MAM'SELLE SINDY DOLL MAGAZINE ISSUE 03 | NOVEMBER 2021 by mamselle_magazine

Mam'selle Sindy Doll Magazine

ISSUE 03 | November 2021 | £5.95

SHOP WITH SINDY: MINI XMAS DECS

FASHION THAT GOES FROM DAY TO NIGHT!

LIPSTICK QUEEN: BEAUTY TIPS

COVER PHOTO @BACKPULVER.1969

Hello Dolls! Welcome to the November issue of Mam'selle! A mini magazine for Sindy doll lovers, fans and collectors. We can't wait for you to read this bumper issue jam-packed with Sindy fun. First up, don't miss our mega 18-page Sindy Play special where we showcase the new dolls and talk to designer, Rachel Godfroy-Scott, on what inspired the new Sindy Play range. Can you even wait to see them? We have fashion, travel, beauty and so much more. Do put your feet up and enjoy the issue.

ed ito r x

Mam'selle

ISSUE

03 Sindy Doll Magazine: Contents 05 Sindy Social Scene 07 Sindy Play! 18- Page Special 28 Work to Wow Fashion 37 Shopping with Sindy 38 Dear Sindy... 41 Travel with Sindy 42 #VintageSindy

Please do contact us with any submissions, Ad's or, to be featured dresslikeasindy@gmail.com

MAM'SELLE MAGAZINE | 3

SHIMMYSHIM IS A FASHION DOLL CLOTHES, ACCESSORIES AND FURNITURE SHOP WITH ALL THE GOODIES YOU NEED TO GET CREATIVE AND PLAYFUL...

SHIMMYSHIM WWW.SHIMMYSHIM.COM

SINDY SOCIAL SCENE Top Nine: Sindy Snaps this month from @sindy_doll_collector #sindyinautumn challenge...

@SINDY-DOLL-COLLECTOR WITH

HER

OCTOBER

THEMED

CHALLENGE

#SINDYHALLOWEEN

MAM'SELLE MAGAZINE | 5

Specialists in vintage dolls clothes, accessories & handmade clothes by cazjar BOUTIQUE

DIVA CRAFTS WWW.DIVACRAFTS.CO.UK

From Sindy Collectors Club & Kid Kreations

NEW SINDY PLAY IS HERE!

MAKE EVERYDAY SPECIAL WITH THESE TIMELESS CLASSICS

Mam'selle Special 18-Page Feature MAM'SELLE MAGAZINE | 7

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

meet the

Sindy Fairy Godmother Rachel Godfroy-Scott has been designing dolls for over 20 years but Sindy was her very first introduction into the toy industry. We caught up with Rachel to chat all things Sindy... Rachel fell in love with Sindy when she was five years old and has been obsessed ever since! She is an avid collector herself, so she knows what kind of details a collector goes for and what they like about Sindy. She has been involved with Sindy as a brand for twenty years including doll range designs, sewing prototypes, photographing, designing concept ideas for Sindy merchandise and the character ideas for the Sindy the Fairy Princess movie (back in the early 2000's!), and involved in the Sindy Style guide. So she was the perfect fit for Kid Creations and the new Sindy team.

Mam'Selle: Hello Rachel. We're so pleased to meet you. Let's start with the Sindy collectors dolls that were a huge success and have brought back so many memories for Sindy fans. How involved were you with their concept/design? Rachel Godfroy-Scott: I was invited to become a part of the Sindy team in March 2019 to help design the new Sindy doll range with Kid Kreations. They already had the design concept for the collector dolls (turning the original 1960's Sindy launch range into today's fashions), but nothing for the play range, although it had already been decided that there would be a play range at some stage.

RIGHT: RACHEL WITH HER DAD AND HER SINDY Mam'Selle: Tell us about how the clothes and body came about? RGS: The outfits for the collector dolls had already been designed by Vittoria Tombs, a talented and experienced designer at Kid Kreations, so it was my job to make her designs a reality! At this stage the doll's face and body hadn't been decided upon so this was my opportunity to recreate the iconic 80's Sindy which was the most popular face of Sindy over the decades, in my opinion. I also found this head mold to be the most classic and timeless; Sindy could pull off any look whether it was classic or cutting-edge. I wanted the body to be as similar as possible to the active 80's Sindy body. It had a good shape, was easy to dress and was a good size for young children to play with. We had to completely re-engineer the doll to meet current safety standards, and we tweaked little things such as reducing her bust, giving her more shapely hips and legs and giving her nicely-shaped feet. I always felt that her hands were always a lovely shape so the factory made them identical to the original. I took Vittoria's designs and made many prototypes of the outfits, and customised vintage Sindy dolls to show the factory what we wanted. We also wanted a doll stand to display the dolls, so I created a stand that could be as transparent as possible for collectors who wanted to display or photograph their dolls without the stand being too obvious. It was also my task to help create the credit card size doll certificate of authenticity.

Mam'selle: Was it on the back of their success that the Sindy Play range finally came about? RGS: Actually, the playline was designed alongside the collector dolls as it hadn't been decided which collection would launch first. I am so glad that it's launching now as it has developed so much over this past year. I would sometimes work a week on the play line and a week on the collector dolls, it just depended on what was needed at the time. Mam'selle: What was the initial idea for Sindy Play? How did you start to design them? RGS: The initial idea for Sindy Play was just a collection of six Sindy dolls that would represent the classic play themes and bring back some of the unique aspects of Sindy that made her so popular.

Mam'Selle: And, lets discuss those stunning boxes? RGS: When the packaging was created we thought it would be a good idea to have an illustration or photo of the dolls on the inside of the boxes comparing them to their 1960's counterparts, so I drew up six illustrations to go on the inside of the boxes. I then had the honour of unveiling the new collector dolls at Dollycon UK in 2019 which was amazing! Collectors were crying tears of joy and hugging me when everything was revealed, it was a very emotional day!

We knew we needed to include a ballerina and rider as they were such a large part of Sindy's heritage, and the other dolls evolved around them. The first doll I had in my head was Fashion Blogger, which would be the first Black proper Sindy play doll since the late 70's, not one of Sindy's friends but actually Sindy. Over the last few decades Sindy had evolved into a blonde haired, blue-eyed doll that had friends of different ethnicities, but to me when I played with Sindy she had many hair colours and each one was of the same importance.

LEFT: RACHEL'S IMPRESSIVE 1980'S COLLECTION

Mam'selle: What did Pedigree think of the new Sindy Play collection? RGS: When we first showed the initial range to Pedigree they wanted something extra for the dolls that placed them apart from the competition, so I went away and thought about all of the aspects I loved about playing with Sindy. The way that kids play with dolls hasn't changed much over the past few decades, and it got me thinking as to how much I loved to make items of furniture and accessories for Sindy from anything I found around the house. Mam'selle: Is this how the Play or crafting aspect came about? RGS: Yes. I was a huge Blue Peter fan when I was a child and I vividly remember the presenters making furniture for Sindy! Then lockdown happened and I started making crafting YouTube videos for Kid Kreations' other doll range DesignaFriend, which involved finding items around the house to make into beauty salons, beach huts and tents, and we got such a positive response I thought it would be great to incorporate some sort of crafting activity into the Sindy play range. I wanted to bring back the idea that Sindy could be any ethnicity and each one would be just as much Sindy as the other. I wanted any kid who played with Sindy to know that there was a doll that represented them in some way. I think that we should never repeat the same doll twice, so each play range makes Sindy more and more diverse as we go along.

"The playline was designed alongside the collector dolls as it hadn't been decided which collection would launch first." – Rachel Godfroy-Scott

Mam'selle: With toy companies taking responsibility for producing so much waste explain why the eco play aspect of these new dolls was so important to Kid Kreations and you? RGS: I was also shocked at the time as to how much plastic waste was being incorporated into other toy brands due to the unboxing trend. I wanted Sindy to be different, and thought that instead of destroying the packaging and only having a toy or doll at the end of it and a lot to throw away, can we reverse this and use the box to create Sindy's world instead? Then this would not only be really creative but also make the packaging as eco-friendly as possible. It would also give us the opportunity to show kids how to have fun with crafting and stimulate their imaginations within Sindy's world.

Mam'selle: Please talk us through each of the six dolls and how and why you designed them as you did? And, their clothes, style and theme and what makes them special? RGS: Kid Kreations had planned for six dolls in the range so we had to assign the dolls each to a shop. We wanted to include as many popular play patterns from our research, so we decided upon a fashion store, a beauty salon, a bakery, and a pet parlour which covered aspects of hair play, fashion play, baking and pet care as well as the ballerina and rider that we needed to include. It was so much fun coming up with the range and what the dolls would look like! Each doll was carefully designed so that they look on-trend but age-appropriate for young children. We wanted Fashion Blogger to really stand out from the crowd and then we made Sweet Treats have a more vintage-inspired look to match her bakery. Ballerina was heavily influenced by the ballerina Sindy I had as a child. I wanted to put as much into her as possible, so she could have several different looks whether she was practicing or performing! I also thought it would also be lovely to give her brunette hair as so many previous ballerinas had been blonde. I gave Riding Club freckles as she reminded me of one of my daughter's friends, and freckles made her look adorable! The range was reviewed and tweaked hundreds of times before we arrived at what we have today. We didn't want to make the range too pink either, but we also wanted to use different colours to make the range look interesting as well as cohesive. Mam'selle: The packaging is very different from the collectors doll tell us about the Play boxes? RGS: We used card wrapping to advertise the dolls on the front of the packaging so that when it was removed you were left with a playset with no advertising on it, so the box looked like a store on the inside and out. I really enjoyed creating the artwork for the inside of the boxes, and there are small references to Sindy throughout. There are vintage Sindy photographs in the riding stable, and most of the items in the stores are labelled with the heart-shaped 'S' logo. I absolutely love that we were able to put mirrors into the salon and ballet studio, it really makes the box look fantastic!

Mam'selle: We love the little magazines. What was the inspiration behind them? RGS: The tiny magazines that come with each doll were so fun to make. This was one of the concepts we had from the beginning, as I still have my brochures that came with every Sindy doll from my childhood and I still love them! We wanted to add as many of the original details that made Sindy who she is. We added a few puzzles into the magazine to make it into more of a kids' magazine. Mam'selle: Sindy was a big part of our childhoods. What do you think Sindy will mean to children today? How do you think they will view her with so much choice already out there? RGS: I hope children will have as much fun playing with this new range as I used to have with my dolls when I was a child, then I will know that I have done my job! There are so many wildly outrageous dolls on the market today competing with each other, I think Sindy is a wonderful alternative to them. She is younger, more relatable to children and has a world that they can really immerse themselves in. Sindy's world is very safe and wholesome for young kids, a refreshing change to some of the more adult, more sexualised doll brands that are available. Young children are being made to grow up very quickly due to what they see and what they play with at the moment, and Sindy is about enjoying childhood without having to hurry the growing up process. I'm hoping parents and caregivers will like the idea of being able to download more crafts for free at the website (www.sindyplay.co.uk) to add even more to Sindy's world. My favourite is the cupcake chair and table for the Sweet Treats bakery. You can print out as many tables and chairs as you like and make a whole restaurant if you want to! Mam'selle: The separate outfits? How did you decide on just three and will there be more? RGS: The three outfits were a lot more to begin with, I think that overall we had about 40 different designs to choose from after two years of development. We chose something sporty, something Sindy could wear at bedtime and a party outfit to try and cover as many bases as possible for extra play.

I love the pink heart labels that are sewn into every outfit, it's these tiny details that really set Sindy's outfits apart. My favourite is the unicorn onesie, it's so soft Mam'selle: After keeping this big secret for such a long time how do you feel about them finally coming out? RGS: Keeping this secret for the past two years has been so difficult! It was especially hard when I saw collectors buying vintage Sindy dolls from auction sites as they were desperate to give their children and grandchildren Sindy to play with. I wanted to tell them that they didn't need to buy vintage dolls when a new play line was coming! Mam'selle: What do you think your seven year old self would think of the new Sindy dolls? What do you want children to think/feel when they receive a Sindy Play?

Rachel Godfroy-Scott, Sindy Play doll designer

"I hope kids today will fall in love with Sindy the way I did when I was young."

ABOVE: THE 2021 SINDY PLAY DOLLS

RGS: I think that my 7 year-old self would be so pleased with what we've created, especially as I made a promise to myself in 1986 that I would bring Sindy back the way I remember her, and 35 years later I've kept that promise! I hope kids today will fall in love with Sindy the way I did. My mantra will always be to put as much play value into every doll so that when a child receives a Sindy doll they will open the box and find a world of Sindy that they can create and recreate over and over again. Mam'selle: Come on tell us, will there be more collectors dolls or Sindy play dolls? Or, a dolls house and furniture? RGS: Depending on how the first launch of the play line dolls go there will certainly be more. I have so many ideas in my head that I would love to see go ahead, and I would also love to see more collector dolls in the future too. This is what I love about working with Kid Kreations, they go to enormous lengths to make sure every detail is right and explore every avenue when it comes to creativity. We're a small team and it has been so wonderful to work with them these last 2 years. We've laughed, cried, worked unsociable hours and gone to crazy lengths to make sure that the Sindy Playline came together. I feel like the luckiest person in the world working on my favourite doll with an amazing team. It's felt like being a part of a special family with an incredible secret to keep!

SINDY COLLECTOR'S CLUB WWW.SINDYCOLLECTORSCLUB.CO.UK

Sindy 2021

WWW.SINDYPLAY.CO.UK

Welcome to Sindy's fashion store! She is always busy finding the latest trends for her blog. Box turns into her very own fashion store Additional accessories include a backpack, a laptop and magazine with crafts and puzzles Accessories to craft including shelf unit, clothes, coat hangers, floor sign and mannequin R.R.P. £20