Mama's Tribute Dress

Note card received from fashion designer, Sara Bunn of The Bunn Funn Collection illustrates a little girl handwashing clothing.  The back contains a handwritten note that reads, "... Brown paper packages tied up with string these are a few of my favorite things.~"

In 2016, after seeing photographs of Sara Bunn's exquisite fashions with collages or individual images of historic African American greats, I inquired about the possibility of having a child-size dress (size 2) made for one of my largest dolls.  This image of artist Leroy Campbell posed with a little girl modeling a dress that replicates his painting, Stands Out!, prompted the inquiry. My idea was for the doll-size dress to be a tribute to my mother that would contain images of her dating back to the 1940s to the present.  It would also contain several statements my mother has expressed throughout the years.

When the opportune time presented itself to Ms. Bunn, her work on the dress commenced.  Using the provided photographs, phrases, and doll's measurements, she created the perfect photo collages for the sleeves and skirt of the dress with one image of my mother in the center of the bodice.

Several photographs of the dress to document the unboxing, individual pictures of the front, back, other areas of the dress, as well as the doll modeling it are included below.

Unboxing

Inside the corrugated cardboard shipping box was the brown-paper-wrapped dress tied with string and a note card from Sara.

A piece of Bunn Funn logo tape was used to seal the brown paper.  I held my breath before breaking the seal...

... and exhaled upon viewing the bodice of the long-awaited dress.

Images of the Dress

Full-length frontal view of the dress

A closer look at the bodice illustrates the velvet Peter Pan collar, a 1940s photo of Mama to which Sara added a faux pearl necklace.  Some of the phrases Mama used when we were growing up and even to this day are on the bodice.  Trust God; Put God first; The Spirit told me...; Our day will come; With God everything is possible; Where there is life there is hope, are some of her routine statements.

A closer look at the skirt of the dress; these images extend to the back of the skirt.

This image and the next two are the expanded center pleat of the skirt of the dress.

Another photo of the center pleat of the skirt.  The seated woman in the top image is my maternal grandmother.

The final image of the expanded center pleat of the skirt

Mama with me and my sister are on the left sleeve.  Above this image is the phrase, "I don't have any favorites."  This is what she would say when one of the two older boys would accuse her of favoring one of us younger three.  She would follow this with the phrase that is on the other sleeve.

Mama and my brothers are on the right sleeve of the dress.  Above their images reads, "All of you came out of me."  

The bodice of the back is black and white paisley.  The images from the front of the skirt extend to the back.  There are two velvet waist ties, not visible in this image.  The sleeves are trimmed with black velvet.

Booklet and Numbered Certificate of Authenticity

Sara created a photo booklet printed on cardstock that contains six black and white images of the dress taken from different angles.

The signed and dated certificate of authenticity provides the details of the dress to include the title "Mother's Doll Dress," the medium used, edition (1 of 1), ID number, dimensions, and specifications.

Smiling Debbie Models the Dress

Smiling Debbie by Woelfert-Puppen is the doll the dress was custom made to fit.  She is shown above in a full-length color photograph.

This is the same picture as above in black and white.

Smiling Debbie poses for a close-up photo.

In this final photo, Smiling Debbie poses from the back.  The velvet waist ties create a small bow.

I am very pleased with the dress which will serve as a beautiful, long-lasting, tangible tribute to my mother, who has only seen the photo booklet.  She will see it in person soon.  Greatly pleased with the concept and the dress itself, my mother thanked me profusely for honoring her in this manner.

(Today is my mother's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mama!) 

If interested in having a collage photo dress made for yourself or for a doll you own, feel free to visit The BunnFun Collection website where Sara's contact information is located under the contact link.

dbg

There is always something to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for following, commenting, and sharing using the share button below.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!