May The Force Be With You

Cissette as Princess Leia

Those of you who read my Cissette Southern Belle post might recognize this extremely rare Cissette doll. I was able to acquire two of these dolls by purchasing both of them from one collector. Unfortunately, she had undressed the dolls and lost much of their clothing. By taking both dolls I was able to piece together enough of the outfit for one doll. I sold that one as the Southern Belle doll. After that, though, I was left with one dress, which I will list for sale soon, and one doll with buns on the side of her head. Hmmm... well, just look at her. You know she had to be Princess Leia! Technically, since this doll was made before the Star Wars movies, maybe Leia was channeling Cissette and not the other way around!

The OOAK outfit

You have to admire Princess Leia. She's exiled from her planet. She has to hide and spy and fight and shoot but still finds time to style her hair in her elaborate hairdo and keep it looking nice. And she keeps her white clothes clean throughout. I can't keep a white shirt clean for an hour! My princess wears high heels too, a necessity since the doll has high heel feet. They are kind of big on her but when she's standing they stay on OK.

The Alexander mark

The doll has green eyes.

I restrung Cissette and designed a costume for her. I purposefully didn't look at the movie dress until after I cut it out. I wanted it similar but not identical. I was mainly trying to just remember the movies, which I haven't seen since I was a kid, at least not all the way through. I made a Ponte knit jumpsuit with a tunic over it. The tunic is A-line but can be belted with the metallic elastic belt. I added some silver thread to the neckline. Then I dug through the kids' Lego tub to find a tiny gun. I knew I'd find one; they've been clogging up my vacuum cleaner for years! The kids were trying to tell me they didn't see any. Please. I found three within about two minutes. When I was finished I took Leia outside and had a fabulous time with her photo shoot! She poses very well.

The Star Wars movies made such a big impression on me I can still remember going to see the first one, and I was only three years old! My aunt and uncle took me to a movie theatre in a different Ohio town than ours (I imagine our tiny theatre was full). This theatre might have once been an opera house or vaudeville theatre maybe. Or maybe it was just a movie palace from the golden age of film. It had art deco murals and friezes everywhere and a sweeping curved staircase carpeted in red velvet. There was a stage in front of the screen. The theatre was so amazing I didn't know where to look, and the movie hadn't even started yet! The sad thing is it was falling apart, and even I thought it was a terrible shame to let such an incredible building get so run down. I don't remember it at all later on in my childhood so it probably got torn down. After the movie I remember every time I closed my eyes I could see stars rushing by inside my eyelids, like the film had burned them into my retinas. I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I remember is my aunt opening the car door and we were in my grandparents' driveway.

Princess Leia can shoot!

I have Leia and many other dolls for sale in my Atelier Mandaline stores on eBay and Etsy. Some I have listed in both stores, but I have only one. This time of year I want to have the highest possible exposure. I decided if two people try to buy it at once it will go to the first person who pays. It's not ideal, but until I can get more of a reputation on Etsy I can't get the traffic I need. I was approached last week by a person who wants to sell my dolls in Japan, and if that works out it will be a real coupe for spreading my brand! Fingers crossed!