Two women. One suit. Two planets. One suit. Two different attitudes. One suit.
Julian Kalinowski's Séverine doll is a chameleon. Called the doll of the five hundred different faces, the same sculpt is nothing but a different personality in the able hands of Mr. Kalinowski. To demonstrate the point, Dolldom has chosen two very different Séverine dolls and asked them to model the same suit- a black wonder by British designer Tania Lawrence.
In their unique environments but in the same suit, the women in the photos make us entertain the thought that we are right now doing and wearing the exact same thing, but in another planet, in another galaxy, in some unreachable labyrinth of the universe. The same and yet different. The same and yet so inexorably apart.
Hello young lovers, wherever you are
I hope your troubles are few
All my good wishes go with you tonight
I've been in love like you
Be brave, young lovers and follow your star
Be brave and faithful and true
Cling very close to each other tonight
I've been in love like you
I know how it feels to have wings on your heels
And to fly down the street in a trance
You fly down a street on the chance that you'll meet
And you meet -- not really by chance
Don't cry young lovers, whatever you do
Don't cry because I'm alone
All of my memories are happy tonight
I've had a love of my own
I've had a love of my own, like yours
I've had a love of my own
Cast:
Paris Fashion Doll Festival "Classic Black Dress" Silkstone Barbie Fashion Model Collection
Mad Men Ken in Barbie Fashion Model Tuxedo
Gown by Integrity Toys
Necklace by VJT Designs
Luis Buñuel's film Belle de jour is a classic of cinema. Regardless of your opinion on the storyline, the film features the beautiful Catherine Deneuve wearing Yves Saint Laurent. And one of the designs is the ultimate Little Black Dress.
This year's Barbie Fashion Model Collection is based on classic designs revisited. And this famous LBD became part of the collection on dolls issued for Barbie and fashion doll events in Tokyo and Paris.
For this Dolldom feature, vintage fashion maven Liz Retros has recreated the iconic dress and who better to wear it but the hard working "Classic Black Dress" Barbie? Retros' version is based on the Saint Laurent model and features a back zipper closing and a silken Georgette. As a nod the the aforementioned film, Barbie gets to spend her morn playing with her dolls, camera at hand, so she may document her play.
Dolldom will always fight for the underdog. When a doll is down, Dolldom goes to the rescue. Why? Because Dolldom believes that all dolls, regardless of their origins, are the offspring of a dream: to replicate in miniature the ideals of current cultural values. In our eyes, "Classic Black Dress" Barbie is indeed the vision of a fashion model as Robert Best illustrates in his exquisite artwork: long, lean, delicate, with a flexible torso and expressive fingers.
"Classic Black Dress" Barbie Fashion Model (also known as "Classic Bad Dress") has been designed to usher a new era for the Silkstone line of Barbie collector dolls, designed by Mr. Best. But her life has been nothing but tumultuous. Since her arrival on the scene, Miss CBD has been dissected, maligned, and reduced to the level of bad doll due to a series of unfortunate events: manufacturing gaps that leave seams of body parts unfinished, weak spots in joints, an articulation design that does not deliver a hand that will remain on a hip, and unannounced changes to the body proportions of the doll. These combine to create a perfect storm. And what's left behind is a doll that is not feeling the love that initially she intended to provoke.
So Dolldom editors decided to verify if indeed "CBD" is bad. Design and manufacturing issues aside (and Dolldom hopes that Mattel will address these - if not doing so already), is "CBD" a bad idea? As we addressed in a previous post, "CBD" she is the future of the Barbie Fashion Model Collection. But to be so, she ought to be able to bridge the new with the very beautiful past of this groundbreaking line. For example: Will she be capable of sharing a design aesthetic with previous Silkstone dolls? Will the fashions produced in previous years fit her well? Will "CBD" be able to wear a gown? Rock a vintage Retros look by Liz Cole? Proudly model James Bogue's Vogues? Provide hours of unadulterated doll play? Propose new posing alternatives?
The following exclusive portfolio is meant to address these questions (no fashions were altered to accommodate the doll's new proportions) and to invite bona fide Barbie doll fans to give "CBD" a chance by playing dress-up with her.
Can "CBD" look elegantly tailored?
In "Boulevard", "CBD" cuts an impressive figure. She's luxe, classic, and very ready for autumn in New York.
Big chunky jewelry is always in style. Take note, Mattel.
Is "CBD" the ball gown type?
In the Pink! On a blonde! Magic.
"CBD" loves her pink satin and tulle confection.
Can "CBD" vogue in Bogue's Vogues?
Absolutely!
And when the coat comes off, "CBD" shows off the sexy fit of the long column gown below.
Retro maven? Yes! "CBD" is the perfect tourist in Bermuda in a Retros set made with vintage fabric and a miniature Enid Collins bag. Necklace by Joy Jarred. Vintage straw hat.
Can "CBD" move? And move us with her movements?
Most certainly! The articulated rib cage and waist combine to give the Silkstone "CBD" Barbie doll more flexible expressions.
In this qi pao by Joe Tai, "CBD" gets us all in a mood for love.
Suits in the boardroom? "CBD" is chairwoman of the board in the classic "Lunch at the Club" issued in 2000.
Can "CBD" pay homage to the Teenage Fashion Model of 1959?
100%. In a Retros sheath with functioning buttons and button hole back closure, opera net stockings, black gloves, vintage straw hat, platform suede shoes by Paul Shangby, and jewelry from "Dusk to Dawn", "CBD" is nothing but vintage beauty. Her lunchbox is a key chain issued in the mid 1990s.
Dolldom, at its most constructive, proposes that Mattel, Robert Best, and the many other hard-working folk at The Barbie Collection consider:
1. Re-evaluating the design and execution of the elbow joint. An articulated Silkstone ought to be able to place her hand on her hip. She ought to be able to pose and keep a pose. She ought to sit and cross her legs. She ought to do these and not break or end up with compromised joints.
2. Consider imposing higher quality control standards to their factory in Indonesia, where this doll was produced.
3. Give collectors what they want. Offer both the frozen as well as the articulated bodies. This new iteration could well be an off-shoot of the line that focuses on designs with a more contemporary bent. The original body dolls would be offered in "Atelier" style designs.
4. Offer accessories. It's what makes a doll a fashion doll. Jewelry sets are long past due. A hat set. Hosiery and glove sets too. And what about shoes? The "Opera" stilettos in many colors. Boots à la Dulcissima but without the embroidery.
5. Design hairstyles that are in-scale. Nothing kills a doll faster than a head of hair gone wild. Neat, classic, versatile are key words. To scale chignons. To scale ponytails. 70s Cher hair. A fashion model is not a shampoo hair model. Do not design a hairstyle that will be impossible to replicate in production with specific budget constraints.
We will close this celebration of "CBD" beauty with one of BFMC's best videos: Atelier
Ever since 1994, when the Barbie Doll turned thirty-five years old, Mattel has been producing reproductions of vintage dolls and fashions. Fast forward to 2015, twenty-one years later, there is a doll that successfully captures the essence of the original 1959 Barbie concept. Black and White Swimsuit Barbie Doll, designed by Bill Greening, comes in a slender shoe box-style box in a swimsuit and sunglasses, ready to come out and model. But some may ask: "Hasn't Mattel done that many times?" Yes, the toy giant has indeed released many dolls in swimsuits including the most recent Let's Play Barbie, but not at all like this one. We'll explain...
Black and White Swimsuit Barbie has it - that elusive quality abundant in vintage dolls. It's presence and attitude. A face, big, broad, enhanced with a Technicolor make-up palette. The head sculpt is generous, the curly bangs tiny and tidy, brows are
placed just right on her forehead, a red shiny pout, and much to our surprise, the
perfectly scaled ponytail boasts a tidy hard curl. Although never to be confused with a Barbie doll from the 60s - Black and White Swimsuit Barbie has a different rooting pattern with lower placed hairline and
bangs and a different formulation of vinyl - she possesses an integrity
of construction and execution that places her in a category all her own.
Dolldom feels that this time the focus has been placed on the actual quality of the doll as a mannequin rather than to the design and graphics of the packaging and the inclusion of multiple accessories. Black and White Swimsuit Barbie is a well-made doll the result of attention paid to details that echo back to the exquisite production standards of the early 1960s dolls in Japan. She even comes in a beautiful pink and black cardboard box (no plastic windows through which to look but not touch) clearly saying that here is a mannequin to wear the surplus of fashions in your collection. Or perhaps the perfect one with which to being a collection!
Once released from her pink silhouette box, Black and White Swimsuit Barbie is ready to do what a teen-age fashion model does best: model! But first Barbie hangs out by the pool with Ken.
What shall I wear?
Country roads await! Barbie models a Retros sweater and slack set under the "Peachy Fleecy" (#915) coat and hat before driving away in her Austin-Healey.
Summertime outings call for cool cotton separates from the PAK line. Accessories? "Open Road's" hat, sandals, sunglasses, and a cheery attitude.
A professional woman faces the day in the Chanel-esque "Commuter Set (#916) navy suit and Busy Gal's (#981) body blouse. White gloves, a Silkstone BFMC bracelet, and red petal hat are luxe touches.
A quiet evening with Ken is spent in a PAK sweater and cotton slacks and the halter top and pearl choker from "Mood for Music" (#940).
Who is that girl in the portrait?
Black and White Swimsuit Barbie is elegant in "Junior Prom's" (#1614) gown and fur.
How to close the fashion show?
With a classic that in spite of having been reproduced and re-issued many (many) times never falls into the depths of triteness. "Solo in the Spotlight" (#982) remains the most sensationally sophisticated fashion that Barbie has ever worn. Some say she whipped it up in Home Economics class.
Dolldom congratulates Mattel and Mr. Greening for a job well done. This is the direction in which to take future issues and to pay respect to vintage Barbie's heritage - focus on details, integrity of quality of the mannequin, and a popular price point. Could we have (please?) Black and White Swimsuit Barbie dolls with brunette and Titian red hair now? Thank you!
The Easter Bunny is one of childhood's constant threats. As evidenced in this series of wonderful vintage photos provided by Dolldom favorite Dave Duffy, there's nothing like a fake bunny to create a lasting impression.
But there are ther ways to impress one's little ones this time of year. Instead of the traditional bunny, Dolldom proposes a dotting aunt bearing an over-the-top basket full of sugar laden, cavity forming Easter Sunday goodness. In this exclusive portfolio, BFMC Luncheon Ensemble Barbie doll portrays an ever-so-fabulous-Auntie-Mame-type who drops in to define Easter chic.
Robert Best's tribute to the ladies who lunch wears an English rose garden chintz puff-sleeve dress belted at the waist with tiny bows at each shoulder.
The coordinating swing coat adds as much drama as the solid old-rose pink turban.
Her lush garden necklace and earrings are by Joy Jarred. Barbie's bar by Darren Cole for Retros. Her Easter basket was a gift given to Dolldom by Deborah Lilliard of Spicyfyre Creations.
DOLLDOM is a showcase for ideas intended to inspire, amuse, and guide the modern dollector. Fashion, art, décor and gastronomy, it's all here for you and your friends. It's Life Deluxe, DOLLDOM style.
Copyright
All of my images are copyrighted Ernesto Padró-Campos.
Please do not use my images without my permission.
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