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LIVING DOLLS
Suspended from a rearview mirror, on a swing, with a metal bar up through her leg so she could stand, an 18-inch waist (if she were real), stilettos, and red painted nails. What’s not to like?
Bild Lilli Doll, German, 1950s, at auction described as:
Black side-glancing eyes with prominent white eye dots, molded upper eyeliner with lashes painted to the side, smoky eye shadow, curved high brows, rosebud-shaped mouth, cheek blush, blonde hair in a ponytail with split curl over forehead, arms jointed at the shoulders, red finger and toe nails, black stiletto shoes, wearing white cotton knit polo neck top, rolled yellow shorts secured with a blue vinyl belt, hair tied into position with a black cotton band.
I know what my Ukrainian grandmother would have called such an outfit and the girls who’d wear it, but I won’t repeat it here.
In 1952, a voluptuous gold-digger named Lili, thought to be modeled after Marlene Dietrich, appeared in a German tabloid. She so enchanted (?) male readers that she became the prototype of a 7-inch doll with huge, thick-lined eyes that gazed discreetly to one side, crimson lips in a sexy pout, and impossibly tiny feet in black spike heels.
