Like attracts like but it is a bit strange to see one dummy marrying another (well sometimes 
) A recent wedding between two ‘dummys’ attracted so much attention at Albert Park, they literally stopped traffic.
The flawless bride was Doris, a mannequin from Bayside who spends most of her days on the balcony of a Victorian Terrace on Canterbury Road and has become a local celebrity to No. 96 tram passengers over the past 20 years.
Doris is a fashionable mannequin who keeps up with the trends of the seasons and has even been known to don a footy scarf in support of the AFL grand final. Her outfits change on a weekly basis but her wedding gown was the designed in anticipation of her owners, Anne and Graham Lindsay, to get her married off so as not to become a lonely old spinster.
“I have said all along that I would like to get a man,” says Anne, who delights in dressing Doris in op shop finds as a hobby. The mannequin has her own wardrobe in the Lindsays’ house featuring all manner of outfits, and accessories including 10 hats and five wigs. The women at the local Uniting Church op shop even put aside outfits for her. But Doris’ new bloke created a fashion crisis.
When a St Kilda mannequin collector offered up “George”, Ms Lindsay snapped him up and a balcony wedding was hastily arranged. She bought a second-hand wedding dress and bolero jacket and made a bridal veil and cummerbund so the couple would look the part for their week-long wedding pose.
“If you’d been on the balcony for two decades, wouldn’t you love anyone that came into your life?” Ms Lindsay says of the quickie marriage. Her husband said the wedding stopped traffic. “When George went up, a lot of people pulled up and did a double take.”
Doris may have kept her figure over the years but has weathered somewhat from exposure to the elements. “She looks all right from a distance but she’s pretty rough up close,” says Mr Lindsay. “She scrubbed up all right in her wedding dress.”
The Lindsays inherited Doris from a friend who worked in a shoe store, 25 years ago when the store closed down. The “lady of the balcony” has had many male admirers in her batchelorette years, including the Port Phillip Deputy Mayor and Albert Park ward, even female Councillor Judith Klepner has had her eye on Doris.
“We love Doris – she is an icon and reminds us to adjust our wardrobe for the change of seasons,” she said. “One of the unexpected joys of travelling the 96 light rail is coming across Doris resplendent on her Canterbury Road balcony. Doris is a total fashionista and an important figurehead. She never seems to date or show her age.”
Doris’ marriage will cause heartbreak to some admirers as she has received Christmas cards, and an anonymous admirer has left a Valentine’s Day gift of flowers for many years.
Doris’ fame has spread as far as San Francisco as the Lindsays received letters from a gay couple who had a male mannequin. Unfortunately the romance never blossomd in the way the proud parents would have liked keeping Doris as a single mannequin.
It hasn’t always been sweetness and light for Doris as some passers by who tried to spark up a conversation with Doris, got frustrated with her quiet demeanor and started to throw rocks and stones at Doris and the Lindsays house. Mr Lindsay however chased the culprits in defense of his ‘dummy’s’ honour.
In her younger days Doris was a bit wild and it was not uncommon to see her accompanying the Lindsays at street parties and nightclubs and she used to be quite a flirt wearing skimpy outfits.
“We decked her out in a fishnet bikini and you should have seen the cars. At first glance, she was pretty striking and blokes would be looking up at her and not where they were going on the road. We’ve had a lot of fun with her over the years.”
“She’s part of the family,” adds Ms Lindsay.
However now she is older she seems ready to settle down and set up home and balcony with her partner.I’d like to wish Doris all the happiness as she spends the rest of her days with her new partner.
Tags: Wedding Fun