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