Doll-A-Day 319: Skipper Saturday: Blonde Straight Leg Skipper

  Well! We finally got our tree today. I hate leaving it so late. Seems I get worse every year!
  Today's Skipper Saturday doll is this blonde straight leg Skipper.

She's not the same one as last week,although she is also wearing Silk 'n Fancy.

She's not only wearing Silk 'n Fancy, but also Dress Coat, from 1964-65.

She has a nice powdery complexion, but her eyebrows are a bit dark and she has a scuff on one of them.

The two fashions were obviously meant to coordinate.

And are naturals for Christmas.

They also coordinate with Barbie's Silken Flame, (the dress), and Red Flare, (the coat).

Barbie's is called Silken Flame. They sure seem more like satin to me.Is there something about these fabrics I don't know? (Probably plenty!)

Dress Coat came with a matching hat, which never stays on, and a matching purse.It also came with white gloves, anklets, and shoes. What about that old rule about not wearing white shoes after Labor Day?

I've given her red shoes, which look more Christmassy anyway.

The white satin lining in Dress Coat matches the white satin skirt on Silk 'n Fancy.

It was a lot warmer today than it has been for a while. Last night it was very foggy when I went out late to pick Ken up from work. That should have been a sign that some warm air was heading in. While that made tree shopping more comfortable than most year's, it made it seem less Christmas-like.

She looks warm and cozy though.

I shouldn't grumble. I find that the cold tends to make me tense up and actually hurt now that I'm getting old.
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

Doll-A-Day 312: Skipper Saturday: Blonde Straight Leg Skipper

  This week's Skipper Saturday doll is one that embodies what I always think of as the Skipper doll, the Skipper you think of as the original Skipper: a blonde straight leg Skipper.

When I was a kid I didn't have a Skipper, or even know anybody who did. We lived out in the country, and until I started school I barely knew any other kids besides my cousins, (Who didn't seem to own any Barbie dolls.) When I went to school I saw quite a few P.J. dolls on the bus and around school when P.J. became popular, but no Skippers. I didn't know Skipper came in any other hair colour than blonde.

So that's the way I've always though of her.

This Skipper has very nice hair, but she does have a lip rub that I might fix some day.

She's wearing Silk 'n Fancy, from 1964.(During Clone Week recently I showed you a clone copy of Silk 'n Fancy.)

For some reason the right shoulder won't stay pulled up far enough. This is not typical.

Silk 'n Fancy consists of the dress,white anklets, gold elastic head band,and black flats.

 I have dressed my Skipper in red flats, but to make up for it, I've given her an extra item: white gloves.

As was the fashion back when this Skipper was new, she is doing the ladylike thing of wearing one glove and carrying one.Does anybody else remember that rule? (Not that I ever wore gloves, other than the winter kind that is.)
  Silk'n Fancy has a built in slip, with lace edging. The most common version has red in the lace, but there is a white only version too.

This is the common version.

The name 'Silk 'n Fancy is not very accurate, as the dress is velvet and satin, not silk.

 

See you tomorrow with another doll, and a look at some recent finds  for those who like to do dioramas or displays with their dolls.

Doll-A-Day 300: Clone Wars Week: Skipper Saturday: Skipper Clone Fashions

  Today's Skipper Saturday is a continuation of Clone Wars Week. We're looking at fashions made for Skipper clone dolls that are direct copies---.rip offs if you prefer---of actual Skipper fashions.
  Our first fashion is a copy of the very first fashion produced for Skipper.The Skipper fashion is Red Sensation, from 1964.

Copy on the left, Skipper Red Sensation on the right. The imitator is a bit shorter than the original.

The copy is a very close replica. Notice there is no pocket on the imitator though.

I have also seen the exact same dress in dark pink.The dark pink one belongs to Tressy's sister Cricket.

The real Red Sensation is made of a much softer, thinner fabric than the copy, which is made of a heavy cotton.

The copy has a Made in Hong Kong label inside.

  Another early Skipper fashion is Flower Girl, from 1964-65.

Again, copy on the left.The real Skipper Flower Girl on the right.

This copy has a much simpler layer of sheer fabric over the skirt.

The ribbon on the real Skipper fashion is much more in scale.

And again, the label reads Made in Hong Kong.

One of the most popular, and most common early Skipper fashions is Silk 'n Fancy, from 1964.

We saw a copy of this fashion on our Skipper clone last Saturday. This is a more mint example of the same dress, but for some reason, this one is actually too tight to snap the second snap on the back of the dress.

Notice that, like the other two copies, this one is just a little shorter than a real Skipper dress.

The satin on the skirt is not quite up to the quality of the real Silk n Fancy, and there's no sewn in lace slip.

The Made in Hong Kong label on this dress matches the label on the Flower Girl copy. Maybe they were made by the same company.

  Last is this pair of pairs of pajamas that copy Skipper's Dreamtime PJs, one in white and one in blue.

The white ones are very close to the real Dreamtime pajamas, which were available from 1964 to 1966.

The dots are pink, but lighter than the dots on the copy.

There is no label in these, so who knows where they were made. But I'm betting it was Hong Kong.

The blue ones are obviously the same pattern, but missing the horizontal lace across the bodice.

 Most likely these clone outfits were made for Miss Kitty by Cragstan, as her fashions were directly copied from Skipper's.
That concludes Clone Wars Week. See you tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 293: Clone Wars Week:Skipper Saturday: Skipper Clone

  This is the beginning of another theme week. This week's theme is not Star Wars.The Clone Wars in the title refer to clone dolls.This week we'll be taking a look at 'wanna be' dolls, dolls that are copies, rip offs, if you will, of other dolls. We'll look at some old dolls, and some current ones. Since this is Skipper Saturday today's doll is a Skipper clone.

There were several Skipper clone dolls. Some of them seem to be made directly from the Mattel Skipper molds.I think this is Miss Kitty by Cragstan.

The freckles are a tip off. She might also have been Miss Gwen, but I don't think Miss Gwen had freckles.

She's marked Hong Kong on the back of her head, and the small of her back.

She is obviously a cheaper doll than the real Skipper, but she's not badly made.

Although her face paint isn't done nearly as well as Skipper's.

She has the same jointed areas as Skipper: neck, shoulders, and hips.She has a weird neck knob though.

It allows her to tilt her head a little upward...

...and a little downward...

...to the left,and to the right.

A strange thing happens when she tilts to the right though.

 Might want to just stick to that left side tilt...

The face is very like real Skipper.

The hands are fairly direct copies.

Real Skipper on the left. Clone girl actually has more pronounced knuckles. Notice the extra plastic around clone girl's fingers.

But the arms are made of a soft vinyl. It's like the difference between Barbie arms and Glamour Misty arms.

The feet are way different though. They look like a much cheaper doll than Skipper.

Once again, real Skipper on the left.

The clone has obvious mold lines and stray plastic.

They are super narrow, and don't have a 'foot shape' like Skipper's do.

The major difference from Skipper, other than the quality, is the freckles. Real Skipper never had freckles until Quick Curl Skipper.

Quick Curl Skipper, a previous star of Skipper Saturday.

Our Skipper clone today is also wearing a Skipper clone dress.

The quality of the fabrics isn't too bad, and the design is really close to the original. There's no built in lacy slip though, like with the Skipper dress, and in a sure sign of poorer quality, the hem is on the outside of the skirt!

  It's a copy of Skipper's Silk 'n Fancy from 1964.

 See you tomorrow for another clone.