All Dolled Up Fashioning Cultural Expectations Not limited to child’s play, dolls have been used since time immemorial around the world for a wide range of purposes. Their removable clothes, including footwear, bring delight to people due to their diminutive size, and many of these accessories have become collectable in their own right. Playing with dolls, however, has a greater impact than simply offering a distraction. Dolls have historically promoted complex cultural ideas about gender, body image and social status, and many have been used to promote fashion consumption. Today, doll manufacturers in the West are making efforts to be more inclusive, featuring dolls with disabilities, gender fluid dolls and dolls that promote equality. The popularity of outfitting avatars in virtual games is also dramatically expanding the world of doll play. From dolls that teach gendered expectations to dolls that depict cultural differences, this exhibition explores the world of dolls from the 18th century to today and considers how these miniature marvels reflect the larger world.

Highlights from the Exhibition

American, 2020 In the late 1950s, the cofounder of Mattel, Ruther Handler, decided to transform Lilli, a former mildly erotic character transformed into a doll by the taboid Bild-Zeitung, into a fashion doll for young American girls, and named her Barbie. Part of Mattel’s business plan was to offer a wide range of clothes that could be purchased separately for the doll. Each outfit, however, from ballgowns to beachwear, had to be worn with high heels. Over the years, this created some challenges for Barbie, as footwear fashions and her range of activities changed. This is a reproduction of the original 1959 Barbie.
Western Greenlandic, c. 1900. The outfit worn by this doll accurately reflects the incredibly detailed leatherwork that has long been a defining feature of Western Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) Inuit women’s fashion. Tall, thigh-high boots called kamiks in brilliant red are a key feature of women’s attire and are typically ornamented with tiny, appliquéd strips of coloured sealskin. Other elements of the doll’s dress including her sealskin shorts and her hooded sealskin anorak, which holds a small baby doll, are also used to indicate gender. The seamstress who made the boots and clothing for this doll was able to translate these details into a remarkably small size. Japanese, early 20th century Musha ningyo, or warrior dolls, have been a part of Japanese culture for centuries. These dolls frequently depicted military heroes from the numerous warring periods in Japanese history that stretched from the 12th century to the early 17th century, whose exploits and heroism were used as examples of exemplary male behaviour. Even today, families throughout Japan display these dolls in their homes as part of the annual celebration, now known as Children’s Day. Many musha ningyo are outfitted with highly detailed replicas of samurai armour from head to toe, including specialized footwear called tsuranuki. Only worn by high-ranking samurai leaders, tsuranuki were typically made of bear fur to symbolize their ferocity, strength and courage. This doll probably represents the historic hero Yoshitsune, a beloved warrior famous for his clever exploits, faithfulness and bitter end. Chinese and American, 2018–2019 In recent years, men have become increasingly interested in collecting dolls, especially ones that depict sports heroes. This Michael Jordan doll was created by Enterbay, a company established in 2005 to create collectable dolls of sports heroes geared toward the male market. This Michael Jordan doll reflects his time with the Chicago Bulls from 1985 to 1998. The complete package comes with two dolls, five pairs of hands, two outfits, a home uniform and tracksuit, and fourteen pairs of sneakers that allow owners to recreate moments from Jordan’s career. The sneakers, in particular, are central to this task, as Michael Jordan wore new Air Jordan sneakers each basketball season. The highly detailed sneakers also speak to the desirability of real-life Air Jordans and help connect the collecting of this doll to the collecting of sneakers. American, 2019 In 1996, Mattel offered a wheelchair-using doll named “Share a Smile with Becky.” She was extremely popular but had to be pulled off the market after it was made clear that her wheelchair could not get into the Barbie Dream House. She also lacked racial diversity. In 2019, Mattel released Wheelchair Barbie to address these issues. She came with a ramp that allowed for easy access into the Dream House and was available as an either racially White or Black doll. Dolls from the Made to Move line, which features more diversity, including a range of body types, can also be positioned to sit in this wheelchair. All that is needed is bendable knees and flat feet in order to be correctly positioned. Wheelchair Barbies come wearing sneakers. American, 2021 For centuries, information about upper-class women’s fashion in Europe was conveyed through the circulation of miniature fashion dolls. In the 18th century, fashion dolls were an important way for upper-class colonial women to keep up with ever-changing European fashions.

This doll, dressed in fashions from the 1740s, is a historically accurate reproduction of an English 18th-century Queen Anne doll made by master dollmaker Sonia Krause. These dolls first became popular at the end of the 17th century during the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665–1714) and continued to be made well into the next century. The doll’s shoes were inspired by a 1740s pair in the museum’s collection. Lenape or Anishinaabe, 1851 Miniature moccasins were made for both the doll and tourist market from at least the middle of the 19th century. This pair was purchased from a First Nations community for seven-year-old Isabella Bell Waddell who lived in what is now Chatham, Ontario in 1851.

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