Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Doll couture-It's addicting! New JLY releases

No joke, doll couture is addicting. Thanks to the wonderful doll couture blogs (The Couture Review, The Doll Wardrobe, Damsels-In-Dress, etc.), Brooke and all of us dolls have officially been sucked up into the couture world! The thing we like is that the hand made doll couture items are really better quality than the outfits from American Girl! American Girl used to be a great company, but now the historical outfits have gone way down hill. Modern, JLY, and GOTY things are still okay, though. But where are all the details in the historic outfits from the Pleasant Company days gone?


We like way too much stuff :P As of right now, we haven't officially ordered anything. But we're looking at quite a large amount of outfits, which include:



Liberty Jane outfits by Cinnamon Miles are amazing. Yes, they're modern, but so adorable! We want to order Spring #7. I know I've already posted these pictures, but just for reference again. THESE PICTURES ARE NOT MINE, they're from Liberty Jane Ebay listings.Summer #2 is sold out, but once Cinnamon gets back from vacation she says that she'd be more than happy to work something out with different fabrics for a similar outfit.
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The other modern outfits we like are from Melody Valerie Couture. You can visit their Etsy here.
We really like their Pink Spring Party Dress and Dainty Dots Dress. There is only one left of each, so I don't think we'll get them. They're really pretty though!



There's also a lovely dress for Kit that heritage4 from AGPT is taking commissions for. The blue in the fabric goes perfectly with her lovely blue eyes. THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE, it is from heritage4 and modeled by her Kit.






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We're also looking at some Dollies' Dress Maker outfits by Cindy Hernandez. THESE ARE NOT MY PICTURES, they're form the Dollies' Dress Maker website. We're looking at some for our Olivia (PM Samantha):


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You can read about this dress at The Couture Review by Sitara's Sonali, here.









Nellie:



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Emily:



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Poor Emily only has her meet outfit for period clothing! We're looking at this dress, but we're not sure about the color with her ginger hair and blue eyes.






and Ruthie:




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Kit and Ruthie want a few other outfits too. I seem to find a lot of clothing from the Sam and Kit's eras that I really like. Here are the extra outfits for Kit and Ruthie. The pink one I believe is Damsels-In-Dress by Jean Marie (the link to her blog is at the beginning of the post), but I'm not positive. The other brown dress I have no idea, but it's beautiful. These ARE NOT MY PICTURES, they are FarmHouseGirl's from AGPT. Her custom Ruthie with brown eyes is modeling.



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We're also thinking about giving Ruthie an eye swap so that she has brown eyes instead of grey. I think that if she had brown eyes, she would look a lot better, and be the *real* story illustrations Ruthie. One of my next posts will be about custom dolls.



Here's a dress I like for Samantha. I have no idea who makes it either. THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE, it is FarmHouseGirl's. It is modeled by her Rebecca.
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Doll couture is slightly expensive, but in my opinion, it's worth it too pay a little extra for something hand made in the US. That is the beautiful thing about having a job, you have spending money! Being a kid, relying on allowance and odd jobs to make purchases doesn't work out too well. We're definitely not getting all of these outfits, at least not right now. We're not even sure who sells a few! The plan is to try to get a couture item for each doll, mainly the historicals, and build a wardrobe of high quality, hand made items. It could take a while, to say the least! But, yes, we're addicted now. Hey, at least we're not addicted to drugs or something :P Another thing is that AG released some new Just Like You items today! Not exactly couture, but as we're on the subject of clothing, why not!? I'm not sure about the new releases. Here's my opinion on the things, sorry if I sound a little harsh:




Photographer Outfit: Very cute, but it needs a shirt under the blazer! I also don't like the beret. I wish the camera came with it. I really like the blazer, it is adorable.



Flutter Flower Outfit: I like the top and shoes, but the skirt is weird. The gatherings are funny... I do like the colors of this outfit, though.



Honey Puppy PJ's: Adorable! I like the leggings that come with it. They look very comfortable.



Wilderness Outfit: I love the top portion. The shirt and vest look great. But what is up with the pants? I don't know if I like them or not. The print just doesn't look right. The shoes should have been brown, not black.



Petal Hoodie Outfit: I love this one, it's my favorite! I'm pretty sure I'll be getting it. The hoodie and pants don't look too tight, and have mix and match potential. A very decent price, too.



Tap Dance Outfit: This looks basically like Marisol's tap outfit. Marisol will be glad to hear that, since we weren't able to get this for her. Overall, it looks pretty cute.



Jazz Dance Outfit: Again, looks a lot like Marisol's. The thing is, it really isn't a good outfit for practice or preformance. And are those purple jazz shoes? Marisol will most likely be getting this.



Sparkly Angle Costume: Pretty cute, and I like that it can be used for Halloween and Christmas, although they're two totally different holidays. Down side is that the wings don't come off, so the dress can't be used separately.



Bowling Team Set: I like the colors in this outfit, they're bright and fun. I wonder if you can order replacement part bowling pins and balls to make a bowling alley :)



Soccer Star Set: Not 2-1 anymore, but for the same price, which is too bad. I like the green/black combo. It also comes with a trophy and certificate, which I like. What I find interesting is that we ordered the old blue and white soccer outfit a few weeks ago, and instead of the white and blue ball it was supposed to come with, it came with the black and white on in this outfit...hmm!



Sporty Scooter: Kind of weird looking, if you ask me. Brooke just saw an infomercial about a human sized version of this a while ago.



Pet Portrait Studio: Over-priced! They do have a picture of Paris though! The camera should have came with the photographer outfit.



School Lunch Set: Again, over-priced! You get a plastic sandwich, applesauce, a cardboard raisin box, and a lunchbox. You could get a really nice AG or couture outfit for $28 instead of this.



Salon Chair: Basically the same as the old one, only blue instead of pink. You can get the same thing at Target for the Our Generation dolls for like, $20 vs $60.



Salon Station: Pretty expensive, but I think it's cute. I like the little extra things that come with it. I really don't think that the 9-year-old dolls and their target age owners should be this concerned with makeup and appearances though.



School Desk Set: I really like this! I think the price is reasonable, and it comes with extra things. If wish we had somewhere to put it. It's backordered until July 24th already!



Starry Doll Carrier: Pink, starry, it is what it is. Very expensive just to tote your doll around in.



Hair Care Kit: Comes with some good doll hair essentials. Kind of pricey.



Hairstyle Helper: Basically hair ties and clips, which you can get at the dollar store, in a fancy case-thing.


There's also Dress Like Your Doll and Bitty Baby things, but I don't feel the need to review those. I would have actually put the pictures of the outfits in my post, since I find that a lot easier than clicking links, but it I had so many pictures already, and that's 20-or so pictures saved on the computer that we never get around to deleting. Sorry for the excessive linking, I just needed to give credit to the people's photos. Another long post with lots of pictures!



~Avery~


PS: Look at the time! It is 3:46 AM!

12 comments:

  1. Hmm...I still like some of AG's things. What I don't like I don't have to get.

    The beret is one of my favorite parts of the Photographer outfit. I love berets, and I think that's because I don't like doing too much with my hair. ;) However, I think the blazer would look better with flaired jeans as opposed to khakis, but that's just me.

    What I don't like about the couture outfits is that it's mostly Paypal only. Paying with PayPal sort of confuses me. I might get one Liberty Jane outfit someday, although I've been drooling over Dollies' Dressmaker outfits for much longer.

    ~Sophie

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  2. I don't like the beret since it looks a lot like Ivy's and I don't think it goes well with the reddish orange blazer and brown pants, since it's like a magenta color. I do like berets in general though, especially the one from the sight seeing outfit. Pairing it with jeans would be really "fetching" :P

    I hope you're able to get a Dollies' Dress Maker or Liberty Jane outfit. Right now, we're basically just drooling too, and haven't ordered anything.

    Paypal confuses me as well. Luckily Brooke has it slightly under control.


    How are your travels?

    ~Avery~

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  3. Thanks for the comment about the song =) I went ahead and deleted it!Thanks again!

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  4. I agree with your reviews! Sitara really loves the school set because of the math book. Apparently it is the cutest doll thing that she has ever in her life seen...sometimes I really worry about her. I mean, a math book?!?

    About Ruthie's brown dress, I asked Sitara and she said that when she was on AGFMB, she asked FarmhouseGirl and Farmhousegirl said that the dress was made by a seller who does not sell any more. :( The blue one came from a Salt Lake City doll fair.

    Random: Sitara loves your "girls of Mondale" list. She says the "last name, first name" reminds her of her bio teacher, and she looks like she's going to cry--ok, gotogo!

    ~Sonali/Sneakers

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  5. I REALLY want the honey dog Pj's!

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  6. Your title for this entry is very true.
    I love the honey pjs and the desk. The salon stuff makes sense, as it would appeal to their target audience. I agree about the funnily gathered skirt. It's kind of funky looking. And I agree about the tap outfit being a clone to marisol's. I don't see why AG made the angel outfit. It seems to have some appeal, but not to me.
    I like all the outfits you showed pics of!
    Here's my suggestion on what to buy, if you are planning to. Unless you will be making a purchase soon or want a historical outfit, wait for the next melodie valerie couture outfits. That could be a while, though...

    I looked for a pic of emily wearing purple for you, and here it is. It's a different shade, and not the best pic, but I still think she looks fine. NOT MY PIC! A note: I love that purple dollies' dressmaker dress!!

    http://www.bydreama.com/store/WsDefault.asp?One=811

    Sorry for such a long rambling post.

    ~Lisbeth

    P.S. I noted kind of in the poll 'cuz I like this layout but preferred the old one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for all the comments everyone!

    14OldFashionDolls,
    You didn't have to delete it, I was just mentioning that.

    Sneakers,
    Brooke is in love with the little math book too. Something is seriosly wrong here! I'm not the biggest fan of math!
    Thanks for the info about the brown dress. Perhaps we'll commission something from another seamstress. Or, perhaps we'll just let it be. One less couture outfit, which is good and bad in a sense.

    Brooke thought it mirrored a boarding school type list. I'm glad you like it! Poor Sitara, does she miss her teacher?

    Hope you're having fun in California!

    S.S.N.G.,
    They're really cute! I like them a lot too.

    Lisbeth,
    I'm glad someone agrees :) We're just kind of drooling right now, but not making purchases quite yet. I can't wait for the next "round" of Melody Valerie! Thanks for the picture, it is great! Thanks for voting in the poll.


    ~Avery~

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  8. No, no. You got me thinking, and I appreciate that! =)

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  9. Bre is getting all into doll couture too! She has a few Liberty Jane outfits and she's in love with all the other sellers you mentioned. Funny thing is that she loves to buy stuff for us, then complains about us being better dressed than her. =P

    A lot of the new AG stuff is okay, but I agree that some things are too expensive! I like the honey PJs... Bre and I agree that I should have them. She's thinking about the photographer outfit for separates.

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  10. 14OldFashionDolls,
    OK then, glad I could help! :)

    Wendy,
    Oh yeah, I remember Quinn was in the Scene Stealer outfit in the Birthday Post a while ago. It was really cute! We haven't gotten anything yet, but the things are all so pretty. Brooke's the same way. She can't justify spending $20 on clothes for herself, but she'll get us an outfit is a heartbeat! I hope you're able to get Honey PJ's, they would look so cute on you! We like parts of the Photographer outfit. Using it as seperates is a good idea! I love the little blazer, but it really needs a shirt. Luckily we have a spare black and white shirt here, so we'll see.

    ~Avery~

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  11. Yes, Sitara misses her teacher. I don't really understand why since all he ever seemed to do was say that his students were "spoiled suburbanite yuppie spawn" and sabotage their lab experiments. But then Sitara can be weird.

    Congrats on getting Kit's dress! You're now officially a couture addict. ;-D
    ~Sneakers

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  12. Hmmmm, "spoiled suburbanite yuppie spawn", that's quite intersting!

    Yes, we're addicts now. Welcome to the club!

    ~Avery~

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