"Museum Day" Fashion Design by K Exclusively for R&D

 Rudi Teruel has been selling very limited editions of fashions made by various artists these past few months. They sell out rather fast and he advertises them only on Facebook.
This fashion is called "Museum Day." It came in a long-sleeved version in a red colorway. Originally there was a white ribbon belt and white ribbon straps which I removed. I thought the red belt looked more substantial and the dress obviously didn't need straps so I cut them off.
The quality of the fabric was surprising as is the very good construction of the panel skirt. It's fully lined with a light woven interfacing and all seams are finished. The dress snaps in the rear. Impressive! All this plus overseas postage for only $41.

The bag is a Birkin copy from the Purse of the Month Club and the red sunglasses and shoes are Fashion Royalty.

Below, Vanessa models the previous R&D fashion I received in August.

Wearing the Same Old Outfit!

Going through my photos this afternoon and I thought it would be a good idea to post dolls who have never had an outfit change. 

Elise and Adrian

Sometimes they're just perfect the way they are.

Tatyana

Ollie

Monogram Allure

I lied. I just changed Allure last week. But she stayed this way up to that point.

Monogram Interlude

Face Time Vanessa. Original is on the right.

Intoxicating Mix Vanessa. The one on the left is the original.

Flame Blue Vanessa

Luxe Life Vanessa

Vanessa (the original sculpt) wins. She always has.

I have three other FR dolls who are still dressed in their original clothes. Somehow they escaped my camera. I don't know how.

My only other dolls who don't get changed are my 5 Cissy megaliths and many Silkstone dolls.
I don't play with the Cissy, the Silkstone or any of my Madame Alexander 10" dolls.  I do have some Tiny Kitty dolls who have not had wardrobe changes but that's for another post, maybe.

Do you have many dolls you don't change?

Reviews: Fashion Explorer Vanessa and Poppy Fashions

Fashion Explorer Vanessa is one of the three optional 2014 W Club upgrade dolls and the only one I ordered. Apparently I can't shake the Vanessa addiction completely. She was $130 plus postage.

Let me deal with the sculpt first. She's described as having the Vanessa 3.0 sculpt. I'm still struggling to figure out what the 2.0 sculpt was. It seems that there were several other attempts at a new Vanessa sculpt between DC and now. Half this...half that...I don't get it. 


Could it have been Dress Code Vanessa?

Go back to the original Vanessa.

Make the rest of us happy. 

We don't care if you're bored.

Anyway, the new gal is a pretty doll. There have been many complaints about the screening difference between the left and right eyes. I see it when I look very closely but it doesn't bother me. Her hair, which is long in the back in a beautiful wrapped pony tail, is offset by the boring side curl and an ultra high forehead. A different hairstyle would do wonders.

She is styled awkwardly.
The fashion consists of a boxy, ill-fitting ultra suede top over a sheer mesh bodysuit. The skirt is, as you can see, is a wrap mini in light blue. This is supposed to be a fashion doll and I don't think she ranks up there as well dressed or worth $130.
This is the first time I've seen the revised FR2 body. It's a good body with firm joints. The elbow joints on this doll squeak! 

Her accessories are a huge brown handbag, super tall boots in the same brown, cheap looking sunglasses, irrelevant silver colored bracelets and pin ball studs.

W Club dolls should be the 

very best 

of what's available 

for so many reasons.

Here she shows off her assets:

************

I purchased two fashions from the recently offered three dressed IFDC Poppy Parker dolls. Since I do not collect Poppy dolls, I was hoping that some of my flatter chested dolls would be able to wear them. Success.

This lavender confection comes from a doll called Glamorous Darling. It fits my Monogram Exaggeration perfectly - including the shoes. I am so happy that Poppy has grown up to have normal fashion feet! I hate the articulated ankle on that doll.

The gown is very pretty. The person that sold it to me made the mistake of folding the tulle so it's not draping properly - yet. It will. I'm not going near it with heat. (Been there, done that. Not good.)

Anyway, the only thing wrong with this ensemble is the GLITTER. Sequins would have been sufficient.  Glitter is Mattel's gig. 

Please, no more glitter.

Above is my Mini Avantguard doll, Aphrodisiac, modeling IT Girl. The skirt is a bit loose in the hip area but it doesn't affect the appearance. I wasn't able to get the jewelry or the sunglasses with the ensemble so I added Knife Edge bracelets and IT earrings from some other doll. The earrings came with a bracelet that was way too large for Aphro so I'm thinking they were from a 16" doll. At this point, I have no idea what goes with what and I don't care either.

I removed the bow that was attached to the bodice. It wouldn't lay straight and stuck out too far.

I'm very pleased with both fashions.

W Club Lottery Announced

Looks like there will be plenty of lotteries this year in the W Club. That means that all the cheer leaders will definitely get the dolls they want. And that's the way it goes.
The 'discontinued' tall Fashion Royalty body isn't exactly discontinued. It's being used for the ITBE (Integrity Toys Basic Edition) dolls. When these dolls first came out a few years ago they called them "entry level collectibles." We all laughed at that expression. ITBE have grown up to be basic FR dolls without accessories or fancy fashions. This year their price is $75. each.
It's a good business move to keep these editions at only 300 and do lotteries. This way the dealers don't get their cut and the desire to have them rises because it's a lottery.
The last lottery dolls were so popular, possibly because Isha, Adele and Natalia were the offerings and they don't show up often. In addition, many collectors aren't into the high prices of the FR2 dolls so these bodies are just dandy.

 The IT designers are playing mix and match with the vinyl colors of the characters. Isha was ghost-white while Adele faded and Natalia went darker.

The newly offered ITBE - or Wave 2 as they call it - is another four dolls. Vanessa, Kyori, Janay, and Monogram.

Vanessa is now a black woman with Caucasian features. They're calling her vinyl color A-tone.  Kyori is being called black but I'm not quite sure what it really is.  Janay, a play line doll sculpt, is making an appearance. She is one of Jason Wu's oldest character sculpts and I don't believe she has appeared as a Fashion Royalty doll - ever. She is on the Monogram body and her skin tone is called Miami. Her hair reminds me of the first Natalia doll, Cosmetic Takeover.  
The original Natalia's sculpt was perfection. It did not need updating IMO.
Last is a standard Monogram doll with white skin and silver hair. I like her.

There is something here for most but not everyone will get what he or she wants. I want the Vanessa a lot because she has the Vanessa 1.0 (original) sculpt and where that is concerned, I'm a completist.

In keeping with the fact that these are "basic" dolls, the fashions are not "new" or embellished. They are being repeated in various colors as are the shoes. But it's a fun line. The only problem I see is that if you like all your dolls on the same height body such as FR2, you probably won't be able to find matches for these girls.

***If you are a member of the W Club and are not entering for Vanessa, please contact me. If you win the right to buy her and change your mind, please contact me.***

The Last of the Monogram Dolls?

This doll is called "Interlude." Her fashion (not the bodysuit) is called "Completist." Both were souvenirs from the recent IT convention.

Prior to that, it was announced that the Monogram line is retired. It's too bad because they were some of my favorite dolls. Their faces are beautiful. The line started to falter a bit when the so-called 'basic' dolls were released. Bemused, Envied and Passionate were pretty bad, all dressed the same except for the color, in a too short shirtwaist dress. Those followed shortly after a horrendous MFD exclusive called Exquisite. Her fashion was anything but.
But, when one looks back over the entire line, there are gorgeous suits and gowns and cocktail dresses. Perhaps the dolls were getting over-priced at $160. or did the company focus on the failure of that one season and decide that was it?

Another announcement coming out of the convention is that the designers will now use only 8 sculpts in the Fashion Royalty line: Veronique, Vanessa, Adele, Agnes, Kyori, Eugenia. Elise and Natalia. I think that was a fine decision as I didn't even know who most of the new characters were anyway. Also good, for me, is that I don't care much for the new sculpts of four of the eight (Vero, Van, Adele and Nat.) Their old sculpts were beautiful. But does this mean that Agnes will no longer be considered a special event doll? Who knows?

According to what I'm reading, NuFace will continue but will be on hiatus for a while. No Hommes?
What about Poppy Parker? Victoire Roux? Tulabelle and the giant Poppys?

Looks like IT is cutting the fat. The W Club has also eliminated a liaison, namely Luanne. I'm not so sure she "retired" on her own accord. I'm going to guess that Carol's sister is going to do the liason job now.

At every convention there are announcements of plans going forward. Most of them don't last more than one season in actual practice. Putting Jason's touch back in play did wonders for the convention line. Hopefully they won't forget that.

Integrity Toys 2013 Convention

While I'm listening to the news about a shooting at LAX...a few miles from there the IT convention is taking place. Hopefully it's not causing any concern to the attendees although it is cause for concern that this keeps happening over and over again in the US.

So far the dolls look very nice. This Monogram was a give away in the welcome bag:

Here's a gorgeous 'hair workshop' Elise. I think she's may be the convention winner since the eBay prices are going sky high for her.

Eugenia was the first centerpiece and is styled with a vintage flair. Her hair is gorgeous. I like her grey eyebrows as they don't overwhelm her face.  Eugenia collectors will be thrilled. I understand she's got the new FR2 body.

Looks to me like there is more control over the designs this year...no freaky colors - so far. If everything is black, no one can complain about color.

A Change of Pace

With several new outfits and one new Monogram doll head, I had reason to photograph some 12" dolls this week.
This is Monogram Exaggeration wearing an HJ Couture top, FR pants, boots and jewelry. She's got a smouldering look on her face.

 

Elyse and Kyori, both on FR2 bodies, model VJohn dresses beautifully.  

Last, we have a  Mini-Avantguard doll who is wearing a NuFace fashion. I spend so little time with the IT doll world these days that I can't remember their exact names or the names of the fashions. But I'm very happy with the beautiful dolls I have kept and hope talented designers keep making affordable outfits for them.

2012 - It was a very good year.

In this final 2012 post, I look back over the last 12 months to find what I've actually kept out of the hordes of dolls and doll items that I purchased.

My doll collecting has changed dramatically over the course of the last two years. I started adding Sybarites and other 16" resin BJDs to my collection and continued thinning my 12" doll army. I've focused more on adding more clothing for all my dolls and filled in a few Tonner dolls, outfits and props that I've wanted. I scored 7 Cholo Ayuyao gowns and dresses. I've switched many of my favorite 'older' dolls to new FR2 bodies.

The biggest mistake purchases were impulse buys consisting of mostly Mattel products, not including Silkstones, although I was disappointed with many of the 2012 Silkies. The Monster Highs and several dressed vinyl Barbies were momentary goodies which added nothing of substance to my collection. I wasted a little money on outfits made by other collectors which did not live up to my expectations.  Ultimately, I was surprised at how many dolls I purchased and didn't keep or traded for something else.

Moving was time consuming and very disorienting and I'm just now starting to see a tiny crack of light at the end of a long tunnel.

Instead of posting 'normal' photos of my favorites, I have made Instagram pictures of some of them. Why? Because they're cool, it's fun and I'm bored with normal pictures. 

Sybarites and their fashions played a large part in my collection this year.
Vapore:

Domina:

Neurotica: (Redressed/Rewigged) Actually, she's not dressed at all. She is holding the shrug from a gorgeous SybMonde exclusive fashion, Rosa Gloriosa. Wig by Cheryl Wood. I added several of her wigs this year.

Domina modeling Rosa Gloriosa

Fidele's Fashion. No doll :-( just the outfit-for now.

Venetian modeled by Toxica.

Speed modeled by Talc. It's an older fashion but new for me.

JamieShow
JamieShow Alejandro and the Jamieshow outfit from the Prohibition Event in Canandaigua. He is my first and only male resin BJD and definitely a keeper.

Image by George Gonzalez

Tonner
Tonner's new Precarious sculpt and fashions designed for her were big hits IMO. I purchased two of the dolls and several of the outfits.

Swing Time Fashion (This is not Precarious modeling. It is a TDLM doll)

 

Precarious "Party Girl"

Neo Tokyo from the Freedom For Fashion line

Simplicity Antoinette

Ghost of Christmas Past an older Tonner Re-Imagination doll.

Ficon

"Leonie" (Redressed)

That's it for the big dolls. It feels like there should be more because all of my Tonner's were the first dolls to be packed along with my Gene Marshall dolls. They were packed for almost one year by the time I was able to get them back out of their boxes and into showcases. Many seem new to me all over again. I can stare at the dolls and love each and every one of them. Unloved dolls find new homes.

Integrity Toys' Fashion Royalty, FR2
This is a little more complicated to show as I added very few complete dolls this year from IT's lineups. I kept more fashions than dolls. I even purchased an older Vanessa NRFB so I could have an unaltered version.

Pale Fire Vanessa

I may have mentioned previously that there seems to be a disconnect in the design team. By that I mean that someone in there is a really bad designer and that would be the person that designed most of the recent convention's outfits. That was the worst collection I've ever seen.  However, during the year there were some gorgeous fashions worthy of the name Fashion Royalty. 

I liked both of the convention's FR2 dolls but Dasha's outfit was less than stellar. Elise was totally gorgeous.

Escapism Elise

Infallible Dasha redressed in VJohn

Of the other three FR2 dolls released in 2012, it was mainly the fashions that interested me.
Tatyana's red dress.

Nouveau Regime Tatyana

I finally broke down (like that's difficult) and purchased Opium Ayumi. Her outfit looks better in person than in pictures.

Opium Ayumi

My favorite fashions all year were Main Attitude Adele Makeda's suit

Integrity Toys' Photo

Your Kind of Model Kesenia's outfit

Modeled by re-rooted True  Royalty

Monogram Admiration's suit

Integrity Toys' Photo

 My favorite dressed Monogram was Allure

Integrity Toys' Photo

From the Victoire Roux line, I kept only the outfit from Place Vendome. Vanesssa looks stunning in it.

These outfits are keepers. Now if I could find the perfect male doll to wear them. These four photos are all Integrity Toys' images.

Silkstone "Walking Suit" was my favorite new Silkie.

Favorite new prop is Byers' Choice Caroler Display Accessory.

There is more but you are probably snoring already.

Companies have to stop going backwards with the quality and appearance of their products. When this happens, the perceived value drops and collectors will search out other items.