Does size matter?

Do the best things really come in the smallest packages? Or is bigger best? We ponder the question of size.

Show me a collector who says their collection is completely under control, and I’ll show you someone who is completely deluded. Having said that, I have long been in awe of anyone who doggedly sticks to one type of doll. This is especially true for collectors who will only entertain small dolls. It doesn’t take long to discover that the bane of any collector’s life is limited space. So if you are only interested in, say, Amelia Thimble (4″), you can pack dozens of these into the space taken up by one gargantuan American Model (22″).

Sewing for these dolls is another matter. The tiniest dolls take only minute scraps of cloth to create a whole ensemble, so anybody’s fabric stash will go a very long way.indeed. The downside is that eagle eyes and nimble fingers are also required to make these petite garments. In fact one of the best doll couturiers I know has cleverly enlisted the help of her grandchildren to make the littlest doll clothes. She is at pains to explain that this is not a sweatshop and it was the kids’ own idea to learn to sew. They can turn out a nicely fitted pair of Amelia hose, quite a challenge for most adults, in next to no time.

Those who refuse to go above 12″ in the fashion doll arena are another source of envy and wonder to me. In addition to the inconceivable discipline of steel required, I’m jealous of the instant streamlining this approach gives any collection – especially if the iron-willed collector concentrates solely on, say, Barbie Silkstone dolls, one of the Fashion Royalty lines, or vintage fashion dolls. How wonderful it must be to have a range of dolls with interchangeable outfits – where one size really does fit all.

My collection, despite the ongoing cull, remains desperately eclectic and virtually every size from teeny-tiny right up to 22″ is represented. I do love the variety, but it doesn’t make for an easily-managed collection at all. At least I have not gone above American Model size so far – for fear that therein madness lies. Anything that starts to approach human scale just takes up far too much room for me. Anyway, at some point there’s a crossover where the dolls are no longer dolls, but store window mannequins, which is a quite different area of collecting – and not one that I’m keen to venture into. You won’t see any stories by me in Fashion Mannequin Quarterly any time soon.

I do like a boxed doll, sadly for me. I’d love to be the kind of collector that can take the dolls out of their packaging and simply throw it away. Don’t get me wrong – I do remove dolls from boxes, there’s little point in having them if they are never played with. But the box itself is often a little work of art that I want to keep. I always return each doll carefully to its box and the next time it’s opened it seems like it’s brand new again. I do realize that I could immediately free up more than half the space required by the simple expedient of getting rid of all the boxes. I just can’t do it.

Another of my weaknesses is for dark-haired dolls with red lips and dark eyes – a classic combination. I probably have way too much black and grey in my wardrobe, both doll and personal. Luckily my own black clothes don’t appear to leave marks behind, unless people are being polite and feel it’s kinder not to mention it. Unfortunately this is not always true on vinyl, as opposed to skin. Which means that one of my reasons for de-boxing is fully justified, I always get those black clothes off any doll as soon as I can to minimize the possibility of staining. In fact I’m cautious with any strong colors, having had a nasty incident with a doll in a prefectly innocuous red suit – solid red being yet another weakness of mine.

Of course doll manufacturers have long catered for the requirements of sizeist collectors. Madame Alexander created Cissette (10″) for those that couldn’t afford the space required or cost of big sister Cissy (21″). While Gene (16″) resided at Integrity Toys, they cannily brought out a mini version aimed at the 12″ fashion doll collectors. Going back even further in time, the Miss Seventeen doll from Louis Marx was available in both 18″ and 15″ heights, a source of frequent confusion to modern collectors. When buying original packaged outfits, the sizes are discreetly displayed on the boxes and easily missed, not helped by the fact that both dolls had the same range of styles. This doll was herself a scaled-up version of the original 1950s German fashion doll, Bild Lilli (12″).

All of this has spurred me on to rationalize my collection again in terms of size as well as content. One day I will actually regain control of the basement.

This is an edited version of a story that first appeared in Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine in 2014.