This beautiful doll was the genesis of Ryan Andersen’s Downton Abbey collection of Edwardian fashions. The collection became a passion following his discovery that the doll designer and manufacturer, Robert Tonner, was unable to acquire the license to produce dolls based on this well-loved British television series.
The doll chosen for this gown uses a face sculpt of the actor Alexa Davalos. She played the role of Andromeda in the film Clash of the Titans, for which Robert Tonner held the license for doll depictions. Ryan saw that her hairstyle would be perfect for an Edwardian-era doll, once he had removed the gold ribbon that was woven into her hair.
The white gown, popularly described as the ‘Heaven Dress’, is based on the one worn by Rose (played by Kate Winslet) at the end of the movie Titanic. Ryan hoped that the gown from Franklin Mint’s (FM) 16-inch vinyl Rose doll would fit Andromeda. Sadly, Rose’s figure was such that the clothing would not work for the Tonner body. A Franklin Mint porcelain Rose doll that also wore the white gown was too tall at 18 inches. But luckily, thanks to Ryan’s friend in couture alterations at Saks Fifth Avenue, the gown was altered to fit.
Buoyed on by the success of this transformation, Ryan began a collaboration with Cindy Friesin of Redsilk Thread to create a Downton Abbey collection of dolls and costumes.
You can see more pictures of Ryan’s historical of fashion dolls at:
https://thebolddoll.com/modern/a-history-of-fashion/
and his couture gowns at:
https://thebolddoll.com/modern/tonner-reimagined/
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