So random, November '24

Thank you, sweet Jesus, the election is OVER!!!  We won't have to do this madness again for another four years!  Recap of the month starts on October 29th with a study in opposites. 

Sachi is a fashion doll (albeit an unusual one) and Geneva is a baby doll.  Hot Looks didn't have a lot of success, and Real Baby...I think she did.  There are plenty of 'em out there if one knows where to look.

October 30th.  The work day was winding down, the weather was getting rough in the Great Plains, and the day's dolly mail was peeved at Ryan Hall's listeners.

Okay, Chou Chou was peeved.  Raspberry Herbert was trying to console her.  For context, Ryan Hall's viewers were divided on how to pronounce El Dorado, Kansas.  Even the locals couldn't agree if it was "El Do-RAH-do" or "El Do-RAY-do," and much eye-rolling was done by Chou Chou...and admittedly, by me.  Usually the locals know how to pronounce a location!

Later on that evening Herbert and Chou Chou were joined by Mama's Barbie.

They're not as cantankerous as they look, I promise!  Indeed, Herbert has a smile underneath that paint.  Y'all may be able to see it.

November 2nd.  Mar is fascinated by my newest Fashionista, Laura. 

Laura is the visually impaired Fashionista, #228; notice that her eyes go in two different directions.  Her cane is red at the bottom, meaning that Laura does have some vision (just like Xenia).  I named her after Laura Bridgman, the first American deaf-blind to be successfully educated.  Nope, Helen Keller wasn't the first, though she was one of the first to learn to talk.  Anyway, that's my new Fashionista.  Mama wasn't a big fan; I think blindness may be one of Mama's bigger fears.

November 4th.  Bae Day Monday was for blue-eyed Cabbies, so I started with one I almost forgot, Skye Kitty. 

The full-sized Colecos, Hugo Jack and Idalia Gale.

The Preemies, Cara Raelean and Stella Rae.

My blondes, Iris Evangeline and Lucey Dena.

The redheads, Karen Sheila and Valencia Rose's little Playmate, Titania Rosalind. 

And my softie, Poppy Elizabeth.  They're dark, but they're blue.

Blue eyes are fairly common among Cabbies, but not as common as a certain other color.  More on that at eleven. 

Election Day.  It should be no surprise that I whiled away the evening with my dolls.  Here's Violet and Ernest John. 

The Brady Bunch did not get watched like I said I would do, but I did get a can of orange Fanta, which in my book is BETTER than peach Snapple.  And keep in mind, I love me some peach Snapple.  I have to say, Violet is an interesting little doll.  I may have to go back on my word and review her after all.  At the very least I straightened her braids.

She looks happy about the new old 'do.  I know I always felt better after redoing my ragged braids in high school, even though it was just a hairstyle.  To hell with the raggedy, LOL.

November 8th.  Unlike Violet, Clio Teresa gives no effs about how mad her hair gets.  On the eighth she took a minute to sit in my old Horus tree.

Clio had gained a new nickname by that point.  It was the day before that I'd fried my thumb trying to clean Clio's leg, and Mama subsequently named her "Poison Priscilla."  I myself had been calling her "Toxic Dolly," a play on my sister's favorite Living Dead Doll, Toxic Molly.  As such Clio is only the second member of my patch to have a nickname; Matt the Brat was the first.

November 10th.  A random picture of Isolde. 

Lolita clothes are out of reach for me, so I'm letting Isolde strut it.  If you've got it, flaunt it!

November 11th was another Bae Day Monday, for green-eyed Kids.  This was easy since I only have five.  There's Gavin Andrew and Kory Aryan...

...and Valencia Rose, Carol Kasey, and Candela Laura.

Don't have too many with green eyes!  

Same day.  Da hoodz, LOL.

Matt the Brat, Alice Helene, and Kory Aryan rock their hoods as the temperatures deepen.  Wouldn't y'all know, I forgot Ernest John!

I freaking love Ernest John, and I can't believe I left him out of the group pic.  He looks so cute in this set Mama got!  I wish the hoodie came in MY size, because it's soft.

Also November 11th.  Lulu, one of my Magic Nursery triplets, made friends with a new arrival. 

His name is Tuggles, and he's a Taco Bell Hugga Bunch doll.  The original Tuggles was smaller (called a "Huglet" by Kenner), and his coordinating large doll was...Hugsy???  <pauses to look>  Yeah, Hugsy was the one.  Hugga Bunch dolls are kinda popular among my Cabbage Patch cronies on Failbook, so y'all might see one here in the coming months. 

November 13th was Wednesday Wearables, and my two foreign Kids got the new stuff this time.

It was a coincidence that Kitrick Randolph Fergus and Candela Laura were two of my last Cabbies in Halloween clothes, but that doesn't matter much.  Of course Mama supplied both of these.

November 15th.  Bonnie and Cancer were agog over...over SOMETHING.  These two are always in awe over something I can't see.  I don't know if I should be concerned or not.

By the way, Cancer is named after the zodiac sign, not the disease.  It's still an unfortunate name, one that I may change in the future.

November 17th.  Elmyra/Baby See 'n' Say got cozy with Vincent. 

I think Vincent would prefer to be sitting by Morgan. 

November 18th.  Another Monday, this one for Cabbies with gray or violet eyes.  I don't have too many, but I have a few.  Elisabeth Clara, Andrea Doria, and Allie Kathleen all have violet eyes.  They look blue in the pictures, but trust me:  they're violet IRL.

Alexandra Claire is my only gray-eyed Kid.  Coleco did make gray-eyed Kids, but they're kinda hard to find.

There's also Alice Helene, who has...very unusual eyes.  They look blue in most pictures, but they're part lilac.

I dunno...overall they look blue, but IRL they're...well, not!  They also look butterflyish, kinda like Tsukuda eyes.  What do y'all think???

November 22nd, evening.  I got in the mood to bring out Velvet and play with her awhile, but she tuckered out quickly.  This is the Velvet that Tam sent me, by the way. 

Notice that her eyes remain clean, by the way.  So far, my attempts to keep the mold out of Casa Pizarro have succeeded. 

November 24th.  This popped up in my Failbook memories, and was originally supposed to be in Gabby's spotlight post.  My Gabby is a rhythmic gymnast (and a dancer, LOL).

The AG spotlights kinda went over like a lead balloon, and as such Gabby, Danica, River Song, and Tequila Rose never got theirs.  I was running out of ideas for original hobbies anyway.

Okay...November 25th was for brown-eyed Cabbies and Killecrankie, do I have a bunch of them!  I'll start with the boys of color, Matthew Tommie, Esmond Brant, and Nathan Hunter. 

The Asian girls, Margot Madeline and Leslie Emily.

Miscellaneous Cornsilks, Cleopatra Chantale and Julie Emmalee.

The dirty white boys, Ernest John and Shelley Fred.

Beryl June flies solo this time. 

The little ones, Taniyah Yasmin and Sammy Sloth. 

Lastly, Gillian Ida and Kitrick Randolph Fergus are a little different from the others.  Gilly's eyes are a lovely light shade, and Randolph's are...well, they're Tri-Ang Pedigree eyes.  His eyes are murky, but at one time they were brown.

By the way, I see what Treesa meant by this bathing suit being pert near indecent, and why isn't Gillian Ida wearing her cute little retro getup???  Because I wanted to see what it would look like on Karen Sheila after I took Karen out of her witch outfit.  I'll find something Christmassy for Gilly.  She's fourteen inches so finding her something will be easy.

Pant, pant, pant...I don't feel too well...<passes out>

Okay, what day is it?  Uhhhhh...November 26th.  This is a Failbook memory from 2019.

The Patsy trio and my Ichimatsu dolls, Satomi and Hitomi. 

November 28th/Thanksgiving.  My gut was full of good food, I'd had my afternoon nap, and I was ready to cuddle with a Cabbie.  I picked Gillian Ida, because I can't get over those eyes.

The promised Christmas outfit had been ordered by then, but it hadn't shipped.  With the mail service being as crazy as it is, goodness knows when I'll get it.  Hopefully before Christmas!  

Eleven down, one to go, and then it'll be a new year!

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Another look at the Hot Looks

Y'know, these three.  Chelsea, C.C. (short for Canadian Chelsea), and Sachi.

Y'all might've predicted their return to the blog since Chelsea popped into October's So Random post a couple'a times.  Indeed, at one point it tinkered around with adding Elkie to the mix since I didn't have a doll to represent Hot Looks' cool-toned dolls (and because Elkie is more interesting than Mimi).  Why is this important?  Because I'm looking for outfits, and I'm trying to stick to the color divisions that Hot Looks set up.  There were three color divisions, hot, warm, and cool, and the back of this box shows how to differentiate. 

Basically, it's like this:

*Blonde, blue-eyed dolls get cool colors.  That would mean Elkie and Mimi from the first wave and Starr and Steff from the second wave.  Cool colors were pastels in this case.

*Brown-eyed brunettes get hot colors.  These were the bright splashy colors that I associate with stereotypical eighties fashion.  The hot models were/are Zizi and Stacey (first wave) and Sachi (second wave).

*Green-eyed redheads get warm colors, and this is the trickiest division for me.  These clothes are bright like the hot clothes, but mayyyyybe not as eye-popping?  It's kinda subjective.  Anyway, the second wave had Shawna, and the first wave had my beloved Chelsea.  

That's all well and good for the Hot Looks, all of whom stuck to those color combinations, but what about a blue-eyed brunette like me, or a brown-eyed redhead like Tam?  I guess we don't matter, sad face.  Anyway, among my trio, Chelsea and C.C. are warm and Sachi is hot.  Hmmm...do Chelsea's eyes look green to y'all???  They look light blue to me.

Regardless of eye color, Chelsea and C.C. are strawberry blondes and would thus probably classify as warm.  By the luck of the draw, both of my outfits are also warm.  eBay shop is Ruths Vintage Collections.

Chelsea is even on the front.  See?

Got these in-box getups off of eBay.  These outfits are both a little rough around the edges after thirty-seven years, but nothing serious.  In particular, the glitter has worn off of the jean suit.  These white patches were once sparkly.

Oh well, I too am a little rough around the edges after thirty-seven years, LOL!  Notice, by the way, that the packaging shows a different pair of shoes for each outfit, but no extra shoes are included in ANY of the outfits.  That's kinda weak.  Chelsea's copper-laced sneakers might look okay with the denim outfit, but with that pantsuit they may look a hair ridiculous.  So let's see how these look on my girls.  Each package included tips for hairstyles and easy little modifications; the satin pantsuit's tips are as follows.

Roll up the pants legs, put the belt around the waist instead of the hips, and tie the hair off to the side.  Oh yes, the side ponytail, an easy hairstyle that was much loved in the eighties.  Heck, I did it plenty in high school, and that was in the aughts.  So...pants rolled up, waist belted, hair tied to the side, here's how Chelsea looks.

Hey, those sneakers don't look bad after all!  And sure enuff, these colors look fantastic on Chelsea.  Not too bright, but not too soft either, just like her hair and eyes.  For the most part these components are kid-friendly, though those satin slacks might catch on unkempt fingernails (like mine).  My dominant concerns are for this belt...

...and these earrings.

Both of 'em feel like stiffened paper, the same thing that C.C.'s belt is made of.  Notice that C.C.'s belt is in rough shape.

So I'll treat these pieces with a gentle hand.  I'm so glad Chelsea has dangles now, though!  Her little white studs look okay on their own, but she really looks good with those goofy bangles.

C.C. got the denim suit.  Said suit also came with three tips, but I was tired of dressing dolls by the time I shoved C.C. into this outfit, so I only followed two.

Notice that I did not roll up C.C.'s sleeves, though I still can in the future.

Now I was expecting the shoes to look better with this outfit than the other one, but it's actually the opposite!  I kinda wish I had some white tights to put under there.  As I said above, the white patches are supposed to be sparkly, but I can fix that.  Even without the sparkles this outfit looks pretty good.  The lace blouse is sheer, and one can see C.C.'s bikini top through the material, but I actually like that effect.  The pop of peach breaks up the blue a little bit.  See?

Anyone remember how these dolls have bikinis permanently attached?  The cool girls have pink or lilac bikinis under their clothes, and the hot girls have yellow bikinis.  I like all three colors, but I doubt they'd have looked as good showing through that lace.  Peach is definitely a Chelsea color.

The white patches are unfortunately very sticky to the touch, and as a result C.C.'s hair sticks to them.

I think I know of a way to fix these and make them look pretty again.  As for fragile parts, this ensemble came with plastic earrings and no belt at all, so C.C. is covered.  I love these earrings; they're big stars like a pair I wore in high school.

I love how unabashedly EIGHTIES these outfits are!  What was extremely stylish then looks extremely dated now, but I still love it.  Mama gave these outfits her stamp of approval as well, so they still have the power to attract.

I already liked the Hot Looks beforehand, so these outfits did little to change my opinion.  But having looked at the color system on the box, I think I can see a potential problem with the line.  Oh, it's an easy system to follow, no doubt about it, but how many little girls give a crap if their blonde doll is wearing pastels, or if their brunette doll is wearing a loud red top?  Probably the concept behind these dolls went a little over kids' heads, kinda like Aimee's gimmick did.  And maybe I'm completely wrong, and these dolls didn't sell for some other reason that I'm missing altogether!  All I can say is that my Hot Looks keep me occupied on evenings when I'm not in the mood to gom with American Girls or Cabbage Patch Kids, and these outfits add to their play value for me.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987