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.

Same But Different

I took this picture to share with a friend and felt it was too sweet not to share here as well. Did I really need to buy a second 1970 brown-eyed redhead no-navel? Most decidedly yes! The hair differences are obvious, but I also see such different personalities in these two.

I'll make a formal introduction after I find time and energy for a photo shoot. Hopefully enough time and energy for a double photo shoot... Did I really need to buy two new 1970 brown-eyed no-navels, both a blonde and a redhead? ;-)

Meet Marlena

Guess I need to get back to making introductions, as I have quite a few dolls that haven't been introduced yet. All of my no-navels are on the blog except for one, so I'll start with her. Marlena is a blue-eyed brunette from 1970, wearing her original brown farm pants outfit. My other brunette no-navels, Muriel and Miranda, are also from 1970 but have brown eyes.

She is similar to the Later Gotz Annett, except without a duffle coat. I'll include some comparison photos of Marlena and Annett in my next post.

Meet Noreen

Before I packaged Alice up to mail to her new home, I took some pictures of her with my other Gotz scout. She hasn't been introduced yet, so I decided to do that before sharing the comparison pictures. Meet Noreen, an absolutely stunning 1970 no-navel. She's a brown-eyed redhead who came with her complete scout uniform (including the pennant!). The color is a bit off in these pictures thanks to uncooperative  weather, but I didn't want to wait for a sunnier day to create this post.

She is my fourth no-navel from 1970 (with more subtle eye paint than those from 1969), joining Liesel, Muriel, and Miranda in my collection.

Instant Princess

Since returning from the festival, I've been "chatting" with lots of Sasha folk via email and facebook. I mentioned to Sheila that Muriel was wearing one of the outfits she made (which I'd purchased with Muriel in mind), and of course she wanted to see a picture. I hastily snapped a few shots, and she looks so cute that I decided to share one here as well.

I love how the addition of a tiara (a table gift I received at the festival) turns her into an instant princess.

Blonde No Navel Trio

Here are my three blonde no-navels, all wearing Check Repro Smocks from Ruths Dolls. Wow!

Lucinda is in fuchsia, Lynde is in mustard, and Liesel is in blue.

The two 1969 girls, with their heavier eye paint:

The blue-eyed sisters (thank you Ellen!):

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.

Blonde No Navel Duo

I've introduced two blonde no-navels so far, and thought it might be fun to show them together for comparison. Liesel is a blue-eyed blonde from 1970 and Lucinda is a brown-eyed blonde from 1969.


It's lovely spring weather here, so they've changed into jumpers designed and made by Peggy Trauger. I won the embroidered "flying kite" jumper at the 2009 Sasha Festival, while the painted "watering flowers" jumper came from the collection of Audrey Femmer.

Meet Liesel

It was late afternoon by the time I got around to taking pictures today. Fortunately there was enough light left, as I really wanted to introduce another doll this weekend. Liesel is my fifth Gotz no-navel, purchased from another collector who shares a fondness for these unique girls.


She is blonde like Lucinda, but with very different eyes. Lucinda has brown eyes in the 1969 style (with heavier brows), while Liesel has blue eyes in the 1970 style. She is wearing her original blue cord dress, which matches her eyes nicely.


While she doesn't really have a full center part, her hair styles nicely into braids. I love how innocent she looks.

Meet Miranda

The weather hasn't been cooperating lately; we've had rain or overcast skies whenever I have some free time to take pictures. I finally gave in and took pictures anyway.

Miranda is a stunner, purchased from the collection of Audrey Femmer. She is my fourth Gotz no-navel. Like Muriel she is a brunette from 1970, but unlike Muriel she has long uncut hair. She arrived nude, and I've dressed her in a yellow corduroy dress from Dayzees by Randall Craig.




Hopefully we'll see the sun soon, and I can take some pictures of Miranda and Muriel together for comparison. Muriel looks forlorn to me, while Miranda looks shy.

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

Meet Muriel

I've used Muriel as a model for a couple of previous posts even though she hadn't been formally introduced; something about her just begs to be played with. She is a 1970 Gotz no-navel "waif". Over the course of 39 years she lost her original clothes, acquired a bob haircut, and suffered a few dings.


She had quite an adventure before joining my Sasha family. From her eBay listing:

"She left the UK to travel to the USA where upon her arrival one of her legs fell off. It appears the bar that holds the hook in place had snapped and she had to go for a repair. Jan Johnson who runs the Sasha Spa and Repair Workshop has done a wonderful job fixing her leg with epoxy and whilst she was there she was treated to a full spa treatment. Muriel has been well loved and bears the marks to prove it. She has a rub to the end of her nose and a little graze to her cheek, her hair has been cut though there is none missing and her lips rubbed away with only a slight hint of colour remaining. She is looking for a new home as her new owner was unable to keep her though I know she really wanted to."

I imagine she's had plenty of other adventures she would recount if she were able to talk. And there are still more to come -- she's going to the Sasha Festival in New York with me next month.

Meet Lucinda

The Sasha dolls that I knew growing up were those that were readily available in the US, the English Sashas. Until I went searching for them as an adult, I didn't even realize that there were other different-looking Sashas that were made in Germany. Many people love them, but I don't find the Early Gotz dolls particularly appealing. Then I discovered the no-navels. To me they look a lot like an English Sasha with an upturned nose and thicker eyebrows. It wasn't love at first sight, but the look grew on me and eventually I decided to purchase one. I'm very glad I did, and ultimately would like to own more -- perhaps a brunette and a redhead to make a trio. Lucinda is from 1969, and is currently wearing a coral corduroy dress from Dayzees.




I am particularly enamored with her hair, which is thick and soft.


Boo is enamored with it too. She was watching me take pictures and couldn't keep her hands off Lucinda between shots. I think she thought the name Lucinda was just a variation of Cinderella, her latest fixation.