Rondelet, Her Gown

 Here are some photos of the outfit I recently purchased from a W Club (Gene Marshall) member. I didn't care for the doll herself but I knew I had to have the gown.

This is the description of the fashion from the Integrity site:
Rondelet features a striking song of a dress composed in equal measures of soft blush tones and rich, ebony texture. A blush pink sweetheart bodice is punctuated with a row of brilliant diamantine buttons and is flared into a lavish, peplumed overskirt. The daringly angled overskirt soars from a deep hem in the back to the abbreviated front where rows and rows of black tulle ruffles are punctuated with wisps of feather and spangled with glittering black sequins. Accessories for Rondelet include a matching butterfly design 'diamond' bracelet and asymmetrically worn necklace enhanced with even more diamonds at the ears. Opera length black gloves and black taffeta covered pumps finish the look.



I love this fashion. It fits beautifully and was easy to put on the doll. I have two small comments. The buttons are very large and protrude out from the dress more than a normal button would at this scale due to the large shank on the back. The diamantine face droops in awkward ways because of this. Smaller rhinestones should have been used.

The earrings arrived with their posts bent down. At first I wondered if they were meant to be hook-type pins but I knew that was ridiculous. Having previously broken posts of Integrity earrings, I wasn't about to straighten these so I just hooked them onto the top of the dress.


However, the jewelry is gorgeous with it's pink and clear rhinestones. The gloves weren't impossible to get on but they weren't as easy as they could be. If only IT would use the fabric Dressmaker Details uses for it's gloves.
My model for this fashion is Essentialy Gene Marshall (Blush) whose hair was restyled by Jim Gaddis.

Bad Mood Alert

The verdict is in. Crusty, thick, dried and flaky hair goop with net marks is out. Both Moods dolls, Body Double and Blonde Ambition Veronique, have dismayed collectors with the amount of dried gel on their hair and residue on their faces. Body Double's curls are literally pasted to the sides of her face with the stuff. It doesn't wash out easily. Apparently when the factory workers 'set' the hair they use a hair net to hold it in place. Unfortunately the marks from the net remain as little lines of goop dry in a criss-cross pattern. The same thing happened on Josephine Baker and the convention doll, Tatyana. Josephine was so bad that there was lint stuck to her hair and everywhere else on her face. In the picture of Tatyana below, there are still some lines of goop remaining after I tried to flick them away with a fine needle.




There is a Thai woman on eBay, (parawatee2008), who creates intricate hairstyles in this mode. She uses something that leaves the hair shiny and beautiful. If she can do it, why can't Integrity?

Moving on to the clothing packs...
The Starry Night Moods Wardrobe which consists of a gown, hat, fur, shoes, gloves and jewelry has one major defect. The stitching on the front of the gown puckered the fabric. It shows up on all pictures of the gown I've seen. I think it was an unfortunate choice of fabric because the styling of the gown is lovely. The back with it's draped neckline and strands of rhinestones is just fabulous. The fur is sumptuous and in classic Wu fashion, the tails are attached with strands of beads. I love it. The hat is very nice and the rest of the fashion is fine. It's interesting how the fabric doesn't pucker on the back of the gown. One wonders if two different people made the gowns.


The French Dressing Deluxe Accessory Pack consists of a coat with a charming faux Persion lamb collar, a straw cloche, black tights, vinyl gloves, jewelry and shoes.
I headed straight for the wonderful wine colored gloves as I thought they were a wonderful looking accessory. Well, I want to know what type of doll these were made for. I could not get them on the doll even after attempting to stretch them. The coat looks great in the promos and terrible on the doll. One side of the collar hangs lower than the other. This was a poor execution of a good idea. I love the hat and after I removed the cheesy attachment and put a pin on it, it looks great.
The black tights are at least 1" too long and do not fit into the black shoes. What a waste.
In the photo below of Fierce Subject Kyori, she is wearing the cloche with the jeweled item from the FAO Tatyana giftset. The rest of her clothes are items from the 2008 convention.

Finally there is the Luxe Finish Accessory Set. Everything in this set is delightful. I love the purse and the fur. In the photo below of Body Double Veronique, she is wearing a Monique wig, the dress from a previous Fashion Royalty doll and the fur and jewelry from this set.



This were the first W Club exclusives of 2008. Why did they arrive mid-December? Something is wrong down in Baltimore. It's unfortunate because Jason is fabulously talented and when his designs aren't executed properly, it reflects on him.

My recommendations:
Get the dolls and change their hair. These are the last Veroniques with this facial mold. I think that's really sad because Vero is gorgeous. She is one of the two original characters and will be getting a new face. Body Double is the only tan Vero produced to date. The NRFB dolls seem to be going for $125. and nude for $100. Their original price was $84.
Most of these items are being sold on eBay for reasonable prices but hang in there because the price will drop on the clothing items.

Season's Greetings Y'all

What do lights do during the year when we're not looking? Just how do they get so twisted?

Saran Wrap & Bamboo Leaves Are Great for Project Runway.

Spell avant-garde properly, please! It is a French expression "originally used to describe the foremost part of an army advancing into battle (also called the vanguard) and now applied to any group, particularly of artists, that considers itself innovative and ahead of the majority." (From Wikipedia)

All three "AvantGuard" dolls arrived in Woodstock this week: LiveWire, Eclectic and Lush. I was disappointed. I'm not even going to go into the overcharges on the shipping or question why the four AGs that shipped to me from Integrity, two at a time, one day after the other couldn't have been shipped together....let's let that go.

Eclectic is gorgeous. Her wig and her facial screening are winners. LiveWire's screening is beautiful and her skin color is wonderful. The screening on Lush is over the top. Her lips are straight out of the surgeon's office and her eyeshadow color is disconcerting. I'll admit that I don't care for ultra pale dolls but this combination of pale and neon gets boring after a few hours. What might be great for the runway of a haute couture Paris show is not working on this doll.

LiveWire's and Lush's outfits are on the flimsy side but that is intentional and a result of the fine fabrics used. Lush's minidress is finished and embellished by hand. The packaging was nice and all the externals are good. So what is the problem? The doll is shapeless. She has no waist or hips. She does have breasts, however.

Image from the cover of the long-gone magazine, Avant Garde, issue 5

The worst part is the feeling of a lack of solid construction. They are floppy jointed. Their feet flop around as do their hips and their legs. The head has limited range of movement. They do not have strung joints. One can remove their hands and feet by pulling them straight out to either replace them or to aid in dressing the doll. That's definitely a plus. There is an extra set of hands with articulation and feet with articulated toes.

There is pretty much just one circumstance during which a woman's toes curl and I don't think many will be posing their dolls for that.

Photo by bridgitte

I think Jason was certainly on the right track with these dolls but has forgotten that we like to play with and redress our gals. I tried many Tonner and Gene outfits on her and they are huge from the waist down. What is the point of having a doll with only one outfit? Saran wrap and bamboo leaves are great for Project Runway. I like to open my doll clothes stash and have lots of choices. I refuse to start another wardrobe for another 16" + doll.

Click on the image above to see the source (but come back to read the rest of the post.)

I really wanted to love these dolls! I collect 16" dolls and it would have been wonderful to have a very fashionable, very articulated bunch of gals from Jason mixed in with my others. But it's not to be.

Oh wait...did you want to see pictures of the AvantGuard dolls?




Parting words...you might like them. Lush (the blonde) is particularly easy to get at retail which was $220 each doll.
CDCMHS (Compulsive Doll Collector Must Have Scale) = 4

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.

Avant Guard Lush Lottery

The W Club holds regular lotteries to determine which collectors can purchase a particular doll or giftset.
Today the first drawing was held. I received a congratulations email at about 4 PM. I was very happy as I really didn't expect to be chosen. About 1/2 hour later, I received a second congratulatory email. I entered with both of my memberships and got lucky. I still don't know whether to laugh or cry.
One example of the experience of doll collecting is overabundance. I have it.