Liz in The Garden

There has been surprisingly wonderful weather here in Yorkshire as of late, just the kind we enjoy. Warm and sunny, with a bright blue sky dotted with puffs of white clouds, and just the slightest hint of a cool breeze. Doesn't that paint of lovely picture?

Now, imagine a blonde girl with shiny golden pin curls framing her face, in a butter yellow summer dress. She's running about the garden in her bare feet, her fair skin turning red from the sun. Her blue eyes are filled with wonder as she roams about the colourful flowers. A dream-like atmosphere ensues, with only the slightest of sound and a blur of beautiful scenery.

I'm feeling rather descriptive today, can you tell? (:

-Brooke

Wizard of Oz

Cali's most recent post got me thinking, so today I took out the Dorothy costume!

Mia and Ivy played "Wizard of Oz!" with me. Ivy was the Wicked Witch/Elphaba, Mia was Glinda/Glenda, and I was Dorothy! We had so much fun playing together.

Brooke took a lot of pictures! She thought we looked so cute she set us up on display! :)

Ivy wanted to be Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West! She is wearing the Friendly Witch outfit from American Girl.

Mia is wearing the Melody Valerie Precious Pink Party Dress. Her cape is a scrap of pink fabric that we've had lying around forever. It is really pretty with flowers and beads sewn on.

I'm wearing a handmade Dorothy costume, I'm not sure if it would be considered couture or not.

It was so much fun!

Finally there was post about me on my blog! Lately the blog has been very off topic and about couture, stop motion, other dolls, etc. Sorry about that!

~Avery~

The insanely large couture list

Notre extrêmement longue liste de couture.
Les morceaux de couture que nous voulons, dans aucun ordre particulieret, pourquoi nous les voulons.
(Our extremely long list of couture. The pieces of couture which we want, in no particular order, and why we want them. Sorry, my French is a little off)
This is the very, very large mater couture list. We will definitely not be getting everything, if anything, from this list. This is just the "dream list" of things we like.

"County Charm" by sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs

photo credit: sdls275 auction photo
This dress is perfect for the pioneer days! It comes with a lot of things, like the dress, apron, shawl (not shown), and bonnet. I love the pattern of the dress.

1910's style for Rebecca by sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs

photo credit: sdls275 auction photo

This is an amazing dress! I love the pleating and dark wool contrast. The hat is adorable!

School dress and coat for Emily by Keepers Dolly Duds

photo credit: Keepers Dolly Duds auction photo
An adorable ensemble for Emily! I love the checkered pattern of the dress and the criss-cross detail and buttons (on back of dress, not pictured). The coat looks so thick and warm!

Summer #2 "In The Spotlight" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
I love this outfit! I think it is very trendy and looks like something real girls would wear. I like the fact that it is casual, yet dressy.

Spring #7 "Cammi and Cut-offs" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This outfit is perfect for being outdoors! I like how there is a lot of mix and match potential.

"Blue Plaid" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This outfit is simple, but I think that it is adorable! It is great for the summer heat.

Spring #5 "Boho Dress" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This dress is very chic, and I love the pattern. Paired with some leggings it would look amazing!
update: I think this dress is now sold out

Spring #8 "Purple and Silver" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This fashionable ensemble is gorgeous! I love the color combination of dark purple and silver.

Summer #1 "Summertime Chic" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This design is fabulous! All the pieces in this outfit look great together, or on their own.

Spring Line "Alice in Candyland" by Melody Valerie Couture
photo credit: Melody Valerie Etsy stock photo
This dress is very stylish! The plaid fabric is adorable, and I love the signature bow!

Recreation of Felicity's Town Fair Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
This dress is perfect for Felicity! All the detail is beautiful. It looks just like her retired town fair dress, too.

Recreation of Felicity's Work Gown by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies Dressmaker stock photo
Another recreation dress, this one of Felicity's retired work gown, which I like better than the original! I love color, it would look great with Felicity's eyes.

Illustration Creation: Felicity's Blue Striped Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
This dress is seen frequently in Felicity's books, yet AG never made it? I think it's one of Felicity's core outfits. I love the pattern and the ruffles.

Felicity's or Elizabeth's Striped Purple Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
I love the color of this dress, and the little bow and ruffles are too cute!

Illustration Creation: Kit's Orange Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
As seen in the book "Kit's Surprise". The pleating is great, and the pocket, belt, and ribbon bow detail really make the dress. It's a nice warm, cinnamon orange color which is lovely!

Illustration Creation: Kit's Flannel Dress and Apron by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
Also seen in Kit's Surprise, this blue plaid flannel dress is great for when the weather turns a little chilly. The buttons adds the finishing touch. Her apron is made out of vintage muslin-type fabric.

Illustration Creation: Molly's Purple Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
Seen in the book "Meet Molly" this lovely dress is perfect for the 1940's. I love the color, sleeves, collar, lace, and button detail, so basically everything!

Illustration Creation: Samantha's Green Floral Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
Seen in the book "Samantha Learns a Lesson". I love the collar and gimp trim on this dress, and the pattern with small pink and yellow roses are precious!

Illustration/Movie Creation: Samantha's School Uniform by Terristouch















photo credit: Terristouch Etsy stock photo

This dress is perfect, and just like in the movie! I love the flannel fabric and detailed pinafore.

Blue Floral Halter Dress by The Doll Closet
photo credit: dollcloset Etsy stock photo
The perfect summer dress! The blue and white floral pattern is really fun, and I like how the dress is halter style.

Combination Outfit: Peasant Top in Sky Blue by The Doll Closet and Distressed Denim Jeans by Liberty Jane Clothing

photo credit: Sitara and The Couture Review, dollcloset Etsy stock photo
A very cute 70's inspired top in a lovely pattern paired with denim jeans, what could be better? I love the distressed detailing the jeans and the colors in the shirt.

These aren't exactly couture, but they're handmade needle felted small animals, the perfect size for AG's to use as toys. I like the elephant, hedgehog, and bunny. The elephant is a OOAK, but you can get the hedgehogs in a girl, which has a bow, and a bow, which doesn't. The bunnies also come in 4 different colors, white, light gray, dark gray/black, and mixed white and gray. Aren't they cute?

photo credit: BeneathTheRowanTree Etsy stock photo

And, that's it. Well, isn't that a lot of couture?!?!
I will definitely not be getting all if it. I'm not sure if I'll even be getting any! It's fun to dream though...

None of the photos are mine, most are stock photos from the couture websites, auctions, or listings. I posted a "photo credit" beside each picture and linked to the place where I got the photo to let you know whose it is.

-Brooke

Let's break down the poll

The couture designers poll is now closed, and let's see the results! There was a total of 34 votes over the course of a few weeks.



-Liberty Jane was the first choice, and 11 of you voted for Cinnamon and the gang! That's 32% of the votes, almost 1/3!

-Melody Valerie was the second option. A whopping 55%, over 1/2, of you voted for Melinda and Melody!

-DolliesDressmaker got 9 votes, which was 26% of the total. That's over 1/4!

-sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs received only one vote, 2%.

-Keepers Dolly Duds also only received one vote.

-Damsels-in-Dress got 1/5 of the votes with 7 votes and 20%.

-Terristouch was another favorite with 14 votes and 41% of the total. That's over 2/5!

-Other couture designers came in with 6 votes and 17%.

So, according to my readers, here's the rankings, most popular to least.

Melody Valerie, Terristouch, Liberty Jane, Dollies' Dressmaker, Damsels-in-Dress, Other, and sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs and Keepers Dolly Duds tied in last.

Now that the poll is over, what did you all think? Were the results predictable, or did they surprise you?

What surprised me was Dollies Dressmaker only got 9 votes. Cindy's designs are some of my favorites, and I thought that Dollies Dressmaker would be in the top 3, but it placed in 4th.

Terristouch coming in 3rd also surprised me. I thought that we wouldn't get as many votes as they did.

Melody Valerie winning was no surprise, I was thinking that either MV, Liberty Jane, or Dollies Dressmaker would come in 1st.

Thanks for voting!

~Avery~

Melody Valerie Dresses

Brooke here:
Guess what arrived today? The dainty dots dress and precious party dress from Melody Valerie! It was a pleasant surprise because I wasn't expecting them to come until maybe Monday or Tuesday. It was a very fast ship! The dresses came in very large, fancy boxes with sprigs of lavender and a hand written note, it was very professional and impressive. I am so excited, the dresses are absolutely beautiful! I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase. They're not just pretty, they're excellent quality as well. Avery quickly claimed the asymmetrical pink dress for herself and Erin, who has been quite neglected these days, is the main owner of the stunning yellow dress.
I can't get over how gorgeous these dresses look! I prefer them to most of the dresses American Girl makes, that's how great they are! The pictures I've taken don't do them any justice.

The dainty dots dress is made out of a light weight cotton fabric. It is a lovely butter yellow color with small, white polka dots. The finishing touch is the signature Melody Valerie bow. The ruffles and gathered sleeves are perfect. All the little details come together to make a gorgeous ensemble, and they compliment each other so nicely! This dress is the essence of spring. My favorite part is the pale yellow of the fabric, it looks so nice with Erin's blond hair and chocolate brown eyes.


The precious party dress in candy pink is just as beautiful and high quality! The bright pink fabric and all the ruffles are so fun! This dress has a lot of personality, so it's perfect for Avery. The sash really makes the dress! The cream ribbon has pink stitching all down the sides to tie in the main color. The dress also has the signature bow on the side, which is the perfect touch. The gown has snaps on the shoulders so your doll can just step into it. I love that there is no Velcro on either of these dresses. It gives the feeling of a "real" haute couture dress.


Thank you so much to Melinda, Melody, and all the girls at Melody Valerie Couture! Your work is amazing! My dolls and I LOVE our new dresses, words can't describe how happy we are with them! :)


-Brooke
~Avery~
and
*Erin

We did it!

Brooke took the plunge! She finally convinced herself (with some help from me) that she should order the 2 dresses she wanted from Melody Valerie. The Precious Pink Party Dress and the Dainty Dots Dress should be arriving here soon! :) I'm looking forward to seeing them in person. From all the photographs by Melody Valerie, The Couture Review, Starr, and The Doll Wardrobe, they look lovely!

I can't wait until they arrive! I'm excited to see who will be the main "owners" of the dresses.

On another note, I've been watching the Samantha movie on youtube. I haven't got a chance to watch it, so it's great seeing it online! The quality is great. It's uploaded in short segments, but I'm glad to watch the movie, finally!

~Avery~

What will happen once we get...

Uhhhh, I'm so bored! I can't think about what to post about, because nothing is really happening right now.

I keep trying to convince Brooke to order the Melody Valerie precious pink party dress and the dainty dots dress. She won't budge, saying it's "too much for just a doll dress" and "we just got something for Kit!" and all those kind of things. We need to get those dresses though, before they sell out! If they're gone, Brooke will be kicking herself, complaining, and I really don't want to deal with that! :P So, I keep pestering her and telling her she needs to order, and soon! I don't think she can hold up much longer. In fact, I think she'll break tonight. I have a plan ;)

What I've been thinking about though, is who will get the dresses once they arrive? I don't think it's quite fair that the historicals get their own sets of clothes, but us modern dolls are expected to share everything. Of course, others will get to wear the dresses too, but there will be primary owners. I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about...
All the modern dolls here are: Marsiol, Gia, Jess, Nicki, Mia, Sonali, me, Erin, Sierra, and maybe Jasmine, but she's been living in the 1930's lately.
I'm pretty sure that Gia, Nicki, Mia, and Jasmine won't have the dresses. I hope I'm able to own one, since I'm the one that's convincing her to order!



~Avery~

Vacation, Couture Plans

By the time you read this, Brooke will be on vacation 3-5 of July. Being the resourceful girl that I am, I've found a way to post, even on the days she's not here! How, you ask? Scheduled posting, that's how!
Go to your post options when posting (at the bottom of the text box), then change the date and time to when desired. That's when you post will publish! Pretty "nifty", huh?
I won't be able to reply to any comments though. When there's no Brooke, there's no Avery. It's sad how much us dolls depend on humans... anyways!

Well, now that I've figured this out, I don't know what to post about :P
Couture is all that's been on my mind lately, and all I can think about posting about. I'm sorry if it's boring you, and getting repetitive! I never thought of myself as so fashion oriented. But now, I'm really getting into all of this!

Well, we've been drooling over so much stuff! But now, we have a plan:
We're focusing on getting the limited edition outfits now, while we can. We recently got Kit's Blue Bell Dress, and just in time before they sold out. We're going to get some modern outfits first, since their limited. We're planning on getting:
1) Melody Valerie Dainty Dots Dress
2) Melody Valerie Pink Party Dress
3) Liberty Jane Spring #7
4) Commissioned Liberty Jane outfit, similar to Summer #2??? (maybe)

Then we'll move on to historical things:
5) Ruthie's orange dress
6) Samantha Learns a Lesson dress
7) Nellie's floral Dress
8) Emily's purple dress

I'd post the pictures, but I just did in a post a few days ago.
We're not sure if this is the order we're getting them in, but for now this is it. We're probably going to order the Melody Valerie things once Brooke gets back from vacation. There's only one left in stock of each, and we don't want them to sell. Brooke says she won't order them until we're back because she doesn't want them to arrive when she's gone. But I know the real reason is she can't decide/justify getting 3 couture pieces so rapidly.

Well, there will be 2 other scheduled posts. One on the 4th and one on the 5th. Keep in mind I'm not actually online, so I can't read blogs, comments, etc.

Talk to you later,

~Avery~

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.

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.

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):

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

Nellie:

Emily:

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:

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.

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.

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!