Alice felt that if there was to be any conversation at all, she must manage it herself. So she began rather timidly: 'Am I addressing the White Queen?'
'Well, yes, if you call that a-dressing,' the Queen said. 'It isn't my notion of the thing, at all.'
Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There 1871 Lewis Carroll
We all know Alice.
And we all know what she looks like.
She looks like this.
Unless we're being pedantic.
Then, she looks like Alice Liddell
(pronounced like fiddle)
Alice Liddell
Alice was the inspiration
for the first Alice book.
But clearly, she wasn't the model
for Tenniel's drawing.
For that, there are two contenders.
Sweet little Mary Badcock, here.
Mary Hilton Badcock
And the delightfully sassy
Beatrice Henley.
(I really want to make a doll like this)
Beatrice Henley
We know what she looks like
in black and white.
Drink Me
But, we're wrong about how she looks in colour.
The first Alice in colour was
The Nursery Alice 1890
and Tenniel gave her
a yellow dress and a big blue sash.
The Nursery Alice
Alice and the Cheshire Cat
Black and White
Same image, coloured plate
The Nursery Alice
It wasn't until later
that the B&W drawings were coloured
and she wore her familiar blue cotton dress
and white apron with red trim.
Alice and the Duchess
Why this erudite study of Tenniel's illustrations?
I was making an Alice doll,
and I wanted her to be a
truthful representation of Carroll's vision.
As Carroll worked closely with Tenniel,
even suggesting models,
we have to assume that the Alice in the book
was close to what he saw.
So, I researched every drawing,
took notes on the details;
the bows, the tucks, the ankle-strap shoes
even the tiny collar and cameo.
I decided on an outfit that was
an amalgam of Alice images,
but not the yellow frock.
I wanted the iconic blue dress
as it appears in
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
 |
| Cloches came back! Who saw that happening? |
In Through the Looking- Glass
Alice has a huge bow on her dress,
caught up in the tie of her apron,
presumable to keep it clean.
That looks a little too bunchy and awkward for a doll.
However, only in Through the Looking-Glass
does she sport those fashionable striped stockings,
and the alice-band in her hair.
The ruffled apron in the second book
seems to be the same one from the first book,
with added ruffles to make it bigger.
Very practical, the Victorian Nursery.
After all, that's what those fetching tucks
in her dress are for,
to let it out as she grows.
But the ruffles detract from the dress
and I don't want to cheat with some white lace.
I added up all the elements I liked,
and ditched the plain white stockings
the tiny collar and the ruffles on the pinny.
This is what I was left with.
She has the blue tucked dress
with puffed sleeves that fit around her elbow joints.
Striped stockings, white frilly drawers,
hand-made black leather strapped shoes.
A white apron made from a vintage handkerchief,
with red trim and pockets.
Hidden away, she has a silver key
and a bottle of Drink Me.
She's all finished.
