SO-CALLED “boudoir dolls”, which were made to reflect changing trends in fashion and women’s emancipation, will be displayed in a new exhibition IN Llandudno.

The upcoming new temporary exhibition at Llandudno Museum and Art Gallery centres on the dolls, which were a phenomenon during the 1920s and 30s.

They weren’t dolls for children, but were made for women, and were pieces of art expressing women’s fashions and their changing place in society.

The exhibition opens on May 14, and will run until the autumn.

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The dolls often have exaggerated long limbs and are dressed in the latest fashions or exotic costumes.

Many dolls were modelled on film stars of the 20s and 30s with their bobbed hair, doll-like make-up, cupid bow lips, mascara-laden eyes and arched brows, epitomised by the film star Clara Bow, the “It” girl of the period.

The museum has been loaned some of Gail Silver’s collection; she not only collects, but restores these symbols of idealized female identity.

She said: “I am very happy that this period of female emancipation and joyful expression of fashion, film, art, and culture through the craft of art dolls has been given an opportunity to be experienced at the museum this summer.

“Restoration of these art dolls enables me to combine my love of antique and vintage clothing, textile and ceramic restoration, social history and love of art and design.

“I hope anyone seeing the exhibition will enjoy it and learn more about this fascinating period.”

Along with the dolls, the exhibition will be delving into how women were establishing themselves in the world of publishing, film, and politics.

Dawn Lancaster, director and curator, added: “This exhibition opens a widow on the phenomenon of the boudoir doll and how greater freedom and was expressed during the post-war period, especially in fashion, make-up and new career opportunities.”

She said the museum was grateful for Gail’s expertise and knowledge which, with the input of its team of volunteers and staff had helped to put the exhibition together.

DeAnn Bell, the museum’s community education officer who has been delving into the period, will be creating some fascinating activities for adults and children that link to the intensely creative era before the onset of the second world war.

For more information, please visit: www.llandudnomuseum.co.uk.