4/28/2009

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.

 
 

4/27/2009

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.

4/24/2009

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.