The Doll Observer » Fashion doll http://www.dollobserver.com The fashion doll blog! Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:54:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Jason Wu works magic with Cissy http://www.dollobserver.com/2010/03/25/jason-wu-works-magic-with-cissy/ http://www.dollobserver.com/2010/03/25/jason-wu-works-magic-with-cissy/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:07:42 +0000 Doll Observer http://www.dollobserver.com/?p=414

L’Enfant Terriblé, with green eyes, bright red hair in a side-parted ponytail and black nails, has an incredibly daring look

The Cissy fashion doll by Madame Alexander was first manufactured in 1955 and was described at the time as “the doll with the figure and features of a debutante, is the newest and most exciting doll in the world.” She featured a more adult body shape, arched feet for high heels and articulation previously unknown at that time. She was, in fact, the forerunner of fashion dolls as we know them, including Barbie who came along 4 years later.

It was with great interest then that I learnt Cissy was to have a makeover thanks to uber-designer of dolls Jason Wu and his unique talent and vision. The collections he has come up with are divided into two: the ‘NEOCissy’, which is futuristic and edgy and the more classic, 50′s flavoured, ‘Cissy Collection’. Both collections consist of three dolls each possessing an increased level of articulation due to 15 joints. The dolls therefore lend themselves to more realistic poseability and are 16” and 21” in height respectively.

Both Jason Wu collections will be available at FAO Schwarz and online at MadameAlexander.com as soon as August 2010.

L’Enfant Terriblé, with green eyes, bright red hair in a side-parted ponytail and black nails, has an incredibly daring look African-American Bon Bon has brown eyes, black close- cropped, flocked hair and silver nails Blue eyed Blu Belle has a large, side-parted blue Afro and black nails Envy, with a black bun and blue eyes Vice has pale blue eyes and a red bun Lust has green eyes, platinum blonde, gamine- styled hair and marvelous face paint



]]> http://www.dollobserver.com/2010/03/25/jason-wu-works-magic-with-cissy/feed/ 2 Mattel Ladies of the 80′s Dolls http://www.dollobserver.com/2010/01/30/mattel-ladies-of-the-80s-dolls/ http://www.dollobserver.com/2010/01/30/mattel-ladies-of-the-80s-dolls/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:50:28 +0000 Doll Observer http://www.dollobserver.com/?p=194

I received a wee notelett through my electronic mailbox yesterday from those lovely folks at Mattel showing off the latest additions to their pop culture range of dolls “Ladies of the 80′s”. There are three dolls in all representing key female singers of the 80′s; Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Joan Jett.

Madonna is conspicuous by her absence and it could be argued that Harry is slightly more 70′s  than 80′s but quibbles aside these are lovely looking dolls especially DH who is my favourite of them also in real life! She comes complete with signature two tone hair, sexy mini dress and rock and roll microphone stand.

Whilst all three have a vaguely accurate likeness the fact is that all Barbie celebrity dolls retain the same essential Barbie-esque face sculpt  somewhere underneath. So essentially these doll are a bit like like Barbie does “Stars in their Eyes“!

Barbie Pop Culture

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]]> http://www.dollobserver.com/2010/01/30/mattel-ladies-of-the-80s-dolls/feed/ 1 Fashion doll quiz! http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/05/17/fashion-doll-quiz/ http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/05/17/fashion-doll-quiz/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 17:18:13 +0000 Doll Observer http://dollobserver.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/fashion-doll-quiz/ I had fun writing a personality quiz to see what fashion doll people would be.

Go there now to give it a go! Then post a comment to letting me know how accurate (or not) it was!!



]]> http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/05/17/fashion-doll-quiz/feed/ 1 The Kensington low down… http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/05/10/the-kensington-low-down/ http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/05/10/the-kensington-low-down/#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 19:10:55 +0000 Doll Observer http://dollobserver.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/the-kensington-low-down/ I left the comfort zone of the countryside to venture down to Kensington this morning in order to check out the May Kensington Doll Show. Luckily for my bank account there wasn’t much that caught my eye although we did end up parting with almost a day’s wages for lunch at the nearby Wholefoods Market. The Kensington show seems to concentrate mainly on antique dolls (well it is an Antique and Fashion Doll show after all!) but there were also plenty of vintage fashion dolls to gawp at. For example one stall held a large selection of very well played with Sindys, who should by rights have been rushed to the nearest doll hospital for urgent treatment, stat!

Barbie made a big show, what with her fiftieth birthday and all, and it was lovely to see so many vintage dolls in the flesh and in such good condition. The British Barbie Club stall had a great collection of dolls on display all wearing gold themed vintage outfits to celebrate this very special anniversary.

Well all in all not enough 16” delights for me but still plenty to look at and after all there is sill one more show to come this year on 11th October. So roll on autumn!



]]> http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/05/10/the-kensington-low-down/feed/ 0 Barbie hits the big 5-0! http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/02/26/barbie-hits-the-big-50/ http://www.dollobserver.com/2009/02/26/barbie-hits-the-big-50/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:43:00 +0000 Doll Observer http://dollobserver.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/barbie-hits-the-big-50/
Barbie first hit the doll scene way back in 1959 making her exactly 50 years old on March 9th. Whether you love her or hate her (whilst still secretly loving her!) there’s no denying that without Barbie’s introduction to the market by Mattel there wouldn’t be the amazing array of fashion dolls we have today particularly those aimed at the adult market. Or perhaps we would have more if the Barbie sales juggernaut hadn’t come along and squashed pretty much every rival to come in her way. Even the Bratz girls may have to bow to her power (or rather the power of her legal team) in the wake of the recent courtroom wrangling.

In order to celebrate the big occasion Mattel are going all out with a large online presense including a dedicated website, her own blog a Twitter page and even her own Facebook page. All this plus an array of events to celebrate the big day and an unprecedented add campaign. Just no one mention those recently dose-diving sales figures!
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