650s – Mimicking the best of 1983

Mimic: implies a close copying, often for fun

Miriam-Webster Dictionary

The 1986 Mimic Series

Three of the six outfits in this 1986 series closely mimic many dresses that came before them. The other three also closely resemble earlier outfits, although not as much.

As these outfits are much harder to find than some others, they may not have been produced for long. In addition, there are only two to four variations (letters) for each outfit.

Although the outfits are numbered from #655 to #661, no #657 was produced (that I know of). They were all produced by the OK factory and used letters H, J, and K, once again skipping the letter i.

Although many of the outfits have a copyright date of 1985, an outfit number in the 600s indicates that they were sold in 1986. Based on the tags, some may have been manufactured in early 1987 as well. I speculate that an outfit with an Amsterdam, NY tag (below) was produced in late 1986 or early 1987. I have only two Amsterdam tags recorded in this series, so very few of these outfits were being produced by that time. I have no idea why they changed the number to include a /3 or /__ instead of keeping the original code. I can only speculate that they planned to change the entire outfit numbering system but quickly changed their minds. I also have an example of two slash numbers for the same outfit. I can’t explain this.

These outfits came on the regular yarn-haired kids, as opposed to the Cornsilk kids, which also came out that year. They came in the newer pastel-coloured boxes with the aqua birth certificates. I have no evidence that these outfits came packaged.

Version Information

My goal is to find every version of every outfit that was produced. Below is a spreadsheet showing each version of the outfits in this series that I have recorded. To understand clothing codes, factories, and variations, please refer to these posts: 1st Blog – Why do this project?, What are Clothing Tag Codes?, Factories and Companies

If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.

Outfit Information

#655 – Mimic Swing Dress

These empire waist dresses are a solid colour with a light white crosshatch pattern and a small white bow at the neck. I believe they came with tights, but I’m not sure if they were solid white or lace. I also believe they came with Mary Jane shoes, but I need to see one of these outfits in the box to know for sure. If you can confirm or debunk it, please let me know.

Outfit K comes in two different colours. I can only assume they could no longer source the first one and changed to the other. I don’t know which was first and which was second.

Mimicked Outfit: Outfit #1 – Swing Dress
Significant differences between these outfits include the pattern and the size of the bow.  To see other outfits similar to this one, visit Outfit #1 .

#656 – Mimic Shoulder-Tie Dress

There are no significant differences between this dress and the original dress, except that the white fabric in the #656 dress is sometimes a thicker ribbed cord-like material rather than the thin white cotton used in the original. Of course, there are differences in pattern and colour, but that’s it! I do not know what shoes this outfit came with, but I would guess white Mary Jane shoes.

Mimicked Outfits: Outfit #3 – Shoulder-Tie Dress, Outfit #504 Apron Dress
To see other outfits similar to this one, visit Outfit #3.

# 658 – Velveteen Overalls

There are only two versions of this outfit. Although they look like Outfit #12, the Ruffled Overalls, it would be almost impossible to confuse them. These overalls are made of a lovely dark/light blue velveteen, and the bib is backed by the same fabric as the matching blouse. The blouses are made of flowered cotton fabric or white silky fabric. The most obvious difference is the embroidered winged heart on the bib. I have only one picture for reference, but this outfit appears to come with Mary Jane shoes.

The tags in these outfits are different than those in the rest of the series and almost every other recorded outfit. I’m unsure if this is significant, but it is interesting to note.

It is also interesting to note that the velveteen fabric used for these outfits is only used in one other type of CPK outfit, two of the Jesmar preemie outfits.

Mimicked Outfits: Outfit #12 – Ruffled Overalls. Significant differences are found in the fabrics and blouse patterns.

#659 – Mimic Yoke Dress

The fabrics used for this dress appear to be textured, but all are a solid colour. The yoke and sleeves have frilly lace, and there is a small velveteen bow at the neck. It came with matching bloomers and either Mary Jane or regular lace-up shoes. I am unsure which.

Mimicked Outfit: Outfit #13 – Square Yoke Dress
Significant differences include the frillier lace around the yoke and the velveteen bow. To see other similar outfits, visit Outfit #13.

#660 – Shadow-Stripe Dress

Structurally, these dresses are almost identical to Outfit #15, the Bib Dress. However, these outfits don’t have a bib, they have a silky ribbon running across the front, a small white bow and flower patch in the middle, and capped sleeves. The fabric has a shadow stripe pattern, and the arms, lower hem, and collar are all edged with frilly lace.

I’ve seen this outfit, minus the ribbon, twice. I believe the ribbons have been removed as they don’t appear to be well attached to the outfit.

#661 – Heart/Butterfly Dress

These dresses are also structurally similar to Outfit #15, the Bib Dress, but have a heart with flowers patch or a butterfly with flowers patch on the chest. It has cotton lace running across the front and at the sleeves and leg hems. For some reason, they used one patch for some outfits and the other patch for others. I’m not sure why.

There are two versions of #661H, red and dusty rose. Although both H’s are considered HTF, the red version is considered the harder to find of the two. (FB Conversation, Kat Perhouse, Feb. 2020) I don’t know which was produced first and which colour came second. Whenever the change happened, it was before the Amsterdam tags began being used.

These dresses are often confused with a great imitation aftermarket dress made by Happy Kids. Can you spot the differences? The most obvious differences are the embroidered patches and the lack of CPK clothing tag inside.