I've made it twice to the Maryhill Museum to visit the Théâtre de la Mode on permanent exhibition (with rotating elements of the exhibit), so I put some of my thoughts about it in writing: https://vintagefashionguild.org/blog/my-visit-to-the-thtre-de-la-mode/
I was able to see this amazing exhibit in Honolulu at U.H. in October, 2001. (Of course I bought the book.) I still remember it. It was fabulous.
I loved the blog piece you wrote and the photos were great. I could feel energy of the dolls faces through your photos. Great! As a travel idea for you and anyone else if you ever have a chance or dream of travel to Florence, Italy here are two museums dedicated to fashion. The Uffizi Museums, Pitti Palace, Costume and Fashion Museum (https://www.uffizi.it/en/pitti-palace/costume-and-fashion-museum) and the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum located in the 14th century medieval basement of the historic Palazzo Spini Feroni in Florence (https://www.ferragamo.com/museo/en/the-building). Shoes, ! I lived there for an art study semester (3 months) in 2004. There are so many museums that after class I went to a different museum everyday, just about and visited these two over and over again.
I would absolutely LOVE to go to Florence. It must have been so great to be there 3 months! When I visited the Maryhill Museum I was basically alone with these dolls, them in the light, me in the dark. It was haunting.
Fantastic post, Maggie - I'd love to see this in person! Robert Tonner recreated some the Théâtre de la Mode outfits for his 16-inch Tyler Wentworth doll. This web page has a good overview, with the originals and reproductions shown side by side if you scroll down about half way, and you can see them a bit larger in a slide show if you click on one of the images: Code: https://thebolddoll.com/vintage/theatre-de-la-mode/ . Some are really good I think, some are maybe not quite as successful. And of course they had to be adapted for a certain amount of mass production - not huge, but these dolls were not one-offs. I have Longchamp Fleuri, I think she was one of the first together with Fleurs du Mal, and she was also my first Tyler doll - red hair, of course, but also because she looked different from the Tyler dolls that had been available up until then. I found the first Tyler dolls a bit boring, to be honest - Gene was so much more exciting! That outfit is exceptionally well made and super chic. I had Blush for a while too since I attended that convention, but she never quite took my heart in as Longchamp did...
Interesting! I'm not surprised that he recreated the Calixte swirling dress with the hood—I would give anything to wear that in real life (about 80 sizes larger than the original)!
