Friday, February 27, 2015

Dolly Dress Discussion: double vision?

I've been hitting the racks of separates hard these past couple of weeks.  I've got almost all of the pieces, and I'm looking forward to completing the collection.  Mattel has a good idea with these little tops and pieces, and I desperately hope they'll continue with the idea.  As well-priced as they are, it's a great way to flesh out a dolly wardrobe.

I noticed something about this dress, though (model is Artemis, a Fashionistas Swappin' Heads Sassy):
There's nothing wrong with the dress; the skirt is stiff and isn't printed all the way around, but it's a perfectly acceptable little dress.  There aren't any holes or bobbles in sewing, and the skirt is even hemmed.  However, it's also hauntingly similar to a Fashionistas dress I picked up in 2011 (model is Alexandria, a Fashionistas Wild).
The Fashionistas lived up to their name, being well-dressed and having cute extra outfits to match, but this one is one of my favorites.  I've always loved how it looks on my dolls; Alexandria usually gets it, but it looks good on everyone I've tried it on so far.

The two dresses aren't carbon copies of each other, of course.  The budget dress is shorter and has a higher waist, it's made out of shiny material that doesn't photograph well, and it has a plain pink bodice with a tie-top.  The similarities freak me out a little, though.  Both dresses are blue and pink, both have embellishments of some type on the skirt, both have low-cut sweetheart necklines, and the skirts are of similar length.
The Fashionistas dress is superior to the budget dress in terms of materials utilized; it's very soft and has a great drape.  But then again, it also cost four dollars more than the budget dress!  It's amazing what a difference four bucks will make in terms of quality!  I won't knock the budget dress, though.  It's landed on a doll's body and it's here to stay. 

Since we're on the subject of dresses, I feel the need to comment on some crazy idea I've got.  If you've paid attention to social media in the past twenty-four hours, then you've most likely heard of #TheDress.  As in, this dress:
#TheDress is a poorly-photographed, $77 dress, and people are going nuts over what color it is.  Public opinion appears to be evenly divided over whether it's gold and white or black and blue, with a somewhat smaller minority saying that they hate the dress and thus don't give a flying burrito what color it is.  I think it looks gold and white, but that's beside the point.  I'm dying to see what this dress looks like in a full-body shot, because I think it would be a cute design for Barbie.  Once I see what the full thing looks like, my plan is to make one in each color scheme and put the two dresses on radically different Barbie dolls.  Maybe a pair like this?
Soooooo...if you see that dress in full, kindly give me a holler.

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987

4 comments:

  1. I think it's gold and white, that dress. I agree that it would look good on both your dolls.

    I've only seen a blurb for the dress. Hope someone finds it on someone and shares the link with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope someone will find it too, because I'm VERY curious to see what the front and the sleeves look like!

      Delete
  2. Here is one image of the blue and black dress (yes, really!), although small. The dress itself is sleeveless, and the yoke seems to be a net or mesh. I'm not seeing much of the overjacket, but it looks like a basic bolero, with straight elbow-length sleeves that end in a cuff. If you go to your favorite search engine and choose the image option, then type in "white gold black blue dress," you should have a plethora of pics choices, though again, mostly of just the dress. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a bunch for the info, Barb! It's a cute dress. Shouldn't be too hard to make...I hope.

      Delete