Miss Virginia Lachasse

Miss Virginia Lachasse was a doll produced in 1954 for a London exhibition. She was inspired by one of Lachasse's models, Virginia Woodford. Miss Lachasse had a whole ensemble of outfits and accessories produced by the best British designers of the day.

I've long held an ambition of recreating the collection for 16" fashion dolls and tried making a version of the blue-grey dress that you can see on the right of the picture. I was never very happy with the fit of the dress on Gene Marshall but tried it on a JamieShow doll recently and was inspired to revisit my ambition.

One of my favourite items in the Miss Lachasse's collection is the blue silk dress and matching coat. It was produced by Jacqmar, a London fashion house noted for its beautiful silk products. Jacqmar's head designer from 1946 to 1958 was Victor Stiebel, who may well have had a hand in designing the outfit. Here's a picture of Miss Lachasse in the original Jacqmar dress:

The original dress colour was described as "Periwinkle". The matching opera coat has a bright pink lining. I have to admit that I'm not that keen on the design of the skirt so my interpretation will change that. I've already purchased some silk from Little Trimmings and now I only have to find some patterns to start my creation...

Wuthering Heights

I made the original dress for Cathy in a burgundy cotton but I wasn't happy with the way the fabric draped. This version is made with silk dupion and I think it looks much better. I love working with silk and the jewel-like colours are wonderful.

The bodice was particularly fiddly to make and comprises ten separate pieces. I'm not quite sure that the peplum is accurate for the late 18th Century. The chemise is made in a soft cotton that I often use for lining.

The wig is from Facets by Marcia.

Welcome back! It's a long time since I updated my blog and I have decided it's high time I came back and got things moving again.

As usual I have a number of projects on the go and even more ideas that are yet to see the light of day. The two main things I'm working on are a series of outfits inspired by Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and a classic 1950s inspired Spring Collection:

This flared short sleeve dress has a coordinating coat with matching lining. A popular 'ensemble' in the 1950s.

The gathered skirt gives this coat dress a younger look. I've called this style 'Lindy Hop' after the dance craze of the same name.

This simple cream jacket and leopard print scarf combination has a sophisticated look.

Here's the suit from the black and white skirt above.

Gene Marshall meets the Little Tailor

The Little Tailor is back with a new blog and a whole new world of miniature tailoring!

I've recently discovered the world of couture fashion dolls, and with a background in creating miniatures and dolls for doll houses, I'm looking forward to lots of new opportunities and challenges.

Follow my adventures with Gene Marshall* and friends, see how unique miniature fashions are created and find out where to buy couture inspired clothing for your own 16" fashion dolls.

*Gene Marshall is a collector's fashion doll designed by Mel Ododm in 1995.
Along with other dolls in the series, she is currently produced by JAMIEShow Doll USA