Collecting Fashion Dolls by Terri Gold

10/04/2011

Even More Cheap Thrills with Barbie Basics

I don't know what got into me these past few months but I have purchased a bunch of Pink Label Barbie dolls. I keep them in my studio and yesterday they got lucky in front of the camera. Angelica's hair is typical Barbie quality - uneven, shaggy ends and no style. The Hispanic (?) Barbie has lovely hair but she has glitter glued under her brows. The red Target Barbie is adorable. Her hair will never get messed up as every strand is glued down. She needs a pivotal body and lashes to make her into a useful doll that can pose.

The last vinyl Barbie I will buy this year is Tokidoki. I swear.

Monster High: Lagoona Blue and Spectra Vondergeist

More cheap thrills come your way via the silly and strange Monster High dolls.

Don't expect high quality for in the $20. range as these are fragile dolls, albeit very clever. I don't know what their hair is made from but it's difficult to keep tamed and their limbs often take on a life of their own. But they do snap back together.
Lagoona Blue, on the left, comes with the funniest 3 eyed frog. She is depicted as being in the school science lab. She also comes with a locker and an extra fashion. Spectra Vondergeist is mostly translucent - as a ghost ought to be. Even her pet, which is unidentifiable, is kind of see-through.
I picked up Lagoona at my Target store and got Spectra directly from Mattel. I recommend both of them for play value and adorable-ness.

Not Your Mother's Bergdorf Goodman

Jason Wu Designs a Line of Clothing for Target: A few press excerpts.

Mr Wu today said: 'My collection for Target embodies my signature aesthetic of feminine sophistication, with a mischievous nod to the 1960s.'

And, according to Target's Twitter feed, the creations are, somewhat eccentrically, influenced by a cat named Milu.
Mr Wu told WWD: 'This partnership offers an exciting opportunity for me to interpret my aesthetic into a collection made for a broader market.
'It was very interesting for me to translate my signature touches into a more affordable collection without compromising quality, design and sophistication'
It 'features clothes and accessories that are easily convertible from day to evening — sophisticated, feminine dresses, mix-and-match separates and playful accessories all with a bit of charm and dressed-up attitude.'

The collections will focus on apparel and accessories only, differing from the Missoni range, for example, which saw fervour over a vast 400 pieces crash the retail site. That line sold out within 24 hours of its much-lauded launch.
Rather than creating 'just an item for the season,' Mr Wu has before said that he 'strive[s] to create clothes that can be worn for a lifetime.'
Target, not known for its high-end quality, makes a change from Mr Wu's usual territory.
The line will range from $19.99 to $59.99 and will be available at many Target stores and online.

It will certainly not be the first time a trendy designer, including McQueen, Missoni, Gaultier, Schouler, Thakoon, Temperley, has partnered with Target. I can't wait to see the results!

Target Night Out doll needs a new sculpt.

10/03/2011

Another of Jason Wu's Sculpts Bites the Dust

It was recently announced that the sculpt of one of IT's flagship characters, Adele, is now retired and will be replaced in the giftset from the convention collection. The outgoing sculpt is the second incarnation of Adele and is quite a beauty.

The original sculpt.

Screening removed and lips repainted by me.

The outgoing sculpt.

Is Integrity being forced to change their most popular sculpts? Do the copyrights of these sculpts, Vanessa, Veronique and Adele belong to Jason Wu solely? Is he asking too much money for renewal of the license or is he just not permitting his sculpts to be used any longer? It's too much of a coincidence that three of the oldest sculpts would be replaced within months of each other at the ten year mark of the company.
Did Jason come equipped with the brilliant foresight to license his sculpts for a limited period of time when he was hired by Integrity Toys? Is Kyori next? Who shot JR?

In a little over one year there have been 6 new Fashion Royalty female sculpts: Kesenia, Vanessa, Korrine, Veronique, Rayna and Anja. The prior year saw Natalia turn white and Dania came on the scene. There have been several new characters introduced into the NuFace line as well including several males. Let's not forget the four new FR2 sculpts. Who is actually creating the new sculpts and why do some of them look alike?

The FR2 Faces:

JAMIEshow Swan Lake Dolls

Angelic Dreamz presented their Halloween 2011 mini collection, Swan Lake. These dolls utilize the JAMIEshow Grace sculpt. The White Swan is a Doll Reader Exclusive. What follows is an article from their website by Toni Fitzgerald.

Ying and yang. Black and white. Good and bad. The push and pull of two complete opposites that are nonetheless connected has long fascinated George Gonzalez, who runs the Angelic Dreamz store in Canandaigua, N.Y. When Gonzalez was considering themes for his Halloween mini collection for the JAMIEshow line, he was intrigued by the idea of a doll taken from the same mold but representing two extremes. And that's what collectors get with Black Swan and White Swan, two different versions of the same doll.
Doll Reader is offering White Swan to readers as an exclusive limited edition of 50. The doll, available for purchase in October, is truly breathtaking. Like her sister doll Black Swan, which Angelic Dreamz is selling, White Swan is based on the ballet "Swan Lake."
"We chose 'Swan Lake' because of its beautiful story and dark undertones," says Gonzalez, who says he is a big fan of ballet, particularly modern. "We also chose 'Swan Lake' because it is a ballet and our dolls, with their incredible articulation, fine lines of design, and mobility, lent themselves perfectly for the grace that is ballet."
Indeed, White Swan looks as though she might dance right into your living room. Like other JAMIEshow designs, she is a 16-inch (41-cm) resin, ball-jointed doll with 19 points of articulation. But she also has some new innovations that doll collectors will really enjoy.
"An added new feature to these dolls is that they have interchangeable feet and come with two sets of feet, one on pointe and the second regular high-heel feet," says Gonzalez. "As a company we are always striving for perfection and design ingenuity. Having feet on pointe that can be interchanged is just one of our innovations. The dolls also wear our new interchangeable rooted wig caps and come with an additional hard cap for wigs. This design aspect is a patented trademark only we produce."
Though the two dolls have the same mold, they are otherwise opposites. As fans of the ballet (or the recent Natalie Portman movie "Black Swan") know, "Swan Lake" tells the story of Odette, a beautiful princess who has been kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, who turns her into a swan. In the ballet, the part of the fair and gentle Odette is danced by the same ballerina who plays the sorcerer's dark daughter, Odile. The vile Odile dresses up like Odette and steals a declaration of love from her suitor. Odette, of course, is the virtuous White Swan while Odile is the daring Black Swan.
“I’ve always enjoyed the story of ‘Swan Lake,’” says Doll Reader editor Kathryn Peck. “It wonderfully lends itself to interpretation, and the costumes are gorgeous. When George approached us with the opportunity to partner with him in offering these two amazing dolls, we jumped at the chance.”
"The way the two are represented in the doll is completely different," Gonzalez says. "The White Swan is dressed in white, which typically symbolizes goodness and purity, and her face-up is also light and soft. The Black Swan is dressed in black, and her dress made of black feathers is coarse. Her makeup is dark, and she has a completely different look than the White Swan."
Doll collectors will agree that these yin-and-yang dolls do have at least one other thing in common: They're both irresistible.

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HOW TO PURCHASE

White Swan, dressed doll. LE 50. $430 (USD). Free shipping for US orders only. An additional shipping charge will be applied to all international orders.

White Swan comes with a certificate of authenticity that identifies her as a Doll Reader exclusive and and will be available for sale exclusively through Doll Reader starting at 12:00 pm (EST) October 3, 2011.

To pre-order the Black Swan, visit Angelic Dreamz.

Here is a lovely video which features the two dolls, the White Swan and the Black Swan:

http://youtu.be/3-LiD9xze0k

MetroDolls "A Gothic Romance"

On Sunday, October 2 MetroDolls held a fabulously successful charity event and raised $15,033. to benefit Autism Speaks.

Event doll from Tonner Doll: