Doll Collection: Pearle Scarlett
This girl has a bit of a neat story. I had been living with some friends for a while and we wound up having to move. I came across this doll in a box in the bottom of a linen closet. Her eyes were cloudy, her hair was a mess, but her body was intact and in pretty good shape, although nude. I asked the owner about her, and she said I could have her. She stayed in a corner of my bedroom for a couple of years when one day, I just got curious and wanted to see if she had a history. She has VT-22 stamped in the back of her head, so I started a google search. Turns out she's a 22" Revlon Ideal doll, manufactured between 1956 and 1958 (my own parents were born in 1957 and 1958) and is actually pretty rare. Ideal is the forerunner of Tonner and Mattel, and the Revlon dolls predate Barbie. Their clothes were very detailed, and even had fine jewelry and real furs to go with them. They were meant to be "big sister" type dolls for little girls, and to introduce them to The Revlon name early. I named my doll Pearle Scarlett, since she strikes me as an "ideal" (ha ha) Southern Lady.
I found out that her eyes could be cleaned and that her hair wasn't irreparable! She's got some small discoloration spots on her head, but they're not bad enough to try to get rid of, since the remedy could damage the vinyl. She's got a bit of a "gangsta lean" due, I think, to her inner elastics being slightly warped. She's over fifty years old and in FANTASTIC condition for her age, so I'm not going to quibble over minor aesthetics. I pierced her ears myself, which would probably make some of the hardcore collectors implode, but I had some beautiful gold and pearl earrings that were just perfect for her.
I did some more research to find out about her clothes and how to make patterns, and made her her first real dress (and hat!) out of an old striped canvas purse a friend gave me. It's a bit shorter than her styles tend to be, but I sewed the whole thing by hand and had to line the inside of the skirt. It has a paneled corset style bodice, with the stripes making a chevron in the center front. It's strapless, and as such likes to slide down her chest, so I decided to attach ribbon to make it a halter dress. The hat I made from the stiff bottom of the purse for the brim, and scraps for the top. I made several ribbon roses and added some pearl beads for decoration. I had to add a hatband to cover my awful glue job (it was a learning experience!) but overall it turned out prettily. I had to make her a "hat pin" out of a crewel needle and some beads to keep the thing on her head. When I get some better pictures I'll post them here. I have looked up myriad tutorial on how to make high-heeled shoes, so eventually I'll get the rest of the supplies to make her some. :) I've made her tons of jewelry, and a good friend gave me a jewelry box full of earrings to go through. She has her own jewelry box full!
Fast-forward a few months and failed dresses later, I was going through an old bag of toys to see if there was anything to scavenge for my dollhouse. I saw a pink (turns out it's taffeta) crinoline and got excited, thinking it was just a spare piece from another doll. Then, I saw a satin tag sticking out from under another toy that said "Revlon Ideal"... Holy Christ on a cracker, it turned out to be Pearle's original dress! (Emoticon break: >w< <- my face when I found it, plus a happy dance) The tag is a bit frayed and the dress was stained on the right side of the bodice, so I washed it.... Turns out that getting taffeta wet isn't the best idea, and I should have done the research first... The hindsight research told me that the dress is the "Kissing Pink" style, deep red (silk! ><;) taffeta, with white flocked hearts. (Bangs head against wall for tardery) I've discovered that wrinkles can be removed from taffeta with steam or ironing gently at low temperatures on the wrong side of the fabric (the heat might melt the flocking) but I haven't gotten up the cojones to try. Apparently when taffeta gets wet, any wrinkles are set into it and stupid me, I wrung the skirt out after I washed it.
I plan on taking lots of photos once I get a decent light setup. I also plan on keeping up this blog and updating with the rest of my collection.
[Edit] I did it!
Pics of original dress and petticoat:
She's wearing gold and garnet earrings.
Pics of my Cafe au Lait dress and hat:
Wearing the original pearl earrings that made me name her Pearle. ^^
Links I used in my research:
http://www.vintagedollcollector.com/ideal/revlon/revlon.htm
http://my.pclink.com/~jjdow/
http://dollreference.com/ideal_toy_dolls1950s.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_Toy_Company
Patter Making Tutorial:
http://www.dolls-n-daggers.com/Dolls/OOAKtipssewing.php
Doll Shoe Tutorial:
http://fashiondollshoes.blogspot.com
I found out that her eyes could be cleaned and that her hair wasn't irreparable! She's got some small discoloration spots on her head, but they're not bad enough to try to get rid of, since the remedy could damage the vinyl. She's got a bit of a "gangsta lean" due, I think, to her inner elastics being slightly warped. She's over fifty years old and in FANTASTIC condition for her age, so I'm not going to quibble over minor aesthetics. I pierced her ears myself, which would probably make some of the hardcore collectors implode, but I had some beautiful gold and pearl earrings that were just perfect for her.
I did some more research to find out about her clothes and how to make patterns, and made her her first real dress (and hat!) out of an old striped canvas purse a friend gave me. It's a bit shorter than her styles tend to be, but I sewed the whole thing by hand and had to line the inside of the skirt. It has a paneled corset style bodice, with the stripes making a chevron in the center front. It's strapless, and as such likes to slide down her chest, so I decided to attach ribbon to make it a halter dress. The hat I made from the stiff bottom of the purse for the brim, and scraps for the top. I made several ribbon roses and added some pearl beads for decoration. I had to add a hatband to cover my awful glue job (it was a learning experience!) but overall it turned out prettily. I had to make her a "hat pin" out of a crewel needle and some beads to keep the thing on her head. When I get some better pictures I'll post them here. I have looked up myriad tutorial on how to make high-heeled shoes, so eventually I'll get the rest of the supplies to make her some. :) I've made her tons of jewelry, and a good friend gave me a jewelry box full of earrings to go through. She has her own jewelry box full!
Fast-forward a few months and failed dresses later, I was going through an old bag of toys to see if there was anything to scavenge for my dollhouse. I saw a pink (turns out it's taffeta) crinoline and got excited, thinking it was just a spare piece from another doll. Then, I saw a satin tag sticking out from under another toy that said "Revlon Ideal"... Holy Christ on a cracker, it turned out to be Pearle's original dress! (Emoticon break: >w< <- my face when I found it, plus a happy dance) The tag is a bit frayed and the dress was stained on the right side of the bodice, so I washed it.... Turns out that getting taffeta wet isn't the best idea, and I should have done the research first... The hindsight research told me that the dress is the "Kissing Pink" style, deep red (silk! ><;) taffeta, with white flocked hearts. (Bangs head against wall for tardery) I've discovered that wrinkles can be removed from taffeta with steam or ironing gently at low temperatures on the wrong side of the fabric (the heat might melt the flocking) but I haven't gotten up the cojones to try. Apparently when taffeta gets wet, any wrinkles are set into it and stupid me, I wrung the skirt out after I washed it.
I plan on taking lots of photos once I get a decent light setup. I also plan on keeping up this blog and updating with the rest of my collection.
[Edit] I did it!
Pics of original dress and petticoat:
She's wearing gold and garnet earrings.
Pics of my Cafe au Lait dress and hat:
Wearing the original pearl earrings that made me name her Pearle. ^^
Links I used in my research:
http://www.vintagedollcollector.com/ideal/revlon/revlon.htm
http://my.pclink.com/~jjdow/
http://dollreference.com/ideal_toy_dolls1950s.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_Toy_Company
Patter Making Tutorial:
http://www.dolls-n-daggers.com/Dolls/OOAKtipssewing.php
Doll Shoe Tutorial:
http://fashiondollshoes.blogspot.com