My love affair with Furga's Alta Moda series (also known as "the S girls" because of their names: Simona, Susanna, Sylvie, and Sheila) goes all the way back to when I was a little girl. I saw Simona in a Sears catalog (or was it Ward's?) and knew I had to have that doll.
Then I visited a cousin who just happened to have a Sylvie, which her aunt had bought for her in France. Instant envy. I finally got my Sylvie many, many years later on eBay.
When I was about ten, we visited a doll shop in Solvang, California. Whoa, Nelly, here was the Alta Moda motherload! An entire corner of the store was devoted to a display of beautiful S Girls and their exquisite fashions. Sadly, though, Mom refused to buy me any more. Those dolls were simply too expensive--a fact which hasn't changed over time. The empty boxes now cost more than the dolls used to.
Here are Sylvie and Simona modeling their custom wardrobe.
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| Handknit color block dress, partly inspired by Yves St. Laurent's famous "Mondrian" dress of the 60's. | Simona keeps warm in a handmade sweater of variegated purple mohair. | Summery "batik" outfit. |
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| I wore dresses made out of this kind of floral gingham when I was a kid. | The only dress my mom ever made for Simona, modeled here by Sylvie. It was based on Simona's original turquoise shift (long since sadly lost) but it matched a dress she made for me. |