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