The doll’s dress is gold silk brocade that has been totally hand embellished with beads and rhinestones. Her headdress is made from fabric, rhinestones, beads and jewelry findings which were hand sewn together. Her head and hands are sculpted from polymer clay and her body is cloth. Her hair is human hair which has been styled in the traditional style. Her hair ornaments and jewelry were created using beads, fine gold wire and gold metallic thread.
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| Jewel of Thailand Doll |
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| Miss Thailand 2016 |
History
Thailand didn’t have a traditional costume until the 1960’s. This problem became evident to Queen Sirikit when she accompanied the king to Europe and the United States. When she got back to Thailand she worked to establish one. Finally, in 1964, eight official chut thai (Thai costumes) were established.
A very popular one is the Chut Thai Siwalai. It is a long-sleeved, round-necked, ankle length dress with front pleats. The outfit is finished with a shawl, called a sbai, draped over the shoulder. Fine threads of gold and silver were often used in the brocade fabric to create luxurious appearance.
Headdresses called Chada feature a tall pointed shape and are made of gold or a substitute and are usually decorated with gemstones.
Process notes
I've always had a fascination with beading so when I saw this image of Miss Thailand in the 2016 Miss Universe contest I knew I had to try to make her. There were many times during the creation that I certainly questioned this desire. Of course, I knew that there wouldn't be any fabric in the right scale for a 12 inch doll so I had to find fabric and beads in the correct size. Sourcing the right size beads and rhinestones was one of the many challenges for this project. To make the costume as near like the original, I researched and found as many pictures as I could from various angles. I enlarged pictures of the beaded fabric so that I could replicate that design as close as possible. The costume was made in a silk brocade fabric then hand beaded. Some of the beading had to be completed after the costume was on the doll since dolls aren't very flexible.
I called my doll "Jewel of Thailand.
Here is a picture of the beading details that I used to create the doll.
