Elaine Langley is a maven of miniatures. Is there nothing that she cannot shrink to doll-size? The Bold Doll samples today’s menu.
Elaine Langley sets out a mouthwatering spread of tiny treats for our dolls to devour.
Let’s go around the world on a culinary quest. We’re very lucky to be in the company of Elaine Langley, a talented artist who makes the most marvelous miniature artifacts for dolls. Today we’ll be in the international cookery department of her operation, although there really is very little that fazes her, she can reduce almost anything to tiny proportions.
Elaine explains her doll background and her passion for creativity. “The first doll I ever owned was a Barbie bubble-cut; I got her as a child and just loved dressing her. I made clothes and furniture for her. But I didn’t start collecting dolls until I had my daughter. I bought dolls for her to play with and have been buying them ever since.”
A flying cart at the intergalactic supermarket. Dasha as Anika Luxottica from IDFC, Las Vegas, 2016, wears her own accessories, with a dress from Jamieshow’s Demi Couture Grace resin doll. OOAK silver glitter cyborg hand. Shopping cart from Daiso. Futuristic foods all by Elaine Langley.
“Halloween dolls are my favorite: The Munsters giftset, The Addams Family giftset, and the old Kelly Halloween dolls, I am not a fan of the new Kelly dolls. I love this holiday, and painted an old Barbie Victorian house as a haunted house. I display it every year. All the dolls have a huge party with lots of foods and drinks!”
I also have the Coca-Cola Santa and I turned Mattel’s High School Musical school into Santa’s workshop complete with a Mrs. Claus (using the Happy Family grandmother) and lots of Kelly doll elves and toys. It’s fun to use my dolls in holiday displays.”
Constance Madssen, from the East 59th St collection, Luxurious Leisure, wears her own outfit and accessories. Selection of petit déjeuner sur l’herbe breakfast items all by Elaine Langley.
“Some of my dolls are in a display case, and others are in a collection of dioramas that I have made. I enjoy building these; right now my absolute favorite diorama is a candy store. I am currently working on a new diorama grocery store which is on a 2 foot x 4 foot shelf.”
“I started making doll items when I was a child, but really got going when my daughter was about 4 years old. I built a wooden house and furniture for her Barbie dolls, and she wanted food that looked real. I visited a store that sold miniatures and was introduced to Fimo Clay (polymer clay). That was in 1981, and I have been playing with this clay ever since.”
Three artist dolls made by Julian S. Kalinowski in the UK, celebrate the 4th of July. From left to right: Sylvain, #82 of a limited edition, looking haughty in a deep pink two-piece suit, with pleat detail at waistline and ruffle trim, designed by Chris Benz for Mattel’s Barbie for President © 2011 Séverine #237 of 500, Asian version (Séverasian), models a red suit with gold trim from Barbie for President giftset © 1991, a Toys “R” Us limited edition. Séverine #250 of 500, platinum blonde, wears a star-spangled evening gown from Barbie for President giftset as above.
“I made Barbie size, which is 1:6 scale and dollhouse 1:12 scale to sell. Back then there were not many books on making doll foods, and most instructions used bread dough. I was thrilled when, in 2001, Angie Scarr came out with a book making miniature food with polymer clay. She inspired me to make my foods more lifelike. Her latest book, Miniature Food Masterclass can be found at angiescarr.com.”
“I enjoy making new foods and had so much fun creating the vacation foods for this feature. For inspiration I googled images of the foods from each country, then looked up recipes to see how they were made. I usually like to work from real foods to get the scale correct. The biggest challenge in making foods is mixing the clays to get the right colors. You need to mix colors, then do a test bake. Sometimes the colors are very different when baked.”
Integrity Toys Homme doll, Tobias Alsford, in clothes and accessories from The Industry line: sweater, sunglasses, watch, ring, and tablet from Tate Tanaka Believe the Hype. Pants from Cabot Clark Beauty Boss. Barbie Basic Model No.04, from Collection 001, wears a gown from Integrity Toys’ Anika Luxottica, sandals from Jamieshow Demi Couture Grace resin doll. Moroccan foods all by Elaine Langley.
“It can take about a week or more from initial concept to the finished product, depending on how many new colors that I need to make. The tomato slices are made by thinly slicing a cane, and it took 2 days to create. The first day was just getting the different colors correct and on the second day I put the cane together, then made it smaller.”
“The hardest part is finding the dishes to put the foods on. I buy most of my dishes on eBay from two sellers in Thailand. A 35mm (1.38 inches) plate at 1:6 scale would correspond to 8.28 inches diameter, so a little smaller than a 9-inch luncheon plate in real life. A 44mm (1.59 inches) plate scales up to 9.54 inches at 1:6, which would be much smaller than an actual 12-inch dinner plate.”
Mattel’s Lucy’s Italian Movie doll wears her own grape-treading outfit. Gianfranco Ken Silkstone Doll, is straight out of the box from the Barbie Fashion Model collection. Foliage from Daiso. Italian food and drink by Elaine Langley.
“I relish working in different scales, I do 1:12 (dollhouse size), 1:6 scale (Barbie and Fashion Royalty size), 1:4 scale (16-inch doll size, Gene and the Sybarites), and 1:3 scale (Sasha and American Girl size). I have an Etsy store called DollyDelectables where I sell Barbie size items, and take special orders for the other sizes.”
“Some of the Barbie items can work with the 16-inch dolls, including some of the drinks. I recommend that customers get in touch if they are not sure. For special orders I make the items then send a picture for approval. If a client does not like it they are not under any obligation to buy. I want all my customers to be happy with their purchases. I love to talk with other doll people. I can be contacted at lainey57@sbcglobal.net.”
Out of Sight Nadja, from Integrity Toys’ Cinematic Convention, sports a vintage basic black helenca swimsuit, accessorized with her own jewelry in addition to golden bangles and mules from Constance Madssen, Luxurious Leisure. Pool party drinks and Mexican fare by Elaine Langley.
To Find out more about Elaine Langley’s Work
Visit her Etsy shop and see her latest work on Flickr
• etsy.com/shop/DollyDelectables
• flickr.com/photos/lainey57/
This story first appeared in Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine.