1969 Sindy Outfits and Separates
In the 1969, Pedigree built upon the launch of the 1968 Sidepart Sindy with the introduction of their new Sindy Walker.
There were also three new boxed doll outfits shown in the Style Leaflet. One of these was brand new, but the others looked to be made of components of previous Sindy outfits. This is not unsurprising, just as with Patch, Pedigree now had surfeit of Sindy outfits and they needed to find ways to shift that existing stock so they could introduce new fashions.
In addition to these three Sidepart outfits, 1968’s ‘Fashion Girl’ was updated in new colours and ‘Miss Beautiful’ was renamed ‘Miss Sindy’. All these boxed dolls came with the golden charm bracelet with the Sindy medallion.
As well as these boxed doll outfits, Pedigree surprisingly also dressed the Sidepart in an outfit very similar to the original Sindy ‘Weekenders’ using the same original reference. This doll also came with the golden charm bracelet with the Sindy medallion, but this boxed doll was not shown in the the style leaflet. There is a view that when the Sideparts where introduced they were not as popular, or perhaps not as readily recognisable as the original Sindys with their short hair and distinctive outfits. Placing the original ‘Weekenders’ outfit back on the restyled doll may have helped with acceptability and certainly with product recognition in the shops amongst the doll displays. This outfit is commonly known as the ‘Weekenders Revival’.
They also introduced a new boxed doll product. The ‘Sindy’s High Fly and Play pack’ (Ref 12SWM), which appears to have included one of the orginal bubble-cut hair Sindys plus her Air Hostess (Ref 12S14) oufit from 1966. She was also given the golden charm bracelet with the Sindy medallion,.
There is some speculation that this pack might have also included a Sidepart in the ‘Weekenders Revival’ outfit. However, this pack is shown in both the 1969 and 1970 Style Leaflets near the back of the booklet, and the photograph was not updated to a Sidepart in the 1970 Leaflet.
Perhaps this points to this product being a way to use up old dolly stock and outfits.
Although there wasn’t a great deal of new outfits and accessories introduced during the year, plenty of the old fashions were still available. This may have caused Pedigree some retail issues, because essentially there wasn’t many new clothes you could buy for your Sindy. Interestingly, Sindy’s outfits were listed under the heading of “Sindy’s budget boutique fashions” and her separates were called “Sindy’s pocket-wise fashions”. Probably this points to a price drop as Pedigree tried to clear their excess stock.
Although the ‘Turtle Neck Sweater’ (Ref 12S74), which we have so far been unable to identify is no longer shown, perplexingly this reference was now attributed to a new top called ‘Tee Shirt’, which looks like the original white ‘Casual Moments’ top issued in 1966 – if you have any information on the Turtle-Neck Sweater or the Tee Shirt or Ref 12S74, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Weekenders (Ref 12GSS) (Boxed doll outfit)
This outfit was very similar to the original ‘Weekender’ outfit of Trendy bell-bottom jeans with yellow printed stitching and a cotton red, white and blue matelot top. These outfits however were fastened with big white plastic poppers instead of the white painted metal versions. Sindy wore her usual white sneakers. We originally stated that she did not wear the original red elasticated Alice band, however we have now seen a 1970 centrepart Sindy with the red elasticaticated headband, so presumably the sidepart version also had one.
Fashion Girl (Ref 12GSS1) (Boxed doll outfit)
The 1968 purple and purple-red check, all-in-one cotton mini dress was updated for 1969 with the introduction of the new colours of white, pink and lime-green. The dress was still the same two-piece design to look like a pink & green check mini skirt with braces over a pink short-sleeved top. The dress fastened at the back by two flat metal poppers, they can be found painted white or in plain chrome. However, at the very end of the 1960s pedigree began to experiment with plastic poppers, and some versions of this dress do have plastic poppers. She wore the same lime green flat lace-up shoes as Mitzi.
Evening Stroll (Ref 12GSS5) (Boxed doll outfit)
This outfit was basically ‘Reefer Jacket’ and ‘Bell Bottoms’ from 1967 together with ‘Casual Moments’ which had been updated and was now available in a new bright green colour. It was worn with Sindy’s original white flat lace-up sneakers.
Sunshine Girl (Ref 12GSS6) (Boxed doll outfit)
Described as an “elegant ‘playtime’ pyjama suit”, these nylon trousers suits were very fashionable at the time.
The top was sleeveless with the same material used for a ‘tie’ at the neck. The top fastened with one popper at the back of the neck and the trousers fastened with one popper at the waist. The original versions came with flat white metal poppers but, similar to ‘Fashion Girl’, later versions have the large plastic poppers. It had a bold floral tulip pattern. This outfit was also worn with Sindy’s original white flat lace-up sneakers.
The lilac & pink version (right) had flat white metal poppers. It was displayed in the 1969 style leaflet.
The orange & pink version above has large white plastic poppers. It was shown in the 1970 Rovex Tri-ang trade catalogue.
The variation pink and blue version shown right has flat white metal poppers. Although shown here with white daisy sandals, we believe this version also came with white sneakers. We have not been able to find it in a catalogue or style leaflet.
A similar outfit was used for 1971 Centrepart Sindys but the floral pattern is much smaller.
Winter Warm (Ref 12GSS7) (Boxed doll outfit)
This outfit consisted of Sindy’s fur trimmed anorak (from 1964’s ‘Winter Holiday’) team up with the ‘Bell Bottoms’ with blue stitching from 1967. It was worn with the black flat lace-up shoes from 1968’s ‘Mini Gear’. Some accounts say this outfit also came with the ‘Winter Holiday’ white ribbed polo-neck jumper and sunglasses, but the Style Leaflet only refers to an anorak and trousers and we so are unable to verify this.
Walking Sindy (Ref 12WS) (Boxed doll outfits)
The new Walking Sindy came with two outfits.
The first outfit was a smart three piece suit with a mini-skirt. The long-sleeved, edge-to-edge, box-style jacket had a turn down collar and was made of stiff navy blue cotton decorated with red polka dots. The mini-skirt was made up of three panels, the front panel matched the jacket and the side panels were navy blue. It had a sewn-on belt made of the blue and red polka dot material with a gold metal buckle. The skirt fastened at the back of the waist with a small metal snap fastener. Under the jacket Sindy wore a sleeveless, fine knitted, red nylon top with a turtle-neck which fastened with a small metal snap fastener at the back of the neck.
The second outfit was a bright yellow cotton, mini-length, coat-dress with long sleeves. This cheerful dress was trimmed with a pretty contrasting floral fabric of red, yellow and white on a navy background. This fabric was used for the turn down collar, cuffs and sewn-on belt, The belt also had a gold metal buckle. This dress fastened at the front with one fastening at the neck and another under the belt. Similar to ‘Fashion Girl’ and ‘Sunshine Girl’, this dress can be found with two types of fastenings, but whilst the first type is the older white painted metal popper, the second type is a small metal snap fastener.
Contrary to the 1969 brochure, Sindy wore red kitten heel court shoes and not the red flat lace-ups shown in the brochure.
There is a variation top to this outfit which was a red knitted polo-neck, as shown on these three lovelies. Like the nylon top, it was sleeveless and fastened at the back of the neck with one sewn-on snap fastener. Sometimes it had a second sewn-on snap fastener in the middle of the back.
We did wonder whether this was the mythical “light green long-sleeved turtle-neck sweater” (Ref 12S74) referred to in the 1967 and 1968 catalogues, but with short sleeves rather than long ones. If you have any more information about this sweater, we would be interested to know.
Confusingly, the white version of Casual Moments was also shown but was now called “Tee Shirt” with the mythical 12S74 reference. The same illustrations were also used in the 1970 style leaflet.
Casual Moments (Ref 12S65)
In the 1969 brochure the illustration for the white ‘Casual Moments’ short-sleeved sweater was shown as green, but the text was not updated to reflect the new colour. The “Evening Stroll’ boxed doll appeared to be wearing this top also. We cannot say definitively when this top became available in the green, but as this is the first time this actual colour is shown in a Sindy leaflet we have opted to show it here.
So, the design of this top remained unchanged except for the colour – a bright green crew-neck, short-sleeved cotton knit jumper with a ribbed pattern. It fastened with one white popper at the back of the neck. We have shown it on Vicki to match the brochure which said “Crew-necked sweater neatly shows off Vicki’s trim waist.” Teamed up with the 1967 ‘Leather Look’ (Ref 12S70) skirt.
Winter Undies (Ref 12S79)
Dainty warm winter underwear for Sindy made of thick stretch nylon. The sleeveless vest was trimmed around the neck with white nylon lace threaded through with a narrow grosgrain ribbon. It fastened with one white metal painted popper behind the neck. The legs of the pull-on, knee-length pantaloons were edged with the same lace and ribbon trimming. Although this outfit was only described as being in royal blue, there are three variations; royal blue trimmed in white, bright red trimmed in white, and white trimmed with white lace and pink ribbon.
Flower Frillies (Ref 12S92)
Described as “the latest in with-it undies”, this floral nylon underwear set consisted of a mini-half-slip, bra and pants. The slip and pants had elasticated waists and were trimmed with white nylon lace around the hemline and each leg. The bra had a pretty embroidery lace flower at the front and it fastened with a small piece of velcro at the back. This outfit normally came with red kitten heel court shoes but see below.
‘Flower Frillies’ was a very popular outfit and it was available from 1969 to 1974. Over the years, whilst the general design of the undies remained the same, the pattern changed from time to time. We believe one of the first patterns is as shown on the Vicki above. This version has a fabric “Made in Hong Kong” label, sadly it is missing the flower on the bra. We do believe it would have had one originally, because we have seen photos of this bra and it appears to have the same lace flower as shown on the second Vicki shown below.
Three versions of these undies, all with a fabric “Made in Hong Kong” labels have been identified. Please see the comparison photos immediately above of the different slips. The first blue slip is largest of the three. It has a blue background with red flowers with white centres, white flowers with red, pink or no centres, and pink flowers with no centres. There are stylised aqua blue stems and leaves (this version is shown on Vicky above). The middle photo is also a blue slip but the background blue is a different shade to the first. The large red flowers don’t have white centres, and the large pink flowers have red centres instead. The blue-green contrasting stylised stems and leaves are a different (lighter) shade and the printing isn’t aligned. This is the smallest slip of the three. On the right is the third version and this one has flowers similar to the first version – red flowers with white centres, white flowers with red, pink or no centres, and pink flowers with no centres. But, it has stems & leaves more like the second version with light blue stems & leaves and a misaligned print. It has a lilac background. This is the middle sized of the three and came from a childhood Centrepart lot.
This Vicki is wearing a different pattern, with a light turquoise green background with pink, blue and white flowers with green centres. This version does not have a label but as you can see the lace trim is exactly the same as all the others. This version has a flower made from the same lace as used for the purple polka dot ‘Bedtime Beauty’ shown below, and this flower has been found both sewn or glued to the bra.
This is what the owner says about this set: “I first saw part of this set (bra, pants and sandals) as part of a loose lot with a bubblecut 60’s Sindy and similar era clothing (bought from a non-collector). I then bought the complete second set (slip, bra & pants) on the Vicki shown (also from a non-collector). This set was almost new, as was the doll, dress and shoes although they were a little dusty! I suspect the sandals go with this set, the colours seem right and a better match than red kitten heels. Interestingly neither lot contained the red court shoes.”
So given what this owner says, we think it might be an earlier version and is probably contemporary with the Vicki.
Although shown on a Sidepart in the photo top right, we think this is the later version of ‘Flower Frillies’ because this outfit has a paper label printed with green ink which reads “Made in Hong Kong” (for more on this type of label please see 1971 Sindy). This version has a blue/green background and the flowers are white (some with tiny rust or pink centres), shocking pink and rust coloured (both without centres). It has delicate pale green stems & leaves. This version has a white cotton guipure lace flower sewn onto the bra and it has the same lace trim as all the others. This outfit has been found packaged with red trendy bow shoes.
We would be keen to hear from any collector who has more information on this pretty underwear, particularly on the timeline in respect of the different designs, or about any other patterns that they may have.
Bedtime Beauty (Ref 12S93)
A pretty baby doll nightie with matching pants made from lavender-pink nylon printed with blue polka dots. The sleeveless nightie opened down the front and fastened with one white painted dome-shaped metal popper under the neck. The neck and hemline were trimmed with a fine white nylon lace. A different wider nylon lace frill decorated the front top-edge of the nightie. The matching pants were plain and had an elasticated waist. This version of the outfit came with white daisy sandals.
It should be noted that the blue printed polka dots have a tendency to run when washed, so don’t wash this garment unless you really have to.
This outfit was available for a number of years and there are a number of variations. Some variations had a different lace trim used for the wide frill sewn down the front of the nightie.
There is also a version with purple polka dots rather than blue (see nightie on the left of the photo left) and there is also a version made in a bright fuchsia pink nylon with white polka dots (see above – this version has a red & white “Made in Hong Kong” paper label which points to it being a slightly later version).
In addition, this outfit was shown in the 1972 Sindy marketing literature in a shiny raspberry pink nylon with small white spots (see photo left and see also 1972 Sindy).
Both the versions made in the pink nylon had unpainted dome-shaped chrome coloured metal poppers and we think that these outfits came with pink daisy sandals instead of white.
This dress is normally seen in a dark turquoise, royal blue, lime green, pink and white swirly block print pattern, but there is also a geometric block print pattern which uses similar colours (shown right).
Trendsetter (Summer Dress) (Ref 12S94)
A sleeveless multi-coloured cotton dress with a white cotton polo-neck. It had a sky-blue cotton-backed vinyl belt with a silver buckle (although some are more of a gold colour), and it fastened at the back with two white painted metal poppers. This dress came with red kitten heel court shoes.
In 1971 it was renamed ‘Summer Dress’.
