The young adolescent girl began as Wilde Imagination Lizette. The Himba girl model I chose for her repaint had the most beautiful toothy smile and I captured that with her repaint. Her hair was styled with all-over braids consistent with a young woman of her age. The braids are worn covering their faces in a flirty shyness but when they perform their courtship dances they fly about in unbridled joy. I have tried to capture that movement in the way her hair is styled, and with the wonderful poseability of the Wilde dolls, it is easy to make her dance! Her jewelry and outfit reflects her age.
The married woman/ Matriarch began as “Angelique” by Wilde Imagination. When I first saw the Angelique sculpt she reminded me of the beautiful Himba women. She wears a crown made of hide that signifies her marital status (it is attached to a doll size hair pin and is removeable) and her family shell necklace. Her beaded jewelry reflects her status in the matriarchal community. Her ruffled high-low hem skirt-loin cloth was modeled after the gorgeous styles worn by the Himba. Her original hair style (“Queen of the Woodlands” Angelique) was similar to that worn by the Himba and was only slightly modified. An interesting fact: the Himba women sleep with their necks resting on wooden blocks to protect their gorgeous hairstyles!
The toddler girl began as Tonner “Trixie” from the Effanbee Patsy line. Her eyes have been reset and she has been repainted based on a Himba toddler photo. Her textured wig has been restyled with two French braids beginning at the nape of her neck up over her scalp to the front of her head in the style characteristic of toddler Himba girls. Her doll would have been made by one of her older sisters.