Rita Hayworth

She is one of the most beautiful fashion dolls i own. She is a very good likeness of the famous movie star Rita Hayworth, with her chiseled face and the flaming red hair cascading into lovely big curls on her back. She could be a bit taller though - her height makes her my shortest fashion doll, along with Franklin Mint's Jackie O, making it difficult to dress her elegantly. Her petite body makes it easy for her to wear most of Gene's clothing. This suits her ideally as it is clothing that belongs to her era. She is not articulated at the elbows, knees or wrists, making her difficult to pose. She has a sturdy saddle stand with her name inscribed on a raised plaque at the front.

In her original Gilda outfit

She was released in 2000 for a benefit: "Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan (daughter of Rita Hayworth and honorary vice chair for the Alzheimer's Association) will unveil the first Rita Hayworth as Gilda (TM) collector Doll for hundreds of FAO Schwartz (New York) customers. The new line of dolls, manufactured by Simple Wishes, will launch exclusively through FAO Schwartz (SRP $150) beginning September 27. A portion of proceeds from the purchase of the doll will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association" Unfortunately the line did not continue and we were left with this doll only, which is very hard to find as it was made in a limited edition (I do not know the run of the edition, so knowledgeable people fill me in).

A close up

Here she is in a lovely Gene outfit, Champagne Supper:

Wearing the Gene Marshall doll outfit Champagne Supper

And here she is in another of Gene's outfits called Emerald Eve. I think green suits her a lot!

Wearing the Gene Marshall doll outfit Emerald Eve

Scarlett O' Hara-Vivien Leigh, by Franklin Mint

"The legendary film heroine Scarlett O’Hara™ as portrayed by Vivien Leigh, brought to life in a historic collector portrait doll. Crafted in pose-able, lifelike vinyl". this is the introduction to this doll in the official website of its manufacturer, the Franklin Mint. The doll is an incredible likeness to the actress, one of the best ever made in my opinion.

The doll was issued in August 1999 (Thanks Ace!). It has been re-issued in late 2006 after a long period of being out of production. The doll had a total of 15 costumes created (along with the wedding dress and the calico dress), faithful replicas of the movie costumes by Walter Plunkett. In addition to them there was a doll trunk (storage box for the doll and her gowns) which was a replica of a hat box in the style Rhett gave to her with the infamous green hat, and a dress form, to display the costumes when not on the doll itself. In the photos of this post, you can see her with the red velvet dressing gown, worn in the famous scene with Rhett Butler. It is a regal dressing gown and compliments the doll very well.

It is difficult to find the doll and costumes in low prices on the secondary market as it is highly collectible (sigh). I will later post pictures of her in other costumes, either from the film or more modern ones, as she is the spitting image of Vivien Leigh. I am on the search for a reasonably priced second Scarlett to turn into the actress. Enjoy the lovely doll.

First doll presented - Gene by Mel Odom

One of the dolls that make a big part of my collection is Gene, by Mel Odom. Gene was the doll that "made" fashion doll collecting an obsession. She is 15" 1/2 tall and her full name is Gene Marshall (real name Katie Marshall). She was first presented in 1995. Ashton Drake manufactured the doll up until 2005. 2006 saw Integrity and Jason Wu taking the rights to manufacture Gene, marking a new chapter in her life. An enduringly alluring doll, she is made to fit a movie star living from the 40s up to late 50s, with outfits to match, either film costumes or her "real life" outfits for various moments of her life.

This Gene you can see here is the 2006 Blush Gene, one of the basic dolls from the relaunch of Mel Odom's Gene, manufactured by Integrity and Jason Wu. She is articulated at the neck, waist, chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees, making her highly pose-able. Gene Blush (the Jason Wu basic raven haired model) is wearing Cognac Evening and using the Gene Director's chair (both made by AD).

A b/w look, after all, she's a movie star:

And this is how she came to me, the basic 2006 Blush Gene, in her glorious lingerie:

Of course this is but one of my Gene dolls, more will come in later posts.

Fashion Doll Chronicles is here!

Finally got around to set up a blog for one of my biggest hobbies - Fashion Dolls. Fashion dolls are dolls made for adults - not for kids. They usually wear elaborate costumes and have highly detailed faces and model proportioned bodies. They come in several sizes, the usual is 16" (like Mel Odom's Gene) or 12" tall (like Jason Wu's Fashion Royalty dolls). I will be posting photos of my collection of fashion dolls and share tips and information with everybody interested in them. I am not in any way affiliated with any of the companies that manufacture fashion dolls (I wish I was!) so this is not an advertisement or endorsement for any of them.