BLYTHE SPIRIT.(Blythe Spirit doll and marketing women's apparel)(Brief Article)

NEW YORK -- James Dean, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison -- and Blythe? The first three died young, catapulting them from merely famous to legendary status overnight. But for those who don't recall the diminutive Blythe, well, her life was short, too. The doll with the huge head and chameleon eyes (they changed from blue to green to orange to pink), was produced by Hasbro for only one year, 1972. Though she may sound a bit scary to the uninitiated, she was actually quite precocious and charming -- and what an eye for fashion.

For years, the doll seemed destined for dusty attics or suburban garage sales, but thanks to New York photographer and art director Gina Garan, she leads a charmed life. Garan, who owns over 200 Blythe dolls, first got hooked when a friend told her about a doll on Ebay that looked a lot like her. Though she picked up her first one for $18, today, the going rate has climbed to $600.

Soon, Garan was taking pictures of the dolls anywhere her work took her, and before she knew it, she had a supermodel in the making.

Garan's book, "This Is Blythe," published by Chronicle Books in 2000, sparked the doll's revival. Nordstrom used Blythe for a 2001 beauty campaign, and ...