Mam'selle A Sindy Doll Magazine Issue 15

from Mam'selle A Sindy Doll Magazine Issue 15 | November 2022

Sindy in Vogue

Sindy was 'born' amid the Swinging Sixties, a cultural revolution that shook Britain in the mid-to-late 1960s With London very much at its centre - it was driven by a surge of funloving hedonism Everything from music, art, cinema, activism, and of course fashion took its cue from this newfound youthful creativity, modernity and optimism

In 1965, Diana Vreeland, then editor of US Vogue magazine, said that "London is the most swinging city in the world at the moment " Leading this explosion were the Beatles, Mary Quant, Jean Shrimpton, The Rolling Stones, David Bailey, Vidal Sassoon, The Kinks, Twiggy, Jimi Hendrix - and Foale & Tuffin Maybe not names that first come to mind when you think of Swinging London in the 1960s, but names very much at the heart of this 'youthquake' that was erupting

Absolute Beginners

Foale and Tuffin was an English fashion design business established in London in 1961 by Royal College of Art graduates Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin Under their self named label they became known for their lively, wearable designs intended for active young women to wear in a wide range of circumstances The pair created a range of informal dresses, suits skirts and tops which they sold initially through department stores like Woollands 21 Shop in Knightsbridge, and then from 1963 in their own boutique just off London's Carnaby Street - the epicentre of this new 'swinging' fashion scene

Intent on doing things differently like shunning Paris and couture fashion, they turned their design focus towards ‘fun’ clothes and in turn set new trends These colourful, lively designs became a regular fixture in the 'Young Idea' section in British Vogue, after David Bailey photographed one of their dresses for a 1962 issue, and they further took the spotlight when they were spotted on presenter Cathy MacGowan on pop music show Ready, Steady, Go! and on singer Cilla Black

Everything from music, art, cinema, activism, and of course fashion took its cue from this newfound youthful creativity, modernity and optimism.

However, they were also known for their tailoring In fact, Foale and Tuffin were among the first designers to popularise the women's trouser suit Creating long lean suits and coats, such as those worn by actress Susannah York in Kaleidoscope and later Audrey Hepburn in Two For The Road

Foale and Tuffin also successfully conquered across the pond too Not only did they design for the large American retail chain J C Penney and trendy New York boutique Paraphernalia, their designs were part of the 'Youthquake' USA tour of May 1965 - which also featured designs from Mary Quant - and were modelled by Patti Boyd and her sister Jenny The last Foale and Tuffin collection, Coco Frills, came out in 1972

Leading British fashion journalist Marit Allen, joined British Vogue in 1964 (she stayed on for ten years), where she compiled the hugely influential 'Young Idea' pages In June 1966 she published a photograph of a 'Double D' dress in a fashion spread based on a Batman comic strip Many young and innovative designers received significant exposure through Allen, who not only gave them magazine coverage, but happily wore their clothes herself, including this graphic white linen mini-dress

It is called 'Double D' after the bold yellow and red Dshaped pocket at the side of the otherwise perfectly plain white shift The designers, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin, also did versions using other letters of the alphabet

FURTHER READING Foale and Tuffin: The Sixties. A Decade in Fashion by Iain R. Webb

First Sindy Fashions by Foale & Tuffin from

1963:

'Shopping -in-theRain' (12S06); 'Sleepy Time' (12S01); 'Summery Days' (12S55); 'Pony Club' (12S07); 'Out-andAbout' (12S56)

When you launch a new fashion doll it's only fitting that you call upon the hottest and most influential designers of the moment to dress her Pedigree Dolls & Toys Ltd who launched Sindythe doll you love to dress - in 1963, did just that They chose Foale and Tufffin

Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin were approached to design Sindy’s extensive wardrobe, producing eight complete themed outfits and eight separates These pieces included: Shopping In The Rain, Dream Date, Sleepy Time, Undie World, Skating Girl, Pony Club, Country Walk and Lunch Date and the following separates: Cape, Leather Looker, Summery Days, Out-and-About, Nylons, Sloppy Joe, Windy Day and Duffle Coat These were then miniaturised by Valerie Saunders, Pedigree’s head in-house designer at the time

Sindy debuted in a Foale and Tuffin creation, Weekender In their original design Sindy's bell bottom jeans had real topstitching but this would prove costly to produce (it was later replaced with the printed yellow stitch detail) And, Sindy's red, white and blue stretch jersey Matelot top (later replaced by a woven linen) had to be specially printed Usually manufacturers would just choose small scale prints, patterns and stripes from suppliers for dolls clothing, but this particular stripe scale couldn't be sourced at the time

Pedigree Dolls & Toys Ltd were still working with design duo Foale and Tuffin and in 1967 they created a large portion of the new outfits including the following twelve: Bowling, Sail Away, Carefree Camping, Trouser Suit, Fashion Fur, Smock Dress, Cordon Bleu, Bra and Pants, Reefer Jacket, Tee Shirt, Denim Underwear and Cocktail Time

>> It's worth noting that because some of these outfits were re-issued, collectors look out for the Made in England (MIE) labels to correctly date the garments to pre-1967, after which time manufacturing switched to Hong Kong

Sindy debuted in 1963 in an original Foale and Tuffin creation, Weekender. The design duo also designed many more of Sindy's sixties fashions.

First Sindy Fashions by Foale & Tuffin from 1963: 'Duffle Coat' (12S58); 'Country Walk' (12S08); 'Windy Day' (12S54); 'UndieWorld' (12S01); 'Sloppy Joe' (12S53)