Bridal Party

Lori Ann as a bride

A few weeks ago I mentioned I got a large lot of dolls and clothing that contained a hard to find Nancy Ann Storybook Lori Ann doll. This is one of the dolls I had sitting out in the sun with oil and acne cream on her torso to fade black spots. They did fade away considerably but not completely.

Type 3 Lori Ann

The spots didn't fade away completely.

Luckily the spots are contained to the doll's torso so they are covered by clothing. Besides the dark spots the doll has some chewed fingers. These are pretty minor, but I decided to make Lori Ann into a bride so her bouquet could hide the fingers. I find bouquets most useful in camouflaging damaged fingers. Ballerinas or brides can convincingly carry one and then the fingers are hidden away.

Chewed fingers

The doll is marked 8-5 on her back.

According to the Stover Small Dolls book, Lori Ann dolls are difficult to identify. They weren't extensively marketed and, as a doll the same size as Muffie but sold simultaneously, seem to have been a sort of extraneous product. Then, as they were produced beginning in 1958, they coincided with the later period of the Nancy Ann company. As the company went thorough multiple owners the Lori Ann parts stock was never sold through. Various other companies bought Lori Ann overstock dolls and parts and sold them periodically through the 1980s.

It's pretty clear this is a Type #3 Lori Ann by the Nancy Ann Storybook company. She has the all-vinyl straight leg body and thinner face. The body is made of harder vinyl than the face. Her body sculpt is identical to the one shown in the Stover book. Her hair is not cut in the more common pageboy style but rather in the "long bob" with bangs. I styled it in a bun. The doll has what looks like a rubbed off marking on the back of the head, also described by Carol Stover, and is marked 8-5 on the small of her back. This marking is not mentioned in the book, but since everything else seems correct I am confident this is the 1958 version.

Lori Ann wears Ginnette shoes

I dressed Lori Ann in satin panties to match her wedding gown, new replacement socks, and plastic shoes which are identical except one is marked "Ginnette" on the sole and the other isn't.

Adjustable-waist wedding gown

Then I gave her a factory-made but untagged wedding gown. This was obviously made to be adjustable for toddler or teen-figured dolls. There is a little snap panel to widen the waist for toddler dolls. You can remove it to fit dolls like Little Miss Ginger who are 8 inch with a tiny waist. The satin dress is very fragile and had several seams pulled out and tiny holes here and there. I gently cleaned it and sewed or treated any fraying areas with Fray Check to repair it. There are still a couple faint red and yellow marks on the dress but they're not too noticeable.

A homemade veil

I made a veil and bouquet from vintage flowers and tulle to match the dress. The long veil and bouquet with streamers help cover some of the doll's and dress' flaws. All together the doll and ensemble makes a beautiful display.

The skirt has some spots.

The two-snap adjustable waist

A homemade bouquet hides chewed fingers.

It's so funny how I will have a trend toward one type of doll when I buy these lots. I spent much of last summer, you may recall, restoring and selling ballerinas. This year I've found bride after bride! I have six bride dolls in my store right now with another coming soon. I have them displayed all together in my case and they really look lovely. I often hear from customers who collect only one type of doll, like all Betsy McCall dolls, or all Anne of Green Gables, or all ballerinas or whatever. When I put all the brides together I can see the impact they make as a group. Someone should totally buy the whole collection! If you were super-rich this would be a great wedding gift for a special doll lover! Make sure to check my store for Lori Ann and my other brides: http://stores.ebay.com/atelier-mandaline.

My store's collection of brides

This morning I woke up before 6 to get the kids to school and decided, in a fit of healthfulness, to walk my 10 miles first thing. As soon as the kids were on the bus I set off. An hour and a half later I was getting blister and had only gone 6 miles. I decided to finish my other four in the evening. I headed home and jumped on the scale, sure my slimming trend would continue. Not so fast! I found I've gained back the two pounds I lost earlier in the week! Tired and disgusted, I went back to bed. Now, tonight, we have storms rolling through, so I'm writing instead of walking. The morning walk did prove to be a wonderful source of photographic inspiration, at least. I got some really great shots of the evolving light over the lake.

Morning on the lake.

I caught a glimpse of what we used to call "the eyes of God" when I was a girl. We would always say the shafts of light breaking through the clouds to illuminate the fields or lake meant God was gazing down on us. I hope you find your own illumination, a shaft of light to brighten your soul.