Dolly Dress Discussion: the return of Chococat and the Little Twin Stars

In a continuation of the Hello Kitty-themed posts, I made good on my promise to make Ketsana and Billie Jean coordinate.  I was able to land both the Chococat top and the Little Twin Stars outfit, so here's how they'll go.  First, the Chococat top.

I could tell by the shape of this top that it was going to be a tunic, but I wasn't expecting it to be cropped in the front.  So cute, though it makes me tempted to give Ketsana a faux bellybutton ring.  As a nice little extra, the hems of this top are stitched with pale blue thread.

That helps break things up a bit.

Okay, it's obvious from this print that the character shown IS Pete the Cat Chococat.  But the pattern is different from that on the dress.  The dress has Chococat in full body, while the blouse just has his head making cute expressions.

Oh, and dig this:  the Chococat shirt is printed on the back!

I'm pleased about that, but it also ticks me some because that could've been done for the dress too.  Le sigh.  At least Ketsana and Billie Jean look cute together, right?

Look, the blue hem on the top coordinates with the blue dress!  As a last little tidbit, the insides of Chococat's ears are the same color as Ketsana's sandals.

As cute as Ketsana and Billie Jean are in their Chococat garb, I'm dying to see how they look in their Little Twin Stars getups.  Billie Jean will be getting the new stuff this time, if all goes the way I want it to.  According to their online info the Little Twin Stars celebrate a birthday on Christmas Eve, so too bad I didn't get this post up in time for that.  Anyway, I'm going to shove Ketsana back into the Little Twin Stars blouse now and see how the coordinating dress set looks on Billie Jean.

To my complete surprise, this outfit proved to be too tight on Billie Jean's curvy frame...or the skirt did.  I couldn't get her legs to move in this getup, so I had to take it off.  The pencil skirt begs for a pair of long legs anyway, so I dragged out another of my tall dolls.  Meet Gertrude, better known as Fashionista #29 "Terrific in Teal."

The top is a little boxy on her, but I don't guess that can be helped.  I absolutely do not want to jeopardize the structural integrity of that skirt by forcing it onto Billie Jean's voluptuous hips.  The top is your cute little T-shirt with nice thick pink hems and an image of the Little Twin Stars dominating the front.

This necklace was included; it's a mold I own already, but in a different color.

Here's the skirt, the item of clothing that proved to be troublesome for Billie Jean.  It suits Gertrude's longer legs better, I think.  The print is a nocturnal sky scene, with the Little Twin Stars and other cutesy little items here and there in nice pastel shades.

And dig this:  the skirt is printed on the front and the back.  Proof that the Chococat dress could have been printed on the back too...if Mattel weren't so blithering chintzy!

In the long run I'm actually glad that Gertrude had to wear that Little Twin Stars set, because it makes the final group picture look better!

If only Mattel's policy of printing things on the front only weren't alive and kicking, I'd give these little Hello Kitty outfits a 100 A+.  But that's par for the course with Mattel clothes whether they're Sanrio-licensed or not, so I guess I'll just have to live with it.  Otherwise these are great little pieces, perfect for adding something a little different to a Barbie's wardrobe.

Now, digression time...sort of.  I've spoken quite a bit with fellow blogger Presto about these Sanrio clothes, and both of us are pleased with the direction that this line of dolly duds is going (she's got her own post about some of these same outfits that I discussed, in fact).  Needless to say we've both got our ideas about characters we'd like to see immortalized on Barbie clothing; I've mentioned a fondness for Keroppi given my love for frogs, but Presto's picks trump him any day.  Her choices are Aggretsuko and Kuromi, two characters that I'd never heard of until she mentioned them.  Who are they?  Well...the relatively new creation known as Aggretsuko is a riot, and she's also a pretty far cry from sugar-and-spice Hello Kitty and her friends.  Oh sure, she's drawn the same way and all that, but don't let her adorableness fool you.  She's a red panda (I love red pandas), she hates her job, and she deals with this hatred in a very creative way.  I think Aggretsuko may be my new hero, in fact, particularly after a day spent with Coworker A, who continues to be an irascible old bitch.  Ahem...as for Kuromi, she's My Melody's rival, and in terms of appearance one could also say she's My Melody's antithesis as well.  She's a white bunny rabbit like My Melody, but her headgear is a black jester's hat with ears instead of a hood.  She has a hidden softer side, like many villains and antagonists do.  I like Presto's line of thinking, and I hope that those two will indeed become visible on Barbie's clothes.  Since Aggretsuko deals with a more grown-up concept she even might make a good theme for a collector-level Barbie.  We'll see how that goes, I suppose.

Got any plans for the new year?  Any resolutions?  I don't!  LOL, I could do to resolve to lose some weight, but that'll be tricky since our New Year celebration could very well consist of us glutting on homemade chocolate chip cookies while chatting it up with First and Second Uncle.  IF the weather holds, that is.  If it snows First Uncle probably won't bother to come down...and snow is predicted for this Friday.  I hate winter.

Hugs, kisses, and cookies,
RagingMoon1987

One of my Barbie dolls gets kawaii...sort of

Talolili is more of the kawaii expert than I am, but I know enough to piece together an outfit that would fit the label.  For the uninitiated, kawaii is...well, it's actually a culture in Japan that has made its way to the west.  It celebrates all that is cutesy and childlike, stuff like Hello Kitty and various types of anime.  Pastels make a lot of appearances, as do personified inanimate objects like candies, rainbows, clouds, stars, and hearts.  Usually when Americans like myself dabble in kawaii it's in wearables or home decor; I personally like adding kawaii touches to my daily wear with earrings and the like, for example (these cotton candy earrings on Etsy are to die for).  But if you're a dolly lover (and if you're reading this, you probably are) it's also possible to have one or two or a whole slew of dolls that wear kawaii fashion or are a little kawaii themselves.  My little Pepper Parson is a good example, as she's cute and wears clothes that fit the aesthetic.  The clothes shown are the Kuu Kuu Harajuku clothes, which I reviewed here and here; that line is very, VERY kawaii!

Every so often I run into a doll that just screams "kawaii," but isn't dressed the part.  Such is the case with one of my Fashionistas, Suika.

Suika is Fashionistas #60 "Patchwork Denim," with a new head, an original body, and melon-colored hair.  Indeed, the name "Suika" is actually the Japanese word for "watermelon."  This doll's pink hair and soft makeup just begged for some cute little kawaii-style outfit, and while her dress itself does not fall into the style it can be gussied up with some accessories.  Suika's belt and bracelet, seen below, help spice up this outfit a bit, and the butterfly on the belt adds a touch of kawaii.  As a bonus, these accessories match Suika's hair almost perfectly.

I wasn't fully satisfied with that getup, so today when I went out (had to fetch cat food) I picked up a few more Hello Kitty separates, consisting of two tops and a skirt.  One top is a pink spaghetti-strap crop top with clothing items, milk jugs, and Hello Kitty (of course) printed on it, and the other is a less-fitted periwinkle blouse with the Little Twin Stars seated atop a rainbow.  

Both shirts coordinate with the pink skirt, but I don't like the way the periwinkle shirt fits Suika's body.  I think it may look better on a curvy or a tall doll, but of course I neglected to photograph that!  Dumb of me too, because I have two curvy dolls and three tall ones within arm's reach.

With Suika sufficiently kawaii-ized, I let her join Deb, Ami, and Melody for a group photo.

Not bad at all!  I can't tell y'all how tickled I am that Mattel started making these Hello Kitty clothes, and I hope that more will be made.  So far the only characters featured on these outfits have been Hello Kitty, My Melody, and the Little Twin Stars, and no sign of Chococat despite him being on the packaging.  But seeing the Little Twin Stars on one of these tops makes me hopeful that other characters will start making appearances.  I'm still hoping for Keroppi, since I love frogs and the color green, and Badtz Maru and Chococat would make superb Ken clothes, but only time will tell what crops up.

Much Love, 

RagingMoon1987