My Doll Haven

Everyone Needs Playtime

In our hectic, modern lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we never seem to have time for pure fun. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we stopped playing.

When we carve out some leisure time, we’re more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than engage in fun, rejuvenating play like we did as children. But play is not just essential for kids; it can be an important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well.

There doesn’t need to be any point to the activity beyond having fun and enjoying yourself. By giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, you can reap oodles of health benefits throughout life.

Sunday

The Revlon Doll Who Almost Came Home

There was a revolution in the doll industry during the mid 1950's and a move from baby dolls to fashion dolls inevitably became the norm. There were so many dolls entering and competing in the marketplace, including Madam Alexander's Cissy with her sculpted bust line and her permanently arched feet to accommodate high-heeled shoes. Almost every toy company had a version of the adult fashion doll, with Ideal’s Revlon doll becoming the most successful.

The Ideal Toy Company (1907-97) acquired the Revlon license to make what was marketed at the time as “the most beautiful doll ever made”. It began production of the Miss Revlon dolls in 1956 and this continued until 1959. The Miss Revlon dolls were made in various sizes, including 15, 18, 20, 23 and 26 inch models. The dolls were marked "VT" followed by the doll's size, such as "VT18" or "VT20" (the "V" stood for vinyl, though I have no idea about the "T", unless it meant tall).

Miss Revlon dolls came with a variety of costumes, many of which had beautiful accessories, such as faux pearl necklaces and rabbit fur stoles.

There was also a Little Miss Revlon that was smaller, standing approximately 10.5 inches tall, which were made between 1958 and 1960. These were made from high-quality vinyl, with strung jointing, inset blinking sleep eyes, rooted saran hair and hand-painted facial detail. The smaller beauties were limited to 500 pieces, which makes them harder to find than the taller versions.

Then many years later, Robert Tonner, the prominent fashion designer, sculptor, doll artist and also collector of these tiny dolls, was inspired by the glamorous Little Miss Revlon from the Golden Age of Fashion to produce his own Vintage Revlon dolls. Robert modified the face sculpt, as the original Little Miss Revlon’s eyes were not perfectly symmetrical and a new version which embodied well proportioned, balanced facial features was born.

The first two of three dolls, Frosted Pink and Queen of Diamonds, arrived into stock in early May, 2011 and retailed for US$124.99. The third Vintage Revlon doll arrived at the end of May. This was followed by further dolls, including a bride.

-oOo-

This post came about because Linda's recent post reminded me of the Robert Tonner Vintage Revlon Blushing Bride that I once considered adding to my collection. I have often wished I had, but never did.

She has the Vintage Revlon head sculpt with hand painted features, the 10.5 inch body made from fine quality vinyl in the Tyler skin tone, hard plastic blue eyes and brown rooted hair.

TONNER STOCK PHOTO

Revlon's bridal outfit is comprised of a gown, veil, floral headband, bouquet, pearl earrings and shoes. Her edition was limited to 500.

TONNER STOCK PHOTO

I also considered purchasing this Pink Parfait Outfit from the 2011 Collection, for her "going away" outfit. The pink strapless lace dress has an attached full petticoat and her accessories include a white faux fur wrap, faux pearl earrings and necklace, with pink molded plastic shoes. This too was limited to an edition of 500.

NOTE: The Ideal Toy Company was made defunct by a merger with Mattel.

Friday

A New Dress for Avery

Ideas have been tossing about in my head as to what I could do with the 8ply wool that's been sitting in my basket for some time. There was a tiny bit of white, a slightly larger ball of lemon and almost a full ball of grey. So I began working with the white from the bottom up and completed this off the shoulder dress for Avery.

It was fun just knitting and changing things about as I went, though I wish now I had written down what I was doing so I could make another down the track, but it is what it is . . . and I told myself if I could do it once, I should be able to do it again.

I also crochet the little flowers and stuck them to some hair slides with PVA glue and added the little pearl centres. They are not perfect, but they'll do for now.

Hope you all had a productive week and are looking forward to a lovely weekend!
Hugs,
X

Tuesday

Curious About Colours

I've been sorting out my wool and trying to decide which colours to keep and which to ditch. This got me wondering, when it comes to your dolls, which colours you prefer to dress them in?