Hello!

My name is Michele and Barbara tells me she has told you about me when she refers to her "pro". My friends and I restore hard plastic and compo dolls. One of the most popular is the original Shirley Temple. The wigs were a mass of mohair spiral curls and the doll depicted a little 3 year old who tossled her curls as she played. Here are some photos of Shirley Temple dolls with original wigs in near mint condition.



Dolls in this condition are rare because even on well preserved dolls, the mohair wigs have become brittle and dirty and moth eaten. So, after we restore the composition we have to replace the mohair wig. But what do we find is available in a mohair Shirley Temple wig? Something like this:

The color is too light, the style is all wrong..the cut is too short in front - it's a nice doll but not a Shirley Temple.

So I'm lucky to have Barbara willing to work with me in my quest to find a perfect mohair replacement Shirley Temple wig.

I'm very excited about the mohair wig you sent us. The mohair is wonderful.
The color is perfect.
The volume or hair and the stitch pattern is perfect
The length of the hair is perfect

Barbara already told you this but somehow, one very important detail got lost in our email.
The set is upside down!
The curls don't spiral down because the hair was rolled over itself and then the curlers were removed by drawing them up and out. So the curls don't drape.
The reason I know everything else about the wig is perfect is that I reset it as so:


And here's the finished doll

Here's the technique. It's most important to wind the hair around the roller as if you were making a spring. Then just as important, it's necessary to draw the curlers out in the direction the curl will fall.
I know I'm being picky, but we're so close to finally having the perfect replacement Shirley wig.

Thank you so much for bearing with me on this!



I hope this helps.

Thank you,
Most sincerely,
Michele