Something I both love and hate about Mattel

Have you ever noticed that some of Mattel's cutest outfits come ON the actual doll?  In order to get these cute outfits, you have to buy the danged doll!  Look at some of these!  These first two are the new Fashionistas that are currently available.  No joints, flat feet, but cute clothes.  These two are my favorites.

These are Fashionistas in the Spotlight, from a few years back.  Artsy, on the far left, is my favorite, but there isn't really a loser in the bunch.

I have no idea who this little coppertop is, but I love her cotton candy-colored dress!

Fashion Fever Makeup Chic Really Raspberry (left) and Perfect Peach (right).  There were four dolls in the Makeup Chic line and all were lovely, but these two were my favorite outfits.

  

Fashionistas Sweetie, from a few years back.  I thought this purple dress was cute, but I didn't want to buy the whole doll just to get it.

Fashionistas Nikki, from the line that brought us freaky-colored highlights.  This getup would look good on my Beyoncé doll.

Fashionistas Swappin' Styles Cutie, who utilizes one of my favorite color combos:  yellow and pink.  The colors were much brighter in person.

Red Carpet Barbie, clad in yellow.

Life in the Dreamhouse Summer, with her rainbow stripes.



One of my favorite vintage getups came on Hair Happenin's Francie, Barbie's uber-Mod cousin.

I couldn't find a non-copyrighted picture of the Fashion Fever Tokyo Pop series, but here's a link.  All four of them were epic.  And don't get me started on the United Colors of Benetton dolls.  There was a wave in the 1980s and a wave during the Fashion Fever run.  Being a passionate fan of UCB, I like all of these. 

Barbie isn't Mattel's only cash cow, of course.  Monster High also has plenty of cute odds and ends...odds and ends that came exclusively with a doll and could not be bought separately.  My favorite example of this is the Dot Dead Gorgeous line.  Y'all know how I love polka dots!

Unfortunately for me (and mercifully for my pocketbook), the only character that I DON'T have is Abbey, or I would've gotten all six!  It would've been cute to have seen some separate outfits with the polka dot motif, though.  That way these chicks would still have had some options without leaving the theme.

Or how about Dead Tired?  So far the only way to get MH pajamas is to buy one of these dolls (or make your own, which is also a good idea).

I don't know how well you can see those slippers, but they've got little monster faces on the toes!  Again, though, it would be fabulous to see some of these outfits marketed separately.  I personally would like some pj's for my MH girls, but I don't want to add another doll to the clan in order to do it!  The same is true of swimsuits;  it's possible to get swimsuits from Skull Shores...

...Gloom Beach...

...and the three Swim Class waves...

...but all that would be a hefty little chunk of change!  LOL, I can see why Mattel does this, of course.  They want to make money, and what better way to sell a doll than to put her in a cute, unique outfit.  That's business.  Unfortunately it is bad news for poor college students like me, folks who usually don't have two cents to rub together.  Loose Monster High clothes are fairly easy to come by since a lot of folks like to customize MH dolls, but finding a specific outfit is just a hair tricky!  Can't hurt to look, though.

Yours truly,

RagingMoon1987