10/20/2015

"Museum Day" Fashion Design by K Exclusively for R&D

 Rudi Teruel has been selling very limited editions of fashions made by various artists these past few months. They sell out rather fast and he advertises them only on Facebook.
This fashion is called "Museum Day." It came in a long-sleeved version in a red colorway. Originally there was a white ribbon belt and white ribbon straps which I removed. I thought the red belt looked more substantial and the dress obviously didn't need straps so I cut them off.
The quality of the fabric was surprising as is the very good construction of the panel skirt. It's fully lined with a light woven interfacing and all seams are finished. The dress snaps in the rear. Impressive! All this plus overseas postage for only $41.



The bag is a Birkin copy from the Purse of the Month Club and the red sunglasses and shoes are Fashion Royalty.


Below, Vanessa models the previous R&D fashion I received in August.




Fashion Royalty Fine Print Elise Jolie Review

The Elise Jolie dolls are simply the only remaining Fashion Royalty dolls that interest me. And even though they've gone back to producing Vanessa 1.0, my completist attitude to her has been broken. Yay.


Fine Print is a sophisticated looking doll. She is dressed for a day at the office, in the boardroom or seeing clients. Hopefully, it's warm inside as the dress is sleeveless under her faux cashmere coat.
Every piece of the fashion has been made beautifully. The dress is detailed and fits perfectly.

 The detail that is missing is the opening bag. This one is sewn shut. Disappointing cost cutting measure.
Look at the excellent seaming details. The construction is flawless.

Jewelry - it's a different design and is just OK. It does sparkle up what might otherwise be a drab as in olive drab, ensemble.

She comes with her hands painted in a tan color. The color doesn't work at all as it doesn't make enough of a contrast between her skin tone and the coat color. I could barely get one hand out to try them on. I'd have to warm her arms to remove both hands if I wanted to. I can repaint the hands myself and I'd do them black to match her shoes.


The promotional doll was shown with the black belt over the coat. I prefer the coat open and so I just did not use the belt.


The jury is still out on her hairstyle. It's appropriate for the way she's dressed but it has no sex appeal at all. The best thing about it is the color and the fact that it's gelled to within an inch of it's life so it will never get messed up.

All things being said, I'm happy to add her to my Elise cabinet.


10/19/2015

A Compilation of Photos & Descriptions from Neutron Prom, a London Sybarite Event

This past weekend, those collectors lucky enough to be able to attend the  2015 Sybarite Convention "Neutron Prom" in London, England were treated to wonderful dolls, fashions and a Chalk White event. 

Izzy beautifully described her experience on Prego.
The venue was spectacular - a secret room in one of the old big Victorian railway hotels rediscovered behind bricks and plaster when the hotel was redesigned as a luxury boutique venue about four years ago.

Marble steps and columns, black and white tiled floor, chairs from carved wood and leather - looking like thrones, white candles flickering everywhere......and above it all this incredible painted and gilded and sculptured ceiling with the signs of the zodiac and other mystical symbols.

Yeah.....despite the gorgeous blue and gold painting and the beautiful room.....all eyes were on the four pedestal cabinets precisely lined up in the centre of the room.

To discordant yet beautiful music we made our way from the Zodiac perfume launch to our seats in this magical room.

The music changed.....and with Charles and Des looking gorgeous in their formal evening dress at the end of the room....a voice began to speak.

As the voice described how we were all gathered together for a single purpose a breathless hush descended....and finally the voice queried what was behind the curtain.

Suddenly lights illuminated the cabinets and we could see colour/shape/pose/outlines...... there were the girls we had come to London to see! Even through the black drapes we knew we were in for an exhibit of truly amazing beauty.

In silent unison Charles and Des walked along the room removing each black drape and revealing the full glory of the collection.

For a few seconds we sat in stunned silence unsure of what to do next or where to look next...AND THEN WE RAN TO THE CABINETS!!!!!

Twelve beautiful girls....one named for each sign of the Zodiac although we didn't get to know that until much later.

A mixture of DC and Venus faces.....I'm not sure of the actual split but possibly somewhere around equal numbers of each.

Vibrant shiny glossy hair colours....some teased out into beautiful styles and others hanging in fabulous ringlets. I may be wrong but I think the hair colours were in four groups to represent the air/fire/earth/water signs in blues, blondes, auburn and brunettes (not in that order). All the colours were beautifully saturated with the blondes having delicious golden strawberry tones and I think all were slightly different shades.

Lips were a mixture of soft corals, vermilion, deep red, plum......gorgeous shades!

Colour was everywhere but looking totally fresh....almost like freshly dried paint on some of the gowns which appeared to be sewn literally from "old masters"! The girls themselves were rising out of a bed of undulating plain artists canvasses I think...at least that was my impression.

Most were dressed in full length gowns but with totally original shapes and trims....I do remember at least one girl in a cocktail length strapless gown too.

Gold snakeskin slippers with sparkling jewelled soles...some with fur pompoms or buckles or trims.

And.....acupressure maps on their palms!
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Here is a photo of the cabinets posted by Superdoll on Facebook


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Janina Fiehl has been extremely helpful in explaining the events so I could pass the information on. All of this information and all the photos below were provided by her.
Registration took place on Thursday. Attendees received "Vanity" and had the opportunity to chat with other collectors at the Salon.
On Friday evening, guests received Pandora and Mischief and the new Superdoll perfume, Zodiac!
That evening, the Chalk White exhibit took place as well. 
On Saturday there was a formal dinner and the beautiful (resin) "Dawn Star" doll was given.


Vanity
Mischief
Pandora Gift Set
Pandora Gift Set
Pandora Gift Set
Dawn Star
Dawnstar is French resin and was literally made from old bodies they had left over from a OOAK collection.  It is a material they used for very few dolls. 

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Simon Farnsworth of Doll Observers.com posted a detailed write up and a few more photos at this link: http://dollobservers.com/blog/sanctum-a-superdoll-chalk-white-exhibit