Date: Fri 24-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Doll-Patty-Rowland-Vanderwende

Full Text:

Victorian Doll Is Dressed For The (Governor's Wife's) Occasion

BY DOROTHY EVANS

Lorraine Vanderwende, a member of the Newtown Women's Club since 1968 and its

first president, brought along her most recent sewing project to the club

luncheon that was held Thursday, October 16, at Brookfield's Candlewood Lake

Inn.

It was a fully dressed Victorian doll that had been created by designer Louis

Nicole of Waterbury/Prospect and would be donated to the "Angels For Angels"

fundraiser being planned to take place in December at the governor's mansion

in Hartford.

"Our doll is here along with the woman who dressed her," said club president

Mary Antey, as she introduced Mrs Vanderwende.

The doll was one of 150 that Louis Nicole donated to the General Federation of

Women's Clubs (GFWC) for members to dress according to their ethnic type and

hair style, then donate for sale to benefit the Connecticut Children's Medical

Center in Newington.

The project is part of a special fundraiser being chaired by Patty Rowland,

Governor John Rowland's wife.

"Some of the dolls will actually stay in the governor's mansion. The rest will

be sold," Mrs Antey said.

`I Liked Her Hair'

In April, after picking out the doll during a district GFWC meeting, Mrs

Vanderwende began designing the clothes in close cooperation with Newtown

resident Betsy Evans.

The two women wanted to create a costume that reflected, head-to-toe, the

styles of the times, from her wide-brimmed, plumed hat to her soft white kid

leather shoes fastened with seed pearl buttons.

"I made the shoes from kid gloves I'd been using for painting. The lace trim

was pieced together from 1953, from leftover material for my bridesmaids'

dresses," Mrs Vanderwende said.

"I admit that today the lace is ivory. It was white," she laughed.

The magenta pink satin material she used for the dress ("actually it's called

peau de soit") was taken from material she had saved from a suit she had made

in the 1970s.

"I used to do a lot of my own sewing," Mrs Vanderwende explained.

"Betsy [Evans] did the hand tatting on the doll's hat and the detail to match

on her pocketbook."

Choosing the Victorian doll from all the others had not been difficult, she

said.

"I liked the Gibson style hair. She's young and I think she's beautiful. Too

bad I can't afford to buy her myself," Mrs Vanderwende said, adding, "I might

shed a tear when I have to give her up."

The dolls will be handed over to Mrs Rowland at the GFWC Fall Conference on

Saturday, October 25, in Rocky Hill.