Take The Picture! - Jo Stockton in Funny Face doll by Integrity Toys

The Funny Face collection is one of the best doll ensembles that Integrity Toys (or any doll company for that matter) has ever released. Each and every doll in it stands out, portraying one of the characters of the film with one ore more ensembles to evoke certain film moment. Arguably, the most iconic scene in the film is the one where Audrey Hepburn is being photographed as Jo Stockton by Fred Astaire as Dick Avery (Dick Avedon of course) as she descends the Louvre stairs beneath the statue of the Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace. While she does that, she's shouting to him, "Take the picture!" as she's on the move, stepping down, waving her muslin shawl above her, in an effort to mimic the statue's pose. This is the moment that the "Take The Picture!" doll represents. And it does so perfectly.

I tried to re-create the scene by printing a retouched photograph of it (the retouching involved removing Audrey from it). Then strings, lighting and a feeble wind machine (a small heater actually with the temperature set to zero) came to the rescue. Wish I had a proper fan to blow that shawl properly.

The doll is amazing. As mentioned at the presentation, she uses the Poppy Parker body, but it is the one used for the Breakfast At Tiffany's dolls: this means no ankle joint. The foot is made for kitten heels, which absolutely fits the film and Audrey's outfits. It also offers a better looking result. I know this is not to everyone's liking but for this doll, in my opinion, works best. 

The dress is a faithful recreation of the costume from the film, with the small neat bows on the top and bottom, the slit at the back and the two panels that form trains behind. The shawl is here of course, as are the gloves (elbow length), which are slightly better than the usual mitten-type ones (and get even better with some water sculpting) and kitten heel red fabric shoes. The quality of craftsmanship is very high.

The doll has the original iconic Vanessa Perrin sculpt, used here to perfection. She also reminds me a lot of Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary from Downton Abbey, much like the Let's Kiss And Make Up doll does (with the Vanessa 2.0 sculpt). Not a bad thing at all. She also has an extra pair of hands. Her face paint is gorgeous, in two shades of brown and full red lips. Her hair is neatly gathered into a chignon at the back, with a side part at the front and her long bangs swept to the side over her forehead. 

The most impressive of her accessories is of course her necklace. It is intricately made, with lots of different colour and size stones set in it. It proves that when Integrity wants to, it can make marvels. A pair of earrings with two stones each (white and red) finishes off the set. Below is a photograph of the necklace with the top of the dress pulled down to show it off in its entire length. 

Funny Face: "Let's Kiss And Make Up" Jo Stockton by Integrity Toys

Earlier this year, Integrity Toys presented a collection of seven dolls from the Funny Face film, as part of their Paramount Films license. Six of those dolls were available to all but the seventh, Jo Stockton "Let's Kiss And Make Up", was a WClub exclusive through lottery only. I was lucky enough to get her as a second chance draw winner. She arrived months ago here, but I only managed to finish her photo shoot in the past few days.

The doll has the Poppy Parker body and the Vanessa 2.0 sculpt (the one with the closed mouth) and is a limited edition of 400 dolls. She comes with three outfits from the film: the most well known of course is the ensemble from the train station photo-shoot, the "Anna Karenina" scene. I knew I had to recreate the atmosphere of that scene, so I printed out a large photo from that. (I erased Audrey Hepburn from it before printing) and used it as a backdrop for the doll.

This ensemble alone has so many parts! It consists of a long "fur" coat, a manteau and a sleeveless dress under it, pantyhose, shoes, gloves a straw travel bag, a rose bouquet, a hat and a dog! All look great and are well made and finished, except the dog that looks like it went through the washing machine and tumble dryer before arriving at the station!

The doll herself is very beautiful, probably the most beautiful of all four Jo Stockton dolls. She may not be Audrey but she certainly has the style down pat. As in her promo pics, she looks very much like Michelle Dockery, the actress playing Lady Mary in Downton Abbey. 

The second outfit is the yellow print dress from the flower-shop scene, again part of a photo shoot. This is featured briefly in the film but is probably the most colourful scene. I could not stage a whole flower shop at home so I opted for a simple background to offset the print more.

Again a very well made dress, with a great scale of the print. Hat, gloves, pantyhose and shoes complete the look. The gloves can be easily worn if you place her hand in boiling water for a few seconds to soften it.

The dress even has a petticoat under it, which is a nice touch and adds to the sense of quality. It also helps the skirt stand that much better.

The third outfit of the set is a suit that appears in the fashion show scene of the film. It is a very elegant look, with a hat, umbrella (not functional), pantyhose, shoes and gloves finishing the look. 

The straw hat had to be styled a bit to acquire its proper shape but it was not very difficult to achieve. Again it is not the flat small hat shown in the film but it is not always easy to transfer things into doll scale. The boxy jacket does not photograph well on a doll from the back (with the side pleats) but it is very well crafted.

This is one of the best gift sets Integrity has ever released and is well worth getting, if you are able to find it complete. A beautiful doll and three complete gorgeous outfits in one! Not to mention that the original designs are all Givenchy!