I love Best Buy outfits! Some of them are dated by today's sensibilities (pantsuits, though I happen to love pantsuits), but they're also colorful and relatively easy to find, and they cover Barbie's naked butt, dated or not. I don't have a big collection of Best Buy clothes yet (#2217, #1359 and four copies of #1354), but when I want something that will fit the old twist 'n' turn body, Best Buy is usually what I look for. Unfortunately, like a great many Barbie outfits of today, most Best Buy getups didn't come with shoes.
Mama told me that barefoot dancing was the best kind of dancing, and Midge apparently agrees. Anyway, one of the things that I like about Best Buy clothes is that they can have variants. I've counted at least four of #1354 (including one sized for Skipper) and three of #1359, and it appears that #2217 has three variants as well. Mine is light blue on a dark blue field, but there is also white on the same dark blue field, and a different shade of blue with polka dots and roses. The top elastic is unfortunately pretty loose, and Midge has thus had her fair share of Tara Reid moments.
Oops! I'll have to see what I can do about that. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Despite the fact that Midge's eyes are green, and her earrings are light blue and yellow, I like this getup on her. I think the blue looks nice with her red hair.
Next outfit...shucks, I wish I'd had a redhead for this one too, since it was modelled by a redhead on Etsy, but Theta's blue lips match. Etsy shop is Mall4Doll.
Next outfit...shucks, I wish I'd had a redhead for this one too, since it was modelled by a redhead on Etsy, but Theta's blue lips match. Etsy shop is Mall4Doll.
This fits Theta like it was specially tailored for her, and the fabric is both stretchy and drapey so it will fit quite a few of my dolls. It needs a necklace though, something to make Theta sparkle. Oh, and for the record, nip slips are not out of the question for this dress either, so I have to be careful about how I pose Theta.
These next two dresses are for curvy dolls, and they came from PrymaDonnaDolls. This shop is based in Sri Lanka and has a long shipping time, so if you buy something from here, be prepared to wait. So here's Chardonnay in a simple tube dress with detached sleeves.
These next two dresses are for curvy dolls, and they came from PrymaDonnaDolls. This shop is based in Sri Lanka and has a long shipping time, so if you buy something from here, be prepared to wait. So here's Chardonnay in a simple tube dress with detached sleeves.
I love a good tube dress for Barbie, because they're easy to put on and they can be worn by all the body types. Usually. This dress was specifically tailored for Curvy dolls so it would probably be too big for a petite doll. At the same time it's pretty tight on Chardonnay, tight enuff that I can't pose her legs apart and help her stand better. I love this shade of blue, though!
Andra's new threads aren't really a dress, but a jumpsuit like Midge's.
Andra's new threads aren't really a dress, but a jumpsuit like Midge's.
It looks good, but the seams are uneven in places. This isn't such a big deal, but the fit is pretty tight in the chest, almost so that I couldn't pull the whole thing up. I dread taking this off Andra. She rocks it, though. Andra rocks just about everything she wears.
One of the benefits of being a modern doll collector is the originality of the clothes. Granted, at the beginning of Barbie's reign a crafty child or a crafty mama could whip up something that couldn't be bought in stores, but one couldn't find fabric sprinkled with avocados or with the Butterfinger logo. Spoilers, I've got those too, LOL. Tacky? Maybe, but then I happen to like tacky, and my dolls give no effs whether they look tacky or not, because they're...well, they're dolls! That said, Lovable Louise is...well, not as tacky.
I love finding new duds for old dollies! Clothes for Lovable Louise are about as easy to find as hen's teeth, but BonDebproductions did have this dress, and by luck of the draw it's blue. Next step is to find some shoes (I've already found a source that will provide undergarments) and unfog her eyes. I owe a debt of gratitude to Beth in WV (and probably a few other folks) who told me that a warm hair dryer and an index card will do the trick. Louise and Sunflower will be my guinea pigs, and I'll let y'all know the results.
For those of y'all that might fancy the more traditional look, here's Ashley and Lena, two of my Magic Nursery kids. They wear hearts, and Lena ties the whole post together with touches of blue. Worked out pretty well, actually!
Happy Valentine's Day,
RagingMoon1987
Midge's dancing pose reminded me of the song Walk Like An Egyptian by The Bangles. Also, Midge's light blue earring does sort of coordinate with the lighter blue secondary color of the outfit she's wearing. And I'm glad you were able to find something to fit Lovable Louise, since darning the sleeves on the dress she came in and then masking those darns with appliques or trim would likely have been impossible.
ReplyDeleteSigned, Treesa
Unfortunately Louise's dress did have to be trashed. I'm glad there was at least one other dress available on Etsy or she'd still be in it. As for Midge, I actually hadn't considered the Bangles when I put that picture together, but I can see what you mean!
DeleteBlue is my favorite color, so I like seeing all these blue outfits. My favorite dress is Louise's; I love the blue flower print. She looks she was a knock-off doll of some other company's. Maybe there are things that would fit her but aren't made for her?
ReplyDeleteSeveral posts back, you talked about train derailments in a comment with me. I have been meaning for ages to tell you about the rail line near the house where I grew up. Some genius allowed a gas station to be built right next to the tracks. One year we did have a train derail, and one of the cars landed pretty darn close to one of the gas pumps! I wonder what would have happened to our neighborhood if those two collided.
Oh, a gas station next to a train track, brilliant! What could possibly go wrong? We've got a Rhodes pretty close to one of our busiest crossings, and while unlikely, it's possible that a derailment could take that out. The track makes a sharp turn downtown and there's a speed limit on it, but accidents still happen. I pray it never does.
DeleteI need to do some experiments on Louise to see what can fit her. I figure you're right and she is some sort of knockoff, but the stumbling block for me has been her unique size. She's tall like a My Twinn, but she's also slim like a fashion doll. I'm just glad she has something to wear besides that torn-up pink dress.
So, I was looking at Andra's outfit and realized that what likely happened is that the person who made it, made it on a stiff fashionista curvy body - the Made to Move ones are a bit bigger around the bust because of the torso joint, I've learned I have to use my Made to Move girlies as mannequins for their clothes to fit them properly as I sew or they'll be too tight if I use the stiff bodied dolls.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea the measurements were different, but now that I look at Andra that explanation makes perfect sense. Thanks for cluing me in; I'll reserve that jumpsuit for Chardonnay.
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