What is it with hair? As one of the biggest challenges in doll display and photography, it can be a dilemma.
One of my main interests is in photographing dolls and one of my biggest challenges is in getting the hair right. I must admit to indulging in a little Photoshop remedial work on occasion. I love wigged dolls for their versatility, the early Fashion Royalty Modern Pompadour range is still a big hit with me, and I get very excited when one of my favorites becomes available as a wigged doll. But even better are those dolls with molded or painted-on hair – absolutely no stray flyaways to worry about.
With male dolls you can do away with hair entirely, bald men dolls are so versatile and can look really fashion forward. But why do we rarely see bald men as leaders of political parties? A full head of hair seems to be a prerequisite to reaching the highest reaches of government. And don’t even get me started on Hollywood, unless you’re playing a villain.
How come some collectors have dolls that look like they’re fresh from the hairdresser – all primped, coiffed and pristine, and others, like me, have a collection that seems to be wearing fright wigs? If you want an homage to Phyllis Diller you’ve come to the right place.
I seem to have much more trouble with doll’s hair than I do my own. Although (full disclosure) there’s rather less of my own hair than there once was: I remember making the liberating decision not to visit expensive salons any more once there was too little hair to justify the cost. The rediscovery of barber shops was rather marvelous and I regained many hours of lost time over a year – I’m generally in and out within 15 minutes maximum as opposed to the hours spent at the hairdressers. Might not be the same pampered experience but it’s efficient and I feel I’ve gained rather than lost.
But back to dolls, it’s no surprise that some of my favourite dolls are the most follicly-challenged. The painted-haired beauties of my collection will always be among my favorites. You can concentration on the fashions without worrying about what’s going on up top. As a rather louche Northern British uncle used to say, “Tha doesn’t look at the mantelpiece when tha’s stoking the fire”. Although I suspect he might have been thinking of something other than hairdos.
Milou the Mannequin is something of an obsession. Her painted hair, so flatly lacquered to her head, would stand up to a force 9 gale. Her head is more likely to come adrift before a hair gets out of place. Of course this fine attribute doesn’t stop her from being one of the best clothes horses out there…
Or if your prefer your dolls to be more vintage how about Barbie Fashion Queen or Popi – with her perfectly manageable range of blown vinyl plastic wigs? They might split but they’ll never get mussed up.
Which leads me neatly on to the subject of wigs. What a top idea, doll manufacturers, more please. As soon as you bring out a wigged version of your doll that’s the one I rush out to get. So many more looks for your money.
Where do I start? Wiggy favorites include the Sybarites, Paul Phams’s Devon, Yian Lee’s Modsdolls, and Gene in her Daily Threads incarnation. Not to mention the Jamieshow range of wigged resin Genes, and all her chums. I have Evangeline Ghastly and Monica Merrill in wigged versions. As well as a few eye-wateringly expensive other resin fashion beauties – whoever invented the hard-cap wig for these dolls is a complete genius, and Ilaria Mazzoni (Time of Doll) is a shining star. You can even have a convincing hairline – something I’ve long given up on for myself. She’s something of a one-off, but I must also mention the lovely Bambola by Hee Park with her Betty Paige resin wig. I keep hoping that this doll will be resurrected by her maker.
I know some collectors loathe the heavily shellacked hairstyles of some factory-fresh dolls, and can’t wait to get those tresses relaxed and given a thorough brushing. Me, I love these rigid hairstyles. I have recently been photographing with the Fashion Doll Agency Noir dolls, Manon and Marcella. Do these girls have uncompromising hairstyles, or what? Set fast enough to withstand high-speed impact. What a treat – with the minimum of attention you can give them a lot of playtime and they come out of it with coiffures unscathed.
Uneeda’s Bob, what a doll – even better than his big-headed pal Suzette, in my opinion. But let’s not forget Gene’s beau Trent, and vintage Patsy. The more I think about it the more I realise how much I’ve gravitated toward molded-hair dolls.
Naturally I do have a twinge of envy when I meet someone who is far more skilled in hair care and maintenance than I am. Cutting the hair of dolls seems like such a leap of faith I can’t even imagine it. It really doesn’t grow back again, despite the claims made by Tressy’s manufacturers.
I understand, from reading, that there are such techniques as boil perms, and cross-thatching but they remain a mystery to me – either too muddle-fingered or too impatient to try them out. I did once have a go at re-rooting with some success but once was enough, and, although the rooting itself worked out, the doll always looked like she was having a static attack despite my best efforts at calming things down.
Why do dolls need hair anyway? The whole thing is a suspension of disbelief. They are an approximation of humanity and most have the kind of exaggerated proportions or styling that would look monstrous if scaled up to human size. So we’re not trying to create something that looks especially true-to-life. Dolls may be cute, fashion-directional, fantastical, or even abstract. But I don’t believe they are ever so realistic that they actually benefit from hair. I suspect that if someone were to create a doll with truly human proportions and attributes, it would be too creepy for words. Our world of play is one of escape. We have plenty of humankind to deal with at work or on the bus every day – our dolls are a little time out from the day-to-day humdrum and can be our own idea of perfection, even if this doesn’t include hair.
This feature originally appeared in a 2013 issue of Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine.
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