My current obsession on Etsy? Ridiculously cute hand-made clothes for Blythe.
Haven’t heard of Blythe? She’s the ‘70s fashion doll with big eyes that changed colour when you pulled a string in her back. Nifty! I was the proud owner of Blythe when I was five and thought she was the bee’s knees. Unfortunately, not many other kids shared this view. Apparently they were freaked by her other-worldly appearance, and she was subsequently pulled from production after just 12 months.
photographer Gina Garan rediscovered Blythe, dressed her up in cool clothes, and shot her in locations all over the world. The resulting highly-stylised and colour-saturated images were compiled for a book, This is Blythe, which was released in 2000. Since then, Blythe has gained a cult following, and vintage Blythes sell for over $1000 on Ebay (and I’m still kicking myself for letting my doll go to charity shop heaven).
A year later, the first of the neo-Blythes were produced and the anniversary of the launch was celebrated with an exhibition in
New York
, featuring photos by Gina Garan and dolls styled by artists and designers including Issey Miyake, Chisato Tsumori and Hysteric Glamour.
As the Blythe fanclub continues to grow, Etsy has spawned a number of crafters making mini clothes for the doll with the multi-coloured peepers. My favourite Etsy shop is Le Petit Boutique, which specialises in using vintage fabric and kawaii Japanese prints for custom-made Blythe creations. Prices start at US$10 for a dress. I dig the super-sweet details like grosgrain ribbon, decorative trims and buttons:
