I suppose it was inevitable. One can’t hop about the 1/6th scale fashion doll world without eventually getting drawn into the massive vortex that is the Barbie market. I used some Barbie accessories in past dioramas. But for this diorama I finally took the plunge and purchased some Barbies.
The first was the 2006 Gold Label Silkstone Barbie Fashion Model “Tweed Indeed” who has a great mid century look. Compared to the Phicen dolls, the Silkstone dolls aren’t poseable at all. But for this diorama, it was the look I wanted, not the poseability.
In addition, the Fashion Royalty is wearing a vintage (reproduction) Barbie Fashion Editor outfit.
I also gave a close look at the newer Fashionistas line. The diverse appearance of these dolls is stunning. I picked up the following set of modded Fashionistas (from this seller), along with a couple loose “model muse” dolls, on ebay. The doll wearing green and pink looked Indian to me and so I call her “Priya” This gave me the crazy idea to mix Indian fashion with mid century in some of the shots.
The center-piece and star of the photo shoot is a new Annie Morrison piece I acquired. The amazing Pink Rayon Crescent Sectional Sofa has a circular connecting piece with a vintage lamp that really lights up! I say it every time I use one of her pieces, and say it now again: Annie is an artistic genius. I think you’ll agree when you see how beautiful her sectional is in the photos.
Other contributions from Annie’s amazing art include the fireplace painting, “The Subway”, most of the side tables, little magazines, and ashtrays.
As usual, I made several pieces myself. In no particular order…
The first is a Broyhill Premier Brasilia China Cabinet (2-door Base #6140-60 and 2-drawer/2-door Deck #6140-61 for the catalog number types among you! 🙂 ). This is currently for sale on ebay (as of 8/28/2018). Mine is a combination of 3D printed parts and traditional balsa wood and glue. Instead of staining, I painted the wood with acrylic paint which gave a more even look. The little Premier Brasilia is filled with a variety of Phil Grenyer dollhouse miniatures, among other knickknacks.
I made a second Adrian Pearsall Slim Jim Chair (the first one is shown here). This uses a pink linen fabric to match Annie’s sectional.
I found an image of this very cool-looking mid century side table image somewhere on the internet and made a couple of them via 3D printing:
This cool mid century lamp was selling on ebay and I made a 3D printed version of it which contains real Natural Baltic Amber!
Finally, I found this cool looking lamp on the internet as well. I call it the “duck lamp”. I made a pair of these via 3D printing, minus the arm going up the back. It has a real-looking light socket , but It doesn’t light up.
For this diorama I used real miniature paintings. The one over the fireplace is from an artist named artruff01, aka Paul Woodruff, who sells his miniature paintings on ebay. He is a master at painting seashores. Here is a scan of the painting, title “Seascape 610”. I found a little frame that fit the painting fairly well.
These miniature paintings were found on etsy:
Without further ado, let’s get to our story so far:
“Madame H was in need of a new place when her old place out in the woods was raided by the FBI in the dead of night. Her real estate agent found her a nice replacement. Madame H eventually sold the place to an Indian couple. Years later, young Priya and her sister would enjoy her Aunty’s cool retro house”.
With musical accompaniment…
Mid Century Phicen 