Picture of the Week Award ~ December 13, 2009

I've seen the name La Pierle many times connected with beautiful and trendy doll fashions. What I didn't know was that this same person is an accomplished photographer and Photoshop user. Her real name is Valerie Humbert-Deshayes and she is a free-lance textile designer. Her photography and fashion design demonstrate and echo her passion for textures and fabrics.

Valerie's native language is French but her English is excellent compared to my French. She described the image and fashion to me and gave me permission to reword her description. The part in quotes are her words.

Valerie obtained the embroidered tulle with irridescent beads and mother of pearl sequins from her Indian textile supplier. She wanted something transparent and light even though the fabric is quite heavy due to the beading. Once she had the fabric the style of the dress came easily.
The idea behind the image's mood is "inspired by the magic of Christmas. Salvation is the concept that other higher power, as part of Divine Providence, saves Humanity from spiritual death or eternal damnation by providing for them an eternal life."

Post processing was done in Photoshop through the use of multiple layers and lots of skill!

You can see more of La Pierle's work at Etsy and Flickr. 

Congratulations, Valerie, on the Picture of the Week Award.

Happy Chanukah to Everyone

May your days shine brightly and may your hearts be filled with warmth.

Can I just get the shoes?

There are many who will spend $150 for a non-articulated doll dressed in a black catsuit with painted black hands and four pair of shoes. They are probably the very same people who bought my Platinum Cher doll for $500. I can't put you down because I take a look at my dolly spreadsheet from time to time and cringe when I see what I spend on doll clothes. It's obscene. But at least my dolls can sit, bend their arms and are fully articulated.

Anyway, I keep seeing these images of the Christian Louboutin Cat Burglar doll. The packaging is very nice. I wonder if the shoes are plastic? The doll is limited to 7700 worldwide. That seems like a huge amount to me when I collect dolls that are variously limited from less than 100 to about 1000. The range of retail prices I've seen is from a low of $149.99 to a high of $299.99. Unreal.

"Here is a brief description: Christian Louboutin has collaborated with Barbie to create this limited edition 'Cat Burglar' doll. In a black catsuit and Differa sandals, she is the perfect gift for fashion lovers. She comes with a collection of 4 red-soled Louboutins, each with their own shoe box and bag. "

I love the last picture. Definitely a hottie!

Mattel outdid themselves this year and their rising prices reflected the extra effort.

Jamie Show for Angelic Dreamz

Recently Angelic Dreamz began shipping the Jamieshow dolls that they helped to develop. I have been reading the reviews on Prego and it sounds like the dolls are winners in almost every aspect.
There are four characters, Mayumi, Kyra, Jamie and RuYi. Each comes as a basic doll dressed in lingerie or as a dressed doll in a beautiful ensemble.

The dolls are wigged with painted features although Mayumi, Kyra and Jamie can be optionally had with drilled eye sockets for an additional charge.

Pictured below: Jamie, Kyra, Mayumi and RuYi.

The dressed dolls:

Prices range from $249.95 for the basic dolls to $345.95 RuYi dressed, $375.95 for Jamie (red gown)
to $425.95 for Mayumi and Kyra.

There are four additional gorgeous gowns available at $124.95 each.

In addition, a collector may choose to purchase an optional hand set, jewelry and doll stand. I've heard that this stand is one of the best ever for 16" dolls! The only negative information that has come from collectors is that the eyes and wigs aren't the quality they expected and Kyra's finish should be more matte. But the weight of the body is excellent and the posing is superior - even without a stand.

For more pictures and information visit Angelic Dreamz.

Picture of the Week Award ~ December 6, 2007

This week's featured photograph is as much about the doll as the photography. They both deserve the spotlight.
Alexandra Forbes is a well known photographer in the fashion doll world. Not only is she the Creative Editor for FDQ, she is a regular participant on the doll board Prego and that is where she posted this amazing photograph of the Ficon doll, ME IN.

I asked Alexandra to tell us about the doll and how she made the photograph.

The doll featured in the photograph is produced by Ficon doll http://www.ficondoll.com/

Her name is "ME IN." This is a traditional Korean name meaning "Beautiful Woman." ME IN, herself, is a high quality resin 16 inch fashion doll and part of a new gift set that has just been released by the doll manufacturer, Ficon Doll. Her beautiful wig, tights, shoes and the gown are all part of this amazing gift set. The image you see featured on her gown is one of the original (ME IN) based in Korean history, which adds a very special touch to this Versace inspired gown.

My photograph was taken in a black lighting cube tent with a highly polished black veneered surface as the floor. The doll reclines on a simple plastic riser. Keeping everything monochrome and simple helped to lend high drama and keep the focus on this exquisite doll.

With gorgeous photography and dolls like this, the dolls will be very hard to get! That's what makes it worth it to many in the doll collecting hobby.

Congratulations, Alex, on the Picture of the Week Award!

You can see more of Alexandra's beautiful photography at her website: Alex's Attic.

Flocking Tutorial from RestoreDoll.com

Kathy at RestoreDoll.com sent out this excellent tutorial on flocking doll heads. I have done some editing for clarity and present it to you here.

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An easy and inexpensive change for your dolls is to use flocking. White flocking looks good on guy dolls, elves, fairies and avant guard models. Pink and light colors also look great and take little effort. Think of doing a take-off on the fifties elves that were done with flocking and glitter for a magical effect...add some to wings and it gives a magical look. My favorite vintage 1950’s ornaments have flocked hair, i.e. angels and choirboys. I still display these. Do you remember flocked Santas?

Reflocking Hair:

Before you get started let’s cover issues that need taken care of before flocking. First make sure your doll is clean. I use KatSilk KatScrub Cleaner or 409 for Vinyl Dolls for regular dirt. If your doll has ink spots or discoloration, I recommend using Remove-Zit from Twin Pines. You want to start out with a clean doll with other restorations already done. You can reflock any doll head.

Supplies: Paper plate, toothpicks, kitchen strainer (the kind with screening in it), a clean blusher brush (the kind you use to put blush on your face), clean white paper and some water.

Work in a well-lit area and take your time.

Take time to study your doll head. Ask yourself, do I want to re-flock the entire head or just spots? Look at the hairline or get some good pictures to follow out of your books or magazines if you can no longer see the hairline.

Unless there is a reason I re-flock over the original flocking. You can mix black with the brown or charcoal if your doll looks darker or glitter.

Put a small amount of glue on your paper plate and use your small brush to add a little water to it. You are looking for a thin consistency that will brush on but will not run.

We are doing the front of the doll first. Start with the small brush forming a hairline as you paint. Outline the front of doll’s hairline up over the ears. If you get some glue on an area that you do not want, take the toothpick and carefully scrape away the unwanted glue. Fill in the rest of the front of the head with the larger brush. You are going to need to add glue and water to your paint mixture (watered down glue) until you have the front side finished.

Pour flocking into the strainer. Put doll head over the paper and shake the strainer over the glued surface. If there are any missed areas or I see that I could use a little more I pick up some flocking with my blusher brush and softly add the flocking to the area.
When satisfied with the look, use the dry blushing brush to gently press the flocking into the glue or pat with a finger. (If any glue gets on your blushing brush, remove it with a dry towel.)
If you see the hairline does not look straight use your toothpick to scrape away any unwanted flocking.
Take your time and don’t be in a hurry
Brush the excess off any area that looks too thick. Also, brush off any flocking that has gotten on to the unglued area.
Turn the doll over and repeat this process on the back of the head. I like to let the doll dry in a sitting up position so none of the flocking is touching any surface as it dries.
If you don’t like the way it looks you can always wash off the flocking and glue with warm and start over.

Happy Holidays,

Kathy at RestoreDoll.com