80's Girls Original Outfits

A while back I was perusing Sasha group facebook posts and realized that the newer dolls are so often overlooked in the excitement surrounding the older dolls. Of course the newer English dolls aren't all that new, since they're 30ish years old themselves. And while they lack the hand painting of the earlier dolls, they are still gorgeous in their own right.

Here is a group shot of all the 80's dolls in the house at that time, my six and Boo's two. From left to right: Cathy, Rose, Cameo, Calla, Cybil, Chloe, Cindy, and Iris. This picture is currently on the main page of the sashafestival.com website. 

It was a long photo shoot, with lots of chatting between takes.

And here are just my six, the Five Amigos and Iris (who never really warmed to the idea of being an Amigo). The size differences are really apparent when they're all lined up.

Cathy: Blonde Sweater. She has the most serene face, and just might be my favorite of this group (but shhhh, don't tell the others). She wants to be a pilot someday.

Cameo: Honey Blonde Silk Dress. She is so petite compared to the others, and likely from the early 80's. She also likes to stand with her toes pointed out - ballet training in her past?

Cybil: Redhead White Dress. She came to me in mint condition, still strapped into her box. Not a great way to spend 25 years in my opinion, but she's made up for it since.

Chloe: Cora Flower Dress. She came to me in gingham, but given her age this is the correct outfit for her. She is the first Sasha doll that I ever bought. Hard to capture in photographs, but very pretty.

Cindy: Brunette Red Pinafore(?). She came to me nude, and could possibly have been a Dancing Dress, Marina, or Red Pinafore. She toyed with being Marina, but decided the pinafore suited her style.

Iris: Black Haired Sari. She was named for the color of her sari. At one point I had four of these girls, ~1% of all made! When I decided to sell all but one, she wasn't the one I originally planned to keep. But she was my mom's favorite, which prompted a second look - and a second decision.

Meet Iris

Since I'm introducing my Sasha Saris in alphabetical order, second up is Iris.

Iris wears a purple sari with a black and grey floral pattern. I love this vivid shade of purple, and think it looks lovely with her black hair. Speaking of her hair, it looks slightly longer than the others, though that may be because it has slightly less curl.

While my Sasha Saris are all quite photogenic, Iris seems the most aloof.

Sasha Saris

I currently own four Sasha Saris, each wearing a different color sari. I have been holding out on introducing them on my blog because I wanted to wash their hair first, and with four of them that's a time-consuming project. Each of them had bangs that stuck out in several directions, and their hair seemed clumpy in back. I finally dug out my mild shampoo last week and made time to wash and dry their hair. Wow, what a difference! I was planning to sell all four as part of my consolidation, but they look so lovely now that I've decided to keep one as my sixth Amigo.

When I redressed them I wrapped their saris differently, to go over the shoulder and not the head. This is more in keeping with how I've known people to wear their saris, plus it keeps their hair from getting so mussed.

Isn't their black hair gorgeous?!

They are from 1986, the final year of production for the English Sashas, and only around 400 were made before the factory closed. That means these are roughly 1% of all the Sasha Saris made. They lack the hand painting of the earlier dolls, but they still look slightly different from each other.

I will introduce them individually shortly.