Flirty Italian-Made Doll by Levia

Lovely hard plastic doll by Levia

Made by Levia of Milan, Italy, this charming, circa 1950s 21-inch doll has brown flirty eyes that appear to follow you when her head turns.  Made of hard plastic that looks like composition, she is a head-turning walker.  When her legs are moved in a walking motion, her head turns from left to right.

She wears her original red organdy dress which has hand-painted flowers on the bodice and skirt.  The collar of the dress is removable.

Her original hangtag reads Levia, Milano, Made in Italy. 

She has a human hair wig.  Her neck markings read Levia/Milano/Brevattato (brevetatto means patented or trademarked).

She was not in pristine condition upon arrival, but her flaws were minor and few.

Loose arm stringing was her main cosmetic flaw.

This is a better illustration of her loose arm stringing, but take note of her beautiful satin undergarment.  The attached tag has a series of numbers stamped on it.

A few of the lashes of one eye are missing, which is not very bothersome.

Airing out

What was bothersome was her musty odor that was alleviated by hanging the doll and her dress outside over a several-day period.  For approximately a week, I would bring her and the dress in at night and return both to hang outside the following morning.

Don't do this.

I made the dreadful mistake initially of wrapping fabric softener sheets around her and enclosing her in plastic.  The lavender scent of the fabric softener sheets seemed to accentuate the musty odor after the overnight period in which they were used, so I opted to allow fresh air to resolve the issue, as described in the previous paragraph and illustrated in the previous picture.

Feeling all brand new after airing out

After airing out, I successfully restrung her (after watching a few Youtube videos on restringing and then asking my husband how he does it).  Her original dress was put on, her wig combed, and the ribbon with fabric flowers was tied around her head.

Her original ribbon headband with fabric flower accents can be seen in this photo taken from the back which also illustrates her hair length.

Lastly, I made a pair of dark red sandals to cover her bare feet.  I did not create a photo documentation of the sandal-making process, but it is described briefly below.

I wanted her to have open-toed shoes to show off her original pedicure.  The organdy fabric of the dress justifies the sandals as well.

How I Made the Sandals:
After tracing both feet for a template of the shape, a cork coaster was used to create the soles.  Heavy card stock covered with yellow fabric creates the insoles and heavyweight dark red grosgrain ribbon, sandwiched between the soles and the insoles wraps across her upper feet and around the ankles.  The sandals snap closed on the side of each ankle.

The side snap closure is illustrated in this photo.

Feeling so fresh and so clean with covered feet, she posed once again for a full-length photo.

In this photo, she holds a doll ornament.

Close-up of the doll ornament.

Because she will be part of my Christmas decor, this lovely flirty-eyed girl now holds a 1930s-style Patsy doll ornament.

******

I have not been able to find any information about the Levia doll company and this doll is the only brown-skinned doll by Levia that I have found during my brief research.  Like most companies, brown or black versions were probably made in fewer lots than the white counterparts.  A Google image search for Levia dolls results in several white versions of this doll or dolls that use the same head sculpt and body.  No other black or brown versions, except this doll, were in the search results.  I am happy to have found this one.

dbg


There are countless items 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!