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Tressy "Her hair grows!"
The most wonderful thing about Tressy was her 'growing' hair. Little girls could spend hours not only dressing & playing with Tressy, they could style her hair in hundreds of ways. From the simple bob to complex styles. Tressy looks a dream if her hair is right. Some styles suit some dolls more than others, potty I know but this is true! With the dolls we find today you can often disguise a less than perfect head of hair with a good style. Dolls with very little centre hair remaining are best styled with something like the variation on the Beehive as shown here. this style also hides the plastic on the top of the head if it's showing. Some second issue Tressy's have a slight colouring to the plastic on the crown to hide it slightly. FOR RE_STRANDING & RE_ROOTING CLICK HERE
This style is created by having the centre strand extended fully, gather the short hair into a covered elastic band. This gives a tiny pony tail, wrap the long hair tightly around, twisting the strand slightly as you go. Secure with hair clips, pins or stitch in place. I used just one Tressy Hairgrip to hold this in place. Click on these pictures for larger image

Tressy had her own hair style book. Most of these styles are fairly easy to reproduce, but it does depend on your dolls hair. I often find a style that works for one doll looks like an explosion in a mattress factory on another!

		Click on any of these pictures for a larger image & then use your back button to return here

This Tressy Salon was sold around the early to mid 1970's it came with the 3rd issue doll in her Salon trouser suit. I don't have a picture of the outfit, but as soon as I do you will see it here! I had a bit of fun when re-rooting a battered Sindy doll as you can see! Pictures are Thumbnails as always!! See the rest of this story CLICK HERE


Boxed Hair Glamour outfit from my own collection This is my own set, & I remember having one just like it as a child. I loved the smell of the hair styling products, and using the sponge & setting lotion - just like my Mother did with her own hair!
Glamour kits from 1967 Thumbnail - click for larger picture.
STYLING BOOKLETS
Top row are all from the USA - also the DELL white booklet on the second line. The "Dell' booklet - produced only in the USA. These booklets were a series that featured at check out counters is US supermarkets. They covered a variety of subjects from home care to hobbies. Other booklets are all Palitoy.
Thumbnail pictures as always
Early Tressy booklet	Inside the booklet were hairstyles & illustrations of the fashions for Tressy & Toots

TRESSY SIZE HAIRGRIPS - Can be purchased from me at £2.50 for 10 (Currently I only have the darker ones) Please e-mail for details: tressylady@hotmail.co.uk


The special tiny Tressy curlers are great, but they can become damaged. Especially if you are going to try a 'boil perm'. That is when you roll Tressy's hair into curls & dunk her head in boiling water for a few minutes. Scary but it works! The curlers shown here are very useful for doll hair & you can usually find something similar in your local chemist, Superdrug or Boots. If you have trouble winding short hair onto a curler use a little wet tissue paper wrapped round the hair to start it off. This makes it much easier to wind.

TRESSY TIPS - DOLL RESTORATION

You may be the lucky one & find a nice mint doll still in her box! Usually these are quite expensive & hard to find. Most of us start collecting with a less than perfect doll, who will be needing a little TLC to restore her to displayable condition. Don't worry if your first doll is in need of care, most things can be rectified or improved upon. Here are a few tips in note form - so you don't die of boredom reading them all & I can add to them as the inspiration strikes me! In fact many collectors find that the dolls they love the most are the ones that needed a bit of a makeover.

Buying Choose a doll with an undamaged face. Face paint can be repaired but if the face plastic is damaged this can be hard to rectify. Chewed hands & chopped feet can be rectified with limb replacements. (Little girls used to love to chew her hands! Often feet were cut so that Barbie or modern Sindy shoes would fit!) Try to match the shade of plastic as closely as you can. This is also something to look for when buying a doll - does all the plastic look the same? Tressy's head plastic will look a different colour though - often yellowed & waxy.	Washing Wash dolls in very mild detergent. I use a liquid suitable for woolens. Dry well away from heat. Use a small soft brush to clean those awkward fingers!	Hair Try to get a doll with uncut hair. Often dolls turn up with cut hair & missing secret strands. You can re-root Tressy hair quite easily with a long darning needle & either a donor doll or some nylon wig making 'hair' available from craft specialists, or try Linda at www.Tressydoll.com she can supply hair for re rooting. If you want to improve the look at the front of your doll you could always remove a little hair from the strand if she has a nice full one, or from the back of her head where it is more hidden. You can completely re-root if you wish by removing Tressy's hair with a small crochet hook from the inside of her head. You have to do this through the hole in her crown as her neck is long & this would be very hard to do. Then simply use an 'in-out' action with your needle making sure the hair is firm & will not pull out as soon as you brush it.
	Don't ever throw any bits of dolls away. They can be used as 'donor' dolls to replace damaged arms - legs whatever. Even the small spring from inside a doll can be useful.
Common Faults Chewed hands - Cut Feet - Missing or cut Strand or hair - pinholes to bust - dents to bust - stuck grow hair mechanism - loose limbs - dry frizzy hair - grubby plastic - damaged or missing face paint - holes for earrings (UK Tressy never had earrings.)	Hair care Wash hair either with woolwash or your own shampoo. Either fabric conditioner or your own conditioner can help with dry hair. However it must be rinsed out thoroughly or it will remain sticky & attract dust. Hair styles can be sculpted with Moose or Gell - use cut down hair grips - fine wire or even stitch to hold styles in place.	Loose legs or arms This is usually a sign of a well played with doll. You can easily stiffen the joints up by winding a little thread round & around the joint. Dental floss is very effective for this. If you are careful you can make it invisible. I used to use rubber bands but a member of the Tressy group pointed out that this will perish in time & may damage the doll.
Tressy, Toots & Sheena dolls often 'rattle' when you shake them. This is due to the small plastic 'keeper' coming away from the base of the secret strand. It is no problem & does not need to be replaced.	Use one of those keys from a corned beef can as a replacement Tressy Key! If it does not quite fit ,cut it down a little & use some emery paper to smooth & shape it!	When washing selected small clothes in your machine pop them in one of those washing tablet bags & they won't get lost in the machine - be very careful what you wash though! Any items with white trim or dark items with white sections should be unstitched first. washed separately & then sewn back together. This is because lots of the plain coloured fabrics were not colourfast.
Don't display your dolls on a window - sunlight will quickly fade her clothes & can damage the plastic.			Pippa fans often re-root with a totally different look for their dolls. Tressy fans usually fight shy of this. At sometime I will have a go, & possibly create Tressy from Mars!!

		This doll was found for £2.00 on a local market stall. These are the 'before & after' pictures. She was very sticky & her hair is only short. However she has washed up nicely after several attempts! Tressy is wearing a handcrafted dress & generic boots. I think she looks right for the era & displays well now she has had a little TLC. The picture is a thumbnail.
Sometimes you have to do drastic swaps to make the best doll - I recently had a good head from a first issue & swapped it onto a second issue body that was in much better condition. Getting the head off is hard without care. Remove the strand & workings first. Then warm the head & neck with warm water or a hair dryer. Then I inserted a needlework hook (blunt ended) & eased it down the neck orifice, with a lot of fiddling you can then remove the head. Here is a picture of a 2nd & 1st issue head after removal from the torso. as you can see the first issue has a longer neck piece.