By Heather Posey
Staff Writer
When Jeannie Bork was just a small-town girl, she loved to dress up and play with her dolls, as so many young girls do. Now, she has developed a bargain brand that brings back her childhood memories for future generations to enjoy.
According to Bork, her inspiration to create and sell doll clothes wasn’t one that she attempted, but rather was an inexpensive way of helping her daughter with her doll collection.
“My daughter who is 18 now got her first American Girl doll when she was about 7 or 8,” said Bork. “The clothes for that type of doll were so expensive, nearly $25 a piece, so every once in a while we used to visit my mother in Iowa, and we would go design an outfit to bring back to my daughter.”
Born and raised in the Midwest, Bork learned to sew at an early age and found many fabrics and design ideas by rummaging around her mother’s and grandmother’s attics. Soon the clothes found their way to local church bazaars under the name Angels in the Attic, appropriately named after the source of their hometown influence.
Bork states that she and her daughter both liked the idea of selling the clothes at a low price, not to beat the competition, but so that it would be affordable for young girls who wouldn’t otherwise be able to get their dolls new clothes.
“We started designing petticoats and pantaloons, using Midwestern patterns and designs to give it that old-fashioned, prairie-type of look,” said Bork. “Little by little, they have become valuable, and I had to call in more people to help due to its popularity.”
Angels in the Attic has had such demand that Bork claims she has even been approached by major doll companies looking to buy the clothes and designs off of her. She states though that she has refused because she wants to maintain the reasoning behind the product.
“The goal is to keep prices down so girls can pay for it on their own,” she said. “We just want little girls to have their own doll wardrobe off their own allowance.”
Angels in the Attic doll clothes range from $8 to $12 dollars. According to Bork, the most expensive piece is only $14 for her signature heirloom dress, which includes a petticoat, bonnet, and pantaloons. She has also expanded her line to include party dresses, Halloween clothes and even matching sleeping bags.
“We are now working with a few Amish craftsmen to design a trunk for girls to store their dolls and their clothes.”
So, from going through her grandmother’s trunk to building a trunk for hundreds of other girls, Angels in the Attic works to incorporate the past into the present and, she hopes, the future.
For additional information on Angels in the Attic, contact Jeannie Bork by calling (562) 426-9225.
