Two basic Cissette dolls from different years - the blonde is stock #700; the redhead is #900. Click on a small photo to see a larger version.
Photos courtesy of Lisa Hanson. View Lisa's eBay listings.

Cissette arrived two years after Cissy as the smaller, cuter and more affordable version of Alexander's popular glamour doll. The same mold was also used for other dolls during the Cissette period, including Sleeping Beauty (identifiable by her flat feet), Margot (with heavy eye makeup and upswept hair) and Jacqueline (heavy eye makeup and sidepart hairstyle). The mold continued to be used for the Portrette series and other dolls in the '60s, and is still in use today. Cissette was reintroduced in the late '90s.

Body Construction
Cissette is all hard plastic, jointed at the neck, shoulders, hips and knees, with high heel feet. She has sleep eyes with molded lashes, with painted lashes underneath, one-stroke eyebrows, and pierced ears. Her synthetic wig is styled in a curly flip with bangs, and was available in blonde, brunette or redhead. A few fancy dressed dolls came with upswept hairdos. A rare version of Cissette from the early '60s had a bald head with interchangeable wigs.

Identifying Cissette
Trying to date a Cissette doll can be challenging. Here are some clues:
Eyelids: 1957 dolls have beige eyelids, in 1958 they were pale pink and thereafter were peach.
Wigs: 1957 and '58 wigs were made with three rows of stitching; after that they used zigzag stitching. A few fancy wigs had three rows on some later dolls. Fingernails: had polish starting sometime in 1961. Eye weights: dolls from 1957 and part of '58 had heavy weights on their sleep eyes. Smaller weights were used thereafter. Clothing: Dresses in 1957 and '58 had bodice darts; in 1959, they did not. Thereafter bodice darts were only used for evening wear.

Clothing Cissette was sold as a dressed doll or in a basic chemise or slip. Like her big sister Cissy, she often wore royal outfits and wedding gowns, but day dresses and ballet costumes were common as well. Many of her outfits matched Cissy and Elise clothing. See the Outfits 1957-58 and Outfits 1959-63 pages for more information.

Thanks to Susan Jenkins Lacerte for help with this page.

Other sources for this page include:

• "Aids in Dating Cissettes" with information by Dorothy Lee Bull, September 1995 issue of The Review: Official Publication of the Madame Alexander Doll Club

Copyright 2006-12 by Zendelle Bouchard.

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