Fashion Royalty Squared Photos

I put Blue Blood's head on Flawless Elise's body. She originally had a regular Fashion Royalty body. The match is perfect. Another bit of good news is that even though this was the first time in more than 1-1/2 years I had removed Blue Blood's black suit, there were no stains at all.

The black shoes are from the accessory pack given to attendees at the last convention. The jewelry is from an earlier FR outfit. For the Gene Marshall line, Ashton Drake used to put a heavy stitch of thread on handbags so a dolls' hand could be inserted and thereby hold the clutch bag. I wish IT would do that for these dolls. Bags can be held under the arm but it cuts down on posing options. I want my dolls to be able to clutch their clutches.

Sadly, I'm not fond of the hat or the shoes that came with this outfit. 

Here is Dark Swan Elise wearing Modern Sensibility Dasha's outfit with a few changes. Instead of the jacket, I added the sweater from the Only Natural outfit.  I added the bracelets which pick up the green of the top.  I get a fleeting sense of dowdy when it comes to this outfit. I don't know if it's the shapeless top or it's color. I will have to change it to a fitted top that shows off her terrific body. And the hat may have to go.
As far as Dark Swan, I didn't like her hair right from the start. She needs a reroot or a wig. I have cut her hair to chin length but it's so thinly rooted that it looks bad.
I'm hoping that the navy jacket can be used with another fashion down the road.

Modern Sensibility Dasha is wearing the outfit called Sheer Bliss. It's a detailed LBD with a micro pleated layer of a tulle-like fabric over a semi-sheer lining. It is high waisted and reminds me a little of a maternity dress. I like it anyway. The shoulder area has a metallic silver layer under the tulle with black beading. Too much underarm area bulk keeps the arms from being held close to the body. The black shoes have a stretch lace insert. They are very pretty. The earrings are the ubiquitous studs. I didn't get the black sunglasses shown with my outfit! Mine are a metallic color. I like the black better. The bracelet is a complete waste with a nondescript design and it just hangs there. A lovely shiny blue clutch bag gives the outfit a shot of color. I added a rhinestone pin at the waist.

On the W Club forum there is a lot of unhappiness being expressed as a result of the mismatched vinyl on Flawless Elise and the unsatisfactory appearance of her hair styling. It seems some collectors are being told different things regarding replacements. The poor hair styling is human error. It happens across all manufacturers but, of course, that does not make it acceptable. The explanation is that the styling is done by hand. Duh. Some workers are more skilled than others. Training, training, training.
I'm guessing that the factories are more interested in volume than artistry. We lose. The designers can't live in the factory and make sure every doll is perfect but when so many turn out unacceptable, what is the problem? There's no way a factory could think that a body and head shouldn't be the same color so a misinterpretation of instructions can be ruled out. I'd love to know what the prototype looked like.