In the 1937 Shirley Temple classic, "Heidi," the curly haired moppet wears a gorgeous velvet dress for Christmas. Here's a recent shot of how that dress looks in person. I was surprised to see it was royal blue, not black.
In 1983, the Ideal Toy Company recreated this dress for their 17" vinyl Shirley doll. Loved the dress, but the doll...fairly creepy. She has been dubbed many names, including the Barbra Streisand doll. She looks nothing like Shirley. Ugh.
Years later, I photographed a Danbury Mint porcelain doll in that dress. MUCH better.
When I acquired a 24" Shirley by doll artist Virginia Turner, I was less than impressed by the outfit it came with, as well as the oddly shaped body which was a mixture of porcelain for the face, arms, and legs, with a poorly fitting plastic torso. I commissioned Diane Wagner to recreate the "Heidi" dress in its original blue color. To say she met my expectations is a complete understatement. There were "fittings" where I attempted from a few states away to pin, photograph, and mark the muslin dress Diane had sent for sizing. I was completely out of my element, but somehow it all came together. In fact, it came together so well that I thought the dress was wasted on the porcelain piece of poo, and it was elevated up to a classic 25" 1930's composition Shirley:
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Thanks so much, Diane, for making Shirley's 90th Birthday dress!
See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.
