Dolly Dress Discussion: Spring duds for Barbie, part 2

Part Two of my Spring-themed dolly dress haul!  This post sort of picks up where the other left off, with retro dolls wearing some new old stuff.
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OUTFIT #7:  Best Buy #1354 in sizes for Barbie and Skipper, 1978
MODELS:  Twist 'n' Turn Stacey, Val (early Malibu Barbie), another TNT Stacey, and Living Fluff
DESCRIPTION:  Like Fashion Avenue I'm quite fond of these old Best Buy dresses, as they appear to have been a good way for some little seventies girl to flesh out her doll's wardrobe without spending a ton of money.  Regarding these particular dresses, I usually put one of these on P.J. so that she and Fluff match, but P.J. is wearing that Fashion Avenue getup so Flip Stacey volunteered to wear one.  And whatever one Stacey does, the others like to do too.  These are simple slip-on dresses with strappy sleeves and ties at the waist.

Fluff's dress is constructed a bit differently, with a bodice that's not terribly unlike the bib part of a pair of overalls.  This dress also has a tie, but it doesn't wrap around the waist like the bigger dolls' dresses do.

One of the interesting things I've noticed is that this dress appears to come in at least two variations.  Val's dress is brightly colored (not unlike a package of Fruit Stripe gum), while Ponytail Stacey's dress is more muted in shades of lavender, salmon pink, magenta, and lemon yellow.

Adding to the confusion is Flip Stacey's dress, which is the same color scheme as Ponytail Stacey's but in a lighter shade and with wider white stripes in between the colors.

Normally I'd just chalk this up to fading and go on with my life, but A, the colors on Flip's dress are very even for a fade job, and B, Fluff's dress matches perfectly.

So I'm not sure if there are three color variations here or if two of these dresses just faded very evenly.  I don't guess it matters much, but I'm still curious.  It was not uncommon for vintage Barbie outfits to have a number of variations (check out Best Bow for a good example), and indeed another version of this dress appears to exist, one that's even paler than Flip's dress!
PROS:  These are simple, retro, and brightly colored, perfect for my Mod Squad here.  The material is also soft and stretchy, perfect for these old, curvy TNT bodies.  Lastly, I like that the fit can be adjusted by virtue of those sashes.
CONS:  The back seam of Val's dress is coming undone.  I suspect that this may be age-related.

I can mend Val's seam, but I can't fit the bizarre fit of Fluff's dress.  This is hard to describe in words and hard to photograph, but I'll try.

Doesn't something look off to y'all?  I can certainly testify that it's hard to adjust the fit of this dress.  No matter what I do to it, it's baggy.  Maybe it was meant to be worn over a peasant top?
RATING:  9 out of 10.  Minus one half-point for that seam coming undone (just a half because I can fix it), minus one half for Fluff's ill-fitting bodice.  None of these outfits came with shoes, but I don't think any Best Buy dresses did so I won't dock points in that category.
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OUTFIT #8:  Swirly Cue, 1968-69
MODEL:  Farrah (another Malibu Barbie)
DESCRIPTION:  This is one of my all-time favorite vintage Barbie outfits.  I'm a big fan of the Mod era, and this outfit is as Mod as they come.  Unfortunately all my other Mod dolls have been shown already, so the not-so-Mod Farrah ended up with it.  Maybe I'm weird, but I see Barbie's Mod era as having ended with the debut of the Superstar head, thus why I consider Val a Mod doll and Farrah a not-so-Mod doll.  But then again, just about any doll is capable of looking decent in these older outfits.  Anywho, Swirly Cue is a very typical fashion for the late sixties, being a Pucci-style minidress with little pleats at the hem.  The bodice has darts, something that few doll dresses have nowadays, and the back...THE BACK ZIPS!!!

I own exactly one other doll dress that zips, and that dress belongs to Infinity A. Byss.  All my other doll dresses (including my handful of vintage Barbie items) snap, Velcro, or hook closed, and some just slip or tie on.  This dress also came with its own shoes; I think the proper shoes for Swirly Cue were pink closed-toe pumps, but mine has era-appropriate "pilgrim" shoes like what my P.J. usually wears.

This dress also once came with earrings, but mine are MIA.  No biggie, since most of my Mod-era dolls don't have pierced ears anyway, AND since Twist 'n' Turn dolls are apparently some of the worst about getting green ear (according to Barbie Bazaar, anyway).  Reproductions are available if I ever want any.
PROS:  When new this dress came with accessories, and though mine is missing its earrings it's good to know they existed.  The fabric is very sturdy, which is good because that factors into the main problem with this outfit.
CONS:  There are a few age-related pulls and thin spots, with the worst one being these tiny holes on Farrah's left breast.

I'll be attacking that with some Fray-Stop so it won't get worse.
RATING:  9.75 out of 10.  Minus one quarter of a point for age-related wear, which I knew existed when I bought this dress.  Y'all really can't beat these old Barbie clothes.
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OUTFIT #9:  boxed fashion, 2018
MODEL:  China (petite Fashionista #25 "Blue Brocade")
DESCRIPTION:  Green has always been my favorite color, but I nurse a special fondness for blue as well.  In fact, I've been actively seeking out blue doll clothes lately.  I prefer the darker shades but I'm not picky, and I'm particularly pleased to see other colors besides hot pink being used. The bodice has sparkly polka dots on the front AND the back.

PROS:  Uh...it's BLUE!!!  I also love the elegance of this, and the full skirt that makes China look a little bigger than she really is.  Oh, and did I mention that the bodice has polka dots???  It's very hard to go wrong with polka dots.
CONS:  China is petite, and "petite" means petite all over, including the bust.  China's chest doesn't quite fill out this bodice.

It's not that bad, but I thought I'd mention it.  No, the worst thing about this outfit is that it didn't come with shoes. 
RATING:  8.5 out of 10.  One point docked for a lack of shoes (this is slowly becoming a theme) and half for the loose bodice, which I have to keep pulling into place.  That's not THAT bad, but it does get frustrating after awhile.
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OUTFIT #10:  Still another boxed getup, 2017-18.  I call this one "the one with the saxophone."
MODEL:  So In Style Baby Phat Chandra, who coincidentally looks a lot like China
DESCRIPTION:  It's the saxophone outfit that I got so excited about!  I've seen Barbie play the piano, the guitar, and the violin on plenty of occasions, but I don't remember EVER seeing a saxophone included with an outfit.  The dress itself is a blush-colored empire-waist with gold glitter on the bodice.  The skirt is ever so lightly ribbed.

I find it ironic that in China's entry I spoke of being glad that less pink was being used for Barbie, and yet here's Chandra modeling something pink!  But as I said above it's one of my favorite shades of pink, and it's NOT hot pink like so much of Barbie's nineties wardrobe was.
PROS:  The color of this dress is stunning.  I gripe often about the overuse of pink in Barbie's wardrobe, but this is a shade I absolutely love.  And then there's that saxophone, which I'm delighted to have in my collection.
CONS:  Once again, this outfit didn't have to come with shoes.  I got these shoes from Yesteryear Finds USA, an Etsy shop.  They're the perfect mix of pink and gold, a color that I don't ever remember Barbie shoes coming in.

The proprietor of Yesteryear Finds requests that those looking for Barbie shoes kindly send her a message and she'll try to find the shoes in question.  Her shop can be found HERE.
RATING:  9 out of 10.  Minus one point for no shoes...again.  Good thing I was able to find a decent pair of shoes elsewhere, or Chandra would be like Natalie was yesterday.
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OUTFIT SET #11:  I call this one the "rockin' red" set.  Dates from 2017 or 2018
MODELS:  Minnie (left, petite Fashionista #81 "Cheerful Check") and Norelle (right, original Fashionista #82 "Chic in Chambray")
DESCRIPTION:  Last ones, I promise!  I originally wanted Norelle to wear the saxophone dress for a rather convoluted reason, but she couldn't hold the saxophone as well as Chandra can so I put her in one of these instead.  Anywho, Minnie is wearing a red and black plaid dress that comes to her knees, a black faux leather jacket, and her own stock shoes.  Norelle is wearing a gray graphic T-shirt with red trim and a matching pleather skirt (I hate pleather), plus a pair of black heels from one of the add-on packs.
PROS:  These are mildly edgy for Barbie clothes, taking on a slightly punk or rocker flavor rather than the glamorous or earthy styles that have been prevalent.  It's always nice to see Mattel going off in this direction.
CONS:  No shoes, dammit.
RATING:  9 out of 10.  Minus one point for a lack of shoes...again.  At least that purse looks like a convincing purse; so many of Barbie's purses don't look like purses, or they're omitted altogether.

I had plans to include Licca-chan in this as well.  Yeah, I know the title says "Barbie," but Licca has a nice new dress that I'm dying to show off.  Unfortunately for Licca, I'm in the process of rebodying her...and the blankety-blank body STILL hasn't made an appearance!  It shipped three weeks ago...not one, not two, but three, and it's not here.  I'm getting her an Azone body, and I wanted to unveil it here, but how can I unveil a body if it's not here yet???  The late, great Tom Petty wasn't lying when he said the waiting was the hardest part, though I doubt he was waiting for a parcel to come in the mail.

So I've whiled away one day and seventeen hours of my three-day Facebook block with these two posts...now to come up with something else.  LOL, whatever it is y'all will be the first to know.  If the admins at Facebook don't chill out I may tell them to sod themselves and find some other social media site to terrorize.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987