The second Net-A-Porter Jason Wu 10th anniversary is for sale... and sold out!

We have gotten used to it by now... special 10th anniversary limited edition doll by Jason Wu goes on sale by online luxury retailer, usually earlier than anticipated, people scramble to get her, tears and tantrums ensue, people lash out at forums and social media about how bad the process is. Happened yet again with the second Net-A-Porter released Elyse Jolie. 

The doll started trickling out from the Asian websites of Net-A-Porter, then the wave moved on to Europe, to finally crush down on the US. If you were not prepared to wake up,earlier than usual, keep searching and refreshing the website and have credit card ready to spend $200 in the US, AU$362.88 in Australia ($277.25 US), HK$2,240 In Hong Kong (286,70 US$), US$282.24 plus taxes in South Korea, €278 in France (329,64 US$), €284 in Italy (336,75 US$), or £255 in the UK (342,31 US$), well, why bother? This is not the way to enjoy a hobby, bask in the beauty of a collectible doll and get satisfaction from adding her to your collection. At least that’s what I think. Other people will tell you this is the way collecting Fashion dolls goes, you should be prepared for stuff like this when starting your collection and so on. But why? Just to get another coveted, limited edition doll that will be forgotten when the next one comes along? Do you think all these anniversary dolls will achieve holy grail status and be as coveted as, let’s say, A Fashionable Life or True Royalty Vanessas? 

 This Elyse had the following description on the retailer’s website: 

• Height 32cm
• Width 9cm

EXCLUSIVE AT NET-A-PORTER.COM. Little known fact - Jason Wu was a toy designer before starting his acclaimed fashion career. Created to mark his 10th anniversary and celebrate his whimsical background, this limited edition doll is styled in a one-shoulder red and black mini dress from the house's Fall '13 runway and features ultra long eyelashes. It comes with a display stand, coordinating lace-up pumps and interchangeable manicured hands.

• Comes in designer packaging
• Product number: 1046363

The photographs are so obviously not by Integrity. The NAP team have no idea how to pose the doll or even set her up on the stand properly (the underarm support was placed at the hips, lol), which goes to show how a non-collector buyer will deal with the doll. If she wasn’t dressed in box, no way they’d bother. And I wonder, why not ask someone who does know? A luxury retailer would do that, wouldn’t they? Unless their margin is so low, they did not even want to deal with it. Then again, if that is the case, why not make the dolls available directly to fashion doll collectors through the usual channels? It did not even gain enough press coverage to justify it as a publicity stunt. 

She looks nice though. I love the pleating and sewing of the dress (I guess the snag at the back is just a badly closed zipper) and the shoes look very detailed. It does remind me of the ITBE dresses but it is much better. But again, no jewellery and no bag or other accessories. Her skin tone could be AA black or light honey, it’s hard to tell. With Seduisante Elyse coming this month to W Club members, it will be a battle of dark skinned Elyses! 

Photos courtesy of Net-A-Porter

Mel Odom & Jason Wu: Calendar Shot Gene

This is one of the 2007 collection of Genes. She is catalogued as dressed doll but with the bathing suit she really is a basic, the brunette one (the other two basics being Rouge, a raven haired lady in red undies, and Swim-Suited To A T, a blond in a bathing suit). Calendar Shot Gene has a characteristic that separates her not only from the rest of the dolls in 2007's line but also from all other Genes before her: she has a tan! Her skin tone, instead of the creamy porcelain white of all Genes, is now caramel coloured! Take a look:

It makes her look like Hedy Lamarr, or any of the Hollywood stars with fake tans pretending to be exotic women in far away places. She also looks a bit like the young Joan Collins in the 50s in Hollywood. Calendar Shot Gene (the name derives from her storyline, supposedly posing for a pin up pic in a calendar for the armed forces), comes dressed in a bubbly gingham bathing suit. This costume is inspired by Claire McCardell's designs. It has a bubble shape when worn without the patent leather corset belt.

Her accessories are more than enough for a basic doll: a lovely monogrammed beach towel, a pair of pearl stud earrings, a pearl bracelet, patent leather wedge mules (to match the patent leather belt), which have fabric insteps, and a black knit snood for her hair, tied with a black satin ribbon. When she arrived, I thought she would look lovely with the Gene director's chair and the Hot Day In Hollywood accessory set. And of course she does:

Here are some close up shots of her shoes and belt:

She has broken new ground in the Gene world and it is only a matter of time to see what Mel Odom and Jason Wu make of her in this new skin colour - many possibilities emerge. She is a limited edition of 800 pieces. Mine was a prize from a Gene Club competition and is one of the samples, according to her certificate of authenticity. She's lovely.