/whatta doll

Preface:  If you're one of those who find any and all dolls creepy, read no further.

A few days ago, I was reading up on teen sensaaation Tavi Gevinson's blog (I'm not even sure this qualifies as a guilty pleasure, although I'd like to say so). The current post  was all about her attendance at Fashion's Night Out at Barney's and artist Andrew Yang's way cool dolls, inspired by various actual runway looks. 

    Simon Doonan (creative director for Barney's) gives us a little peek here:

(more & better on style rookie)

Though Yang's dolls are beautiful, (eyes! hair! so good!) they just really made me want to look at two of my favorite designer-sewn doll collections with absolutely meticulous and amazing miniature clothes:

1. Théâtre de la Mode. This one just might be my favorite concept ever. All sorts of French artists came  together in a time France's fashion industry desperately needed to rebuild - in 1945, just before the end of WWII. French couturiers, artists, choreographers & set designers worked on this together to redirect the rest of the world's attention on French fashion.

 Full-sized clothes are great (and actually functional), but these 1/3 size clothes show incredible handwork and were genius advertising to boot. Plus, the war had caused supplies of fabric, thread & needles to dwindle dramatically, so mini fashion was the perfect solution! 

Parts of the collection have since been traveling the world, and it is now owned by the Maryhill Museum. Oddly enough, it's just a few hours from where I live, though I have never been there. I was however, lucky enough to see some of the dolls in The Golden Age of Couture exhibit at V&A in 2007. If you have the chance to see an exhibit of Théâtre de la Mode, do NOT hesitate!

A sampling of the contributing designers of Théâtre de la Mode - (there were over 55)

Balenciaga

Madame Grès

Hermès

Jean Patou

Jeanne Lanvin

Nina Ricci

Pierre Balmain

Elsa Schiaparelli

Charles Worth

2. I am a HUGE Viktor & Rolf fan, so when this book was released and came in at my university's library I couldn't wait to get my hands on it (I watched and waited as the librarian applied the barcodes & stamps). It was in this book I found that Viktor & Rolf had made a mini version of one look from each of their collections since 1993, when they started the brand.  There are gorgeous photos of the dolls & their life-size counterparts, which made me super giddy after learning about Théâtre de la Mode. 

A Dutch dollmaker made the dolls to V & R's specifications, which I think adds to their fantastic campy flavor. The miniature clothes are so incredibly meticulous it's almost scary.

.

 Lots more photos & a great article here.

t magazine

t magazine

So... is it weird to be so fascinated with dolls? They're pretty cool right?