Swept By The Moods of Paris: Tatyana Alexandrova

"I left Moscow with one goal in mind: to conquer Paris and break it with my iron will. I was wrong, one does not conquer the City of Lights; Paris conquers the heart at first sight."

Above is the text from the story card that accompanies the Paris J'Adore Tatyana Gift Set. This is only the second Tatyana. The first was the 2008 Wu Convention doll about whom I wrote previously:
terrigoldphoto.blogspot.com/2008/10/tatyana-new-fashion-royalty-character.html

This fabulous set comes with the doll, a long lace gown, a long brocade coat embellished with rhinestones, faux fur and a tiny frog closure, a short brocade dress embellished with beads and a faux fur hem, a head piece, earrings, ring, bracelet, necklace, panties, hosiery, shoes and boots. If you like the sculpt you will like this set. The fabrics are very rich and the clothing is elegant and finely constructed. There are many pieces of great jewelry (I love that) and varied looks can be created from these wardrobe items and the coming Moods W Club collection.

The one defect that has popped up several times this past year is the uneven sole/heel combination of the shoes and boots. The heels are too high and the doll cannot stand with her heel and ball of foot planted on the ground. Apparently they tried to remedy this problem on the shoes by adding an extra piece of sole.

It is not enough. If the doll were to stand in the shoes or boots with the sole and heel touching the ground, she would tilt forward. So...please, Mr. Newsum, tell the factory to get on this and re-engineer the height of the heels. We don't want our dolls falling on their faces, do we?

Jason must love this character to have elevated her so fast - first a convention doll and then an FAO exclusive giftset!

Many collectors were surprised and others dismayed at the length of Tatyana's hair. I think it would serve well used as an extension if one were to cut it off.

The doll modeling the short dress is She Means Business Veronique whose hair was restyled by Parawatee of Thailand. The fur stole is not part of this set.

Still available at FAO Schwarz website for $250. Limited Edition of 300. Item #: 916556.
Right now shipping is free on orders over $120. Last week there was a site wide sale of 20% off which brought the price down to $200. Don't forget that FAO now charges tax in many states than they previously did due to the fact that they have boutiques in Macys stores. As far as giftsets go, this is a decent price for what you get. It's still a lot of money to spend right before the holidays. But if you can swing it and you like Tatyana, I recommend this purchase.

On the CDCMHS (Compulsive Doll Collector Must-Have Scale) this scores a 7—8.

Another Successful Convention Comes to a Close

Let me just get the bad stuff out of the way. The food sucked. We were served pasta three times in a row. Friday lunch was curly pasta swimming in an appalling sauce. Friday night was pasta with different toppings, Saturday at the W Club luncheon was more pasta, this time in the form of manicotti. Pat Feick found a good sized piece of cellophane mixed in with her food!
Next year I am filling out the food allergy form thus: no pastas, no gravies, no high fat-high cholesterol foods. What ever happened to vegetables and animal proteins? The desserts were good but I would have preferred to have consumed healthy main meals. This was like dormitory food. Very disappointing. And I would like my coffee with my dessert, not 30 minutes afterward. I must add that the coffee served in the hotel was excellent-even the decaf!
The hotel was very cold and the thermostat in the room had difficulty maintaining a comfortable temperature.
And now to share the fabulous rest of the convention...
At each event, the tables and the entire dining room were decorated beautifully. The centerpieces were not just standing on the tables, they were displayed on different stands which were lit from below. The tables themselves were dressed in frothy linens and the chairs were wrapped as well. It was beautifully done. Carol Roth and Alain Tremblay co-hosted the events. Thursday night's centerpiece was Eugenia dressed in a red version of Color Therapy Vanessa's green dress. She is fantastic. Friday luncheon centerpiece was the new character in the Hollywood Royalty line, Josephine Baker. At the W Club luncheon on Saturday afternoon, the centerpiece was a wig-less Kyori who came with two wigs, a coat and shoes and boots. Much of the items in the set were items we had seen previously. Saturday night the centerpiece was my love, Vanessa. She was displayed on a very, very tall pair of vases. One of which was filled with bubbly red gel which diffused a light at the bottom. It was very atmospheric and very dark in the room. The ice sculpture in the center of the dining room resembled a Russian palace. It was gorgeous.
In following installments, I will show and discuss the dolls from the convention collection and the convention doll herself. She is a new character called Tatyana. Her skin is like porcelain and I think she is a very fine looking addition to the line.
I'm exhausted from having so much fun! A big thank you to my wonderful table mates for making this my favorite convention, ever.
Tune in for more installments.