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A fashion doll

Definition
In her 2004 book The Fashion Doll: From Bébé Jumeau to Barbie, Juliette Peers noted that the term "fashion doll" has been used to describe at least four different types of dolls. Firstly, it may refer to the pre-19th century dolls that were used to disseminate Parisian fashion. Dolls depicting adult women, crafted with porcelain heads in Paris between the 1850s and 1890s, have also been referred to as fashion dolls by collectors. The term has been also used for North American plastic dolls of the 1950s, which were styled as an adult female and reflected different styles of the French haute couture. Mattel's Barbie doll can be linked to this lineage, as she was developed during the late-1950s and released in 1959. Lastly, Peers points out that: "Since the 1990s the term 'fashion doll' has described an adult female-styled doll, usually intended for adult collectors. Mattel's Barbie can still be classified as a 'fashion doll' as understood in current usage, and the term is frequently used by doll collectors to reference both Barbie and her many 'clones', 'knock-offs' and imitations." Expanding on the modern usage of the term, the author added: The term "fashion doll" is used generally to distinguish the field of collecting Barbie dolls—and other dolls with strong reference to fashion and culture from the late-1950s to the present day—from more securely established collecting genres such as antique dolls, vintage dolls from the 1920s to 1950s, limited edition 'artist' or hand-crafted unique dolls or even the postwar favourite of tourist souvenir dolls. Collectors of modern fashion dolls can frequently be a younger, more diverse audience than the collectors of antique, costly porcelain and wax dolls. Fashion doll collecting is often part of a wider range of interests including fashion per se, popular entertainment, film, cult television and the music industry.

18th century


https://costumesociety.org.uk/blog/post/walk-walk-fashion-baby-18th-century-fashion-dolls

1900–1950
Fashion dolls were virtually nonexistent during the first half of the 20th century, as the majority of dolls, with only a handful of exceptions, depicted infants or young girls.

1955–1970: The emergence of the modern fashion doll
After Christian Dior launched his influential "New Look" collection in 1947, Parisian high fashion surged in popularity across the United States throughout the late 1940s and 1950s. The allure and prestige associated with Parisian fashion exerted a profound influence on the domestic doll industry, sparking the rise of an entirely new category of dolls known in the country as "teenage dolls," "glamour dolls," "fashionable ladies," or simply "fashion dolls". This new type of fashion doll is generally accepted as having been launched in 1955 with Madame Alexander's Cissy. These dolls deviated from the the typical standards set by the toy industry for children: they came with adult features like moulded breasts, as well as feet shaped to wear high-heeled shoes and a wide variety of premade outfits to choose from. Their wardrobes prioritized a glamourous and sophisticated fashion look, placing it ahead of everyday styles. The doll's garments included "formal taffeta and silk dresses, handbags, real furs, appropiate jewellery and detailed hats, blocked and moulded with the same techniques and handwork as adult milinery, trimmed with veilings, flowers and feathers." According to Robert Tonner, a "new type of play pattern emerged as girls began to look to the future, and aspirational play became popular—hence the advent of fashion dolls."

With her adult female body and sophisticated clothes, Cissy revolutionized the American market and similar competing dolls were launched in 1956, ushering a "Golden Age" of fashion dolls. Although every firm had its versions of the glamour doll, the most succesful was the Revlon doll produced by Ideal Toy Company.

Bild Lilli gained popularity among children as well, and German toy factories capitalized on her appeal by producing dollhouses, room settings, furniture, and other scaled toy accessories that matched the doll.