Belle 2

As a follow-up to my Disney version of Princess Belle, who you can see here, today I'm going to show you my interpretation of the historical version of the same character.

The earliest recorded version of the Beauty and the Beast tale, called La Belle et la Bête, was published by French author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (what a name!) in 1740.  A more popular, abridged version was released in around 1760. Wikipedia has a nice summary of Villeneuve's story, and it's quite similar to the version we're all used to--with a bit of Cinderella-like siblings thrown in for good measure.

In my discussions with Leah, the talented and lovely seamstress who made all of the historical princess gowns, we decided to cheat a bit and make the historical Belle doll from 1770 rather than 1740.  Leah already had a beautiful pattern for a 1770s gown, and hair from that time period was really cool.  There were plenty of popular versions of the Beauty and the Beast story that emerged in the 1770s, including an opera (!), so it's only cheating a little bit.

2000 My Twinn doll with medium vinyl and the Madison face.

Belle 1

Sorry for the long delay in between posts, but there was a lot of back-to-school chaos around here recently, as I'm sure there was for many of you!  My son said to me the other day that he loves the fall and the beginning of a new school year because of all the possibilities that this time of year holds.  I feel exactly the same way.  Something about the cool air and new schedule makes anything feel possible.

I'm full of extra optimism today because the Belles are finally done!  Between the long stain removal process and lots of interruptions in my work schedule, it was starting to feel like it would never happen.  However, the princesses are now stain-free and ready for their royal debut.  

When I ran my poll last summer to see which My Twinn face fit which princess best, there was not a clear answer for which face should represent Belle.  Many of you thought Lenora would be a good fit, and many of you opted for Madison.  Madison ended up winning the role, mostly because more people thought Lenora would work better for Cinderella (who's up next, yay!!).

Here's the pale Madison who I chose to be the Disney version of Belle:

1997 My Twinn doll with pale vinyl and the Madison face.

Rapunzels for Sale!

It's been so long since I posted the two Rapunzel dolls the first time, I figured I should do a new entry to announce that I'm finally ready to put them in the shop!

I decided to give up on adding curls to the historical Rapunzel's hair, but I'd certainly be willing to send her new owner the tendrils that I cut for that project.

I'm still struggling with my photo set-up, but I took a few pictures of the dolls together, and I'll also re-post some of my favorite individual shots:

My Twinn Rapunzel dolls.

Rapunzel 2

I hope everyone is having a good spring!  I can't believe that in just a few days it will be summer.  For some reason I'm really looking forward to the vast possibilities of summer this year--almost the way I did when I was a little kid.  Maybe I'm feeling young-at-heart recently because I've had a some time to devote to dolls?  That always puts me in a good mood.  

The girl I'm going to share today is my historical version of the princess Rapunzel.  The Rapunzel story was published by the Grimm brothers in 1812, and while this publication is no doubt what made the tale popular, the story can be traced back as early as the seventeenth century.  Despite the tale's early roots, I decided to use 1812 as my time frame for imagining this doll.  1812 falls in the Regency of the Georgian era, which was the setting of many beloved novels by writers like Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.  What could be better inspiration than those stories?

My Regency Rapunzel started out as a medium-complected Denika doll from 2001.  Like her Disney counterpart, this girl came to me with badly faded eyes and unremarkable factory paint:

My Twinn doll from 2001 with the Denika face.

Rapunzel 1

My goal was to get this Rapunzel done before the end of May, which seemed like no problem, but suddenly I'm at the point where if I don't get this entry posted today, it'll be June!  I can't believe how fast time is flying these days--perhaps in part because we're all starting to venture out into the world again in ways that have been hard for the past year. It feels truly amazing and liberating.

What better way to celebrate venturing out into the world than by making a Rapunzel doll? Not that anyone needs a good excuse to make a Rapunzel doll.  She's such a fun character.  Tangled is also my favorite Disney movie, so I felt a lot of extra pressure while I was making this girl.  I adore how Disney portrays Rapunzel.  She's such a delight in that film, and I had a great time watching the movie (several times) as I planned this doll.

Choosing the right My Twinn face for Rapunzel was the first step.  Last summer I ran a poll to see which face molds everyone thought would suit each princess character, and Rapunzel was one of the tricky ones.  The Denika face ended up winning by a small margin--37% as I recall.  Still, I think this was a good choice since the Denika mold has a smile to convey Rapunzel's bright personality.

Rapunzel started out as this beautiful pale-skinned, purple-eyed Denika from 2000:

2000 My Twinn doll with the Denika face.

Tiana 2

Mila and Raye have found homes, and I'm getting a great response to the My Way Kids poll!  Thank you so much!  If you're curious about the results, I'll publish those in Raye's blog soon.  So far there's a very clear answer to the waist question (no seams!), and a more ambiguous answer to the body paint question.  I also updated the measurements chart for Alison, and will try to answer any other questions soon.

But today I'm here to show you my second version of Princess Tiana!  As I mentioned in my earlier post, half of the princesses in this collection will be inspired by the beloved Disney characters, and the other half will reflect an historical time period relevant to the original fairy tale or, in Tiana's case, the time period of the Disney movie.

The original frog-themed fairy tale, called The Frog Prince, is of German origin and was published by the Grimm brothers in 1812.  I have another princess who represents the 1800s, though, and so I decided to use the more modern 1920's New Orleans setting for Tiana's inspiration.

Like the first Tiana, this princess started out as a well-worn Tasha doll.  This girl has darker skin and is not from the Denver era:

2005 My Twinn doll with the Tasha face.

Tiana 1

I have been dreaming about this princess collection for so long, it's hard to believe that I'm finally getting a chance to work on the dolls!  My plan for this group is to make four pairs of princesses (Tiana, Rapunzel, Belle, and Cinderella), and for each pair, one doll will reflect the modern Disney interpretation of the character, and the other doll will be an historical representation of the character.  The historical versions will mostly be themed on the time period of the origin of the fairy tale (or when it become popular), but for Tiana I bent the rules a bit.

My historical version of Tiana will be based on the setting for the Disney movie (1920s New Orleans).  This is because--for diversity's sake--I didn't want the time periods for any two princesses to overlap.  But I'll talk more about that as I introduce each historical princess.

Today I'm going to share not the historical version of Tiana, but the Disney-inspired princess. This girl started out as a Denver Tasha with medium (03?) skin and a time-worn appearance:

2001 My Twinn doll with the Tasha face.