My Dearest Readers,
After a long hot summer that saw one heat wave after another occasionally sprinkled with intermittent flash floods, me and my doll family needed to pause and take a little time off once the cooler weather arrived. That is why there were no posts last month and there has been limited activity on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We were barely able to produce those men's fashion reports, but in doing so, they proved to be good for me in that it forced me to slow down and really concentrate on small details, a direction we've noticed has been capturing the interest of many dolly enthusiasts and dressmakers.
But we were not completely inactive. We were able to muster up a bit of energy to participate in #littlefashionweekfordolls #lfwfd2021 hosted by @artofdollstudio on Instagram. A number of us had fun participating in the eight day event. Personally, this allowed me to rediscover garments I had forgotten about, restyle items into new looks sometimes with different dolls and create a few new accessories. The grand finale of this event with a list of "best of" photos will be announced on October 10. The photos on this page are just a few that we submitted.
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| Charlize finally got boots to match the copper sequined dress she ordered! |
I also took the time to create a detailed excel chart with information on my collection. If you haven't done this, it is a good thing to have. Especially since the beginning of the pandemic, the price of anything related to fashion dolls have escalated. If you have more than a few recently purchased dolls, your collection is probably worth more than you realize. So it's good to know what you have (in detail) and the price you paid. Most of my dolls have doubled or tripled in value...even my $8 play line SIS Barbies! I also note...the year the dolls were created, whether I bought them new or used, in pieces or whole, nude or clothed and any updates (new bodies, repaint...) that I made. I will probably add another column--"current price." It is also good for insurance purposes! Our collections have value!
The girls have been busy collecting information for our Fashion month Spring Summer 2022 reports. Me, I have started work on a series of updated tutorials focusing on Male doll basics beginning with a better classic pants pattern and the variation of the current wider silhouettes in trousers. Eventually we will extend the updates to also include the classic men's shirt and the basic men's jacket. The original tutorials I did back in 2013 were based on the Ken doll fashions. But with Fashion Royalty guys demand more sophisticated fit and construction that aligns closer to men's garments for humans.
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| Dovima showing off the new boots made expressly for this dress. |
While we were on hiatus, two new beauties entered the house. The dolly drought is over!!!
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| Priya |
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| Priya found a dress we had forgotten about. |
Wild Feeling Rayna (who we renamed Priya), who we were expecting around Christmastime. She was stuck on a ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean but finally, FINALLY arrived on August 12. She is absolutely beautiful. On her heels, Wicked Narcissism Eugenia (since renamed Dovima after the 1950's top model) came to us on August 28! She is STUNNING--even more so in person! You will be seeing a lot of her! We are awaiting two more lovely ladies expected to arrive within the next couple of weeks.
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| Dovima shows off her versatility |
For anyone who was getting email notification of posts, as you know by now, Google stopped its Feedburner service as of July 1. There is another email service I am looking into and hope to have that up and running shortly.
I hope all of you are safe. We'll be back within the next couple of days with a men's pants tutorial and then onto Fashion month!
Big hugs,
April and the gang
Hello April, thank you for this wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteIt does me good to read dolly news especially now. I am unable to get back to my creativity. But I am very happy to read you.
I didn't know there was a competition, what is it? How to participate ? I think it is too late. Taking part in a competition would have allowed me to focus on something else to force me to create again. It is not easy at the moment. 😔
Hello Shasarignis. Good to hear from you. I think this is a difficult moment for many people right now. You are not alone! Little fashion week for dolls took place last month on Instagram. It is too late for that particular event, but from time to time there are other events that take place. For example...at times there are "weddings" or "parties" organized by other collectors for their dolls and everyone is invited to "attend." You dress your dolls then post a photo with a specific hashtag. If you want to see what all the other guests are wearing, you type in the hashtag and all of those photos pop up. I have attended a few such events. This "competition" was fun. Most people posted one or two photos. I wanted to organize my posts as daily mini-shows, each with a theme...just like with "real" catwalk shows. Some photos were new, others were from out-takes of previous posts. What was interesting was to see my clothes stand on their own as opposed to tutorials or designer recreations. It was a fun way to get me back in shape and get the creative juices running after a long "drought."
DeleteLots of wonderful movement in a luxurious line. The embroidery set against a black background is both sleek,sophisticated yet whimsical.
ReplyDeleteThank you Olympia for you lovely comment. I'm happy you enjoyed this post.
DeleteRecharging the batteries is always good...lots of gorgeous here, and love the boots. Something I have yet to tackle, except the fur ones I made for the viking costume. Drowning in Halloween here, hoping to get photos finished today---I wonder if anyone realizes how long it takes to set up --fashion shows, dioramas, and just plain photo-shoots. Next project I may clock my time...LOL. Glad to see you up and about, again. I have used FOLLOW IT--which has minimal stuff attached to it, I haven't had complaints and my doll following is growing, thanks to you a few more!! Hugs, Sandi
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandi. Yean, I think at times many of us who have been doing blogs for awhile, suffer from a little burn out, particularly during these difficult times. As time goes on, the content we produce becomes more complex and takes so much more time to produce. I've set up Follow It, but I haven't yet figured out how to export my existing followers. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon. Big hugs. April
DeleteI'm glad you're back. You put beautiful outfits on Fashion Week.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dlubaniny. I didn't win but it was great fun participating. Big hugs. April
DeleteBeautiful and original creations - as always <3
ReplyDeleteThank you Aya. So happy you enjoyed this post and great to be back!
DeleteWelcome back April! I was wondering why we didn't have #dollchat in a while and I thought about reaching out to see if you were doing OK. But, since I saw you posting constantly on Instagram, I assumed you were doing fine.
ReplyDeleteI do agree, the weather has been unbearable. I've managed to post quite constantly, but my projects have slowed down significantly. I'm glad to see that you're back with some fresh ideas and a new direction for your blog. I wouldn't mind updated tutorials on some things you've covered already and put a fresh spin to it. As of this week, I'm giving a try to that technique you showed years ago on how to make a pattern out of an existing garment. We'll see how that goes.
I'm glad to see you back and I'm looking forward to your upcoming projects.
Thank you MC. Stuff just keeps happening which is why I'm still absent on Twitter. Hopefully things will get better. The newest tutorial is a monsterclass....oops I mean masterclass. I'm going to do 2 more of those as there are very few tutorials on men's fashion for dolls. And yes, you are so right, updating many of the other ones I did in the past is a great way to go. I'll be dropping by to see your newest posts shortly. Big hugs. April
DeleteHi Linda-- The tutorial is up and my goodness....that took me much longer that I anticipated. But....I'm very happy with the results. I have about 3-4 sizes of guys and each size has its own set of slopers! This is why I do the tutorials based on draping the pattern as opposed to simply giving out measurements. And yes....it's CRAZY the prices on the auction site even for the older dolls! And I have not even counted in their accessories and clothes! My two new beauties will be here in a couple days. (I'm calling them my early Christmas presents LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very helpful blog post. I really appreciate the efforts you’ve done for the information.
ReplyDelete