The final W Club doll for 2017: is it the best Vanessa Perrin giftset ever?

As the 2017 W Club period begun late last year, it’s only natural that the last Club doll of the year is unveiled in January 2018.  It was a phenomenal year for Club members and the last doll confirms this fact in the best possible way. An incredible Vanessa Perrin giftset, designed by talented Jessy Ayala. The doll can be preordered by W Club members until January 19th and should arrive this summer.

​Item # 91423

Fame & Fortune

Vanessa Perrin™ Dressed Doll Gift Set

2017 W Club Exclusive

​Edition Size:TBA

Estimated Arrival: Summer 2018

​Pricing: $250.00 US +S & H (Limit of one per W Club membership)

Doll Tech Specs:

Head Sculpt: Vanessa Perrin 1.0

Body: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled 

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Soft Ebony

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

Vanessa Perrin is a 12.5-inch fully articulated fashion doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes. This gift set includes three complete looks ranging from day-to-night: First, she starts her day in an Asian inspired lingerie set that includes a custom printed kimono with high-contrast details, then she sets the tone in a high-fashion two-piece ensemble composed of a sheer blouse, black pants and custom embroidered gloves. Finally, she switches to a soft, bright pink asymmetrical evening gown with delicate embroidery and beading details.

Vanessa comes complete with two pairs of shoes, a set of regular hands and a set of gloved hands, two jewelry sets, two fully functional (i.e. you can put her favorite accessories inside) monogrammed pieces of luggage, a clutch purse and sunglasses. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only. This doll cannot stand alone; a doll stand is included. A W Club members-only exclusive.

what can I say? Jessy seems to be surpassing himself with each subsequent release he oversees. ​It’s only been a month that The Faces Of Adéle sent collectors to 7th heaven, and that came after the gorgeous Metamorphosis Erin unveiled in August. Each doll is better than the previous one, not only fashion-wise but in style and character too. Vanessa, in her original sculpt, looks amazing here, reminding me a bit of her Night Warrior incarnation, combined with the A Fashionable Life one. Which of course means perfection. Raven hair, blue eyes and fiery red lips make her one of the most beautiful Vanessa dolls ever released.

Her three outfits are equally mesmerising. The asymmetrical evening ​gown, with Jessy’s favourite skirt style, short in front and long in the back, the delicate embroidery and the pink colour gives equally traditional and modern Japanese vibes. The pink strappy heels finish this off in a nice way, although I would have preferred something more edgy, to offset the cuteness factor. The Asian influences are obvious throughout the giftset.

The second outfit is totally back, with a sheer blouse over pants and the most eccentric pair of gloves on an Integrity Toys Doll ever released. Her sandals, bag and jewelry finish off the ensemble perfectly. The third outfit is a Leisure one, a short kimono, printed with birds (cranes?), over lingerie.

Topping it all off are the two luggage pieces, reminding me of the early sets released by Integrity in the Voyages collections. Pity one of them is not a wheeled suitcase like the one Blue Blood Elyse had, as I already own similar pieces from the older Fashion Royalty sets. In any case, they complete what must be one the best Vanessa Perrin giftset Severine released - only True Royalty is better in my opinion.  What do you think?

 Note: Please note that the doll, clothes and accessories pictured in the photo are prototypes and as always, final production colors and textures may vary slightly.

 All text and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2018 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. FASHION ROYALTY and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc. Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Doll Photography by Jayme Thornton. Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing.

Best wishes for Happy Holidays and an amazing 2018!

Superdoll London celebrates Christmas with another great trifecta of dolls

Just like last year, Superdoll London dazzles us once again by releasing three impressive dolls just in time for Christmas. Not only that, they added a small regalia set (crown and sceptre) to compliment the looks. Each doll represents one of three elements: earth, wind (air) and fire. If I could buy one, it would probably be Vushka, as I’m a sucker for smokey eyes and pale lips, even though her outfit is the most conservative of the three. It’s great seeing three different Sybarite sculpts in one release. The regalia set adds a nice touch to the release but better fits Vushka and her princess look. The one thing no missing from all three sets: jewellery.  

Let’s check out the dolls. Text and photographs below courtesy of Superdoll.

KUMALO SYB/DD_0135 EARTH

Inque is thrilled to be joining her sisters this year for the Holidays. Like an exotic Africa princess she chose to wear chocolate satin and furs. From the top. Her gorgeous wig of blended black and brunettes formed into a multitude of topknots ...fabulous! Her eyeshadows in the spectrum of turquoise and smoke surround her eyes of translucent chocolate with lids of muted sepia, eyes those of golden amber. Lips of dark rich red. Her multi piece ensemble; a confection of chocolate satin hot pants and a corset dripping in beads is the foundation of her 'look'. Accompanied by a matching satin bolero trimmed in metallic matte gold rice beads and seeds and spectacular guipure finds. Inque loves drama and for this she selected a fur wrap inset with feathers; just to get her silhouette going!

Always accessorised to the point of envy, Inque has an indiscreet set of fabulous faux fur condiments; consisting ankle & knee pads, fur balls to her foot and totally uncomfortable stiletto heeled courts in a chocolate brown with broad ankle ribbons!  Bringing exotic Africa with her; a final accessory is her monarch staff adorned in her tribal colours.

Clone: 1603 Inque d'Royce
Skintone: TRUFFLE
Of course she comes with the following standard accessories:
-manic_cure hands (see booklet for hand change instructions)
-booklet
-stand
PRODUCTION MAY VARY FROM PROTOTYPE SHOWN.

Price: £279.20 (Excluding VAT at 20%)

VUSHKA SYB/DD_0136 AIR

Venus is thrilled to be joining her sisters this year for the Holidays. Like a blonde Siberian princess she chose to wear sky blue and gold. From the top. Her gorgeous wig of baby blonde set with a centre part cascades in voluptuous curls to her waist. Huge glorious hair ...fabulous! Her eyeshadows in the spectrum of muted browns and smoke surround her eyes of translucent charcoal and mud with lids of muted nude, eyes those of sky blue. Lips of pale rose outlined in rose. Her 1 piece frock; a confection of gold lace and tulle trimmed in matching rhinestone bearing an empire line front and a long slim torso in back. All this over a multi layer tulle and glitter attached petticoat. Mid calf length front trains toward the back. Venus loves drama and this gown has just her favourite kind.... the glamourous kind.

Always accessorised to the point of envy, Venus has an indiscreet fabulous faux fur wrap in dark blush fur, opera length gloves in almost not there glistening gold tulle, and totally uncomfortable stiletto heeled courts in a pale gold with broad ankle ribbons!
Bringing fairy tale Siberia with her; a final accessory is her gorgeous 'coach' purse in gild 'gold' and a matching blue velvet strap.

Clone: 1000 Venus d'Royce
Skintone: COSMETIQUE
Of course she comes with the following standard accessories:
-manic_cure hands (see booklet for hand change instructions)
-booklet
-stand
PRODUCTION MAY VARY FROM PROTOTYPE SHOWN.

Price: £269.75 (Excluding VAT at 20%)

RIO SYB/DD_0137 FIRE

Voltaire is thrilled to be joining her sisters this year for the Holidays. Like a titian Latin princess she chose to wear blazing pink, orange and purple. From the top. Her gorgeous wig of natural vibrant reds set with fringe and an up do we call bun - bun - bow. ...fabulous! Her eyeshadows in the spectrum of violets and smoke surround her eyes of translucent charcoal and ginger with lids of muted white, eyes those of green flame. Lips of gorgeous coral. Her 2 piece ensemble; a confection of embroidery and satin trimmed in gold and sequin. A matador suit hitting all the right curves, with epaulettes and a stand collar. Voltaire loves drama and this suit of lights has just her favourite kind.... the glamourous kind.

Always accessorised to the point of envy, Venus has an discreet white lace jabot at he neck, and totally uncomfortable stiletto heeled courts in a hot pink with broad ankle ribbons!
Bringing south America with her; a final accessory is her pair of banderillas and a red tulle veil.

Clone: 1000 Voltaire d'Royce
Skintone: CORALO
Of course she comes with the following standard accessories:
-manic_cure hands (see booklet for hand change instructions)
-booklet
-stand
PRODUCTION MAY VARY FROM PROTOTYPE SHOWN.

Price: £275.79 (Excluding VAT at 20%)

GLORIOUS CROWN AND SCEPTRE Set

Custon made for your Princess

Price: £35.00 (Excluding VAT at 20%)

Integrity Toys 1st International Design Challenge - my entry!

Integrity Toys has been holding a Design Challenge contest for every convention they hold. This year, they decided to extend this for W Club members from all over the world and proclaimed their 1st International Design Challenge. As many other club members, I jumped at the chance of participating - putting my years of studying pattern making and fashion design at work. The brief was to pick a past doll from Integrity Toys and remake her as her opposite - i.e. if she had a day look, the entrants should remake her in its evening version and vice versa. 

Photo courtesy of Integrity Toys

I decided to use the gorgeous Aperitif At The Balthazar fashion from Fashion Royalty 2004 Voyages collection. As it was a day outfit, I would make my fashion an evening look. And since it was only an outfit, I could pick any doll I wanted to remake. My pick was Dania Zarr Rare Appearance, a 2014 W Club doll. I named her Champagne At The Waldorf, referencing an iconic hotel of New York, with legendary balls held in it, much like Balthazar is an iconic French style brasserie of the city.

The sketch of my entry - Champagne At The Waldorf

I made the design easily - the inspiration came quickly and I focused on making something that would be relatively easy to make commercially, as the winning entry gets to be made by Integrity Toys to sell. The evening look kept the two-piece part of the suit, turning the jacket into a vest with a shawl collar. The bottom part of the skirt and the collar were made from pink muslin, echoing the lining of the original suit, while the rest was the same pied de coq print as the original - finding the fabric was easier than I would have ever thought! I picked pink for the buttons as well.

As my sewing skills are negligent (I can sew a button but that's it), I turned to my friend Maria from Habilis Dolls for help and she recommended her friend Ursula, a very talented seamstress that has made some perfectly made doll fashions to sell; luckily agreed to sew my prototype. The final look was enhanced with a pair of rhinestone and pearl jewels fixed on the ends of the shawl collar.

As for the doll, I restyled Dania's hair into an up-do, to match the evening look, and added feathers in her hair with a rhinstone and pearl brooch, as the original had a small fascinator with similar small feathers on it. You cannot see the shoes but I used some beautiful black pumps with ribbons at the ankles. The entry did not make the final round but I am happy I entered and would do it all over again! Let me know what you think of my design in the comments.

All photos courtesy of Stratos Bacalis unless otherwise stated

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