Shirley Projects, Pt. 4

One of my very favorite Shirley Temple musical numbers is “Fifth Avenue” from the 1940 film “Young People.” Not surprisingly, I commissioned the talented Lolly Moran to recreate the tuxedo that Shirley wore in the film for one of my 18" Ideal composition dolls. Unfortunately, Lolly could not do the gloves, hat, or cane. She did however suggest Dollspart for the top hat, which I immediately ordered. Not sure which size to get, I bought the two sizes that I thought would be close. Sadly, it was a Goldilocks situation and I was missing the “just right” size. There was the too big one:



…and the too small version, which wasn’t even the right shape. It would have been better suited for an Abraham Lincoln doll.



I ended up putting a silk ribbon with bow around the larger one, as I figured at least it was the right shape, and by putting it on at an angle, I could (slightly) disguise the fact that it didn’t really fit. Fortunately, the 18" doll I had chosen to model the hat had a BIG head full of curls! The gloves were easy; I’d made many pairs before, so that went off the checklist immediately. The hardest part was the cane. Buying wooden dowels, I painted them first with black enamel, and then the tips in silver. Easy.



The glitter for the top of the cane came out messy and clumped. I had dipped the top in glue and then dipped it in the bottle of glitter. No control with that method and the glitter stuck haphazardly. Back to the drawing board.



After a few more unsuccessful tries, I finally hit paydirt. In putting the ensemble together, here’s how it came out:



The too-large hat still bothered me. No matter how jaunty the angle, it still didn’t look right. Then one day I tried the hat on a 20" Shirley. BINGO! Guess what happened next? Lolly was making a 20" version of the tux (this time with pockets to hold the miniature pocket chain, just like Shirley in the movie) and I was busy making a larger cane and gloves! To say I was pleased with the final result is an understatement. The outfit looked so much better in the larger size.







Still more Shirley craft project posts to come!

See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.

Shirley Projects, Pt. 3

In “Curly Top” (1935) when little orphan Elizabeth Blair (Shirley) sashays up the walk with her sister Mary (Rochelle Hudson) to her new ritzy beach home has to be one of the cutest scenes Shirley ever filmed as a child. It’s no surprise that I think the original Ideal composition doll dressed in the same “Duck Dress” is one of the cutest, too. I was able to acquire one, and this is how she looked in the online auction where I found her.





Since I prefer my Shirleys to be as screen accurate as possible, I switched out her white oilcloth shoes for the black Mary Jane variety.



You’ll also note that I added gloves (yup, sewed them myself!) and a purse. Not just any old purse, either. I did my best to match the one Shirley carried in the film.



Zooming into this vintage shot from my collection, I had a very good idea of what that looked like!





A detailed shot of the purse that I made. Not too bad for a first try!



See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.

Shirley Projects, Pt. 2

It’s common knowledge what Shirley wore to the Oscars in 1935, based on photographic evidence. It’s also well documented what coat and hat she wore when she planted her feet into the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre the same year.



Yup...put her feet AND hands right here. Note Jane Withers, Shirley’s arch nemesis from “Bright Eyes,” in the upper left corner. It took Jane another four years after Shirley to get her block at Grauman’s!



What we DON’T know is what dress she wore under her coat at Grauman’s. So far, no photos have surfaced that would tell us that information. What we DO know is that when Shirley herself worked with the Danbury Mint many years ago to release a porcelain doll that commemorated that historic moment…



she chose to have the dress she wore to the Oscars as the one that came with the Grauman’s coat.



When it came up for auction in 2015, we learned what color it was. From the Theriault’s catalog:

A sleeveless peach silk crepe dress has narrow pleats falling fron the high waist and self-covered buttons down the yoke. Atop the sleeveless bodice is a pink pique jacket with diamond-point edging and puffed sleeves with matching trim. The dress is tagged "4757".

Danbury chose to make the entire ensemble the same color. Ho hum.



Recently, the R. John Wright company, known for their high-end felt dolls, announced their second Shirley Temple doll, titled “Hollywood Star.”



The Grauman’s outfit was spot-on; top-quality fabrics and a real ermine fur capelet. The website said the dress underneath would be the Oscar dress; instead of showing the doll-sized dress, they posted a shot of the actual dress Shirley wore from the auction site. At a doll convention (before the doll had been released, but at a point they had already collected money for pre-orders), Wright showed their first Shirley release along with “Hollywood Star” in two different versions, with varying prices. One had the Oscar dress with no coat (but an Oscar), and the other with just the coat and who knows what underneath.



Then abruptly the price disappeared as did the miniature Oscar on the middle doll.



I noticed at the same time on the Wright website that although the Oscar dress was still being shown…



the ad copy had removed any mention of the Oscar dress and just stated this:



I contacted Wright, who told me that “the family” had forbidden them from using the Oscar dress so the substitution had been made. Very quietly. Because the coat is attached with the Wright pin and not easy to unbutton, most of the people who bought this doll would probably never know exactly what was underneath unless they attempted to struggle to remove the coat. I noticed that recently, Wright did put a shot of what the dress looks like. Nice pleated dress...but not as detailed or intricate as the Oscar dress.



At this point, I decided to “plus” my Danbury Mint doll. I preferred the porcelain face over the felt, so I was good on that. While the fur and coat weren’t of the same caliber as the Wright version, they were good enough for me. I did two little upgrades. One was to remove the Danbury synthetic wig and replace it with mohair. MUCH better!



…and I dyed the Danbury Oscar dress bolero top to match the real one. I was one happy customer...and saved a ton-o-money in the process!



The only thing I need now is a Claudette Colbert doll!

See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.

Shirley Projects, Pt. 1

In the final scene of Shirley Temple’s 1934 film “Bright Eyes,” she wears a cute cloche hat and coat set trimmed with foxtail tips. Ideal dolls manufactured this set for their 1930's composition doll in a corduroy fabric; the one I have is modeled by a 20" Shirley doll and I believe the trim is mink (or so I've been told by a fur expert!).



When this very outfit came up for auction in 2015, it was revealed that it was a peach/pink color. This made me like it even more! Here is the catalog description from Theriault’s:

Of a coral-rose wool, the coat has an unusual marble button and loop closure, cuffed sleeves, embroidery detail, and a stand-up collar with attached scarf having foxtail tips. Along with a matching cloche with foxtail tips trim. The coat has the label of "DeBetty Alden Shoppe Los Angeles". Generally excellent. The coat and hat were worn by Shirley Temple in the 1934 film "Bright Eyes".



I’m guessing the label actually says “Ye Betty Alden Shoppe,” as one can see the name of the shop in this vintage 1930 shot I found on the web:



Recently, a set for a 25" doll became available in an online auction without the fur trim. The price was very cheap and I said to Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) in one of our almost daily chats that it would be cool to attempt to dye it to match the screen-worn costume. A few days later, it arrived at my house! What a nice suprirse! Melissa LOVES projects (and so do I!), and this was one she wanted to see what I could do with it.




My first step was to attempt to even out the color of the garment by soaking it in Staintique. I would like to do that for the one I already have, but then I would need to remove the mink fur pieces, and I am not about to muck up the original stitching. Here was the result; much brighter!



Step 2 was dyeing the fabric. I picked Rit’s pink dye. Oops! I love pink, but this was definitely too deep.



A few weeks went by and I decided to try again, this time with Rit’s Rose Quartz color. SUCCESS!! I used RIT’s color remover powder; the deep pink coat barely touched the boiling bath with color remover and it was INSTANTLY white again! Cautiously, I dipped the garment into the Rose Quartz and voila! SUCCESS!



Dimitha on ebay sells doll-sized fur pieces, and I bought a set of ivory and brown mink for the trim. They worked PERFECTLY! I decided to go with the ivory set to more closely resemble Shirley’s screen-worn costume.





What do you think? Ready to give this a shot yourself?

See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.

Falling For DeeAnna

My latest obsession in the doll world is DeeAnna Denton. Not the 16" version, but the 17" sculpt. Amazing what a difference one inch can make! Of course Tonner is now defunct, but thanks to ebay, every now and then a DeeAnna comes up for sale. If only I had fallen for her while she was still being made! First up is Bye Bye Baby, which I am guessing was a not-so-veiled tribute to Marilyn. DeeAnna is standing in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, waving “Bye Bye” to her fans.

The second doll shown is known as Falling For Her. The outfit is so-so for me. The hat appears to have been made out of pillow foam. Seriously. I may attempt to mimic it, but use feathers instead. The purse is a faux gold leather that is already disintegrating. But DeeAnna herself...stunning with her curly auburn hair.



Cherry Cordial is my favorite DeeAnna so far; she looks great as a brunette. It has been suggested that her inspiration was Deanna Durbin, and this particular doll would highly support that theory. She is shown entering the Chateau Marmont just in time to see their Christmas decor.



This DeeAnna I believe is Vivaciously Vintage. I have dressed her in the Spot On outfit. Again, she is at her best as a brunette!



Here DeeAnna takes a well-deserved rest.



Overall critique on DeeAnna: LOVE the face sculpt and paint. Probably one of my favorite vintage-style fashion dolls of all time. The negatives: let's start with the hands. Good Lord they are huge. Even the gloves that come with the doll do not fit over the sprawl of fingers. The body is curvaceous which I very much like; but the articulation is extremely limited. However she has been put together, there is just not a lot of movement. One would think it would be easier to have a larger doll balance and stand on its own; not so with DeeAnna. Tonner did not take the time to engineer the shoes to make that possible. This doll is pretty much dependent on a stand if you want her to pose for photos. The verdict: she’s a winner in my book! Still looking for a raven DeeAnna to round out the collection!

See more Robert Tonner doll photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: 1972 Vinyl Shirley

I still remember the first time I saw Ideal’s 1972 vinyl doll. It was sitting high on top of the shelf in the local hardware store's Toy Shop. The display was a cardboard stage that was a promotional item by Ideal. I thought it looked just like Shirley. Shiny sandy blonde curls, the dimples, the smile, the instantly recognizable polka dot dress from “Stand Up and Cheer”…it was Shirley come to life in 17 inches of peach-colored vinyl.



I even thought the box was cool; LOTS of photos of Shirley all around it!



There was also an alternate dress that was a modern riff on the “Stand Up and Cheer” outfit. Screw that...I wanted it to look just like the one in the 1934 movie!



After the 1972/73 doll was released, Ideal also produced four outfits (sold separately of course!) that were “inspired” by some of Shirley’s most famous movie roles.



“Inspired” is somewhat accurate, as these outfits not only strayed far from the original designs but they looked pretty cheap, too. The best of the bunch was probably “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm”:



“Captain January” wasn’t too bad, but it didn’t have the arm patch (can you hear the pennies saved on that one?). “Heidi” wasn’t awful from the front:



…but it sure was a mess in the back. BTW: this doll has been “enhanced” with a petticoat and hose, unlike the original outfit which only had short socks. Shoes weren’t included either. All outfits were expected to share the same pair of red vinyl shoes that came with the “Stand Up and Cheer” doll.



The hair on these dolls was the equivalent of a mullet. Business in front…



party in the back. No Shirley-style curls and bare hair plugs...this poor thing needs some rogaine and a curling iron.



The amount of hair on the back of the head varied. Some were close to bald, some had a bigger afro. I actually had one of mine restyled by Kathy Johnson, who magically turned the messy mass into Shirley curls!



The prize for the worst outfit of the quartet goes to “The Little Colonel.” Missing at least two ruffles and made out of the cheapest polyester possible, you can almost smell the steam coming off of this one.



When Ideal closed shop, Dollspart Supply started selling parts for the 1972 doll. You could buy a whole set and make your own 1972 Shirley Temple Ideal vinyl doll. Sort of…

No eyelashes, cheaply painted (no blushing), and even less hair on the head (could that be?!?), you would have to be pretty desperate to buy one of these nude dolls and go to the hassle of putting it together.



See more Shirley Temple doll photos at my main website.