cho:lo doll couture: Save The Date

Save the Date: May 7, 2014, 9pm, Wednesday, Philippine Standard Time... a very special OOAK Couture will be unveiled. "Siamese."
Couture is specially fitted for Innamorata Dolls by Emilia, Would fit similar sized dolls.
Bidding is via silent auction through email.
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/becholo/sets/72157644527622575

Cholo has done a new faceup on Inro for his Siamese presentation

Collection: 2013 in Retrospect

I usually do a "Best-Worst" themed post at year end. This year I'm going to do more of a "Best of My 2013 Collection" post. Going through my 2013 purchase database, I made a list of my favorites. The list revealed that I concentrated, number-wise, on wigs and fashions more than anything else. And, for the first time in a few years, Integrity Toys' dolls scored multiple bests.

Below, left: Lukas Maverick as "Beauty." He was paired with a female doll entitled "Beast," not shown. Right: "Interlude," the last Monogram doll in the line, (supposedly) was a welcome bag doll at the 2013 convention. She is dressed in a fashion called "Completist" which was also a gift to attendees.

The two Integrity dolls below from their last convention are both Elise Jolie. On the left is the convention souvenir, Midnight  Star, and on the right is a workshop doll dressed in the Beast's outfit. These dolls are gorgeous and I love the Elise sculpt as much as I loved the original Vanessa sculpt!

A fashion designed by Chris Stoeckel for the W Club Luncheon for Victoire Roux made my favorites. Chris had previously done this dress for a 15.5" Gene doll (right) in a different colorway. It translates very well to the 12" "Out Sass."
IMO Chris is the most talented designer IT has (if Jason isn't around.)

Mel Odom's beloved Gene Marshall doll made a surprise comeback in 2013 as a resin BJD produced by JamieShow Dolls. It's great fun to have new Gene dolls and it has brought renewed life to so many long-time Gene collections. On the left is J'Adore Gene wearing  a Sybarite fashion and a Cheryl Wood wig. On the right is Phoenix Gene wearing her own gown and a wig by Cheryl Wood.

Speaking of wigs, I added at least one dozen to my collection this past year. My favorites are those made by Ilaria, Patta, Cheryl and Chewin. My dolls have varying sized heads so they need lots of wigs. Below are two from Ilaria aka "Time of Doll."
On the left is Miss G White, a Ficon doll I traded for. Although she debuted in 2012, she is new to my collection. On the right is Inro. She is the first in the Inamorata line produced as a limited edition as opposed to a OOAK by Emilia Nieminen. 

For the first time in ages, I'm paying attention to male dolls again. While the Jamieshow Alejandro below, left and the Tonner Neo Tokyo are not from 2013, their fashions are. These fabulous garments are by the uber-talented Chewin. I also commissioned him to do Alejandro's wig.

 Another Chewin outfit modeled by Tonner's Yoshio, a 2013 16" favorite.

Yian (modsdoll) repainted this Dionysis Sybarite. She's wearing a 2012 Cheryl Wood wig, a gorgeous dress from the 2013 Metrodoll's luncheon entitled "Eventail," and a stunning neckpiece by Asher of New England. I'm sure you can see why she made my favorites list.

Of course I have too many dolls so I buy outfits for them. Early fashions that I couldn't get previously and newly released ones arrived regularly.
Many of the amazing fashions from Sandra Stillwell's Kansas City Every Day's A Holiday event can be seen elsewhere on this blog. Here is one called "Delicate Bloom." The floral motifs are all ribbon embroidery!

V John offers a monthly fashion for either 12" or 16" dolls.

There are always Tonner dressed dolls or fashions that need to come to mama.  Some fashions are offered separately and some are from dressed dolls. Tiny Kitty is older (2005) doll called "Flirtation."  Sometimes it's good to wait because many collectors sell Tonner products for much less than they paid.

Antoinette is wearing a 2012 gown from "Sweeping Antoinette."

 

This Antoinette fashion is called "Fanciful." It's so Barbie-ish and reminds me of Silkstone Provencale.  "Hypnotic" Antoinette, whom I chose to model the Tonner gown, has the same hairstyle the Silkie (on the right.) Provencale is not a new acquisition.

I was more careful with my purchases but I definitely made a few mistakes. I am happy with my dolls. When I'm not, they go. Some stick around until I'm sure.

My doll collecting resolution is to continue to be careful and focused with what I purchase.  I resolve to re-photograph many of my dolls and photograph all new dolls as they join the tribe.

Do you have any doll-related resolutions for 2013?

Review of Emilia Couture Accessory Packs

Emilia recently offered 4 accessory packs, a new Inamorata doll and a fashion. I purchased three of the accessory packs. They were $95. each but the shipping was extraordinarily expensive at $59.  which raised the price of each accessory pack to $114.67. The package was delivered by DHL a few days after I ordered it. I guess that was the benefit of paying so much. I could have waited as there was no rush on my end.

Each pack consisted of a dress, handbag, shoes, hosiery and belt. The dresses stretch and fit a few dolls other than Inamorata. They do not fit the Sybarite body or Tonner dolls such as Cami. I have seen the dresses on the Innoquii dolls. The shoes fit Sybarites very nicely.

The dresses have no closures and need to be pulled up over the legs. The hosiery must be pulled on first. They go up to the tops of the thighs. I had to fiddle with the hems on the dresses as they are sewn only at the back seam and just folded up.
The three images just below show the fashion on Integrity Toy's Tulabelle body. (Yes, the head is Avantguard with a transplanted body. ) Very good fit but with this color dress one can see the outlines of her nipples and all the doll's joints.

 

The shoes on a Sybarite doll:

Here's a little surprise. The dress is also suitable for an FR2 (12") body. I pushed it up to the hem length I wanted and the belt went around an extra time or two. I couldn't use the shoes, of course, but the handbag worked. The striped dress wouldn't do well on this body.
This is Color Therapy Vanessa (on an FR2 body) modeling.

I am pleased with my purchase. The individual pieces will be useful for mix and match in the future.
My one hope is that there will be a less costly way to ship from China.

New From Emilia Couture

Seraph Premium Inamorata Doll LE20 $699.
The 16" resin BJD Inamorata Seraph features the Inamorata Nnaji sculpt in Chocolate skin tone. She comes with an exclusive PattaArt hard cap wig cut shrot and displaying 3 flaming tones of hair.

Seraph wears a lingerie set of 2-tone silk layered with burgundy tulle and lace. The set consists of an underwire bra, matching panties with silk ribbon closures, an intricately cut under bust corset with an asymmetrical shoulder pad and a tulle tutu petticoat. The edgy look is accessorized by super long black snake leatherette boots with Art Nouveau Serpent heels in lacquer black. According to her angelic order Seraphim come with gold leatherette harness sporting 6 metal wings.

Seraph has brown eyes and a sultry look. Her make up has a black cat's eye eye-liner, reddish hues on her top lid and smoky hue eye shadow below the eyes, and wine red lips parted to reveal teeth tightly clenched together. Her applied lashes are medium length and nail polish is wine red.

Röntgen Inamorata Fashion  LE30 $199.
The Röntgen fashion consists of a pair of 5-pocket jeans in graphite grey and gold silk, black trico tank top printed with a 16" waist cincher corset and a T-shirt with an x-ray displaying the effects of the corset on human body. This commentary of beauty ideals is accessorized by black pair of leatherette ankle booties with golden Spiky Spine heels and a emiliacouture signature tote.

Accessory Packs contain shoes, purse, belt, stockings and a bonus dress - it's Christmas after all!
The colours available are from left to right: Krait, Zebra, Gramma and Peacock. The accessories fit most 15-17" dolls as the dresses are made of elastic trico and the shoes have soft soles that can be adjusted for different foot arches. $95 Each

The products will be sold through Emilia's website, 

http://www.emiliacouture.com/home

on a first-come-first-served basis on 12th of December at midnight Paris time.

***NOTE: There may be some confusion about what day these are actually going to be available. Emilia's site says December 12 but that is European December 12.  So...check carefully on both days if the first try doesn't work. I've tried to reach her but she's en route from Finland back to China.
_______________________________________
Midnight Paris (12:00 AM)  December 12 is the following time(s) on December 11 in the US.
Eastern 6PM
Central 5PM
Mountain 4PM
Pacific Time 3PM

Alaska and Hawaii are in different time zones.
You can Google a world clock to find out what zone you are in and how it differs from that of France.
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

Emilia's Latest Release: Success!

After what seemed like interminable delays, Emilia Couture finally released Cherub, the LE 10 basic Inamorata and two color versions of Vertebrata, a custom fashion. Vertebrata came in "Nude" LE10 and "Dust" LE 20. There are only a few Dust remaining.

 Above: Cherub LE 10

 Photos show Cherub modeling Vertebrata in Nude. Vertebrata herself is a 'basic' doll who comes dressed in a lovely, lacy lingerie ensemble.

Here is a message Emilia sent out this morning:

I am very happy to announce that the Cherub doll LE20 sold out within 12 hours, closely followed by the "Nude" colour variation (LE10) of the Vertebrata gown. The other colour variation has been even more popular, but due to it's larger edition size (LE20) there are still few left in our store. It has been a remarkable sales event and I'd like to thank you all for your patronage and making my dream of my own doll line come through! Every time I release LE items I'm so nervous they won't sell and it'll all be over, but you pulled me through once more and I am so grateful to all of you.

I have also been updating the website and you can now find more information there about Inamorata dolls including a new product archive with a list of every Inamorata creation ever made - both LE and OOAK. The FAQ and commissions info have also been updated, so be sure to check them out although I'm always happy to reply to your emails about anything.

This is Inro modeling Vertebrata "Dust."

Emilia Couture LE Fashions Getting Ready

Emilia Nieminen talks about the process of getting her designer LE fashions ready for sale. She is a perfectionist and this is just a small detail of what she does to prepare her work for collectors. 
 
Vertebrata gowns waiting to be packed:

 One time consuming step is that I try every item on a doll to make sure the fit is right and do something I call "wet sculpting". Wet sculpting is similar to ironing, but it's done on the doll's body to assure a perfect fit and requires no heat. 
This is how you do it: 

 The results are much better than simply ironing the garment. You can easily do this at home for all your doll fashions to really show off those curves. Just be careful not to wet sculpt dark fashions on light skinned dolls since there might be a risk of staining. It's safer to use a dark skinned girl or a doll dedicated for this process if you are not sure of the fabrics you are dealing with. I always stain test our fabrics before use and stain proof them if I notice any risk of staining. 
 

Cherub bras drying on Inamorata busts after wet sculpting.

Cherub bra before and after the wet sculpting. See the difference? 

 

 I will let you know as soon as I'll have a sales date. Hope you are as excited as I am after all this waiting!

Also, don't forget to support the Metro Dolls Style Evolution charity auction event next Sunday. I have donated a OOAK Inamorata doll called Grès from my Petrographie collection for the event and Metro Dolls accepts bids by proxy in their auction in case you cannot be there in person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying My Dolls

One of my favorite gowns on a favorite doll, Inro. The fashion is from Tonner's Hypnotic Antoinette. I love when fashions from different dolls are interchangeable. Wig by Ilaria.

Here is Jamieshow Ling Lan wearing a Doll Peddlar Exclusive by Ficondoll called Baram2. Wig by Cheryl Wood.

This is what it looks like with all it's pieces...lots of options.

Leonie got a gift from Cheryl Wood of an edgy blonde wig. It suits her well. She is wearing Miss G Black's fashion. Ficon dolls have wobbly legs and although I try, I cannot pose her without a stand.

I sold all of my Avantguard dolls months ago due to loose joint issues and discoloration issues. I really didn't think I'd buy another but I wanted the shoes from On Edge. Don't tell me you never bought a doll to get a pair of shoes! Actually it's the first time I did it and I'm glad. I like this sculpt and always have. She is wearing her own wig (which was a nightmare to put on) and her own clothes. The glasses are Horseman/Urban Vita.

I'm currently in the middle of reorganizing my doll room which wasn't too organized to begin with. These things take time. :-)