On a shopping trip with my friend, Fusako, I found a few more rain coats to add to my program.  I have one or two more in my own collection then I guess I will be done.  The new additions are plastic rain capes from the 1950s.

Ginger Dolls

Darlene, Linda and I have been working on a PowerPoint program about Cosmopolitan Ginger dolls from the 1950s.  Because the original all-hard-plastic dolls were unmarked they are hard to identify.  To add to the problem  the manufacturer that Cosmopolitan bought the basic doll from used the molds for dolls sold to other companies.  If they have a tagged outfit it helps but there are also many outfits out there with the cosmopolitan characteristics and no tag.  Here are some of the authenticated and mystery dolls.

More Rain Gear

MORE RAIN GEAR

 

 

Here are two more recent additions to my dolly raingear. The Coquette Cissy (Cissette size) outfit consists of a raincoat with an umbrella print and pink plaid high heel boots.  The hat is one I crocheted.  The repro Patsyette has a wonderful outfit that incorporates April showers and May flowers.  The yellow rain hat, boots, and umbrella are vinyl.



Raincoats for Dolls

RAINCOATS FOR DOLLS

   I recently rounded up a lot of my doll raincoats to do a program for Fashion Doll Club.  Here are a few from the 50s.  Check out the clear plastic overshoes and the rubber boots.  I can remember the joy of splashing through the puddles in rain boots.

The 1930s

The depression marked the end of the flapper styles.  People became more serious and home and family became the center of life.  Into this atmosphere came Patsy and her look-alikes.  These long legged dolls with their short skirts seem to emphasize an idealized view of a child's life.  Patsy had an outfit for every occasion.  Most outfits had matching combination underwear.  She was leading a child's life of luxury while in the real world people were struggling.

Pictured above an 8" tagged Patsy, Arrenbee's Nancy, and a Patsyette knock off.

Kewpies and Mamma Rose

There is a nice article on Rose O'Neill and the Kewpies in the August 2014, Doll Castle News.  There is also an article by me on the fashions of the 1910s which features this UFDC souvenir doll of Rose O'Neill by Lita Wilson.  I redressed the doll to represent a fashion of this period.  The Kewpie is an old one from my collection.

O'Neill was an accomplished illustrator and it is a joy to find one of her old illustrations when paging through an antique magazine.  A wonderful book about her is "Rose O'Neill, The Girl Who Loved to Draw" by Linda Brewster published by Boxing Day Books.  This book is entertaining for both children and grownups and is generrously illustrated.

Vintage Purses

Here are some catalog photos of purses.  The color page is fro the 1950s.  The other two pictures are from the 1920s.  Maybe my flapper doll will get a new purse.

YET MORE MOD

YET MORE MOD

   For an issue of my, now retired, newsletter that featured Mod fashions  I decided to do a paper doll of some of my own clothes from the 1960s.  When I could get an outfit with several parts I did it.  The white mohair pea jacket had a wool miniskirt and wool bell bottoms and a striped sweater.  It was expensive but worth every penny.
   The pinstriped suit had cuffed pants also.  I loved wearing my Dad's old ties with some of my outfits.  The Nehru jacket and love beads are more hippie than Mod but what the heck.
   I don't like having my picture taken so there aren't lots of them but here is a pic of me after I had my hair cut into the twiggy do.

MOD DOLLS

Part 4

Dolls that define the Mod Era are the Mod Barbies including Francie, Twiggy, and Julia (Diahann Carroll).  Crissy and Velvet have both Mod and Hippie clothes.  The 6” tall Dawn line has a remarkable Mod wardrobe. Tiffany Taylor, although more disco era, has the exaggerated eye make -up that I remember wearing.

In the late 1990s Doug James and Laura Meisner introduced the Somers and Field dolls.  According to their story line Willow Somers and Daisy Fields were “Mod Birds” who lived in London in the 1960s. Their fathers owned the Somers and Field department store.  Willow is British and Daisy is British/Indian.  This line was made by Knickerbocker and their clothes represent the designers’ love affair with the Mod era.

Look at the pictures here and see if you remember having any of these outfits.  Not sure if you were a hippie or a Mod?  Then, my dear, you must have been a square.

 

MOD DOLLS

Part 3

 

 

Both sexes wore clothes decorated with the Union Jack or Pop Art designs.  Dessert boots or Beatle boots were popular with both sexes.

What were the social changes that influenced this movement?  You have a group of young people who came of age well after WWII.  They grew up in a world with a strong middle class.  Mod culture was influenced by music, notably R&B and blues. The sappy pop music produced for white teens in the ‘50s was rejected.   Mod youngsters would often hang out at coffee houses, enjoying the music and meeting other Mods.

Of note, more young women were working albeit often at low paying jobs.  If you were a young woman out and about you would want to mark your place in the world and what better way to do it than clothes?  When you reject your mother’s clothes, you reject your mother’s values (you think).  You are defining the world and your place in it for yourself.

Colorforms Dawn Dolls





Mod Era
 Part 2

 For girls it was the mini skirt, tights, and go-go boots.  The androgynous look was also popular for girls.  The peacock wing evolved into what was known as the Swinging London style.  Eyes were what counted when it came to makeup.  Dramatic eye makeup was enhanced with false eyelashes.  Twiggy,  Jean Shrimpton and Peggy Moffit were the icons for this movement.

Both sexes wore clothes decorated with the Union  Jack or Pop Art designs.  Dessert boots or Beatle boots were popular with both sexes.

I have been working on a program about the Mod Era for one of my doll clubs.  Here's a little of the program plus a couple of Flatsies and a doll from the Willow and Daisy series.  My Mod Era paper doll book is still available.

The Mod Era



The Mod Era began in England the early 196os and rapidly spread to youths around the world.  It is believed to be the successor to the Beatniks,   Mod being short for Modernists, a term the Beatniks used.  Mod culture unlike the co-existent Hippie culture embraced consumerism.

In Mod culture clothing was very important.  If you think about the early Beatles in their well-tailored tight-pantsed suits, you see what the boys were wearing.  Male Mods wore tailor made suits, thin ties, and button-down collar shirts.

Some Christmas Postcards

I like to go to antique co-ops but I don't always find a doll worthy of buying.  A little item that doesn't cost much, doesn't take up a lot of space, and feeds my need for visual stimulation is the post card.  Here are two from my collection for Christmas.   The one on the left is postmarked 1907.  The other says 1920.
The little verse reads
   May Santa have treasures for you in store.
      All that you wish for and even more,
   So that your Christmas be full of joy,
      Goodies delight you, and many a toy.

Surprise Paper Doll Find

Surprise Findings

   I love wandering through antique co-ops.  You never know what you might find.  On a recent trip I found two interesting cut paper doll sets.  I like cut sets and even though I know they are seldom complete, they make good additions to my research on fashion history.

   One set I found had a glamour puss paper doll named Lola Talley.  Who the heck was she?  I wanted to know more so I searched the web.  The story is in the latest issue of Doll Castle News.

 





I made a video of my paper doll art.  It is available on YouTube as Lauren Welker's Original Paper Dolls.

 

I Went to Paris!

When I was about 14 years old the Mona Lisa was loaned to the United States.  It was exhibited in Washington, D.C.  My grandmother, Fairie, took me on a bus trip to see the famous painting.  We ate at a restaurant that had many oil paintings on the walls.  I never forgot that trip.

It became my life's dream to visit the Mona Lisa at her home, the Louvre, in Paris.  In 2011, fifty years later, I accomplished that dream.  With my dear friend, Diane Lolli, I got to see the Mona Lisa at home in the most beautiful city in the world.  I will never be the same.  Love always changes you.

The pictures shown here are the church at Montmartre and Versailles.

Dolls with Nothing to Wear

I bought these two dolls at an auction years ago with the clear objective of making them wonderful outfits.  Poor things, it hasn't happened yet.  Finally a friend took mercy on the brunette and made her a dress and hat.  She now has joined my little family of German dolls.  Serendipitously I have bought a mama and some children that just look right together.  Only one of them has an original costume that has survived and that costume is just being held together by dirt.  Generally I am in favor of gently washing doll clothing, but I know that outfit wouldn't survive. 

I have the habit of sketching out all my own outfits that I will take on road trips, especially conventions and shows, so that I will pack everything that I need.  I have done this for decades.  Sometimes I find an old sketch and realize I still have an outfit or two that should have gone out the door ages ago.  Those outfits aren't quite as old as these dolls but they are getting there.



I'm Teporarily Paper Dolled Out

I'm temporarily paper dolled out.   I guess I need to clean up the house and do the laundry.  How sad.  Recently I saw a cut set of the Dogpatch paper dolls.  Mammy and Pappy Yokum, Lil' Abner and Daisy Mae.  They were my favorites when I was a kid.  I guess I had others but those are the ones I remember playing with.  Here's a pic of some of my paper dolls.

Life's a Beach

I'm back from spending four lovely days at the shore.  Why does our time away from home go so fast?  My  pal Catherine and I had a great time reading, relaxing, eating and shopping.  That's right -I don't swim.  I love being near the water.  I just don't want to be in the water.  That's why we always book a shore front room, so we can sit on the porch and look at the ocean. 

I recently saw a show that traced the indigenous people of the Americas using DNA.  Once people thought all the "native Americans" came across a land bridge (now gone) from Asia to Alaska.  We now know some of them sailed across the ocean from Africa.  It is hard to imagine setting off on a journey when you don't know where you are going or if you will ever return.

Come to think of it, life is a little like that.  You don't know where you are going, how long the journey will be, or where you will land.

Using Antique Lace

   If you do doll costuming chances are people give you lace and trim.  Then, of course, there are your own “finds” in the vintage lace department.  The question is what do you do with your treasures.

   I am not a fan of reusing truly old fabrics.  Everything has a life span.  Fabric starts to break down after a while and the older the fabric is the more likely it is to be fragile.

This means that the creation you have spent so many hours on will have a limited life span.

   Antique lace however, if in reasonably good condition, can be carefully mounted onto fresh fabric and become part of a new creation.  Although there is no way of saying how long it will last, a costume made this way should give years of pleasure if it is displayed carefully and cleaned infrequently.  Obviously this means the doll should be stored in a glass front case out of direct sunlight.

   To determine the best costume for each doll research the age of the doll then look for pictures of similar dolls in their original costumes.  Fashion plates are also a good source of  inspiration.  If you do not own any  original magazines from the period look in the library for fashion history books with reproductions of antique fashion plates (illustrations).

   Don’t overlook old paper dolls as a source for period styles and colors.  It’s impossible to look at Sheila Young’s Betty Bonnet or Lettie Lane paper dolls and not wish for some of the beautiful clothes.  How wonderful it would be to create a doll wardrobe based on just one of these  paper dolls.

   Here is one of my original paper dolls from "Letters from Miss Mary".