PAPER DOLLS FOR DISCRIMINATING COLLECTORS
Costume Guides for Doll Dress Makers
Susan Sirkis’ paper dolls are a special treat. They are carefully researched, painstakingly drawn paper doll biographies of historical surveys. The paper dolls are drawn on heavy white stock beautifully suited to watercolor. Presently there are nine paper dolls in the series. Eight are black and white and one is in full color.
PD 1. QUEEN VICTORIA’S DOLLS. For many years the quaint wooden dolls dressed by Princess Victoria of England and her governess have charmed doll collectors. Now these dolls have been translated into paper dolls. The paper doll, based on an early 19th Century wooden doll, wears 13 dresses of the Queen’s dolls. There is a color key for each of the dresses. Doll collectors and doll dressmakers will be interested in this presentation for its usefulness in dressing real dolls. Based upon a book of 1894, the paper doll was drawn by Susan in the spirit of fun she hopes you will want to share. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 2. MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE. Marie Antoinette was a graceful, polished, highly civilized and very beautiful woman. She was born in 1755. Her misfortune was to have been indelibly and tragically linked by history with the French Revolution. In her lifetime, she was a political widow. In 1793, she became a political victim of the guillotine. This paper doll wears dresses drawn from the portraits of the lovely Queen of France. The Queen’s life can be traced from the dresses she wore before her marriage, to the full court costume, and finally, her widow’s weeds. Ten costumes are included. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 3. ENCHANTED LADIES. Franz Xavier Winterhalter painted portraits of European Royalty from the 1830s through the 1860s. When his magic brushes painted, the ladies were enchanted into eternal elegance. Susan has created a paper doll whose wardrobe is designed from ten of these lovely portraits. Wigs show different hairstyles. Besides being a lovely paper doll, the drawings are an authentic source of costume detail. The paper doll includes ten costumes. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 4. VICTORIA, QUEEN OF ENGLAND. Victoria was a short woman who had such regal carriage that she seemed much taller than she actually was. She had soft brown hair and a lovely complexion. Her domestic life was blissful. Queen Victoria’s grief at the death of her Consort, Prince Albert, in 1861 was almost uncontrollable. She wore mourning until her death in 1901. Victoria gave her name to an age of memorable solidarity and familiar foibles. This paper doll is based on a portrait of the queen. Including her wedding dress and coronation robes, it contains nine dresses actually worn by Queen Victoria. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 5. BALLET 1830-1840. The Romantic Ballet as we know it today began to emerge in Paris in the 1830s. Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Carlotta Grisi and Fanny Cerrito originated roles whose names are still familiar to ballet lovers. The graceful little paper doll dancer wears costumes based on portraits of the famous four first dancers of the Romantic Ballet. A color key is included for each of the black and white designs. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 6. EMPRESS ELISABETH OF AUSTRIA. The last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was born a princess in Bavaria in 1837. Elisabeth married Franz Joseph when she was sixteen years old. Although they loved one another deeply, neither was trained for marriage. He was an Emperor, she was a school child. Their only son, Rudolph, died at Meyerling in 1899. The Empress remained in mourning until she herself was assassinated in 1898. Elisabeth was an incredibly beautiful woman with an affinity for tragedy. This paper doll of the Empress, which included her wedding and coronation robes, contains ten dresses worn by Elisabeth. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 7. THE EQUESTRIENNE. This paper doll shows riding apparel from Godiva to the present day in accurately drawn costumes on heavy stock. Since Godiva made her famous ride, women have endeavored to compensate for her lack of costume. The strange and wonderful garments favored by ladies for the vigorous sport of horseback riding must amaze the beholder. Usually the design of riding habits was based on men’s fashions, but in Medieval times ladies wore regular court dress with trains and enormous sleeves which reached the hem of the skirt. Godiva wore curls, Marie Antoinette wore trousers, nearly everyone wore corsets! Surely the horses must have laughed at the riders! Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 8. CATHERINE ANNE. Catherine is a very early paper doll by Susan Sirkis, first published in 1964. She represents a young lady of the 1820s with an extensive wardrobe of clothing and accessories. Black and white. $2.50 PPD.
PD 9. THE CADETS AT WEST POINT. The uniforms worn by cadets at the United States Military Academy are deeply rooted in our history as is the Military Academy itself. Though the uniforms of today are made of modern fabrics and with modern technology, many of the designs reflect the cherished traditions upheld at West Point. These uniforms echo a heritage of which we may all be proud. The cadets of West Point are shown in a 30 piece paper doll painted in full color on a 17” x 22” sheet. $3.50 PPD.