George Michael you will be missed. My small tribute, inspired by his "Too Funky" video intro.

David Bowie was (is) one of the most influential and avant guard artists that ever walked this earth. As part of the tributes pouring out from all over the world in the wake of his death, I decided to re-make, with the help of a Fine Print Elise Jolie, two of his most iconic album covers: Aladdin Sane and Low. If you do not know who David Bowie is, please try and discover him, it will open a multitude of new worlds for you.

Alladin Sane cover tribute

Low cover tribute

The original Aladdin Sane album cover - Design Brian Duffy - Photography Brian Duffy/Celia Philo/Philip Castle - Design/Artwork Released April 1973

The original Low cover, Design Steve Schapiro - Photography Released January 1977

Back in April, Integrity Toys announced that all W Club members. whether going to the convention or not, would have the chance to buy a special Cinematic convention doll. The doll was Reigning Grace, had the face of Eugenia and would wear a lovely pleated black dress, which we discovered was the one Grace Kelly was wearing in Rear Window. Now the promo photos arrived, with the doll soon to be shipping to members. I must say she has surpassed my expectations and I am surely glad to have pre-ordered her. The dress looks fantastic and very faithful to the original. The doll is gorgeous, her screening the same as Diamond Society (with different shades of course), I just wish her hairdo was more close to the classic glamour bob Grace Kelly had than this Victoire chignon. She is lacking a bit in accessories, but the film outfit does not have anything more than this either, apart from a hat. Stunning.

Eugenia is a 12.5-inch fully articulated vinyl doll with fully rooted hair styled in a sophisticated chignon. Eugenia is wearing a vintage inspired pleated dress. She accessorizes her look with gloved hands, jewellery and shoes (interchangeable flesh-toned hands included as well). A doll stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

Note: As with all dolls that feature a chignon or "updo" type of hairstyle, Integrity Toys does not recommend taking the hair down, as it was designed this way. Taking down the hair will be done at the owner's risk and will automatically void the warranty.

The doll pictured is the prototype, as usual, the final production may vary slightly. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2015 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission,

I was lucky enough to visit London three times this year (twice working) after my first ever27 years ago. Among the things I was lucky to see in my last trip this September was an incredible exhibition in the V&A museum for the famous fashion (and not only) photographer Horst P. Horst. You can read about it here. I also made this image and uploaded in on my Instagram account in tribute and may do some more as well.

Evening In Montreal Victoire Roux

Anyone who has ever played with dolls, has come across paper dolls: figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by folding tabs. They have been around as long as paper has: the Japanese folded origami into kimono shapes as far back as 600 AD. I first came across them as a young boy around 10 or 11 years old, in the teen-girl magazines my cousins used to buy. Soon I was buying them too: not only to collect any Olivia Newton-John photo I could lay my hands on, but also to cut out and play with my first fashion models. In no time, I had started to design clothes for them, then made my own dolls too. It wasn't until my late teens that I discovered the king of paper dolls: Tom Tierney.

Tierney was born at Beaumont, Texas, on October 8th, 1928 and his formal art instruction began at the age of six with a private instructor, Juanita Brown. He began studying life drawing and landscape painting at the age of twelve under Coleman Cohen and still-life painting under Mrs. Joe Price. On graduating from high school in l945, he received the Nancy Beeman Strong Art Scholarship award and the Veesy Rainwater Painting Scholarship award. He attended Lamar Junior College from 1945 to 1946 and in 1947 entered the University of Texas College of Fine Arts, graduating in 1949, magna cum laude, with a B.F.A., majoring in painting and minoring in sculpture. 

While attending the University of Texas he worked as a student assistant in the art history, sculpture, and graphic arts departments. In 1948, while still attending the University of Texas, he won the Texas Fellowship Painting Award and spent a semester studying in Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (University of Colorado). He also worked on stage sets with the Hanya Holm modern dance group. He was an accomplished artist and professional illustrator long before he started making his paper dolls.

Tom began freelance fashion illustration while in high school for local department stores in his home town and continued doing freelance fashion illustration in Austin, while attending the University of Texas. Upon graduation he became a fashion illustrator for Scarborough's Department Store specializing in women's wear. Tierney then moved to Houston, and became a layout artist for Foley's department store. From Foley's he was then hired from The Fashion woman's specialty store as a fashion illustrator: while he was working there, it was purchased by Nieman Marcus, becoming Nieman's of Houston. In 1954, he moved to New York and attended Pratt Institute (1954-55); while being there, Tom began free-lancing for J. C. Penney. His association with the firm lasted for over fourteen years. At the same time he did freelance art for Harper's Bazaar, Sports Illustrated Magazine, and many other brands and stores.

In 1975 Tom was looking for a unique Christmas present for his mother. Remembering that she had saved her paper doll collection from when she was a girl in the early 20th century, he decided to make her some paper dolls of the 30s movie stars who had been her favourites. Pleased with the dolls (Garbo, Harlow and Gable), his mother showed them to a number of friends, one of whom was a literary agent. The agent in turn convinced Tom that it was possible to get them published, and as a result, his first book, "Thirty from the `30s", came out by Prentice-Hall in 1976.

Tom Tierney's first paper doll book, cover image from The Judy Garland Database

In 1978, Dover Publications Inc. contacted Tom and proposed that he do some paper doll books for them. During the '80s Tom and Joyce McClelland published a series of paper doll folios under the imprimatur of "Fine Arts Limited Editions". These folios included a series of famous stage and screen personalities as well a several folios on famous women authors. In 1994 he began an association with B. Shackman Inc. Publications in addition to his affiliation with Dover.

In an interview published on the website of Dover Publications, he said about them: " I don't mean to boast, but I'm rather proud of having made them into something more than just kids' stuff. My books can be a way to discover things that you weren't taught in school. And I like to think that they bring their subjects to life for readers, just the way they do for me when I work on them. Sometimes I receive very touching letters, especially from students. Recently, I heard from a young man who said that he wanted to thank me for his career. It seems his sister had given him one of my books when he was a child, and he was so taken with my art that he studied and imitated my style. He ended up going to art school, getting a degree, and finding a job as a corporate artist—and he gave me credit for guiding him toward what turned out to be a very rewarding choice of professions. I must say, it's been a satisfying career for me, so if I can help influence young artists, then my work is all the more worthwhile. They started out as a lark, but when the jobs for fashion illustrators began to decline, the paper dolls stepped in and gave me a full-time living. As in any profession, you have to keep ahead of the crowd and learn how to adapt to changing times. I produce one Dover book every month, on the average. It's a lot of work—but I enjoy it, so my work is my pleasure."

Tierney published around 400 paper doll books, most of them with Dover Publications, and sold more than four million copies. Adults, even more than children, became his fans and started collecting the perfectly drawn and fastidiously detailed creations. He's the one credited with resuscitating the art of the paper doll: breathing new life into it, he pushed it into the modern era and inspired many younger designers who keep on the flame. He was not afraid to push the boundaries of his metier, publishing in the late 70s a book with gay paper dolls called Attitude; years later he did one with cross dressers and drag queens like Ru Paul. He died on July 12th, 2014, 85 years old. He will be sorely missed.

Biography data from Tom Tierney Paper Dolls

I wanted to capture her sense of style and elegance with a doll. I do not have one that looks remotely like her, so I picked one of my Monograms, Magnetism, for her French allure and feel. Picking the outfit, to resemble one of Loulou's iconic photos, was a bit easier. Of course it would not be complete without jewellery: Loulou was a jewellery designer herself, so she always wore lots of them. I tried to get the essence of her style, rather than copycat the photo. You can be the judge of the result. I did a back & white photo, added one in colour (Loulou was incredible in her colour mixes) and the original inspiration below. If you want to read more about Loulou, I wrote a tribute to her in my design blog.

In December, the Greek edition of Votre Beaute magazine celebrated it's 20th birthday with a great anniversary issue, showcasing various moments of the magazine's history in Greece. The cover was a blast: featuring one of the most iconic Greek models ever, the inimitable Mara Desypri (nowdays a photohrapher, frequently contributing to Vogue Hellas) wearing a dress by Vassilis Zoulias, who started his carrer as a stylist when Mara was a model and now is a fashion designer turning out gorgeous collections full of coveted frocks and accessories. I loved it so much, I decided to make a version of it for my blog. Of course there is no doll looking like Mara: her strong features would not make a very commercial doll. I picked Red Zinger Daria from the Future Perfect 2009 collection. Her make up was very close to Mara's and she looks gorgeous too.

The hair of Mara was styled by the extremely talented and fellow doll collector and lover Thanos Samaras. I could not even begin to try and imitate the same hair on Daria, so I just made a new updo, keeping it stylish and chic. The black dress is the top and skirt of Dressing the Part Agnes, shoes are from an older Fashion Royalty outfit and the gloves are from Bewitching Hour Luchia. Unfortunately the doll's articulation does not help to style the exact pose but I did the best I could save breaking her shoulder joints. And here is the original cover (Photo by Thanassis Krikis, fashion editor is Michalis Georgiou and makeup is by Stellar):

Alexander McQueen is my favourite fashion designer. It was a shock for me too then, to discover on the morning of February 11th that he had committed suicide. It is a loss not only for his family and friends, but also for the world - talent such as he had is rare to come by. Read more about his work in my other blog. As an hommage, I photographed Fashion Royalty's Kyori Sato in mourning with a dress that Integrity did for the 2007 Wu Event IV - it was one of the convention fashion outfits, called Lap Of Luxury. It copied blatantly one of my favourite Alexander McQueen dresses, as the theme of the convention was The Royal Life - Anglophilia ruled, so it was an obvious choice. R.I.P. Lee, we will miss you.