New Fashions from Shantommo

One of my goals last year was to buy less dolls and  more fashions. I was successful to a certain degree. I bought less dolls but they were more expensive. Sigh. However, I did manage to buy a good deal of designer fashion from the wonderfully talented people in our doll world. Shantommo, Ryan Liang, puts out new designs every so often and they do sell out quickly. Here are two new outfits for my Fashion Royalty gals.

"Owning the Night" is a micro pleated gown with a Fortuny vibe. The very low neckline is a fashion mishap waiting to happen. On this Veronique, who has a fuller bust than the newer FR2 body, it's a bit too revealing. Photoshop almost comes to the rescue!

I have added the fascinator and jewelry.

A close-up of Vero's classic Fashion Royalty face that launched a thousand collections.

"Rebel Chic" is a sporty pair of slacks and a one shoulder blouse. Many designers have difficulty making slacks from non-stretch fabric that fit and look good on a doll. Ryan has done a good job balancing the details and style. They do need a bit of pressing. The top, however, doesn't work well along the diagonal front seam. The white fabric is buckling and I don't think it's suppposed to be like that. I like the overall look anyway. Perhaps the top needs ironing as well.

My model is a hair workshop Elise from the 2014 FR convention. Pin is a vintage item.

Wearing the Same Old Outfit!

Going through my photos this afternoon and I thought it would be a good idea to post dolls who have never had an outfit change. 

Elise and Adrian

Sometimes they're just perfect the way they are.

Tatyana

Ollie

Monogram Allure

I lied. I just changed Allure last week. But she stayed this way up to that point.

Monogram Interlude

Face Time Vanessa. Original is on the right.

Intoxicating Mix Vanessa. The one on the left is the original.

Flame Blue Vanessa

Luxe Life Vanessa

Vanessa (the original sculpt) wins. She always has.

I have three other FR dolls who are still dressed in their original clothes. Somehow they escaped my camera. I don't know how.

My only other dolls who don't get changed are my 5 Cissy megaliths and many Silkstone dolls.
I don't play with the Cissy, the Silkstone or any of my Madame Alexander 10" dolls.  I do have some Tiny Kitty dolls who have not had wardrobe changes but that's for another post, maybe.

Do you have many dolls you don't change?

Integrity Toys 2015 Spring Collection

On Saturday, May 16th, Alain Tremblay, Carol Roth, David Buttry and Vaughn Sawyer worked the eager, tuned-in masses of the W Club with the introduction of the new dolls. It was noted that these are not all the 2015 dolls. Roth gushed over the fact that this is the 10th Anniversary of the W Club and the 20th Anniversary of Integrity Toys.

First up is the new Katy Keene line that I was so looking forward to. It was a little disappointing to hear that they used the Color Infusion/Jem Body. A larger busted, more curvy body would have been perfect for a doll from this era. As far as re-using existing sculpts, why not make the doll look like Katy Keene? All that work put in to a new line and for what?
I would have bought the entire line; as it was, I pre-ordered only "Blue Serenade" and "Shimmering Dynasty."

I love the suits on Lorelei and Gloria but not the dolls so much. The Jem sculpt leaves me cold.

Lucky Red Lorelei  Jem sculpt
"Winning Number" LE 425 

Gloria Grandbuilt  Tilda Brisby sculpt
"The Odds Are Stacked" LE 500

Katy Keene Sculpt: Jem 'Rapture' and Darby Kenner
"Blue Serenade" LE 500
Evening gown adapted from the comic itself.

Katy Keene
"Shimmering Dynasty" LE 500
Black holographic sequin gown lots of jewelry.

 
Katy Keene
"Everything's Keene" LE 500  Gift Set

Prices of the Katy Keene were $145. per dressed doll and $185. for the gift set.
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Vaughn Sawyer introduced the FR 16 line. 

He said his inspiration was "Strong, independent, powerful women, classic clothing, timeless fashion." I think in most cases he achieved that. For me, the handbags were the highlight of this particular line and the toned-down eye makeup. He explained that it's not airbrushed but they attempted a style to resemble airbrushing.
My favorite outfit was Fall Phenomenon. Exuberance was a crowd favorite.
I didn't order any of the FR16.

"Super Natural" Anais McKnight DD LE400  $175.

 
 "Incognito" Elsa Lin DD LE400  $175.

"Fall Phenomenon" Elsa Lin DD LE400 $175.

"Shades of Grey" Hanne Erickson DD LE 400  $175.

"Exuberance" Hanne Erickson DD   LE 400  $200.

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Poppy Parker  The Model Scene Collection  Later 60's
Inspiration: (David Buttry) Diana Vreeland's Fashion Models
I don't collect Poppy Parker but I think this collection is quite successful and I preordered three from this line! Had I been a collector I would have ordered three more. Spring Song was surprising for it's unusual character role that Poppy plays. It's my least favorite. My overall favorite is The Camera Loves Her. I love the era she portrays and the fashion is adorable. The black Poppy Parker "Midas Touch" is very pretty and her outfit is also adorable. And then I couldn't resist Nigel because of his cool jacket. I have a great group of Hommes in my FR collection and he will definitely add another dimension.


"Go See!" LE750   $120

"Spring Song" LE800  $120
Romantic Edwardian look 

"The Camera Loves Her" LE 800   $120  

"Hippie Dippy" mini giftset LE 700
IT direct exclusive $130.

"The Midas Touch"  LE 600  $120
Poppy Parker DD  AA skintone

"Wedding Belle"  LE900  $120

"Out of this World"  LE 900   $120

"Peace, Love and Soul" LE 500   $120
Darla Daley 

"Hot Shot"  LE 600  $120
Nigel North   New Sculpt

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Vaughn Sawyer
Fashion Royalty designers met with Jason who suggested debs and socialites of the early 60's.

"Style Notes" Isha LE 700 $135.
Sleek and sophisticated.

"Prestige" Natalia  LE 700  $135.
Nice suit but the hat is a jarring accessory. 

 "Decorum" Eugenia LE800  $135.

"Refinement" Vanessa 3.0 LE 800   $145.
Under the coat is a smart black skirt and shirt.

"Fine Print" Elise Jolie LE800  $145.
I love the fashion. I wish the hairstyle were more interesting.

"Fame Fable" Kyori Sato  LE 700   $135.

"Timeless" Adele Makeda (3.0)  LE700  $135.
Disastrous color dress for this doll. The gown is very Disney Princess.

"Perfect Reign" Tatyana Alexandrova (2.0)  LE 700  $135.
Beautiful Tatyana. I've never seen her look better.

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"Royal Treatment" Veronique - cream skin tone  $225.
Special Event Doll Gift Set

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For a great visual comparison of Integrity Toy's female bodies, Michaela Unbenau's Flickr page has pictures.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelaunbehau/8181878391

My Collection: The Best of 2014

For this post, I basically showcase my own collection and some of what I have added this past year.  I've made some wonderful purchases, some so-so-average buys and a few mistakes.  My goal was to limit the adding of 12" dolls and concentrate on high-quality resin BJD 1/4 scale dolls, fashions and wigs

Resin BJDs accounted for nearly 1/2 of my expenditures. Integrity Toys got about 1/4 of the total. The rest went to Gene (and a convention), Tonner and another assorted dolly miscellany.

In looking back I could have eliminated everything Gene-related except for two custom fashions made by Matisse, Madra's dogs and an older Ashton-Drake Violet outfit (shown below.)  I'm just not into Gene any longer. I have sold all my Jamieshow Gene (and Madra, Violet) dolls except for one. They are lovely but not where I want to be.

JS Madra in AD Violet "Special Appearance"

The worst eBay purchase was several pairs of shoes from paul_zhangby and Zhang_young, whom I assume is the same seller, which purported to fit Sybarites. They don't come close. Many of their products claim to fit a wide range of dolls who have different-sized feet. What was I thinking to trust this type of advertising? He's still listing doll shoes like this: Brand New Pumps/Shoes /16" Doll Sybarite V3 JamieShow /Ficon /NUMINA /AG. Don't believe it! His shoes are gorgeous and edgy but won't do any good if you can't use them.


Most of the dolls on this 2014 list were discussed on my blog when I got them and not all of them are actually new releases, but they are new to my collection.

I'll begin with my first and only (so far) Deva Doll, Angelo. He has blown away all the competition from the rest of the big guys who live here. I'll let the photograph do the talking as he's already been introduced in prior posts. His face was painted by Chewin who also designed the fashion and wig.

Brunel from Kingdom Dolls hasn't been here very long and I want to play with her. It's a problem when I have too many 'new' dolls. No doll gets the time it deserves.  She is perfect.

Poor Angelo has been trying to date her but she's not having any of it.

Ficon Bonita in a Cheryl Wood wig.
I have quite a few wigs made by the talented Ms. Wood but this is my absolute favorite!
Bonita is a gorgeous doll with great posing ability.

I added two gorgeous Sybarites this past year and several Superdoll outfits.

-a repaint of Dionysis by Yian.  (Chewin wig)

-Fidele wearing Bitter Fern. I removed the pink bow which was at the waist. 

The outfit from Langtry and Madra's Dogs (Ashton-Drake) modeled by Toxica.

The outfit from Masque modeled by Neurotica. Mohair wig by Ilaria.

The outfit from Gateau modeled by Domina.

I never tire of looking at my Sybarites and their gorgeous fashions.

Moving over to Integrity Toys, their FR16 dolls, at first, didn't impress me. Once I started collecting their outfits however, the dolls began to grow on me. Their bodies pose beautifully.
This is Tyler head on a Tulabelle body wearing a FR16 Platinum Society. It's a favorite.

As far as their 12" dolls issued during the year, nothing made the cut except three from the convention.

Going off the track here for Gloss' "Evening Siren" Ayumi who is such an improvement over the original Ayumi I felt it deserved mention and images from her spotty past. :-)
It's a fact that the face-up makes or breaks the sculpt.

This is the After:

Here are the Befores:

If at first you don't succeed...

I always felt that Natalia's original and more ethnic sculpt was beautiful and should have been preserved.  She was gorgeous.  The "refreshed" sculpt looked just like all the other dolls with their pointy little noses and pucker lips. They're OK but this Natalia was special. "Femme du Monde" 2006.

However, Grandiose Natalia was a surprise. I actually like her a lot and added her to my collection. What is it about this particular doll? It's not the pointy eyebrows. She's just stunning.

And then there's Elise. She has become my favorite FR sculpt. I've given up on Vanessa and although two were added to my collection this year, they are not favorites.

In the following photo, one of the 2014 convention centerpieces, Elise Jolie "Intrigue," is shown with Adrian Von Lamberg "Night Vision" from the 2010 Dark Romance Collection. That was the last FR convention I attended and I had him at that time but I was not collecting male dolls. That changed this year as I sought to add some special Hommes to the tribe.

About two months ago I swapped with someone for an Avantguard which had been repainted. It was pretty awful once I saw it in person. My dear friend, Vin Trapani, rescued this doll from a dark drawer with his inspired re-repaint.
She is currently on a Tulabelle body and looking great.

Memorable 1/6 scale fashions:

Poppy "Glamorous Darling" and "IT Girl" adorn one of my mini Avantguard dolls and a Monogram doll.

This dress was created by V.Jhon. It is modeled by Tropicalia Vanessa.

So there you have it.

I haven't determined my goals with doll collecting for 2015. What I do know is that I spend way too much time where they are concerned. I want to put together a book showcasing my black and white NYC-era photography. That will take a long, dedicated piece of time.

I've had so much fun with dolls and doll people over the last decade or so but I have to bring back the joy that my creativity gave me and let it out of its holding cell.