Picture of the Week Award ~ May 3, 2009

This week's spotlight goes to Marika of Helsinki, Finland for her images of Nadja. I like the use of high contrast and soft focus in these two images.

Congratulations, Marika!

Couture Noir Cissy Doll by Madame Alexander

This is definitely a change for me. Couture Noir is 22" tall! She's a big girl. When I carry her it brings me back to the feeling of carrying a doll when I was a child. I like it.
She was my Mothers' Day gift from my dh.
She came in a huge box, inside another box inside her Madame Alexander box. I didn't expect to see CN wearing her alternate wig because the promotional photos show her in her red feather wig. She looks softer and friendlier than the promo photos. In addition to a second wig she also comes with a mini skirt. The neckpiece was a trial of my patience to get on properly.
The only complaint I have about the construction of the doll is that the heels of the boots are too high. Perhaps they're making them in the same factory as the boots belonging to the Fashion Royalty dolls. She cannot stand flat on the sole of the boot. I really hate that. I also noticed something else odd. Her right eye socket seems larger than the left. I think it shows up in the photos.

The dealer posted on the site that the doll might possibly be stained. She has some staining on her scalp from the wig and around the tops of her thighs from her stockings. These stains don't intefere with the doll's appearance at all but they might lower the resale value ultimately. I'm not going to worry about that at this time.
The coolest thing is that the red wig is actually feathers! The patent leather looking fabric is a very flexible vinyl with a nice feel. I am very pleased with the fashion.
Now all I have to do is figure out how I am going to display her because she is too large for any of my showcases.

Life Ball Fashion Doll by Jason Wu

Members of the W Club received this information on April 28, 2009 along with a link to enter the lottery.
We are excited to announce to the W Club before anyone else that Jason Wu has designed the Official 2009 Life Ball doll! Created specifically to benefit the 2009 Life Ball, this gorgeous collectible marks the debut of Integrity Toys' new FR Monogram™ collection. An extension of the Fashion Royalty collectible line, the FR Monogram collection features a new custom face sculpt (body is the same size as the Nu.Face body), as well as the hallmark of Fashion Royalty- miniaturized couture fashion with impeccable attention to detail....The 2009 Life Ball Doll wears a replica of a chic evening gown from Jason's romantic Fall 2008 women's fashion collection. The gown is constructed from custom-printed fabric in a floral pattern that has been realized in perfect miniature.

For information about Lifeball, click here. http://www.lifeball.org/lifeball/show_content.php?hid=21&language=en

The doll is an ultra-limited edition, with only 250 dolls produced worldwide, and will retail for $270 (plus shipping and any taxes). 100% of the net proceeds from the sales of the doll will be donated to Life Ball to support HIV and AIDS treatment, research and prevention.

Above is the original runway version of the dress created by Jason for his Fall 2008 show.

This is obviously a great cause and I urge all to support the funding of HIV/AIDS charitable organizations.

What's this about a new line from Jason with miniaturized couture fashion? I thought that's what we were getting until this season. Has Jason, as I feared, 'abandoned' creating for the standard Fashion Royalty line?

Or, has he just turned over permission to his staff to use his designs on a more expensive version of Fashion Royalty? Why the switch to the flat-chested body? Will we also have dolls who look like the model above without makeup and without any discernable hair styling? If he's going couture why not go all the way?

Before I go further I want to add that I did enter the lottery and hope I win the opportunity to spend my money for a good cause. I wonder how much of the purchase price will be the net proceeds donated to the foundation. Hopefully it will be at least $200 per doll. When you think about it, donating net profits isn't exactly philanthropic. Simply, net profit is the money left over after paying all the expenses of an endeavor.

Net proceeds is something else and usually refers to securities, real estate and similar and is defined as

"the amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security."

Maybe they are the same thing. I don't know.

The doll looks pretty. She has the same coloring as Fine Jewel Eugenia with the raven hair and bright red lips.
I'm not quite sure how her hair is styled but it appears to be in a nice updo. I wish the dress would have been created in a fabric with similar drape to that of the original. It's Barbie-esque with it's stand-out shape. Spectacular, Spectacular Eugenia's dress had the same issue.

Jason has used lovely fabrics in the past for dresses that flowed. For example, Shape Shifter Natalia and Miami Glow Vanessa have gowns whose fabric is soft, clingy and drapey.

I hope to see better re-creations of Jason's designs using finer fabrics that emulate the original more closely.

My collection has grown to the point that I'm after quality not quantity.

Goldmine: The More I See You; The More I Love You.

Here are two shots from Goldmine's latest photo session. She looks fabulous in the photos but I have to say that she looks even more beautiful in person. This has to be my most beautiful doll (this month anyway.)
She is wearing an Ashton Drake Gene outfit called "Will You Marry Me?" The shoes are from another set.
I'm thrilled that the AvantGuard dolls can wear and look fabulous in most of Gene's fashions, old and new. The period dresses sometimes look a little dowdy but the rest are very flattering.

 

 

Picture of the Week Award ~ April 26, 2009

This week's award goes to Jurrie de Vries of the Netherlands whose photo of Oona in a Metrodolls exclusive fashion called "Critic's Choice" is reminiscent of the models of the 40's and 50's. The hat is from Gene's "Little Black Dress" costume.

Jurrie always posts beautifully posed and artistically lit portraits of the Gene line of dolls. Visit I.C.O.G. and the Studio Commissary to find more of his work.

Homage to Veronique Perrin - Part II of Many

Continuing with the Spring 2003 Premiere Collection we move to the dressed dolls of which there were six. Five were Veroniques, one was Adele. One of the Veroniques was Toast of Paris which had a limited edition of only 100. I did manage to snag the outfit sold separately under the same name but I have never seen the doll!
First we have Lush Life Veronique, a limited edition of 500 and exclusive to Katy's Collectibles and Doll Dreams and Cuddly Things. She retailed for $65.

Lush is wearing an ivory lace up bustier with a creamy ivory long fish-tail skirt that has a large gathered train at the back. Her long gloves match her top and the beaded jewelry and purse match the skirt. The promotional photo above is one of the best, in my opinion, with it's lighted vanity mirror and table. That would have been a great piece to have for the dolls.

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Second is Midnight in Monaco. She was an IFDC doll and sold for $125., which I'm guessing was the entry fee to the convention. There were 500 made in all. When I first saw this doll she reminded me so much of Gene Marshall because of the extreme upward gazing eyes. To me this Veronique has the most unique look of all the early Veros because of her eyes and the shape of the head. It may be the same sculpt but she looks different!

Her gown is a pastel peach with all over embroidery and beads. At the hip are several folds of chiffon which wrap around to the side ending in a train. She carries a small similarly colored clutch purse and wears faux diamond studs. Around her neck is a simple faux diamond drop.

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The third doll is Silver Society a big favorite among collectors to this day. She was an edition of 1000 and sold for $65.

Her silver silk sheath is embroidered and beaded on the bodice and fits like a glove. The accessories are a fabulous silk and tulle headband style hat, long gloves, silk purse on a silver chain, faux fur and silver slip on heels. I believe she had faux diamond studs and perhaps a bracelet. I understand that this doll's jewelry tarnished badly. Mine did not come with jewelry because of this problem. Miss Society was the first of the pony-tailed Fashion Royalty dolls and it's a fabulous long pony tail with big curls at the end which are still perfect on my doll to this day! One feature of Silver Society that drew many comments were her lips. They are light with a darker lipliner outline. I love it.

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The next two installments will cover the 2003 Fall/Winter Mauve Absolue Collection.