Dressing German Doesn’t Require Dressing Plain
Shoes, Socks and Accessories
Handmade Leather Boots
Black ribbed cotton thigh length stockings blend with the handmade boots that were so common to the period. The boots have black leather uppers and shiny pig skin lowers. Ties through four eyelets lace the boots over the leather tongue. Tops are scalloped and the lower section has white top stitching.
As she quite often does on her own doll costumes, Cindy incorporated a personal touch by using leather from an item owned by her grandparents for the shoe soles. In another costume she used felt from one of her dad’s hats to make the doll’s hat, adding her own history to that of her dolls’. A spunky black silk hair bow contrasts with the double heart necklace which portrays the doll’s sweet, innocent side. The necklace began life as Cindy’s childhood ankle bracelet.
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| Chemise: Replicated from one shown on antique Kestner, head #171, on Doll News cover, December 1995. In the box are three other heads, one a 187. Doll News is a publication of the United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc., Janet Hollingsworth, Editor. 740 S. Orange Grove Blvd., #5, Pasadena, CA 91105 (The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Dolls, by the Colemans, says #171 and 187 are known to be 1910 or later. They were advertised in Playthings January 1910.) Reproduction Kestner tag, Reja Dolls, 517 Hartford Rd., Manchester, CT 06040 |
| Dress/apron: Replicated from photo in September 1994 issue of Doll Reader, page 99, article “Dolls of the Ecker Collection-A Window to the Past, by Kurt Palka. Original costume was on an A & M 390 ca 1910, but such apron dresses were common in the 1890s as well, as pointed out in The Children’s Dressmaker, Vol. II, Copyright 1984 by Helen R. Berry, 958 W. Co. Rd. D, St. Paul, Minnesota 55126. The Colemans’ put garments called “aprons” or “pinafores” in the 1878-1889 period as well. Stitches in Time, Doll Costumes and Accessories 1850-1925, by Florence Theriault, © 1995 Gold Horse Publishing. Encyclopedia of Victorian Needlework (Dictionary of Needlework) by S.F.A. Caulfeild, in two volumes, published by Dover Publications, Inc., NY. Copyright © 1972. (Unabridged republication of the second edition (1887) of the work originally published by A.W. Cowan, London, in 1882.) |
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| The article Dressing German Doesn’t Require Dressing Plain, by Donna Birkey was printed in the November 1996 issue of DOLL CRAFTER magazine (Volume 12 • Issue 7), published by Scott Advertising and Publishing Co., Livonia, Michigan. ••• All photos in this article are courtesy of Donna Birkey. |
