Meet Nixie

My second birthday girl is also jumping the queue. Two self-presents this year seemed a bit extravagant, but I couldn't resist either one. Nixie joins my growing group of no-navels. Ultimately I'm hoping to have at least one each of the 12 possible hair/eye/year combinations - still four to go. :-)

Nixie is from 1969, with the thicker style of eye paint. She replaces Nola, who moved on to a new home when I was in need of dollie funds. Her hair is gorgeous, as is her eye paint.

The no-navel girls look a bit older to me than the early English girls. And often bashful. Or pensive.

1969 Dungarees

I just snapped some quick pictures of Hannah with my other 1969 Dungarees. Hayley, Hannah, and Harlow are in the back row, while Hedwig and Hester are in the front row. I had my flash on by mistake when I took this picture, but didn't get as bad a reflection from the eyes as I usually do with a flash.

Here are the three "dark" dungarees together. Hayley's vinyl is so shiny compare to the other two, that it was hard to get a picture without glare on her cheeks. Hannah's hair is still in the original braids, and thus looks quite sleek. Harlow's wider face is very apparent from this angle; she seems a bit aloof to me.

Hannah and Harlow both have nice matte vinyl, so I could get a good close-up of their faces without much glare. As you can hopefully see, they have lovely eyes. Harlow's are a darker brown, the darkest of the five I think.

If you were shopping for a Sasha doll back in 1969 and saw these two dolls on a shelf, which would you choose? I think that would have been a difficult decision.

Meet Hannah

I've introduced four 1969 redhead dungarees so far, five if you count my rerooted "sneak" (who started life as a brunette). I wasn't looking for any more, but couldn't resist this girl when she was searching for a new home. Like Miranda, she came from the collection of Audrey Femmer, though I purchased her indirectly. She is unique in that her dungarees have black snaps instead of the more common silver. Her face paint is perfect, as you can see in these pictures.

Hannah is a stunning girl, with her own unique look. I love how different all of my dungarees girls are from one another. Hopefully I'll have time to take more dungarees comparison photos soon.

Meet Lynde

Hard to believe it's been three weeks since my last post. My summer days are anything but lazy, and there just isn't time to get everything done. I took pictures of Lynde a week ago but wasn't satisfied with how they looked, even after editing. I finally found some time to try again today, this time outdoors, and am much happier with the results.

Lynde is my third blonde Gotz no-navel, though they are all slightly different. She is from 1969, and has blue eyes like her younger sister Liesel (both came from the same collector). Their friend Lucinda is also from 1969 but she has brown eyes.

Boo is watching over my shoulder, waiting for me to be off the computer. She says that I should say Lynde is "beautiful". She's right, though I think all of my Sashas are beautiful.

Look for comparison photos of Lynde, Liesel, and Lucinda in my next post.

1969 Brunette Parties

My favorite posts involve comparison photos of my dolls. I love to see (and share) the similarities and differences between the "same" dolls. Here is my new Lorrie with Lilith, another 1969 side-part Party. That's not a ding on Lilith's nose, just a light reflection; her vinyl is far less matte than Lorrie's.

Just for fun, here are Pandora, Lorrie, and Lilith ... pretty maids all in a row. Pandora (who I originally called Layla) is from 1968, and has almost-black brunette hair. She was most likely originally a Gingham, but was dressed in Party attire by her previous owner.

Meet Lorrie

Lorrie is my most recent Sasha purchase, and has jumped to the head of the blog queue. She wasn't an intentional gift as I first inquired about purchasing her almost two months ago, but she arrived on my birthday. What a fun coincidence! She is a 1969 Brunette Side-Part Party with crisp clean face paint and slightly falling hair. She still has her gold tag and original outfit, minus footwear -- I found her a pair of replacement socks and appropriate shoes in my stash.

I discovered how photogenic she is this morning, and adore her sweet expression.

Her face paint is particularly exceptional and looks brand new: no lip rubs, great coloring, and wonderful eyes with the outlined iris and pinprick pupils.

This was a Sasha birthday for me in more ways than one. My friend Tina (AKA dollydetroit) sent pinwheels for my "Five Amigos", and Boo's two dolls as well. I will try to photograph them all in a future post, but for now here's Lorrie checking out one of the pinwheels.

And my Mom surprised me with a box of handmade goodies, including clothing she knitted for my Sashas from the Golden Hands patterns (which I didn't even know she'd purchased). I will share pictures of these in a future post as well.

1968-69 Dungarees

When I wrote a post comparing my Blue Cords, I noted that Audrey (my one 1968) looks delicate/dainty compared to the others (all from 1969). I feel the same way about Fiona when I look at her compared to my other Dungarees. She definitely stands out in all the groupings I tried, not just due to her wispy bangs, but also her eyes.

Here she is between my other "dark" Dungarees: Hayley (left) and Harlow (right).

Here she is between my Dungarees that have narrower faces: Hayley (left) and Hester (right).

Compared to my Redhead Quartet, I think Fiona looks most like Hayley. They might pass for cousins or even sisters, but certainly not identical twins.

Redhead Quintet

Here are a couple of pictures of Rowena (my "redhead sneak" who started life as a 1969 Brunette Gingham) along with four 1969 Redhead Dungarees. She fits in nicely with the group, adding another dimension to the original quartet.

Height perception is a bit distorted in this picture since they are standing in an arc; the two at the ends are closer to the camera.


I think she looks most like Hester (in the light dungarees and thin green hair ribbons).

Meet Rowena

I gave a Sneak Peek at Rowena almost a month ago, using pictures taken by Bettina during the rerooting process. She is a 1969 brunette who has been rerooted with saran hair, and given the hairstyle of a dungarees girl from that time period. Her clothes have arrived (I purchased her nude then ordered a Repro Dungarees Outfit from Ruths Dolls), and I've finally found time to take some photographs. As you can see, she looks spectacular!




She may have started life as a brunette, but she makes a stunning redhead. I just love her thick braids!


I am grateful that Bettina gave her a new life, and feel very fortunate to have Rowena in my home. She may not be a "true" dungarees, but she looks great with my Redhead Quartet, as you'll see in my next post.

Meet Nola (before)

Nola is my third Gotz no-navel. Like Lucinda, she is from 1969; like Muriel she is a "waif". Over the course of 40 years she's lost her original clothes, acquired a bad haircut, and had an eyebrow nearly rubbed off. In spite of all this, she is an absolutely beautiful blue-eyed redhead. I took her outside today for some photos in the clothes she arrived in, a blue knitted dress and panties. (I've seen this pattern at some point, but don't recall where.) -- see update below



Her stringing is tight, but something is amiss as her right arm wants to stay twisted back. When that is sorted out, I'll decide if I want to do anything about her hair and/or eyebrow.

UPDATE: Victoria left a comment and mentioned seeing this dress on Bettina's website. I checked her "Mode" (fashion) photos, and saw a very similar dress labeled "Dolls Designs". After some web surfing, I found the pattern (bearing the picture I recall seeing): "Dolls Designs" KP50 by Patricia Evans and Jane Woodbridge. I think I must have seen it on eBay at some point.

Publish Post

1968-69 Blue Cords

My husband took the kids to the park yesterday afternoon, which gave me some free time to take my blue cord dolls outside for comparison photos. I took pictures of my three 1969 Blue Cords back in April, before Delia's arrival. This time I added Audrey (from 1968) to the mix as well.

Here are the three with similar bangs: Dolores, Delia, and Audrey. Dolores and Delia look quite a bit alike, but Audrey's 1968 eyes are different from their 1969 eyes. (As usual, clicking on the photo takes you to a larger version.)


Here are the four 1969 girls lined up: Dagmar (a side part), Devereux, Dolores, and Delia. Delia doesn't have an ID bracelet yet, but I'll make her one eventually so she's not left out of the "club".


Here are all five of my blue cord girls lined up: the four 1969's as pictured above (Dagmar, Devereux, Dolores, Delia), with Audrey added at the far right. Her dress is quite faded, but it's the earlier wide version.


Here's a different grouping of the 1969's, with Devereux and Dagmar in back and Delia and Dolores in front. It's amazing how different they look considering they're all the "same" doll.


And the same grouping with Audrey added to the middle of the back row. She looks more delicate/dainty to me than the other four.


What a beautiful group of blonde haired blue eyed girls. I love them all!

Meet Delia

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may have noticed some trends within my collection. Most of my dolls fall into three general groups: 1980's English (my "playing" dolls), Later Gotz from 1995-2001 (almost all with their original outfits), and 1968-70 (both English and Gotz, many with their original outfits). Within the later group there are several themes: no navels, side parts, redhead dungarees, and blonde blue cords. Today's introduction falls into the last category; she's another 1969 Blonde Blue Cord.

Delia came from an estate sale, and I believe her clothing is all original. Under her dress she is wearing white ribbed underwear (both vest and pants) and blue cord pants. She is the only one of my blue cord girls who has ribbed pants under her blue cord pair. I'm not sure if she got lucky at the factory, or a previous owner added them from another outfit.


Her hair is two-toned blonde with some factory curl remaining, and her face paint is lovely.


Her lips are paler, but I think she looks a bit like Dolores. I'll try to post another set of blue cord comparison photos soon so you can decide for yourself.

Redhead Quartet

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

I promised to post comparison photos of my dungarees girls after the festival, and here they are. I took these pictures on an overcast day, so the brightness varies depending on whether the sun was behind a cloud or not. Here they are all lined up together (l to r): Harlow, Hester, Hayley, and Hedwig.


So similar, and yet so different.


Here are the two "dark" dungarees girls, Harlow (green ribbons) and Hayley (blue ribbons). They both have fairly deep bangs, though Harlow's are deeper. She also has a wider face than Hayley.


Here are the two "light" dungarees girls, Hester (thin ribbons) and Hedwig (wider ribbons). Hedwig has deeper bangs and a wider face, similar to Harlow.


Here are the two wider faced girls, Harlow (dark dungarees) and Hedwig (light dungarees).


Here are the two narrower faced girls, Hayley (dark dungarees) and Hester (light dungarees). Hester is the shortest of the four.

Meet Hedwig

No, I didn't take out Hester's braids. I own a second redhead wearing the lighter blue dungarees.


Hedwig came to me from Shelly's UK website, and is not grubby or in need of restringing. :-) According to a tag around her neck, she is from 1969 and was called Pippa by a previous owner. She has obviously been well cared for.


Even though they are from the same year, my four redhead dungarees all look subtly different (a bit like my three blue cords). Look for comparison photos in a post after the Festival.

UPDATE: I braided Hedwig's hair, but she's still very distinct from Hester. Hedwig has deeper bangs and slightly longer braids, plus her lips are a lighter color. It will be fun to see my Dungarees side-by-side in comparison photos.