Having a Barbie Moment

Angelica wearing Silkstone Ekaterina's outfit and Tarina Tarantino wearing a Poppy Parker outfit.

Victoire Roux, Parisian Fashion Model

Integrity Toys is populating their new IT Direct branch with four stand alone dolls that use previously seen sculpts and a new line called Les Silhouettes Collection. I couldn't help but think of Michel Couture Hayworth's  Flavia, Grand Duchesse de Beauharnaise. when first reading Integrity's  titles and the description.

Here is the description from IT:

Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Victoire Roux Dressed Doll
Les Silhouettes Collection

When Christophe Marquis first invited Victoire to visit his shop and review his first collection, sales were a little slow. The war had taken its toll on everyone in Europe, except Victoire Roux that is. No matter what, she had always made it a point to stand proud, never let herself go and always look her best to help boost everyone's morale. In other words, she resisted the invader with glamour and flair! Of course, the minute she walked in, she spotted a few outfits she liked, switched a few things over, added her own twist and voila, every sophisticated Parisian socialite was suddenly whispering about Monsieur Marquis' little shop on Avenue Montaigne. Fashion history had just received its first victorious shock treatment, Victoire Roux style! Costumes are designed to fit most 12-inch fashion dolls. Includes outfit, shoes and accessories.

Avenue Montaigne
Doll Costume
Les Silhouettes Collection

My photo shows Victoire without her cropped yellow jacket. I added the cigarette holder. The Avenue Montaigne fashion is on the mannequin. It comes with a hat and a longer pair of the potholder gloves seen on the table. 

Victoire uses a former Dynamite Girls sculpt and the Vampire body. Luckily she does not have fangs or at least she's got them retracted. She has removable hands but does not come with extra hands. The face-up is very attractive and she has applied lashes. The period hairstyle was done expertly and will last forever as it is rock hard. I like it that way.

Available only at the convention these items were priced at $125 for the dressed doll and $75. for the separate fashion plus tax of 9%.

Tatyana Alexandrova ~ Exceptional

When I saw this doll's outfit, I wanted it. I did not like any previous Tatyana release so I thought I'd be selling her head. Well, she is staying. The only thing I want to change is the dark lines which were painted between the outer edges of her lips. It just doesn't belong there and does not help the doll or make sense at all.

I Photoshopped the lips and I am quite pleased with the difference.

Here she meets the Rudettes:

The handbag she is carrying below is a Purse of the Month item from a while back. When I saw the handbag that came with in her box, I thought that the gal from whom I purchased the doll had enclosed a gift for me. I did not think the purse came with Tatyana because it did not make sense color wise. But then I looked at the promotional photo and from the side, it's the same bag. It's no wonder the promo doesn't show the face of the bag.

I absolutely love the dress and the fabric. The design is embroidered onto the fabric. The shoes are great and the hat is cool. She comes with a wonderful ring and earrings with a pumpkin color stones. The factory actually came very close to good bangs on this doll.

Seen on the Pink Parlor: Convention Dolls

Today Johanna aka Stinker's Stuff posted gorgeous photos of three of her convention dolls. I had to share some of them here with you. Johanna made all the dresses.

Her original post is here.

Have you visited Johanna's website? Grab a cup of coffee and get looking!

Review: Air Apparent and FR2 Vanessa

Air Apparent uses the new Veronique sculpt (aka Fauxnique.)

The gown is gorgeous and very well constructed. You really have to see it in person to see the details. The bodice is embroidered and incorporates tiny pearls. The skirt swings out in the back from a sharply pleated front with a slightly ruffled peplum type extension.  It's wonderful. The shoes are embarrassing compared to the dress. They are squishy plastic with a crappy piece of folded ribbon in a crappy faux buckle. This was a mistake - possibly intentional judging from the other shoes on the other FR convention dolls. One of mine broke already and I didn't even care. This fashion needs killer shoes because you're going to be able to see them all the time. When I think of the scores of gorgeous shoes my gowned dolls are wearing under long dresses....I think I'm going to steal something for this doll.
Personally, I'm not a fan of this sculpt and I would rather it were the original Veronique. I'm planning to replace her head.

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Evermore Vanessa FR2 was a surprise to all of us.  The real Vanessa sculpt was used for this "Official FR 10th Anniversary Celebration Doll.  At first I was sure it was the Fauxnessa sculpt painted to look like Vanessa. There really isn't that much difference between them.  She has collectors asking if we will continue to see the real Vanessa used on FR2 dolls in the future. The answer has not been revealed.

 I was too lazy to use an appropriate backdrop for this raven-haired doll and the other black-clad doll. I do not recommend using black in back of black in most cases.
I love the FR2 body and she's got killer shoes which, of course, can't be seen under the gown. The necklace is nice. She's got a cool ring. The earrings are ridiculous. Can you imagine a person wearing something like that?
I'm on the fence about the dress. The pattern-maker did not fit the bust properly and there's something off with the gown. The cups are empty because they do not 'hug' her body.  The overall picture is of a beautiful doll that is missing a WOW factor. It could be the hair. Imagine if she had hair styled like that of Fine Jewel Eugenia or styled in some other, more feminine, softer style.

I hope the ginormous eyebrows go away soon. They are getting so huge and close together the dolls are liable to have a unibrow soon.

This is Night Warrior Vanessa whom some say Evermore resembles.

Review: Point of Departure Eugenia Giftset, Erin and Ayumi

The Point of Departure Eugenia Giftset has a few fine attributes. First of all it was included in the price of attending the convention. Segments were given to attendees at each meal function to fill the empty box given at registration. The last piece was the doll herself.

This is a beautifully screened Eugenia wearing a well-fitting 2 piece bathing suit in apricot. Matching plastic shoes, cute cats-eye sunglasses and a big straw hat complete her ensemble. I decided to pass this segment on to another collector as I already have several gorgeous Eugenias and I am being "good."
Another segment of the set is this yellow pants outfit. It consists of yellow capri pants with working pockets and tiny buttons at the hem. The sleeveless, cropped top has lovely white embroidery. I am keeping this.

Sadly, the shoes were not made properly and need to be rubber banded to stay on. This is the case with two other pair of the convention's plastic heels, including the blue ones seen in the last part of the giftset.

The white bodysuit fits like a dream; the skirt is a nightmare. First of all I think it would fit my Sybarite's big behind. It is poorly designed and doesn't work with the jacket which is also poorly fitting. There are too many things wrong with these blue pieces. They just could have given us a slim fitted skirt and it would have made a delightful suit but no...it had to have a little bow and balloon hips. Most women do not look good in stuff like this and neither do dolls. If Miami Glow Vanessa can't make it look good, no doll can.

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Erin Salston and Ayumi Nakamura are now part of the Color Infusion line. (Formerly NuFace, formerly Model Behavior.) Erin was the centerpiece doll. Sunset Rave Ayumi was the table gift.

Erin as Psychedelic Splash is dressed in a totally sequin covered mini dress over fishnet tights. She is wearing very nice black suede-like boots which have blue ribbons and tiny zippers. She's got a bunch of bracelets and dangly earrings. The overall look is excellent. Construction is also very good except the problem is that she cannot put her arms down due to the bulk created by sequins and seams under her arms. Hello out there...is anyone listening? This happens often. Change your construction techniques. Would you wear clothes with so much underarm bulk that you could not put your arms down?

Ayumi is absolutely gorgeous as far as color goes. She really fits the description Color Infusion. Her facial screening, her skin tone, her hair color and the color of her garments work beautifully.  She's got wonderful underwear that matches her shoes. A nice touch. Her shoes need to be held on with rubber bands.

I adore her outfit - a minidress with a sequin-covered skirt, a barely there satiny top and a gold fabric belt.  It fits and looks great.

 Both dolls have "Barbie" hair. It comes in a big flattened frizzy-ended mass inside the hairnet. Their hair needs conditioning and possibly trimming and reperming.