Integrity Toys Dark Romance Convention 2010 part 1

Every year Integrity Toys and Jason Wu hold an event for their dedicated collectors of fashion dolls. This year was not exception. The convention took place in Pittsburgh again  from the 28th till the 30th of October! The title of this year's event was Dark Romance and of course it fit perfectly with Halloween. 

As the doors opened for the first official event on Thursday night, guests walked into a ballroom that definitely was one made up for a Halloween event. Each guest found the first part of the doll gift set they would be building up like last year, a gorgeous fashion, waiting for them as they sat down.  Another gift for all attendees was a fabulous new Fashion Royalty doll named Hourglass Kesenia. The new FR character is one of Baroness Agnes' (who is supposedly the host of the event) models. So here she is:

Kesenia is based on one of the face moulds (The Contessa) for the Brides Of Dracula series of dolls made by IT for Ashton Drake. Here is a close up:

The Thursday night dinner centerpiece was a huge crowd favorite, Dania Zarr as Smoke Screen. She was standing on a web-like structure with a dead fashion victim skeleton caught up in it - great idea. Here is the doll, which looks a lot like last year's Silver Zinger Agnes.

Dania looks great and I am sure she will be much sought after by collectors. I love her screening and the outfit looks great too. The jewellery is gorgeous although she could have had a bracelet as well. As far as I can see the shoes are great too! More dolls from the convention on the next post.

copyright Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2010 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Lula Cioccolato in Milan for Salone del Mobile - 50's dollhouse kitchen

Wallpaper magazine posted on their website about the special project of the incredible Lula Cioccolato chocolaterie in Milan. It is the Salone Del Mobile (Furniture Fair) in Milan, the biggest design event of the year, and every shop in the city of course is tuned to this mega-event. So this chocolate shop displays some of their products into this amazing vintage 50's kitchen. Even the packaging is influenced by that era. Check the article here.

Photo courtesy of Wallpaper magazine.

Modern miniature furniture in New York Times

For all of you who, like me, love to look at (or even aquire) modern furniture for their dolls, here is an article in the New York Times about them. I resent the implication that people who collect stuff like that are eccentric and weird - it is the only thing that marred this article for me. I would love to have some of that stufff to photograph my dolls with. They have a nice slideshow too.

Tatiana's Doll House: The Bedroom

In the third instalment for Tatiana's doll house, I have the bedroom! Every house needs a nice looking bedroom to rest and relax and Tatiana's is no exception! Of course it is always in the style laid out for the rest of the house - black & white.

The bed and bedding are from the Fashion Royalty Loft collection furniture. This line of furniture was a hit with collectors and most items are very sought after. The bedside tables, trays, striped vases and lamps are from the Jonathan Adler Barbies.

Tatiana repainted lamp bases and trays that were originally hot pink (Barbie anyone?). The bench and vanity table are solid wood shadowbox frames cut with a miter saw - I can see she uses shadowbox frames a lot for making benches or side tables. For the vanity top she inserted a real mirror in the small wooden photo frame.

The Panton miniature chairs came with the Dynamite Girls convention chair pack given to the attendees of 2008 FR Convention. Integrity also sold a pack of chairs in an assortment of colours. The curtains are table napkins. 

The closet door is from Barbie House by Mattel. The hinges were broken by Tatiana's girls beyond repair, so she just cut them off and the closet was born! The fluffy white carpet is a piece of craft fur. The white vases, telephone and basket came with various Mattel play-sets, which Tatiana then repainted. The silver tea set is Re-ment and the tea tray was just a purple no-name doll accessory. 

The wine bucket and bottle are Gloria, the glasses are from a Fashion Royalty convention accessory pack. The small silver cushions came with a jewellery box that looks like a mini sofa - these are easy to find in accessory shops in various styles and colours.

I hope you enjoyed this month's room from Tatiana - back next month with another beautifully decorated room in black & white!

Dollz in Oz event presents two new Integrity dolls

This year's Australian major doll date was again the Dollz in OZ event. Held at the Sheraton Four Points in Darling Harbour, it was a day full of dolls for Australian fans. The event dolls were made by Integrity: Regal Estate Agnes was the event doll and Magnetism Monogram was the companion doll.

Regal Estate Agnes is a dressed doll wearing a black bustier dress with a cream coloured jacket and a black belt over it. She comes with fishnet stockings, clear blue pumps, blue stud earrings and black-and-blue necklace. Her face screening is a softer version of the Festive Decadence Agnes that was the second W Club doll last year. Her hair is long and lose. To me she looks hastily designed and produced. She does not remind me of Agnes at all.And blue with cream and black? The theme was Hollywood, but she would not get a chance there, even in daytime.

Magnetism Monogram doll is a tooted red haired doll, with a very classic make up look - brown and gold eye-shadow with red hot lipstick. She is wearing a gorgeous pink satin gown with matching pink and black shawl. The gown is decorated with a huge bow and it has a matching belt with a gold buckle. A golden cuff bracelet decorated with rhinestones and matching earrings compete the picture. Her shoes (not shown in photos) are emerald green with ankle straps. To me she is very Old Hollywood meets YSL glamour and would get her in an instant if I could.