Paper dolls enter the world of fashion

I'm very pleased to have been invited to be a featured speaker at the forthcoming "Heirloom" Conference to be held in New York City, December 4th and 5th.  Along with paper doll artist David Wolfe and vintage fashion expert Scott Jorgenson we will discuss "The Allure of Fashion Past."  David will talk about the growing importance and awareness of nostalgia in fashion.  Scott will discuss his 800-piece clothing collection and how he accumulated such a trove of fashion treasures.  And in my presentation I will reveal how my publishing company is reviving the interest in fashion and celebrity paper doll books.

This seminar is just one of many scheduled to take place during the annual two day conference organized by Initiatives in Art and Culture.  The conference, 11th in the yearly series, will also include lectures and presentations by experts and authorities on various heirloom subjects including pearls, watches, jewelry and textiles.  Several evening events are also planned.

The Heirloom Conference is open to the public and a very special discounted fee has been arranged. Please visit the website for more information and contact me directly for information about the special discount offer. It will be a fascinating conference for anyone interested in fashion and nostalgia.

Super cool, clever paper dolls!

Congratulations to Kwei-lin Lum on her first published paper doll book! Kwei-lin's has a wonderfully clever approach to her paper doll art, choosing subjects and designs that are surprising and unique. This is especially evident in her colorful Day of the Dead paper doll book, representing Mexico's celebration honoring the memory of the departed. The book provides two whimsical skeleton dolls and a colorful wardrobe of traditional costumes. My favorite part is the bonus sticker poster showing vignettes of skeletons doing a variety of everyday things like baking bread, repairing cars, selling tacos and even going to the spa. The book is available from Paperdoll Review, and you can see more examples of Kwei-lin's intriguing paper doll art on her flatdoll website.

Cool new interactive paper doll site!

Our own David Wolfe has gone digital! His popular line of paper doll books caught the attention of the Essex-Peabody Museum in Salem, MA, and he was asked to illustrate a paper doll to represent a special exhibit of clothes worn by fashion legend, Iris Apfel. Rather than the traditional paper format, this paper doll is purely digital, with two interactive kiosks at the museum and an on-line version with mix-and-match separates from the exhibit, Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel. A digital closet is provided with dozens of fashion items including pants, skirts, jackets, blouses, hats, boots, and lots of big, chunky jewelry to build your own ensembles on three mannequins. So click over and have fun!

Paper Doll Convention in the Las Vegas News!

I'm thrilled to announce that our paper doll convention made it into the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Thanks to his media connections, David Wolfe, arranged to have reporter Xazmin Garza visit our convention during the Artists Showcase afternoon. Ms. Garza spent at least a couple of hours talking with artists and collectors, resulting in a lovely article about the convention and the art and hobby of paper dolls. It's fun that a photo of Dee Radcliffe was included, taken at the time she was surprised with a custom paper doll of her and her friend Paula Sherrick, drawn by Norma Lu Meehan.

Las Vegas resident and entertainment legend, Phyllis McGuire, was also featured in the article, with information about her extraordinary clothing collection and the soon-to-be-published Phyllis McGuire Paper Doll. Also included in the article are photos of Hedy Lamarr paper dolls by Gregg Nystrom and David Wolfe's original art for the Grease Paper Doll.

Thanks so much to Deanna Williams and her team for putting on such a wonderful convention. Next year's convention is scheduled for July 1-4, 2010 in Kansas City. Visit OPDAG's website for details.

Grease is finally the word!

I am happy to annouce that our Grease Paper Dolls are in stock! We are busy filling advance orders, so customers should receive their orders by the end of September.

I think the whole set, illustrated by David Wolfe, looks great and I hope you'll think so, too! I'm especially impressed with the die-cutting of the dolls, making them easy to punch out and attach to stands. This is our first envelope style paper doll, featuring four dolls (Sweet Sandy, Cool Sandy, Frenchy and Rizzo) and eight pages of clothes representing outfits as seen in the film along with additional retro 50s fashions—over 55 items in all! Thumbnail images of the clothing pages are shown on the Paperdoll Review website.

If you haven't yet ordered your Grease Paper Doll, you may order directly from paperdollreview.com, or send $14.95 plus $3.50 shipping to Paperdoll Review, P.O. Box 14, Kingfield, ME 04947.

Grease TM & © 2009 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Our new books are here!

After much anticipation, our new books are in! The beautiful Esther Williams paper doll by Marilyn Henry—done in collaboration with Miss Williams herself—features movie clothes and swimwear. The legendary Greta Garbo is depicted in three dolls and a luxurious wardrobe of clothes by Norma Lu Meehan. Mel Odom's glamorous Gene Marshall doll and her friends, Madra, violet, Ivy, and Trent have been incorporated into a spectacular paper doll book illustrated by Jim Howard. And David Wolfe brings us two books—one of the fabulous funny lady Phyllis Diller and one featuring the fashions of Hollywood Designer, Adrian. For a sneak preview of each book, thumbnail images of the inside pages have been added to the Paperdoll Review website.

Rhonda Fleming Day on TCM

Today is Rhonda Fleming day on Turner Classic Movies. Hollywood's flame-haired beauty is featured in several movies today including Gun Glory, Out of the Past, Cry Danger, While the City Sleeps and Spellbound. Tune in!

For more Rhonda Fleming news visit her website and check out the Rhonda Fleming Paper Doll from Paperdoll Review!

Paper Studio Press in the New York Post!

Sandwiched right between "Sex and the City" and Stevie Nicks is me! Well, not exactly me, but my publishing company was mentioned in today's New York Post! Following her comments about the St. Martins Press "Barack and Michelle Obama Paper Doll," I notified Cindy Adams about our brand new Michelle First Lady paper doll by David Wolfe.

Published in conjunction with Paperdollwyood (David's own imprint), this paper doll is a lovely tribute to the first lady, with two dolls and eight pages of clothes. The book is currently available for $14 from Paperdoll Review.

Phyllis Diller Paper Dolls

I just received a lovely note from Miss Phyllis Diller approving the final designs for our upcoming Phyllis Diller Paper Doll book. In fact, she said David Wolfe's artwork was "magnificent"!

In February David and I had the extraordinary opportunity to meet Miss Diller in her Beverly Hills home. She was gracious, down-to-earth and she really is funny in real life. Sharp as a tack, she was quick to make a joke or laugh at one of ours. When David and I got ready to tour her closets, she jokingly told us to leave our bags behind so she could go through them when we were gone. After our meeting, complete with cocktails and caviar, Miss Diller's assistant, Shelly, led us throughout the house to various closets filled with racks of those zany outfits so identifiable to Phyllis Diller and her stand-up performances.

Shelly left us to rifle through the racks and choose outfits to photograph for paper doll book reference. While David fussed over costume selections, I perused the charming paintings, done by Phyllis Diller herself, lining the walls of the long hallway. Once David made a costume selection, he'd bring it out into the light of the hall (which overlooked a beautiful courtyard) and I held it up for him to photograph. I even bought one of her paintings! It's a portrait of a girl who looks just like me, with straight blonde hair and wearing a big pink hat. It was a wonderful day and such an honor to meet the legendary Phyllis Diller.

Based on the dozens of reference photos, David completed the artwork for the book. The front and back covers show three dolls, representing Miss Diller at various stages in her career, all with her signature wild hairstyles, and the colorful clothing pages show costumes worn for various TV appearances, on stage and movie roles. For extra fun, the paper doll book includes many of the classic one-line zingers that became legendary in Phyllis Diller's stand-up act and innumerable guest appearances on TV. Phyllis Diller Paper Dolls will be available in August, and advance orders are welcome from Paperdoll Review.

Paper Dolls in the New York Times!

Linda Ocasio just gave me the hot tip about this nifty paper doll shown in today's New York Times. The photo-format paper doll accompanies an article about pink being the shopper's comfort color. We love it when paper dolls make it into mainstream media! If you get the TV Guide, take a look at the February 9-15, 2009 issue. An article on page 48 shows Eliza Dushku wearing tabbed clothes. It's not exactly a paper doll, but pretty close!

David Wolfe Returns to Phyllis McGuire's Closet

David Wolfe (a popular artist in Paper Studio Press' growing stable of talents) told me about his trip to Las Vegas for the MAGIC fashion convention. While there, he met with Phyllis McGuire of the legendary McGuire Sisters singing trio. David and I first met Phyllis a few months ago to present her with the idea of becoming a subject for a new paper doll book. She agreed enthusiastically and now the project is moving along.

David told me about working with Miss McGuire's charming assistant, Sandy, and her fashion curator, Jan Rude. The reason she needs a curator is that Phyllis McGuire, one of the world's best dressed fashionistas, has an incredible collection of creations by famous designers, a collection that David said rivals many fashion museums. Galanos, Chanel, Pauline Trigere, Bob Mackie, Nolan Miller, Norman Norell, Bill Blass, Sophie of Saks, Pucci, Halston, and more! Many outfits are on display in the gigantic room that is really the star's huge bedroom. Phyllis herself moved to another room in her stunning home while the collection is being assembled and photographed.

David and Sandy first picked out photos to use as reference for the dolls that will appear in the book. That wasn't easy since there were hundreds of photos from which to choose. David, who is almost terminally star struck, was thrilled to see photos of Phyllis with so many great celebrities including Bob Hope, George Burns, Sophie Tucker, Dean Martin, Robert Goulet, Richard Nixon and the Queen of England! David wants the three dolls to represent three different looks . . . one from the 50s, another the 60s and the other, the 70s/80s.

Then came the difficult job of deciding which of the fantastic fashions to include in the paper doll book. David will eventually paint about 25 outfits for it, but he photographed many more for reference. He wants the clothes in the book to be as detailed and absolutely authentic as possible. Since Phyllis has been a star for decades, the finished book will cover her style as it evolved with fashion from the '50s when "Sugartime" and "Sincerely" were hits to more recent stunning glamour gowns.

Following the planning session at the star's home, David, Phyllis and Jan Rude went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the famous Bellagio water show. Of course, many of us will be in Las Vegas later this year for the National Paper Doll Convention. If only Phyllis McGuire might be willing to attend, too!

Paper Dolls in the Portland Paper!

I am over the moon about the article in today's Maine Sunday Telegram. The snappy writing style of Meredith Goad makes the article fun to read, and I feel honored to be featured in Maine's biggest newspaper. Surprisingly, the article got front page billing and ran on page A5!

Appearing with the article is the the photo shown here by staff photographer, John Ewing, with the "Jenny" paper doll by David Wolfe in the foreground and me showing off Norma Lu Meehan's upcoming Rhonda Fleming paper doll). Additionally, I'm pleased that the entire article appears on the newspaper's website along with readers' comments.

Publicity for Paper Dolls

Those of us in the paper doll world know all about paper dolls. We love to collect them, create them, read about them, talk about them, and attend parties and conventions. Many, many friendships have been made through the common interest of paper dolls, and even careers have been created for paper doll artists.

Paper dolls have given me a new career as a publisher through my company, Paper Studio Press. With the help of fabulous artists and encouragement of friends and advisors, in just two years my little publishing company has grown to 24 titles of vintage paper doll reproductions and wonderful new paper dolls by artists of today.

Through the Internet, our paper doll world has had a chance to grow. With a simple Google search, someone can get reunited with a childhood paper doll on eBay, find a new Tom Tierney paper doll on Amazon, connect with other paper doll enthusiasts in a Yahoo Group, become an instant collector through websites like Paperdoll Review, and discover new artists with their own websites like Brenda Sneathen Mattox and Kwei-lin Lum.

To let the rest of the world know what we have to offer, I've enlisted the help of my friend and public relations guru, Nancy Marshall. I recently signed with her successful PR firm, Nancy Marshall Communications, and with the help of Nancy and her support team Paper Studio Press has been given a new, more professional look. The Paper Studio Press website has been enhanced to include artist bios, press releases and publicity. Nancy's associate, Lissa Gumprecht was very helpful in the creation of fact sheets and press releases for my new press kit. Shown here is the press kit cover beautifully designed by Pierre Hale. Nancy and Lissa initiated a media campaign in the hopes of attracting attention to paper dolls. Although we have our sights set high with hopes of national coverage, we have already interested two newspapers here in Maine.

The Kennebec Journal just ran a nice article, "Stars of the silver screen come alive on paper" by Sada Reed. I wish I could show you the layout... they did a great job! And I was also interviewed by the Portland Press Herald for an upcoming article. They even sent a photographer all the way to Kingfield, and that's a two hour drive! Coincidentally, I had already met the photographer, John Ewing, last October on my flight home from Los Angeles. He was my seat mate on the leg from Detroit to Portland and we had a nice conversation about his longtime job as a staff photographer and my paper doll ventures. Little did I know that he'd be on my doorstep just a few months later to take pictures of me.

I hope 2009 will bring many more publicity opportunities for paper dolls. Our paper friends with their ever-changing tabbed wardrobes deserve the exposure!

Ginger Rogers and Betty Hutton Websites

Our two newest star paper dolls of Ginger Rogers and Betty Hutton are now available from our Paperdoll Review website. These are two of my favorite stars I'm honored to have had a part in commemoratng their lives and careers as paper dolls. I'm happy to say that the official websites for each star are generously promoting the books.

The Ginger Rogers website offers a biography, filmography, quotes and fun facts (which I especially like). There's also a nice photo gallery as well as a library of movies, books and posters that can be purchased. A little known fact, Ginger Rogers was an accomplished artist and sculptor and several of her paintings are shown in the artwork gallery.

Satins and Spurs, the official Betty Hutton website, offers a treasuretrove of goodies for Betty's fans and soon-to-be fans. In addition to her biography and filmography there's a jukebox to listen to her songs, a press center complete with magazine covers and article reprints covering more than six decades, a link to the Betty Hutton store, and extras like desktop wallpaper, ringtones and quizes. My favorite part of the site is the Reel Room with detailed descriptions of films, publicity photos, film stills, lobby cards and advertisements. I was surprised and delighted to find links to watch several of her full-length flms including The Fleet's In, Incendiary Blonde, The Stork Club, Dream Girl and Let's Dance. It's a perfect way to match up the clothes in our Betty Hutton paper doll book with the clothes in these movies!