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Now Playing:
"Downtown"
by Petula Clark |
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Return to
"Who's That Doll?"
Home Page |
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DEPARTMENT STORE FASHIONS |
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Return to Main Fashion Page |
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With the success of Topper's Dawn doll in 1970, many department store chains of the time began to manufacture and sell their own line of fashions for the 6-1/2" miniature fashion doll. The more famous among these are Montgomery Wards, J.C. Penney, Speigel and Woolworth's. However, many local department stores, such as Alden's, also sold fashions to fit Dawn, the RockFlowers, Dizzy Girl, etc. Below I have shared a sampling of the fashions I have positively identified, in addition to a few photos of catalog pages that have come my way. |
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MONTGOMERY WARD |
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Probably some of the most sought-after department store fashions are the Montgomery Ward fashions. MW received a limited license to produce three exclusive Dawn dolls they called the "Glamour Trio", who used the Dawn headmold but had distinctive hair styles and colors not used by Topper. In addition to the dolls, Wards also manufactured several exclusive fashions, that sometimes turn up in Dawn clothing lots on auction websites. The fashions were not boxed, but rather were stitched to cardboard backers and sold in cello-wrapped packs in the Montgomery Ward stores nationwide. |
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At left are the three exclusive dolls sold only through Montgomery Ward, and known as the "Glamour Trio". The redhead has quite brilliantly orange hair, and the ponytailed blonde's hair is almost platinum. She is wearing Topper Angie's stock mini, but the other two are wearing unique fashions.
At right is the first selection of fashions offered through MW for Dawn or other 6-1/2" miniature fashion dolls, including Ward's own Glamour Trio. These fashions come up every now and then, some with more frequency than others. |
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Below is the second selection of fashions, which come up far less often. |
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I would like to mention that the striped dress, shown above, comes in two versions. The first-issue is black with bright pink stripes; the second-issue is black with orange stripes. At first it was believed that the orange was a faded red or pink, but further research has shown that there were indeed, two variations of this dress. |
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J.C. PENNEY |
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Calico dress
Shown too small at right |
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Skiing outfit |
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Red and white raincoat |
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I haven't seen too many JCP fashions come up for auction. There are probably quite a few that come up anonymously, we just don't know it. |
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Beige wedding dress |
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WOOLWORTH/WOOLCO |
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Woolworth/Woolco's contribution to the fashion world of miniature dolls came in under the name "Triki Miki". Since they had a licensing agreement with Uneeda to produce and sell dolls similar to Uneeda's Little Miss Dollikin, those fashions have been addressed on that page, which you can see here. |
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S.S. KRESGE |
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S.S. Kresge stores were founded by Sebastian Kresge in 1968 in Garden City, Michigan. They were a dime-store chain similar to Woolworth's in that they sold a little bit of everything, but their merchandise was more discounted, like a Ben Franklin's store might have been. In 1977, S.S. Kresge changed their name to one well-known today: K-Mart.
In the early 1970's, Kresge's had their own miniature fashion doll, Jeanie, who towered Amazon-like above her smaller cousins at a whopping 7-1/2" tall. An inch might not seem like much, but in the scale of miniature fashion dolls, it would be like a person standing at five and a half feet craning their necks to look up to someone a full six feet tall. Sort of like what I go through looking up at my sister.
Jeanie had her own modest line of fashions, and though they're a bit large for Topper's Dawn (like the Triki Miki fashions) they still show up in miscellaneous doll clothing lots at auction. |
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Back of fashion box, showing additional outfits |
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Back of doll box, showing fashions |
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Blue and white dress
The blue lace is the same fabric used on a blue and orange Lisa pantsuit |
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Blue and yellow pantsuit with metallic gold threads |
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Blue and silver lace robe
This version shows green shoes |
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Blue and silver lace robe
This version shows white shoes |
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Green felt robe
This version shows lime green shoes |
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Green felt robe
This version shows blue shoes |
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Red brocade dress
Velveteen top. One variation has a green velveteen top (but still red brocade skirt). This pattern is zig-zag; a diamond pattern is shown on the box. |
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Pink and black gown
The skirt is VERY sheer! Metallic silver threads on bodice. |
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Pink halter-top jumpsuit
Metallic silver threads on bodice. |
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Yellow and white lace mini
One version has yellow lace. There is an all-pink version as well. Metallic threads on bodice. |
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Red lace robe with silver trim
This version shows green shoes |
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Red lace robe with silver trim
This version showspink or red shoes |
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SPEIGEL |
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Speigel, like Montgomery Ward or J.C. Penney, often sold their merchandise through their catalogs. A search of old catalog pages online led me to the discovery of a couple of ads for "Little Doree", Speigel's own version of the 6-1/2" miniature fashion doll. What was unusual about Doree was a lock of "grow hair" -- it could be pulled out from her head to make her hair appear longer, or shortened for a different look. Doree was supported by her own line of fashions, and I found I had several of her outfits in my "Unidentified" bag without even realizing it. Imagine my excitement when I could finally say with certainty, "These are 'Little Doree' fashions!"
As of April, 2009, a genuine Little Doree doll has become part of my personal collection. |
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Complete set of four fashions plus accessories |
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Three fashions
Green vinyl pedal-pushers is missing hat. |
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Two fashions
Red plaid dress and wedding dress are Little Doree fashions. Plaid dress is missing scarf; wedding dress is missing veil. |
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ALDEN |
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Another foray into catalog pages yielded this ad for Alden's Department store, and the fashions they offered for 6-1/2" dolls. |
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When I first won this dress at left in an auction (mine was loose), I thought it was just a well done home-made fashion...until I saw another one up for bid a few months later. The ad at far left confirmed its identity. |
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At right is a closer look at the blouse and jumper from the ad. A billed cap (like a baseball cap) is part of the accessories that come with it. |
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