Dolly Dress Discussion: Hello Kitty Barbie clothes

Follow-up post to the one that I shared about Christmas crap, since it IS Black Friday.  Hopefully y'all are either going to work or staying home and eating leftovers instead of trying to kill each other over a sale on something that'll go on sale after Christmas anyway.  Anywho, if y'all hearken back to last post you'll see that I shelled out some money for Barbie-sized Hello Kitty clothes.  If anyone does decide to try shopping today and you're in the mood for some new Barbie threads, these might be for you.

Okay, just the tops are marked "Hello Kitty," but what good are tops without goofy-looking bottoms?  Anyway, I have my models picked and they'll be showing off what these pieces are like, but first...well, since it IS a Dolly Dress Discussion I'll have to review these first.  I am facing a slight problem since I have two bottoms but three tops, but I'll work that out somehow.  I do have one slight reservation about these pieces, by the way.  Sanrio has a whole host of characters, but these boxes only show three:  Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Chococat.  First of all, I've never heard of Chococat, and indeed he's a new character (dating from 1996) compared to Hello Kitty (1974) and My Melody (1975).  I can live with that since I think Chococat is adorable.  But where are some of the OTHER characters, some of the more obscure ones like Keroppi (whom I love) and Badtz-Maru (whom I also love because he reminds me of Oscar the Grouch and Tardar Sauce)?  Badtz-Maru might be good for some Ken clothes, since he's got an attitude and he's marketed towards both males and females?  Who knows, maybe Mattel and Sanrio DO have something like that in the wings.  If so I'll be greatly pleased, and if not...well, I'll see it as an unfortunate missed opportunity and enjoy what I've got instead. The Hello Kitty pieces consist of these three tops.

Going from left to right, the My Melody top is done in a shade of baby pink floral jersey knit, with a single sleeve.

The pink fabric is printed with...wait for it...POLKA DOTS!!!  I love polka dots!  Or did y'all know that already?

On the front is a printed image of the one and only My Melody, in a pink hood instead of a red one.  She is surrounded by a ring of multicolored flowers.

Adorning the left bottom hem is this faux knot, done to look like the tail of a crop top.

The cuff of the single sleeve is turned back and sewn into place.  This looks cute, but it proved to be problematic as we'll soon see.

The collar and the hem of the dress are both honest-to-God hemmed rather than serged, but the ends were cut close.  This also turned out to be problematic, but the hems are holding together.

The back is held closed with that staple of Barbie clothes, Velcro.

The kiddie book that I had showed My Melody with a red hood (as do some other pictures), but most of the images I've been able to find show her wearing a pink hood so this shirt is accurate. That did make finding a bottom to match a bit of a tricky task, but I'll discuss that when I come to it.

The next piece is a t-shirt, of which there are not enough in the Barbie world.  I'm always happy to get a simple t-shirt, and this one's a cute one.  It's your basic crew-neck, short-sleeved t-shirt with a cute print.

Such a bright, happy shade of red!  I already know who I want to wear this, but first things first.  Of the three shirts this one is the busiest, with images of Hello Kitty printed all over.  Most of the images are simply outlines done in black, with some of the outlines having more detail, but a few are colored in fully.

This top is the only piece that is printed all over, and to my delight the back is printed just like the front.  The back also closes with Velcro.

The edges of this top are hemmed, but again the edges are cut a little too close.

That takes care of the second top, so now it's time for the third.  I'm not sure yet if this is a top or a dress, and I won't know until I try it on someone.

As I said in the last post, this particular top looks eerily like Sailor Moon's magical girl uniform.  They're not exactly the same, but the color scheme is there.  Since Sailor Moon and Hello Kitty are both Japanese creations a little overlap here and there would make sense, but I digress.  Like the other two tops, this one is made of stretchy knitted fabric and is of a Hello Kitty theme, but that's where the similarities end.  The sleeves are mere tank top straps, rendering this top more revealing than the other two.  Also, instead of a whole character being printed on this top, only Hello Kitty's face is printed on, with her eyes, nose, and whiskers being present.

The left shoulder is also embellished with a sparkly red bow, done to simulate Hello Kitty's hair ribbon.

The bottom of the top is either a skirt or a peplum, and it's made of royal blue fabric.

To my complete surprise, this skirt is not hemmed like the other pieces are.  Notice that the raw edges are hanging loose.  This was done intentionally and it looks cute, but it still surprised me.

Adding to the confusion are the hems on the neck and armholes.  They ARE hemmed, in a becoming dark blue thread that ties the whole getup together.

Once more, these hems are cut a little short.  The back closes with Velcro like the rest of the tops do.

The two skirts that I grabbed were not marked Hello Kitty on the packaging, but they were on the same shelf so I grabbed them.  The polka-dot skirt is a jersey pencil skirt, while the leopard print skirt is made of a smoother fabric and has a little more poof.  Both of them have elastic waists.

Very simple, yet very cute.  Now to my models.  As I learned during Tressy's review, the color red looks very nice on my Zig and Zag Fashionista, so Deb gets the red top.  I paired the polka dot skirt with this just for the heck of it.

Best picture I've ever gotten of Deb; she can be hard to photograph.  Anyway, clothes that fit all four Barbie body types are usually marked as such, but these Hello Kitty threads are an exception.  They are not marked for any particular size, but this particular pairing fits Deb's curves with minimal fuss. I do have to work with the top a little to get creases smoothed out, but the Velcro closed with no problems whatsoever.

The skirt is elastic and made of stretchy knit fabric that slides over Deb's hard plastic legs.  This would've been a nightmare if I'd tried it with Ami, who has vinyl legs, but Deb has plastic legs so no problem!

Finding a model for the pink top proved easy as well.  I have a My Melody Barbie who came without her original outfit, so it makes sense that she'd get the top with My Melody on it.  Here's where I had to improvise with bottoms.

I have a couple pairs of Barbie Basics jeans that are not being worn, and since Basics and Melody share a Model Muse body I was hoping to find one of those pairs of jeans.  Obviously I did not find the jeans, because Melody is wearing a red skirt instead.  The skirt is yet another of those separates that I'm so fond of, and at first glance it does not appear to match the top.  As I noted above, the dominant color of this shirt is pink, right down to My Melody's hood, but notice that the ring of flowers also has a few bunches of cherries thrown in.

This combo is really pushing the mix-and-match theme, but I guess it works well enough.  Key words:  I guess.  I'm not really satisfied with the this combo, and I'm not happy with the next pairing either.  But first things first.  Remember those hems that I talked about earlier?  They're cut so short that they like to turn inside out.

The sleeve also does this.  Not a huge deal, but it annoys me some since I'm OCD about how my dolls look.

Now to the promised next pairing.  The quasi-Sailor Moon outfit is indeed a top and requires a skirt or pants of some sort.  I think it goes without saying that I gave this one to my Sailor Mercury doll, Ami.

Thank goodness Ami's boots and choker match the blue peplum, because the choker doesn't come off and the boots are all Ami has to wear on her feet at the moment.  Her feet are too bizarrely shaped to go shoeless, and while I do have shoes that she can wear, they're all occupied at the moment.  Anywho, I think this top is a little too revealing for Ami, but it fits her well.  Ami's body is thicker than Melody's (though not as thick as Deb's) so I had my doubts.  As it turned out, I had to pull a little to get the Velcro closed, but not a lot.  See how it joins together perfectly?

Despite these hems being cut shorter than those of the pink top, they do not turn inside out as badly as the pink top's hems do.  Maybe it's because Ami's top fits closer than Melody's does?

I'm just not feeling that yellow skirt with this top, though!  Nor do I like the way the skirt looks on Ami's muscular frame.  Maybe if Ami and Melody switch skirts it'll go better.

Yeah, I think I like that better.  The wider red skirt flatters Ami's hips more, and the sparkly red material matches Hello Kitty's bow.   Similarly, the yellow and black skirt brings out the yellow flowers on Melody's top and it doesn't play up her skinny build like that full red skirt did.  So I had to play with these pieces a bit to find the perfect (or near-perfect) combinations, but finally finding the right ones made it worth it.  Plus, I finally found the perfect top for that cute red skirt!  That particular skirt is yet another individually packaged separate like the other two skirts are.  It has always been one of my favorite pieces, but I couldn't find the perfect top to go with it.  This black-and-white striped top works pretty well...

...but it also reminds me a bit too much of the stock outfit that Ruby Red Floral wears.  See?

Not a bad combination, but still I don't want Ami and Junko to be too matchy-matchy, even if they ARE a cute pair.  Different shoes are a must for Ami if I ever want her in that outfit again, by the way.  Good thing Monster High shoes fit!

One of the pitfalls I listed about these little separates is the cost.  Each piece is about two-thirty American, and they're packaged in cardboard boxes that undoubtedly drive production costs up.  However, Barb the Evil Genius wisely noted that Sanrio is likely getting a cut of that money (hence the upped price), and the pieces are more well-made than some of the Mattel outfits I've got in the past.  Barb also has noticed (as have I) that the baggies Mattel has been using are easy for some thieving varmint to bust into, so perhaps the boxes are a smidge more theft-proof?  Then again, if someone is heck-bent on being a tool, they'll find some way to accomplish the task no matter what the boxes are made out of.  Based on the factors of quality and overall cuteness, I think these would be nice little stocking stuffers for fans of Barbie and Hello Kitty.  If any of y'all are planning on doing Black Friday suicide attempts shopping then these might be something to add to the list.  EDIT:  it just so happens that the separates packaged in little baggies are actually more expensive than these Hello Kitty duds.  So I need to shut face about prices.  LOL, thank you Emily N for pointing that out.

Not that I recommend going out on Black Friday at all, that is.  If y'all don't have to, stay home, warm up some leftovers, and enjoy any family that might still be in for the holiday.  And for God's sake, be careful on those roads if you DO have to travel!  There was an awful accident up in Madison County, Illinois on Tuesday, and three beautiful young women got killed.  Two sisters were in one car, and the third girl was coming home from a school trip to Chicago, one that she and her classmates worked hard to raise money for.  Twelve others got injured, including two that are still very sick.  I didn't know anyone in that accident personally, but it hit me hard because it was so close to Thanksgiving (the third fatality actually died ON Thanksgiving, in fact), and because the three fatalities were all so young!  So if y'all have to be out on the road this weekend, be smart.  Don't engage in road rage or drive over the speed limit (like Second Uncle did when we went out to eat yesterday), wear your seat belt (even though that didn't help the two sisters), and keep an eye out for drivers who aren't as careful.  As for me...well, I'm not sure what I'll do.  I got the day off today and I need to work on next week's Throwback Thursday post, but other than that I have absolutely ZERO plans.  Certainly I have none that involve travel or shopping!  LOL

Happy (crappy?) Black Friday,
RagingMoon1987

Stuff for Christmas (early again!)

Ah, the joys of holiday shopping!  I say "holiday" in this case because most of the shoppers I ran into today were Thanksgiving shoppers, with some Christmas early birds thrown in.  I swear, it was almost as bad as Black Friday today, with the amount of people that apparently waited until the last minute to gather everything they needed for a decent Thanksgiving dinner.  Granted, there were not crowds of people pushing in on me from all sides, there weren't lines of goofballs sitting in the isles waiting for things to go on sale, and I didn't have to swear at or push anyone like I usually do if I have to partake in Black Friday.  Hey, if they're pushing me I'm going to push back, and if they use dirty language with me I'm going to throw it right back at them.  Sigh...I think I can understand now why some people refuse to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving at all now, because it's all so cotton-pickin' commercialized.

Now, time for me to be a hypocrite!  One paragraph I'm moaning about over-commercialization and the next I'm showing off some of the neat stuff I saw.  Yep, it's not even time to put up the Christmas trees yet (my family always waited until the first Saturday in December to put our tree up), and the local Super Wal-Mart has some new stuff already.  Not a ton, but enough that I took some pictures.  I saw these My Life dolls before I even got to the toy section.

These are pretty impressive, though I have to say that looking at their bare little arms makes me shiver.  Just a faux fur wrap wouldn't be enough for me.  That shade of blue though!  Christmas-themed dresses tend to be red, green, gold, or silver, so seeing this pale blue is a pleasant change.

Funville seems to be having more fun with the Sparkle Girlz, as when I went by their shelf there were more interesting hair and eye colors to be seen.  Clothes aren't as interesting though, as this young lady reveals.

Apologies for the glare on her eye, as I was in a hurry to get that picture.  This doll has green eyes, interesting bicolored hair...and (sigh) a painted on top.  Her skirt is a separate piece, and the top can be easily concealed by any of the numerous Sparkle Girlz fashions, but I do hope this doesn't mean that Funville is cutting quality to cut costs.  This was the cutest of the current Sparkle Girlz, by the way, and I was sorely tempted to take her with me.  However, I already have a storage problem at home so I decided against it.  I've already got three Sparkle Girlz anyway.

Meanwhile Hasbro appears to be ripping another page out of Mattel's book with these larger dolls.  I only saw Mal from the Descendants line, but she may be only the first.

Notice that the box says "fully posable."  I wonder if that's some sort of advertising ploy to put these larger Descendants over those jumbo Barbies, which are NOT fully posable.  Maybe so and maybe not, but it's interesting to see Mal in a larger size.  I won't be bringing one home because I like my Barbie-sized Coronation Lonnie too much, but Big Mal was still an interesting find.

Meanwhile, what's Mattel been up to?  Well, they've been focusing on their cash cow Barbie again, with some new sets that appear to be an attempt to compete with MC² dolls.  The first Barbie puts a heavy emphasis on building rather than STEM/STEAM projects...

...but check this next set out!  Astronaut and space scientist!

Great, the return of the blandly painted Asha head, though this Asha probably wouldn't wear much makeup to work anyway.  Scientists usually have more important things to worry about than makeup.  How do y'all like that, though???  I was smitten with space and astronauts when I was a little girl, and I would've dug this set!  I'd have loved the builder set too, since I loved Legos.  I wonder if the building blocks that come with the builder are Mega-Blox, by the way?  That would be fabulous if they did, since there were Mega-Blox Barbie figures once upon a time.  I also can't help wondering how well these will sell.  The builder set might do well since it's got some add-ons...but as awesome as I think the concept of the space set is, I have my doubts about it.  As much as I love the concept, it appears to be just a pair of dolls with some plastic add-ons.

Mattel does have something else to tickle my fancy though, and I did come home with some of these.  They're Hello Kitty-themed clothes!

Well okay, those top two are just Barbie skirts, but look at those cute little tops!  Two have Hello Kitty on them and the one on the left has My Melody, who was a special part of my childhood thanks to a small book entitled My Melody's New Bike.  I'm not sure if the rightmost piece is a top, or if it's really a dress.

It looks eerily like something Sailor Moon would wear.  I may have to get Ami in on this when I finally get around to discussing these outfits; yep, I plan on doing a Dolly Dress Discussion for these.  I advise caution when seeking these out, as they're pricey:  I paid a little over two bucks a pop for each piece.  Why Mattel wants to charge that much for a little piece of clothing is beyond me, but part of me is fairly certain it has something to do with that danged box.  This packaging is WAY fancier than that of the other Barbie separates currently available, and that may not be a wise move on Mattel's part.

With that out of the way...I have no idea what plans we have for Thanksgiving this year.  Mama, after years of cooking the food, has flatly told Second Uncle that she is not under any circumstances cooking this year unless it's something simple.  So it looks like we'll be eating out...but where is still up in the air.  Mama has laid two options before us:  go to Ryan's, or haul Grouchy Great Aunt over to the nursing home and eat with Grandma.  I don't have many problems with either option, except that Option Two involves fetching Grouchy Great Aunt and listening to her harp about how the car smells like dog, how Mama and I have both gained weight, how Mama and I need to get our hair out of our faces, sit up straight, take small bites of food, and wear long skirts, how Second Uncle needs to gain weight and get a job (which he does), and...y'all get the point.  Grouchy Great Aunt is not pleasant to be around, so I'm half-hoping she'll say no and we can eat at the nursing home without her.  Since this Thursday IS Thanksgiving I'll probably postpone this week's Throwback Thursday blog (it's not ready yet anyway) and do it next week.  That'll give me some time to throw it into shape.

Happy Thanksgiving,
RagingMoon1987

Finally...clothes for Blossom Flowerpot!

When I was eleven I made the transition over from collecting Beanie Babies to collecting Barbie and other dolls, and one of the key reasons why was because Beanie Babies are pretty static.  Oh sure, they're cute, but that's about it.  They don't have any hair to braid or clothes to change, and when you've seen one you've seen them all (this is especially true for the teddy bears).  Furthermore, I love being able to switch things around, so it was a pretty easy transition over from stuffed animals to dolls.  That being said, I've spent a considerable amount of time moaning and groaning on this blog about how certain dolls don't have a lot of clothing options.  I've already touched on the difficulty of finding decent clothes for Moxie Teenz and modern-day Bratz, and clothes for Moxie Girlz are becoming few and far between as well.  In this blog post I lamented the fact that Lalaloopsy clothes were becoming difficult to find as well...until the next wave of new dolls came out!  In addition to some very cute new members to the Lalaloopsy family there were some very cute new outfits as well.  After the new outfits were introduced prices on the old ones got slashed (or they did in my area), so I took advantage of that and bought my Blossom three new outfits.

Outfit number one is a pajamas set, which MGA has made plenty of for Lalaloopsy dolls.  In addition to the one I've got they had this one, this one for the boys, this one, and this one (the last two are fairly new).  There's also a cute little bathrobe, which I think counts as a pajamas set.  My set is NONE of these; it's this one.

I absolutely LOVE this outfit.  It's made of terry cloth so it's soft and cuddly, and if it gets dirty it can be washed (gotta love the durability of terry cloth).  It also has POLKA DOTS, which I love.  And to top it all off, it's white polka dots against a blue background, kinda like clouds!

A trifle washed out, but I believe you get the idea.

The seams have hot pink piping, which looks awesome with my Blossom's pink hair.  The front seam also has three round, white, nonfunctional buttons.

If I recall correctly, these buttons were pink in the promo pics.  They were also hearts.  I wonder why MGA changed it?  Why must doll companies always do that???  Oh well, it still looks cute.

Back on track.  The sleeve cuffs are bright orange with more pink piping.

Of particular notice is the feet; these are feet pajamas, but the feet on these look like little slippers.  So cute!  Or rather, SEW cute!

They have orange ribbon straps, and the slipper-looking part is hot pink with darker pink polka dots (more polka dots, yay).  The soles have the rubber grippy bits, which I think is a cute little touch.  We can't have Blossom slipping and falling down!  LOL

Here is what Blossom looks like in the outfit.  She looks comfy!

The best thing about this outfit is that it covers Blossom's leggings.  Blossom has painted on orange/white striped leggings, and these won't match all of the outfits that MGA has for Lalaloopsy dolls.  They would've matched here thanks to the orange cuffs, but the pajamas cover them so no worries.  The worst thing about this outfit is that it restricts Blossom's movement.  This outfit fits pretty close in places, and sometimes the fabric gets caught up in the joints.  If you own a large Lalaloopsy like this then you know that Blossom is not the most poseable doll to begin with; just shoulder joints and hip joints (and a swivel head, but it's not affected by this outfit).

Outfit number two is one of the swimsuits.  In my last Lalaloopsy-themed blog (okay, here's the link again, haha) I discussed the merits of the new swimsuit and the design flaws of the older one.  So guess which one I ended up with?

This is the older swimsuit.  Remember that the new one has an inner tube.

LOL, talk about eating crow!  Frankly I was so desperate to give Blossom a halfway-decent wardrobe that I really didn't care about the reviews on Amazon.  After all, it was mostly kids that had problems with those fiddly little ties.  I am not a child, and I've spent my life tying fiddly little ties into sturdy little knots, so I bought the swimsuit.

Anyways, let's take a look here.  The swimsuit itself is orange and pink, with pink ruffles on the top and skirt.  The top has one ruffle layer and the skirt has two.

The fabric is a stretchy knit, and it feels a lot like Spandex.  It definitely has a swimsuit-y feel to it.

The top was one part that a lot of folks had issues with.  It is a halter top made out of dark pink satin ribbon, and if tied into a bow it will slide apart easily.

So I tied it in a knot.  Problem solved!

The shoes are plastic, but otherwise match the swimsuit.

In this case the laces are also pink satin, and they are very long.  In order to get Blossom to wear these the laces must be criss-crossed like ballet slippers.  These ties also require knots.

Lastly, there are these cute little water wings.

They're blue with white polka dots (!!!).  The material feels water resistant, but I'm not sure if it truly is or not.  And frankly, I don't plan on trying that little idea out.  By the way, these are difficult to slip over my Blossom's hands, so that time Amazon hit the target.  Or it did in this case.

These had huge tags sewn on them, by the way, so big that I clipped them off.  With that, here's Blossom in this outfit.

Normally I would've taken her outside and posed her by the pool for a pic like this, but it's November and the pool is closed!  I love how this outfit frees up Blossom's joints though, and I love how the colors match Blossom's tights.  Whoever would wear tights to the beach is anyone's guess, but it's still cute.  The shoes are cute, but I'm not in love with the ribbon ties.  That's something I can deal with, but it gets fiddly after awhile.  I also worry about how well this fabric will hold up over time.  It feels a little flimsy.

Now, third outfit!  This is the newest one; I got it on the same day that I got Katniss and Miss Kite.  It is a party dress, or something in that vein.

It looks a lot like the dress that Pepper Pots 'n Pans (another Lalaloopsy character) wears.  They're not exact matches, but still close.  This dress looks simple, but looks are deceptive.  The fabric is pink and white gingham with silver threads shot through.  The silver gives the dress a cheery sparkle.

The skirt is pleated:

...and the bodice is gathered.  It looks like it would stretch, but it does not.

In addition to the tailoring details there are several different types of trim.  The hem of the skirt and the sleeves are trimmed with one of my favorite fabrics, white eyelet!  Above the eyelet is a cute red ribbon with white polka dots.

On top of all that, the sleeves have red satin bows.

This dress comes cute little Mary Jane shoes and molded white socks.  The bow is painted white.

They are the same as Blossom's factory shoes, just with a different paint job.

Here's what Blossom looks like in this dress:

Shucks, I halfway wish that I had a Pepper Pots 'n Pans doll to sit next to her!  Of the three new outfits I think I like this one the best.  It looks the most like Blossom's default dress, and it looks country-ish and springtime-y, which fits Blossom's character.  It's full of cute little details, and it even has sparkles!  Oh, and the trim has polka dots too.  The one fault I have with this dress is that it neither matches nor fully covers Blossom's painted stockings.  That's hard to see when she's sitting, but they definitely show when she's not sitting.

Luckily for me, this doesn't bug me much.  I'm just glad they're not full-length, like some other Lalaloopsy dolls.  Picking Blossom Flowerpot as my favorite Lalaloopsy was definitely a smart move!

Before I wrap up this review I want to note that Lalaloopsy clothes, or at least the ones I have purchased, are of very good quality.  The fabrics that MGA uses feel substantial (with a possible exception of that Spandex swimsuit, but then again Spandex NEVER holds up), each of the outfits are dripping with cute little details like buttons or ribbons, and they're all sewn well.  Even that swimsuit is sewn well; the Spandex (or whatever fabric that is) may not stand up to the test of time, but at least it won't be falling apart at the seams.  If you have one of these dolls, I highly recommend that you go out and get some new duds for her if you haven't done so already.  And if you purchased one of the boy dolls...well, I hope there are some more boy outfits available besides that pair of skeleton pajamas!

I'm definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for more outfits for Blossom, but three is enough to keep this dolly glutton satisfied for now.  My mother said that Blossom needs a coat for this winter and I agree with her, but I can wait.  Instead I'm going to try to focus on finding outfits for Tristen (my Moxie Teenz doll) and particularly for Sophina (my Moxie Girlz doll).  If you follow my blog regularly then you know how I've bemoaned the lack of accessories and clothes available for Moxie Teenz.  As for the Girlz, my Sophina came dressed in a very basic little nightie and bare shoe-feet (she was a Dollar Store doll, if that tells you anything).  She looks cute, but I feel sorry for her not having anything cute to wear, so I want to find something else.  Both Moxie Teenz and Moxie Girlz clothes are difficult to find in my neck of the woods, and since Moxie Teenz are discontinued I want to put together a nice wardrobe for my Tristen.  She's too pretty to be a single-outfit non-entity!

Lastly, I'm going to set the stage for the next topic.  I have a new outfit for Meygana, and it's cute but it's got a very minor problem.  Okay, in my eyes it's a pretty big problem.  It may bug some of you too, or it may fall under the "oh whatever, Moony's just nitpicking again" category.  Either way we'll talk about that next time.  I wasn't assigned any homework this weekend so next time may be tomorrow.

Happy Black Friday,
RagingMoon1987