Every Christmas you get the usual features on newspapers and on the Internet raving about the "must have" toy of the year. I'm a self-confessed Barbie addict, though it's undeniable that the quality of the doll and of her wardrobe worsened in the last 28 years or so, almost reflecting the habits of today's consumers more interested in quantity rather than quality and keen on following trends that only last three months.
But, do you remember Miss Virginia Lachasse? This wax doll, currently part of the collection at Bath's Fashion Museum (donated by Peter Lewis-Crown, the owner of Lachasse, to the museum when the fashion house closed down in 2006) was originally produced by the London-based Lachasse couture house in 1954 to raise money for the Greater London Fund for the Blind during the "Dolls Through the Ages" exhibition (you can watch a video of the event here).
Based on a real model, Virginia Woodford, who at the time was 19 and worked for Lachasse, the doll had a perfect haute couture wardrobe that included cocktail and embroidered evening dresses and suits and coats made to scale in the Lachasse dressmaking and tailoring workshops, plus bags, hosiery and cosmetics provided by Asprey, Wolsey, Aristoc and Yardley, all exclusive London-based companies.
Though she looked remarkably similar to the real Virginia, the figurine actually struck people's attention for her detailed wardrobe made using refined materials such as mink or the Rankine Hamilton 'Dream Touch' tweed and including tiny hats in silk or glazed straw, lace lingerie, tiny leather gloves and even a packet of coloured cocktail cigarettes.
Miss Lachasse, exhibited a while back during the 2007-2008 "Golden Age of Couture" event at London's V&A, was supposed to show the skills of London's fashion houses, in the same way the 1945-46 Théâtre de la Mode dolls (and the “piavola de Franza” before them) promoted French couture.
In the last few years several famous designers recreated wardrobes for Barbies (the famous doll even owns nine pair of shoes by Christian Louboutin...) and the doll was also featured in various exhibitions (the latest event - Barbie Loves Alitalia - was recently organised in Rome and consisted in showcasing Barbie dolls in all the uniforms Italian designers made throughout the decades for Alitalia stewardesses), while, every now and then, limited versions of the doll looking like this or that celebrity, actress or icon of style, went on auction for charity projects.
Yet, while in the past dolls with fashionable wardrobes were used to promote couture or for charity projects, nowadays most dolls in designer clothes are mainly considered as static collectors' items with no other purpose. Could Miss Virginia and her elegant wardrobe maybe still teach us something about fashion, craftsmanship and charitable causes?
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Comments