Madame Alexander Hollywood Cissy, a Modern Doll Rocking Vintage Glamour

Don't tell Cissy, but I thought this doll was a lot older than she actually is! Turns out Hollywood Cissy is only from 1999/2000. I bought this doll second-hand, and there is not a lot of information on the internet about her anymore. I have her original box, and probably her certificate of origin, but that box is buried under some other stuff, and I didn't consider it worth digging out.

Madame Alexander originally produced Cissy dolls in the mid-to-late 1950s. At that time Cissy had a resemblance, in my eyes, to the Miss Revlon or Toni dolls. She was the same height as now, 20-21", with a lady doll figure, and high-heeled feet.

Cissy came back with a makeover and a vengeance in the late 1990s. She was an extreme diva, and her most fervent collectors called themselves "Cissy Swine," as Cissy was a demanding dolly and always needed another outfit or more jewelry. Cissy is still produced, but the changes have turned off many diehard collectors. For one thing, the price has doubled or tripled; Cissy now is around $1000 at retail. New Cissy has bending elbows, but word is the vinyl is not as high quality as the earlier dolls. She also has a different face mold, that can appear "mean" or unhappy. As so often happen with doll lines, Madame Alexander changed the Cissy doll and got rid of lot of the things that drew in previous collectors. Whether this is a good thing or not depends on doll sales in the end, and I don't have those numbers. One more note, Hollywood Cissy also came with an African-American skintone, and black hair in the same style as my doll.

It's amazing what taking photographs can do for your appreciation of a doll. Cissy is on a shelf in my bedroom, so I see her every day, but when I put her in front of the camera, she really came to life.

She came wearing everything that you see in the pictures, and more that you will see below the fold. I think her wig is mohair, judging by the texture. Her eyes are sleep eyes. She has movement at her head, arms at the shoulder, waist, hips and knees, and can strike some nice poses, as you can see above.
Cissy dolls did not come with stands. My other Cissy has a very nice hand-made, wooden saddle stand I bought online from an individual vendor. Unfortunately, Hollywood Cissy's mermaid dress is too tight to fit a saddle stand underneath, so for now she is displayed with the help of the chair.

Cissy came with some decent high-heeled shoes, but the elastic on them is completely shot, if it ever was snug-fitting. This should be easy to replace by peeling the felt soles back and attaching new elastic, or maybe even fabric. It just hasn't been a priority.

Cissy's hip joints are interesting. They are some kind of metal, and use a spring. Her knee joints also seem to use a spring, judging by the sound I hear when I bend and unbend her knees. The knee joints can be very stiff; the hip joints are very loose. I took a couple of blurry pictures of the inside of her hips. I really don't want to pull her apart too much.

Every Hollywood diva needs sunglasses, and Cissy is no exception. She's chosen the cat's eye look.

Every vintage Hollywood "stah" also needs a fur to walk the red carpet, and Cissy comes with a white wrap, with beaded appliques on the front, and a tassel at the back. The inside of the stole is lined with a silk-type material, and has two snaps on either side to fasten the wrap around her arms. You can also see how impressively long the train on her dress is.

Lastly, here are two comparison shots with the most similar dolls I have. The first doll is Tonner's 18" Miss America Doll, who has the same body as Kitty Collier. The second doll is an American Girl, who of course is also 18".

Besides being on display, this doll and the other Cissy doll that I own don't get much attention, but I still enjoy having them in my collection. They're fairly unique dolls right now, and well made. At some point, Hollywood Cissy's wig ought to be replaced, although I'll try giving this wig a very gentle brush-out first. I don't think the photos quite show how matted those curls are. Most importantly, I appreciate their beauty, even if they don't see much "play."