg.

Though she lied she'd had the abortion, Sally took Clarke back and gave birth to Clarke Garrison, Jr. Sally soon received an envelope containing Forrester's exclusive wrinkle-free formula, BeLieF, which Macy was accused of stealing. Sally confronted Stephanie over the theft and ended up in the Forrester pool. Then, when Sally's employees showed her a videotape of Clarke making love to his ex-wife, Kristen Forrester, on the eve of the second anniversary that would grant Clarke half ownership of Spectra, Sally fired Clarke, nearly taking him back again until he insisted Sally change Clarke Jr.'s name.

Sally crushed on her new accountant, Jack Hamilton, who was interested in Stephanie. Not knowing Jack had a gambling problem, Sally was unaware that Jack embezzled money from her but put it back with interest. After Stephanie dumped Jack because his crooked ties nearly got Felicia killed, Sally consoled Jack and dated him, worrying that Jack wasn't over Stephanie. Sally and Jack fought when he found out she'd again lifted Forrester designs; later, when Jack and Sally reunited, Sally lied that she was pregnant so he'd marry her. Sally's bachelorette party included an appearance from her favorite hunk, romance novel cover boy Fabio, but when Stephanie caught on to Sally's pregnancy lie, Sally lost Jack and was backhanded by Stephanie.

Sally worried when Macy descended into alcoholism after being dumped by Thorne. After Macy got sober, Sally fell for new Spectra designer Anthony Armando, not realizing Macy was already dating him; Sally fired Macy for a while but forgave her. Sally then held court over the fashion press when Anthony presented his Grand Diva line for plus-sized women, pulling Stephanie on stage for photographs. In Rotterdam to support Macy, who had gotten a record deal and was about to perform, Sally crooned with Eric when Macy was late to the venue; later, Sally was aghast when Macy fainted and was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Attending Thorne's wedding to the recovered Macy, Sally was shocked when police interrupted and arrested Thorne for the murder of model Ivana Vanderveld. Knowing Macy suspected Anthony and learning that Anthony knew Macy was cozying up to him to get a confession on tape, Sally went to warn Macy, only to find Anthony holding a gun on her. Sally took the bullet meant for Macy and recuperated in the hospital, where she met novice designer Jasmine Malone. Just as Sally had Jasmine do over another batch of stolen Forrester designs, Sally's resolve was weakened by Eric, who romanced her and gave her an engagement ring. After Sally pulled Eric's dresses from her showing, she was stunned when Stephanie waltzed in and smashed Eric's fake diamond with a hammer. Sally conceded she'd had the phony proposal coming.

Sally was ready to close the struggling Spectra's doors when Clarke returned, at Macy's behest, to design for the company. Sally encouraged the teenage C.J. to establish a relationship with his long-missing father until the thugs that had hired Clarke to sink Spectra for good kidnapped C.J. Sally forgave Clarke when he got shot saving their son; later, Sally mourned the death of Saul and held a memorial for him. Sally also did her best to rouse a catatonic Stephanie, who had been committed to an asylum, unaware that Stephanie was really being slowly poisoned with mercury by her nemesis, Sheila Carter.

Sally befriended Genoa City transplant Lauren Fenmore, who dated Eric but broke up with him out of loyalty to longtime friend Stephanie. On the day of Eric's remarriage to Stephanie, Sally had a still made from an X-rated video Lauren had made with Eric and placed it in the minister's Bible, which ground the ceremony to a halt. Later, Spectra benefitted when Grant Chambers, a refugee from Forrester, gave all his designs to Sally. Hearing that Forrester was having a big showing in Milan, Sally and Lauren flew there on a cut-rate airline, where Sally again tried to stop Stephanie's wedding; this time, Sally ended up drenched in an Italian lake after arguing with Stephanie.

Sally deterred Thorne from pursuing Macy, who had moved on with Grant. Sally shared Macy's grief when Grant died of testicular cancer. With Spectra again facing bankruptcy, Sally cheered to receive an anonymous check for $500,000, only to find out it was from Adam Alexander, her presumed dead ex-husband who was back in town after deserting her and Macy years before. Sally listened as Adam explained how he had borrowed money from crooked men and gone on the run after turning them in, but it took Macy to elicit forgiveness from Sally. As Sally and Adam rebuilt Spectra, Sally agreed to be a mother figure to Adam's other daughter, Kimberly Fairchild.

Sally and the Forresters drew battle lines once again after chaos erupted at another joint fashion show, which C.J. sabotaged, accidentally ripping off the back of Forrester model Kimberly's gown. Though Sally again rallied at Stephanie's bedside when "The Queen" suffered a stroke as a result of an affair Thorne was having with the hotly contested Brooke Logan, Sally fumed to learn Brooke was keeping Thorne from Macy. Sally and the Spectra gang surprised Adam with a newspaper announcement on his birthday, but it attracted the men Adam had been running from, and Sally was shot in the ensuing melee. Sally understood when Adam decided to leave town once again.

Sally counseled Kimberly, who was in love with Eric's son Rick Forrester, despite the fact that Rick was having a baby with Amber Moore. Sally found out that Amber could also be pregnant by one-night stand Raymond Usher but failed to prevent Rick and Amber's wedding. Later, Sally was not thrilled that C.J. wanted to marry Amber's cousin Becky Moore, but Sally warmed up to the girl just before finding out she was dying of terminal cancer. Sally made sure Becky had a wonderful ceremony, after which Becky slipped away.

Sally fretted that Macy might be drinking again over Brooke's pursuit of Thorne and warned Brooke to stay away. But when Brooke giving Macy divorce papers led to Macy dying in a car explosion, the inconsolable Sally had a meltdown, telling Stephanie that Thorne had continued his affair with Brooke, which sent Stephanie back to the hospital. The longstanding wall between Sally and Stephanie began to come down as they mourned Macy together.

Sally cast a live python in one of her fashion shows, but the unstable Morgan DeWitt used it to try to kill Clarke, who knew Morgan was trying to get pregnant by the married Ridge. Sally was ready to close Spectra for good when she saw an interview with hot Latino designer Antonio "Tony" Dominguez and managed to land him despite Forrester trying to lure him for themselves. Sally supported Tony when he was diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, championing his cause to Eric and Stephanie, who didn't want Tony involved with their daughter Kristen.

When Sally found out Ridge's father was really Stephanie's ex-lover Massimo Marone, Sally accepted Massimo's offer to romance her in exchange for her silence then forced Stephanie to become her housekeeper, ultimately confiding in her former enemy about how much she still missed Macy. Sally resisted signing over control of Spectra to Ridge, who had jumped ship from Forrester, but became intrigued by the possibility of the company's reinvention under the Marone Industries umbrella. Flying to Italy for the "Portofino Challenge" to which Ridge had dared Eric, Sally and Clarke were forced to make the trip in the cargo hold of a dilapidated jet.

In Portofino, Sally was thunderstruck to learn that Macy had survived the car explosion and that Adam had taken Macy on the run with him. Sally wanted Macy to return home with her new husband, Lorenzo Barelli, but when Macy and Lorenzo decided to keep moving to protect Adam, Sally had a heart attack. Sally was overjoyed when Macy flew to her bedside; as Macy's survival invalidated her marriage to Lorenzo, Sally supported Macy's reunion with Thorne and got her old pal Gladys Pope to spy on Tricia Quick, who was also interested in Thorne.

Sally was at Macy's side when she underwent an emergency hysterectomy that left her unable to have children. However, when Sally found out that Thorne had impregnated her trusted assistant, Darla Einstein, after a misunderstanding with Macy, Sally sent Darla packing. After Ridge gave Spectra to Brooke and renamed it Logan Designs, Sally faked a heart attack to muster sympathy, then got drunk with Stephanie and chopped off Stephanie's hair. Sally lost Macy again when mobsters who wanted revenge on the owner of nightclub Ozzz, where Macy was headlining, dropped a chandelier on Macy; realizing Macy might never awaken from her coma, Sally pulled the plug on her off-screen. When Darla gave birth, Sally burst into the delivery room, dressed like a football coach; Sally was touched when Darla named Thorne's baby Alexandria in honor of Macy.

Sally blackmailed Brooke into returning control of Spectra with the knowledge that Brooke wasn't sure if she was pregnant by husband Ridge or his half-brother Nick Marone. To further her vendetta against Brooke, Sally got hold of Brooke's paternity test results and doctored them in Nick's favor. At Christmas, Sally cherished a locket Stephanie gave her with both their pictures inside, and later on, Sally was Darla's matron of honor at her wedding to Thorne. After Thorne took the heat for Darla accidentally giving Sally new Forrester designs, Sally got Thorne over to Spectra and made him its new president while she recovered from a broken leg, gleefully publicizing "Spectra Couture by Thorne Forrester" to stick it to Forrester Creations.

Sally considered adding recently released former psycho Morgan to the Spectra team but gave a shot to Ridge's son Thomas Forrester, who was being stifled by his family. Sally engaged in another fashion competition: if Thomas won, he could sign Sally's contract, but if he lost, he'd have to return to Forrester and annul his marriage to illegal alien Gabriela Moreno. Sally finally closed the doors to Spectra Fashions permanently when Thomas did lose, telling her loved ones she was going on a cruise around the world but really preparing to check herself into an assisted living facility, which only Clarke knew. Confined to a wheelchair, Sally was moved when Darla and Thorne asked her to live with them instead.

Sally found a new sense of purpose when Thorne hired her at Forrester Creations to take over receptionist duties from the departing Megan Conley. But Sally was crushed when Darla was killed after falling into the path of a car driven by Ridge's ex-wife, Taylor Hayes.

Sally was last seen helping to finalize the forced sale of Forrester Creations to Nick Marone. Although Sally's portrayer, Darlene Conley, died on January 14, 2007, Sally has often been said to be visiting tropical islands and sipping exotic drinks while surrounded by cabana boys. Sally was seen in flashback as C.J. prepared to sell Spectra to Nick in 2007; Nick's mother, Jackie Marone, renamed Spectra "Jackie M" but kept its original "Sally Says Recycle" sign prominently displayed; Thorne recalled Sally in 2013 when he welcomed a grown-up Alexandria, who credited Sally's influence on her and recalled Sally encouraging her to start her own shoe line.

In 2017, it was revealed that Sally had a sister, Shirley Spectra, and two grandnieces: namesake Sally Spectra and her younger sister, Coco Spectra. From an unknown tropical locale, Sally was shown from behind calling the younger Sally, beseeching her to save Spectra Fashions, which had fallen into rack and ruin and was scheduled for demolition.