Cat's Corner

Blythe photo by Gina Garan

Years ago, when I was studying photography, I came across a book of photographs of a doll named Blythe.  A striking thing of beauty with large eyes and numerous outfits, she had been photographed on many different adventures.  This struck a chord with me, not only for the novel photography project idea, but also for the doll itself and her fashions.  In more recent years I’d seen Blythe crop up on ad campaigns, such as Sony, and I wondered if she was available to buy.  Here’s what I found out…

Blythe was originally launched in 1972 but only lasted a year on the shelves, as children found her a little scary.  Years later, Blythe was rediscovered and collected by Gina Garan, who photographed her ‘girls’ in various original and home-made outfits and published the book ‘This is Blythe.’  This became hugely popular and relaunched Blythe to the masses – she went back into production and is now available in the original size, plus a smaller, 4inch model, Petite Blythe.  Read more about Gina Garan and her history with Blythe on her website, also named ‘This is Blythe’ here.  Other Blythe books by Gina Garan are available from Amazon UK here.

I fancied having a go at photographing Blythe myself, so I ordered a Petite Blythe on eBay, which seems the only place to buy from in the UK.  She arrived on Monday and I enjoyed making two little dresses for her!  Her model name is ‘Running Deer’ and she arrived wearing a Red Indian style outfit – check it out below, along with the two dresses I made:

A couple of things to note if you’re considering purchasing a doll: the larger size has colour changing eyes, so there’s more flexibility for changing her expression, plus there is a much wider range of clothes and accessories available on the market.  However, she’s not cheap – Petite Blythe is a smaller and cheaper alternative if you’re on a budget (you’ll need a good macro function on your camera though in order to get those close-ups!!).

She is definitely great fun to photograph and if you’re interested in fashion, photography or making dolls clothes, I’m sure you’d have fun with Blythe too!  View more of my Blythe photos on Flickr here.

When I left school and went to study Art & Design at college, I discovered a passion for clothing and accessories.  I wanted to stand out from the crowd and show off my creativity!  The only problem was, of course, that I only had a part time job at Mark One (MK One as it is now) and most of my cash was spent on bus fare or driving lessons!  So I discovered charity shops…

I remember my first purchase being a vintage faux-fur coat, which was fantastic value and kept me warm at the bus stop too!  From then on, a friend and I would raid the high street charity shops near our college once a week and try to find unusual, vintage and designer items at bargain prices.  Nothing amazing to report, but we certainly had enough clothing and accessories to keep us looking funky for two years of art college!

The pattern continued into University, where my most memorable find was a 70s red leather biker jacket that’s still in my cupboard today!  When I came home from Uni and finally got my drivers license, I started to visit local car boot sales and built up a fantastic collection of vintage handbags, necklaces and bracelets!  My trophy find being a beautiful genuine Mulberry handbag at the bargain price of £10 – I nearly passed out with the excitement!!

Even though it’s been several years since I stopped being a student, I still can’t resist the lure of the secondhand bargain!  I work in a creative Marketing role, where I am lucky enough to still be able to dress in a creative manner (although no more fur coats!) – shopping secondhand allows me to keep a bigger wardrobe at a lower cost, so I can afford to be versatile.  Not only that, I love that it means I’m unlikely to bump into someone else wearing the same or similar items of clothing! 

Recent charity shop finds include a Chanel silk scarf and a Radley handbag!  Of course, nowadays it’s become popular to shop vintage and there’s less out there from the 60s, 70s and 80s – but half the fun is in the thrill of the hunt! 

Here are some of my treasured finds: