Yesterday my son Brendan came down to join us here at the coast for a few days and kindly brought my two new girls with him! They'd both arrived early last week and so I've been patiently waiting to 'meet' them.....finally last night I got the chance.
My first girl to introduce to you is a 1971 wider faced Brunette Sasha which I got from Shelly in the UK,
Sasha Doll UK and she is just as I expected, a little sweetie! I gently washed and conditioned her hair because it felt a bit 'sticky' as doll hair often does, and my goodness she is losing her hair badly....but I was aware of this already, so no nasty surprises! I think she's lovely and if she goes bald....well, I'll either get her rerooted or buy her a wig!
I had made this outfit for her in advance of her arrival, but I'm not sure that the colour is good on her, maybe it is a bit too strong. I will have to try here with some other outfits that I've made or make her something else. She came wearing a lovely dress, socks and shoes by Ruthsdoll, which I will take photos of soon.
My photos don't do her justice as it was so bright out!
Now my second girl to arrive was much more of an unknown to me! A Blue Gingham girl, I bought her from the US and the seller described her as being from the 60's and having only been removed from the box for photos. Well, although I'm no expert, I could see from her photos of the box that the doll was NOT from the 60s, but I liked her all the same, so decided to bid for her. I got her for a very good price and the added bonus that she came through Spanish customs without any charges.
However, the doll is a complete surprise to me. Firstly, as I already said, the seller said that she had bought the doll, new, for her daughter back in the 60s and had put her away in her box because her daughter was "too young" to play with her. She said that the doll had 'box hair' from being in storage. I really am not sure of her age though. Her stringing is brown in the legs and white in the arms, so she is
definitely older than 1971, her box puts her at between 1972 and 1974 but, having looked in Dorisanne Osborn's book, "Sasha Through the Years", I can see that the box is actually a mix of not one, but TWO box types!!! Her neck has the ring neck assembly which weren't used until
1974. However, her gingham dress has Velcro on both the back and cuffs,
which was done circa 1978!!!
She has a slightly 'concave' look to her face and when I look at her in profile and compare her to my 1971 Blond, I see that there is a definite difference across the bridge of their noses, but only from the side. From the front they look quite similar.
The only disappointment is her fringe. If this fringe is her default one then all I can say is the factory worker should have been sacked as she/he really must have been having a bad day! LOL. It is really not good, there are about three different lengths to it and even a few plugs underneath that look like they've 'broken off' or 'singed' ...... I have washed and conditioned it and although the rest of her hair is really nice and soft and silky, the fringe will not lay well, even after 24 hours wearing a sock on her head!!! I can only assume that the seller is mistaken and the doll was indeed played with at some point by a budding hairdresser!!!!
The Blue Gingham outfit is all complete and in very good condition except that the elastic has gone in the shorts. It just needs a wash to freshen it all up.
In conclusion, I have to say that I'm really delighted with both dolls and really have been bitten by the Sasha Bug!!!!
