A strange path led me to adopt/rehome a High School Musical “Troy” doll. Most Ken fashion dolls are 12 inches tall (in human terms, six feet, as they’re 1:6 scale). The HSM dolls are 10.5 inches (a human five feet, three inches tall). I am enchanted by the smallness and have him representing a character in the Neverending Saga (the second set of characters–in fact, he’s the twin brother of the character who creates her own Tarot cards, as mentioned in a previous post).
I had some smaller male doll clothes I could dress him in, and the original Ken dolls’ shoes will fit him okay (new Ken shoes are HUGE on him). I got him dressed and photographed for Instagram.
As a personal aside… In 2008, when we had my mother’s memorial service in Alabama, all of her grandchildren and all but one of her great-grandchildren were there. At that time, three of the “greats” were in the six- to seven-year-old range. They absolutely lit up my life with their energy and fun. They’d brought High School Musical DVDs with them, and danced and sang together while they watched them. It’s a great memory to have, so it tickled me to get the HSM “Troy” doll.
Little did I know that a second High School Musical “Troy” doll (different facial features and hair from the first one) would be joining us. There were no Ken clothes that seemed right for him, so I began looking at some of the designs I sewed for Runway Monday challenges (thinking the female dolls I used as models might have better-sized clothes for him). What he’s wearing is Dupioni silk fabric that I hand-painted. I then wrote the first lines of my work in progress on the fabric before I cut it. This was in 2012, and I STILL have not written that novel.
The uncut fabric after I painted and wrote on it. You can see the entire post here should you wish to go down memory lane.
When I put the outfit on the doll to see if it would work, I thought instantly of Eddie Van Halen’s many colorful concert outfits and that amazing smile of his that never quit. That’s how this doll ended up with EVH’s Frankenstein guitar.
Eddie, Ed, Edward, and my preferred, EVH
He’s a little bit country. He’s a little bit rock and roll.