Bleuette by Barbara Hilliker

Table of Contents

From the moment of her introduction in 1905 as a premium for the French girls' magazine, La Semaine de Suzette, until her final appearance in 1960, the appealing doll known as Bleuette was a beloved playmate for French girls of many generations. Unlike the earlier French luxury dolls, Bleuette was created for interactive play and as a teaching tool. The only doll with a written history covering more than fifty years, and an extensive wardrobe of haute-couture costumes, her mission was to instruct little girls in the fine art of becoming proper French ladies. She carried out this mission in the pages of the magazines and catalogs published by Gautier-Languereau, through which she invited girls into a world where they could learn through ,lay.

Today collectors around the world have rediscovered the fashionable little doll and her wardrobe. Author Barbara Hilliker, well-known to Bleuette collectors around the world for her publications, lectures and exhibitions, presents the historical and sociological background of this enduring doll, and traces her development and changes in manufacture over the decades. Bleuette's family members and friends, including the beloved nursemaid B, are also featured in this informative volume. An extensively illustrated section on her wardrobe, both the patterns shown in the magazine and the readyto-wear outfits sold through GautierLanguereau's catalogs, is included as well. Patterns adapted by expert seamstress Louise Hedrick from those originally shown in La Semaine de Suzette, including a pattern for the "Costume de quartier-maitre" shown on the cover, introduce the reader to the pleasures of sewing for Bleuette.

More than 200 color photos of Bleuette, her family, friends and costumes, as well as original pages from La Semaine do Suzette and other French publications from the doll's history, make this book a visual storehouse of information for beginning and advanced collectors.