Hollywood Dolls

Since the lost Portrait doll has not been recovered,  I've been scanning photos of people who've managed to get one.  I've been dreaming of that head and its cascade of curls that fall on the doll's shoulders. What to do? Vent it all out by creating a portrait with a photoshopped hairstyle placed on an existing doll. This is one of my favorite gowns created by Alana Bennett. I've been planning on asking her to do another gown for Scarlett. When doing research however, I am stumped by the beautiful creations seen online. Charles Worth gowns are worth looking into. Then there are the Anna Karenina gowns worn by Vivien Leigh. One must be really careful, every dollar is a large chunk on my pesos. Well, here's a portrait that I call "Lost Portrait", an expression of longing for that lost doll. Have a nice weekend everyone!

I was imagining the hoopla that must have happened when Vivien got the most coveted role in Hollywood and thought of creating this faux cover of a Hollywood magazine during that time.

Close-up of the cameo and the lace collar

I took photos of its details and I hope you will appreciate again the painstaking and amazing attention to detail that went into this doll. This is the equity of Franklin Mint -- "down to the last detail".

Earring close-up

Close up of the print detail on the dress

Close-up of face. Many have critiqued the eye paint which makes the doll have a "glaring" look. I am not actually much bothered by it as it is consistent with the paint style. However, since it is a concern, I tried doing a little photoshop to see how far it can go. This next photo is a photoshopped version of the doll's eyes, albeit with effects it somehow gives you how it could have looked with an extra dark green painted on them.

Fixed eyes

"She is the girl in the shadows, the woman who forfeits opportunities of new love with her obsession for a man whose heart that doesn't truly belong to her. And while she bids her beloved and his wife goodnight, she clings to the curtains, half in the light, half in the shadows. She watches him move up the staircase with his wife. It need not be said. As their door closes on her, a night of  ardent passion follows. For to whom does a soldier  give that but to the woman he longs for and leaves behind to face war. And for whom does his commitment lie but to her who he may not see again -- his wife.  And she? She waits for the next morning to have that chance to see him again. This is her addiction. This is the delusion that feeds her fire. And it feeds her too with the harshest truth that the next morning may be her last glimpse of the man she believes she loves.  Any trickle of affection from him would be enough to keep her going for even a lifetime of waiting. When the sun rises, before he leaves for war again, she would wait for him to rise from his wife's bedside, just like a dog waiting at the meal table for any morsel of food. Even a morsel would suffice." 

That amazing jewelry! Franklin Mint is never outdone with its accessories.

The skirt is loose unlike the Tonner's interpretation which is tight and almost with a "serpentina cut". By the time Scarlett reaches home walking in that skirt, Rhett may have already left.  The train of the the Tonner "In the Mist" is of black and deep purple. It also has that "trapunto" detail on the cuffs and collar cape -- very faithful to Plunkett's design. The Tonner's version cuffs can be tightened with ribbons.

Tonner's elegant interpretation of the final dress worn by Scarlett O' Hara in Gone with the Wind.

The dress recreated (from gwtw4ever.com)

Franklin Mint's interpretation of the skirt. The bustle is accented with a large black velvet ribbon which drapes well. It comes with a "bustle pad" to lift the bustle.

This is the recreated dress' back portion. www.gwtw4ever.com

Image from gwtw4ever.com

Image from gwtw4ever.com

Image from gwtw43ver.com

The Franklin Mint Dress as worn by a repainted Tonner Scarlett. Notice how it falls and scroll up to look at the actual recreated dress.

Here she is. Mrs. Butler posing with her new elegant bustle dress.

I know that I found somehow photos of that last scene with Vivien Leigh. I hope that Beth doesn't mind though. I used her dress here and photoshopped (highest gear) to put my repainted Return to Tara Scarlett atop that doll. With little fixes on the dress cuffs, doll hair and dress length (I magine it would have a small busle at the back for an elegant lift), I have a portrait of what could have been if that "lost costume" were found by Tonner. In my opinion, it could be considered as one real "lost costume" from the "lost scene". And that scene must be be lying somewhere waiting to be found too, can you imagine if it were?

"Lost and Found" seems to be the ultimate theme of Gone with the Wind. What she finds as true love is what she loses in the end. But hope keeps her up. And sometimes hope and courage are all we need to rise above any daunting situation. So, to Beth Wilder this Portait is for you. Thank you! I hope Tonner finds your inspiration in your creation and make this lost costume.

"Tomorrow is another day." Beth Wilder of Louisville, KY's OOAK Fence Dress (from the TonnerSpace Newsletter May 2008), photoshopped to have a Tonner repainted Scarlett.

Easter is always about rising from the darkness, very much like coming out of the mist.  Appropriately, Scarlett O' Hara comes to mind in her last scene where the "misty" backdrop contrasts with the "enlightenment" she finds about her one true love.  The little girl finally grows up. Too late. No, she refuses defeat, chooses to think about it when the wave of emotions are gone. And soon too what is gone can be found, can be secured with a renewed spirit. Happy Easter to one and all! May we all find the spirit to find what is lost, what has left us, what is our source of strength because like Scarlett, as long as we live -- "tomorrow is another day!"

Kissing 2009 goodbye in 2 hours 45 minutes, so I thought of doing portraitures of Scarlett ("Travelling with Mother...") in Tonner's "Kissing Ashley Goodbye".  Among the dresses in which Vivien Leigh's beauty was highly complemented, the Christmas dress in which she desperately tries to hold on to every second with her illusion is in my opinion one of the best. Why? The innocent girlish sweetness of the dress is at variance with the turbulent mature passion of a woman that demands for love. "Demand" being the operative word in Vivien Leigh's crafting of Scarlett -- whereas other aspirants exhibited "begging for love", Vivien Leigh's interpretation was unique and faithful to the characterization of Mitchell. "At variance" for while Scarlett displayed porcelain-like fragility of beauty and decorum as admonished by Ellen 'O Hara and Mammy, inwardly, she was endowed with the Irish-determination and gumption that stood out in the war-torn South.
I have posted pictures of the Franklin Mint version of this dress ("How Could He Resist") which is more faithful in color, length and accessories to the film. The Tonner version fails in the cameo (which was originally all black, and which I repainted to reveal that cute cameo silhouette).
The boots of this doll is red, whereas the Franklin Mint version uses red pumps. The Tonner version has a overly voluminous skirt. One has to iron the pleats (lukewarm) to tame the large skirt. I wonder how those women moved in small houses with such large skirts.
As the new year ends, we kiss it goodbye: holding on to its lessons, and letting go of its sad moments. And while we hold everything in memory - be they sweet or bittersweet, we must remember to persevere...like Scarlett, we will, after the wars in our lives are over -- we will.

While doing this doll, my thoughts went to the doll's name "Return to Tara". Pondering on Scarlett's uncompromising love for land and home. "Land is all that matters, it's the only thing that lasts", Gerald 'O Hara tells his daughter. She would not realize his words until perhaps his demise.
In the Philippines just a few months ago, the land that mattered, on which homes of many stood were devastated by a major flood. Rains for days poured, unrelentingly. No one was spared. People went to their roofs bringing whatever food or clothing and valuables they could. There is no rich or poor in the eyes of  mother nature. Pets who were left tied died. Dogs, cats were seen hanging on trees and electric wires after the flood receded.  A young couple was killed locked behind closed glass doors of a fastfood restaurant, perhaps thinking that the waters would not rise that high. When I think of Scarlett, I am inspired by her spirit and her want to "do anything to bring Tara back to what it was." But what of the inner Tara inside of her, and beyond that inside us. Can we bring back the splendour of what we were back to what it was? Scarlett had her answer and perhaps we should too. Courage or gumption. Nothing should take our inner Tara away from us "while we got breath  left in our bodies". And so, we must conquer the world like Scarlett with her mother's curtains and roosters feathers on our head. This is why Gone with the Wind is immortal to me. Beyond the love story, beyond the beautiful gowns, it is about the iconic and legendary Scarlett O' Hara who will forever be conquer whatever fate brings her way.

This is how we create our own lives. There is no such thing as destiny. Destiny is whatever we make of our own fate.  Tomorrow is another day!