2017 Convention Coverage Part 4: Saturday Evening Gala

As guests entered the ballroom, they were greeted by an absolutely stunning Adèle Makéda doll as the evening's centerpiece, standing amidst a gorgeous set of acrylic mountains and channeling the Snow Queen. As everyone sat down for this final meal of the weekend with their friends, they also received the final component to complete the "Build-a-Giftset" Nadja Rhymes; an adorable little dress that will make Nadja the cutest Sleeping Beauty ever!

Frosted Glamour

Adèle Makéda® Dressed Doll

The Fashion Royalty® Collection

The 2017 Integrity Toys Convention: Fashion Fairytale

Gala Dinner Event Centerpiece Doll

Edition Size: 420 Dolls

 Malefique

Elyse Jolie™ Dressed Doll

The Fashion Royalty® Collection

The 2017 Integrity Toys Convention: Fashion Fairytale

Official Convention Doll

Edition Size: 600 Dolls

Sweet Dreams 

Welcome Multi-Part Giftset

Nadja Rhymes™ Dressed Doll

The NU. FACE Collection

The 2017 Integrity Toys Convention: Fashion Fairytale

Build-a-Giftset Part C (Outfit)

Edition Size: 600 Outfits

The winners of the convention design competition were announced-

Diorama Design Competition:

People's Choice: Jeanette Howard

Photo by CrystalCA

Judge's Choice: Kelly Rinaldi

Photo by Sunflower

Doll Design Challenge:

People's Choice: Dal Lowenbein

Judge's Choice: Dal Lowenbein

Photo by DoubleSupaFantastico

Congratulations to all three winners. Each entry is fabulous!

The centerpiece Adele is a beauty. Nice to see that they used the Adele 2.0 sculpt.

Elyse is getting a bit over-used. She's my current favorite sculpt but I'll pass on this one. It's not special enough. 

It will be interesting to see how IT interprets Dal's creative White Rabbit for next year. It's precious! 

Portland, Oregon was announced as next year's location for a convention. Interesting choice.

2017 Fashion Royalty Collection Revealed

Five Fashion Royalty dolls were revealed on Saturday, June 24, via a webinar for the members of the W Club. I tried to watch on my phone from Chicago but had little success in seeing photos. There was a good deal of talking and I was attending a workshop. Just a case of bad timing...
However, every member was emailed a full description with gorgeous photos of the dolls.
Nu Face dolls were also revealed but I'll deal with them in another post.
English translation of doll names is in brackets after each name.

Vivacité [vivacity]

Eugenia Perrin-Frost™ Dressed Doll

La Femme

The 2017 Fashion Royalty® Collection

Edition Size: 1025

Estimated Delivery: Fall/Winter 2017

Retail Price: $145.00 US

Body: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Eugenia channels her inner French girl with this soft and ultra-feminine look that just is just too adorable and sophisticated for words! Dressed in a pair of perfectly fitted capri pants and a sensuous off-the-shoulder blouse (with an extra-long bow detail on the back), Eugenia is ready for an afternoon stroll amongst the stalls of her favorite florists, where she picked up a most delicate bouquet of fresh roses.

Coquette [flirt]

Jordan Duval™ Dressed Doll

La Femme

The 2017 Fashion Royalty® Collection

Edition Size: 725

Estimated Delivery: September 2017

Retail Price: $145.00 US

Body: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

For her "recon" mission on the Riviera, Jordan opted for a re-invented version of the classic hostess outfit with a floor length, detachable turquoise satin skirt over delicately striped satin capri pants, topped by a faux-leather bustier that gives this sunny look an ultra-modern, yet soft and sophisticated edge. Jordan also opted to complete the look with colorful accessories that truly make her perfect cocoa skin tone stand out and shine!

Sophistiquée [sophisticated]

Vanessa Perrin™ Dressed Doll

Head Sculpt: Vanessa Perrin 3.0

La Femme

The 2017 Fashion Royalty® Collection

Edition Size: 825

Estimated Delivery: Fall/Winter 2017

Retail Price: $145.00 US

Body: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Dressed to accompany Adèle Makéda and her cousin Eugenia on a trip to the French Riviera, Vanessa wears an ultra-modern look, composed of an intricately detailed blouse with long criss-cross ties on the sleeves and a sheer black lace skirt. Since it can get chilly at night, she took along her favorite faux-fur shoulder wrap, which incidentally happens to be one of her favorite fashion pieces!

Séduisante [seductive]

Elyse Jolie™ Close-Up Doll

La Femme

The 2017 Fashion Royalty® Collection

Edition Size: 825

Estimated Delivery: Fall/Winter 2017

Retail Price: $120.00 US

Body: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled and Flat Feet (One Pair of Each Included)

Seen here for the first time in the Light Honey skin tone, this wonderful addition to the Fashion Royalty collection marks the debut of the new interchangeable lower leg feature and includes two sets of lower legs, one with the traditional high-heeled feet and another with flat, removable feet, as well as corresponding shoes to fit each. Elyse also comes with her own faux-leather beach bag, jewelry and glamorous wide-frame sunglasses.

This doll will be sold via a W Club right-to-buy lottery later this year. It is not available through dealers. 

Exquise  [exquisite]

Adèle Makéda® Dressed Doll - Head Sculpt: Adèle Makéda 2.0

La Femme

The 2017 Fashion Royalty® Collection

Edition Size: 725

Estimated Delivery: Fall/Winter 2017

Suggested Retail Price: $145.00 US

Body: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

For her trek down to the South of France, Adèle opted for an impeccably tailored, red-hot pant suit that features a sophisticated removable cape that transforms the jacket into a vest and allows her to wear this look in multiple ways. She then added a custom-printed head scarf (to protect her finger wave hairstyle), faux-leather gloves and a fashionable hat to complete her look. This lady definitely knows how to travel in style!

______________________________

To me the obvious winner of this quintet is Adele. Adele 2.0 is the collector favorite of all the sculpts used for her. This fashion is stunning. Everything works beautifully with this doll. I pre-ordered her immediately upon seeing the photos. I hope she looks exactly as pictured above. 

Sadly, Vanessa is the least attractive of all the dolls. Her fashion is a hot mess with the only saving grace being the shoes and handbag. The skirt is nice on it's own but the 'oxford' blue blouse and the faux fur are just mistakes.

Now let's talk about Elise. We are back to spelling her name Elyse. I adore this sculpt and thought she was excellent even with the color change about which I have heard complaints. I wonder what other dolls have 'light honey' skin tone.  I will be entering the lottery and I hope to be able to purchase her. I don't care about the flat feet. It raises the price a bit and I have no flat shoes for my 12" dolls anyway.  The bathing suit will look better on a less articulated doll.  Let's hope that those who run the lottery don't decide to pick only their favorite people.
__________________________________________

UPDATES: Elise is not going to be a lottery. They've discovered there is enough fabric to make as many as people order. Clever.
__________________________________________

As one collector pointed out, Agnes was included in this collection as the event doll. Any collector who wanted one could order one per membership.

Merveilleuse Agnes Von Weiss $150.

Integrity Toys Convention 2016 Luncheon and Banquet

 'The evening started with the introduction of the final centerpiece of the weekend, the ultra-sophisticated Dania Zarr, which was followed by dinner, the announcement of this year's competition winner, Salvador Lopez Arriaga, the highly-anticipated raffle of the designer OOAK dolls and finally, an interview with top designer Jason Wu where he announced the plans for the celebration of his company's 10th anniversary in 2017 and the introduction of new features in the Fashion Royalty line, starting with the "Velvet Touch" skin finish! Jason then announced that as a thank you for everyone who opted to attend convention this year ONLY, a special pre-order offer would be included with the convention doll to pre-order the very first Elyse doll that features the "Velvet Touch" skin finish.Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for came and this year's convention doll was unveiled, the ultra-glamorous Dasha, which came with not one, but two complete outfits to match the other girls in the convention collection! What a trip!'

The W Club Member's Luncheon featured a Nu Face Doll as the centerpiece and the gift. There weren't 400 motorcycles and they were a separate purchase. Someone posted that they were $20. I don't know if that is verifiable.

Full Speed
Erin S.™ / NU. Face Dressed Doll
W Club Luncheon Exclusive Table Centerpiece
Limited Edition of 400 Centerpieces

Very cute.

Checking In

Colette D.™ / NU. Face Dressed Doll
W Club Luncheon Exclusive Giveaway Doll
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls Only
New Sculpt!

____________________________________________

Tweed Couture
Dania Zarr™ Dressed Doll
Saturday Night Dinner Table Centerpiece
Limited Edition of 350 Centerpieces Only

This was inspired by a John Galliano Couture Fashion for Christian Dior Fall/Winter '97-'98. Quite stunning!

Diva
Dasha™ Dressed Doll
Official Convention Doll
Limited Edition of 500 Dolls Only

This gown was inspired by a Christian Lacroix fashion from 1995 as seen in this image from Vogue. They did a great copy!

__________________________________________________________

La Vie en Bleu
Elyse Jolie™ Dressed Doll
Designed By Jason Wu Collection
Limited Edition: TBD
Additional 2016 Supermodel Convention Attendee Exclusive
 

I believed, at first, that they had changed the sculpt. I examined her face closely and now I am convinced it's the same Elise sculpt but painted very differently.  I don't care for this interpretation as it washes out her beautiful features. Her lips look tiny and her eyes are squinty. 

But the toned-down make-up and styling of the doll is in line with the human model from Jason's pre-fall 2016 collection. She looks taken aback and ragged.

It was announced that next year's convention will be held in Orlando.  

Fashion Royalty Elise Dressed by Fu Zin Dolls

 This gown is called "Purple Reign."  It's another example of the fabulous work of the talented people in our doll world. Rudi Teruel carries Fu Zin creations exclusively. They are very limited editions and Rudi announces them on FaceBook.

This is a hand made, hand embellished deep purple gown, reminiscent of a Dior, with multiple layers of fabric, each worked differently. The panels are wired as well as beaded and sequined.

I have to take more pictures of this gown. It needs to be adjusted to look the way it was intended.

The background is all wrong as I was just too lazy to put up something else.  Excuses, excuses.

You can probably get the idea in spite of my lame attempts.

Elise Jolie "J'Adore La Fete" Gift Set

This gift set proves that IT can still deliver a beautiful doll with well-made clothing in a gift set. Not that I thought they couldn't but there hasn't been a fabulous Fashion Royalty gift set in a very long time. So much attention has been paid to Poppy Parker, ITBE and Jem, it feels as if FR has fallen along the wayside.  While it's true that most of my dolly dollars go toward my 16" BJD collection, I still belong to the W Club and will not turn away from a gorgeous 12" doll.

Elise is my favorite sculpt which made this gift set even more special. I used three of my Elise dolls to model the fashions.

The suit jacket is constructed with full length princess seams front and back. There is almost no bulk in the underarm area which is uncommon in 12" doll clothing and a sign of good design. The hem of the jacket is finished with a black fringe which repeats near the skirt's hem. However, the skirt has a nice flounce as a hem. There is a metallic silver thread running through the red and black fabric. One amazing detail is that the collar is covered with a semi-sheer chiffon-like fabric. Really nice!
I added the jewelry and the shoes.
My model for the suit is "Midnight Star."

I rarely dress my dolls in lingerie but I might have if it were the same red as the suit. I did not put her hosiery on.  The shoes came with the set. Jewelry is my addition. My model is the Hair Workshop Elise from the Jason Wu "X" Event.

The gown is not a ground-breaking design but it is well made and fits nicely. The multiple finishes at the hem are repeated with the addition of a lace covered 3rd layer at the bottom. Her jewelry consists of earrings, necklace, bracelet and ring. Matchy, matchy. She is wearing a 2nd pair of shoes which are not visible in this photo...also black.
The model is the doll that came with the set...J'Adore La Fete herself. Her vinyl is what I'd call Caucasian. I believe IT calls it FR White. The above dolls are have a lighter vinyl tone. J'Adore also looks darker because the other dolls were photographed out-of-doors and this one was shot in my living room.

Overall, this is a nicely coordinated, useful gift set. It was $175 plus postage.

New Dresses from Antonio Realli and Kingdom Doll Brunel

I have two new gowns from Antonio. Both are classic designs using wonderful fabrics and the addition of a bit of bling. I love dressing my dolls this way.

First is "Flawless" Elise in a flowing chiffon confection with metallic silver abstract shapes 'painted' on.  The belt is adorned with rhinestones. Jewelry Integrity Toys "True Royalty."

This model is Monogram "Dreamscape."
This gown has a lacy overlay that is embellished with sequins.  More sparkle is provided by the belt which is a mix of tiny metallic balls and rhinestones.
Jewelry by Joy.

Brunel was in my studio at the same time and wanted to get in on the fun.
She is wearing a Tonner outfit called "Impressionist Chic" and KD shoes. The Tonner fashions for Tyler fit the KD dolls fairly well. I pin the bust and torso to make them smaller. I lament not keeping many of the Tonner gowns I sold now that I see how beautiful my KD's look wearing them. I've been hunting bargains on these older fashions which are few and far between.
The different scale dolls look so strange together.  Elise looks terrified. I should have spent some time posing her better.

Here is Brunel showing off her great legs.

W Club 2015 Exclusive "J'Adore La Fete"

The final W Club 2015 doll has been announced and fortunately or unfortunately I have to order one.
It's an Elise Jolie gift set in a trunk, reminiscent of Fashion Royalty Kyori Ginza who also came in a trunk like this. I still have Kyori's trunk stuffed with story cards and COAs. 

The edition size will be enormous, I'm sure, as it's based upon how many the members order and there are a lot of members. Unfortunately it won't be ready until late spring or early summer of next year.
The price is $175. which isn't bad for a doll with three outfits: a gown, a suit and lingerie.

The gown looks black but it's dark wine with black trim. I love the suit.
I hope the quality exceeds our expectations.

 (I'm spelling her name with an 'i' no matter how many times it's changed.)

New Outfits

In my not-so-humble opinion, the navy blue ensemble called "On Set," modeled below by re-bodied "Overachiever" Eugenia Frost, was the best of the recent FR Cinematic Convention offerings. It was in the registration bag. It's sleek and sexy and I love it.

The only other item I wanted from this event is being modeled by another re-bodied Eugenia, "Most Desired."  This outfit is from "Inner Spark" Natalia, a convention package doll.
Yes, it's another fish tail black gown but I like it. The texture of the surface swirls almost makes the gown look beaded. The bodice could have been a bit tighter but it's just fine on the FR2 body as is.

I'd still like to have the Elise "Starlet" centerpiece doll nude only because I love that sculpt but I'm not paying the price being asked as it's not important enough. She's not in the running as one of the best Elise dolls anyway. No FR sculpt is that necessary anymore because my collecting funds go towards the resin BJDs now. I'll still buy a doll or three occasionally but I've also sold off a portion of my FRs.

____________

The gown and wig above are a wonderful pair of creations by Cholo Ayuyao. Bravely modeled by Sybarite Toxica, it leaves little to the imagination.

In this, our precious world of pretty dolls, one has to be very selective to curate a rewarding collection according to one's own means. I'm getting better at that now.

There is much to sell off but it takes so much time which might better be spent playing.

Balance? Moderation? What are they?