Most of my 18 and 22 inch glamour dolls from the Fifties were found in thrift
store bins. Something about the shape of the foot calls to me, and I'll pull
out a nude doll with high heel feet, fried hair, and the sweetest possible
expression. Repeated applications of Nuvinyl improve the hair and clean the doll, but clothing can be a
problem.
Belle's Margie (above) has a body shape similar to
Miss Revlon, and clothes made from patterns designed for Miss Revlon
actually fit her. Her dress is McCall's 2162 in vintage 60's
polyester/cotton voile.
If the glamour doll is not a Revlon and is taller than 18
inches, the body type is different enough that merely enlarging a Miss Revlon pattern won't do. I had my suspicions when a 22-inch doll
swiped a shirt and shorts meant for Miss Revlon and refused to give them back. The non-Revlon glamour dolls often have long
slender legs, a tiny bottom and high small breasts. An enlarged pattern designed for Miss
Revlon seems too big in the bust and is
enormous at the hip. It shouldn't matter in a dress with a
gathered skirt, but it does. And that is why this lovely brunette is called Long-suffering Lisa. My go-to pattern for Miss Revlon and other 18 inch ladies is McCall's 2162 from 1957, view D. It doesn't quite work, enlarged for a 22 inch doll.
Hats: Fifties hats sometimes resembled overturned flowerpots. I found a straw
cachepot that works, and would work better if I added decorations.
Clothing just to cover the bare:
After awhile, the tall slender nude dolls begin to complain that a fake fur stole is not enough. They want actual clothing. For a gathered skirt, measure from waist to knee and add at least an inch for the length. To get the width, wrap the doll 3 or 4 times. 30 inches is a reasonably full skirt. The skirt for Long-suffering Lisa's dress is 45 inches wide. Gather the skirt and pull the gathering cord until the skirt is a close fit. Measure around the doll at the waist over the gathers, because your waistband has to accommodate the gathers. Merely using the doll's waist measurement and adding half an inch for seams may not be enough. After all, the doll may want to tuck in her blouse.
My 22-inchers accept pants made from patterns meant for Miss Revlon if I lengthen them. They would prefer that I lengthen the blouse patterns as well, but their time spent in thrift store bins makes them easy to please.
After awhile, the tall slender nude dolls begin to complain that a fake fur stole is not enough. They want actual clothing. For a gathered skirt, measure from waist to knee and add at least an inch for the length. To get the width, wrap the doll 3 or 4 times. 30 inches is a reasonably full skirt. The skirt for Long-suffering Lisa's dress is 45 inches wide. Gather the skirt and pull the gathering cord until the skirt is a close fit. Measure around the doll at the waist over the gathers, because your waistband has to accommodate the gathers. Merely using the doll's waist measurement and adding half an inch for seams may not be enough. After all, the doll may want to tuck in her blouse.
My 22-inchers accept pants made from patterns meant for Miss Revlon if I lengthen them. They would prefer that I lengthen the blouse patterns as well, but their time spent in thrift store bins makes them easy to please.
If you can find, in your local library or anywhere else, a copy of Johanna Gast Anderton's Sewing for
Twentieth Century dolls, Volume I, the patterns for 21 inch Cissy may work. There is a pattern for an Eegee 20 inch doll, and Sweet Sue patterns. It's a case of making muslins and perfecting the fit.
What about shoes? At first I ordered shoes from doll supply
companies. The vinyl shoes were brittle and fell to pieces quickly. The first
time this happened, I bought more, but it happened again. Eventually I started
saving the pieces, meaning to glue them together and add felt and elastic. But
what if I tried the method I used when I was a kid, and made shoes by shaping
damp cardboard against the doll's foot and building a heel? I cut
soles from cardboard, innersoles from felt, and used seam binding to cross the
foot. The heels came from sawed off golf
tees. This is a functional solution, but
not an elegant one. There will be shoe experiments in my future.
