Fashion Show!

My Christmas dolly diorama. 

It's some hybrid of sleigh ride and caroling.  

Don't think about it too hard, just enjoy the seasonal 

T-shirts.  

     After holiday markdowns and Santa's visit, more of them!  I bet the bottom halves of Khalil and Jeremiah are cold.  Also Hagrid's toes.  Hagrid is tickled pink at shirts he can wear, and even talked me into letting the gold and black be a year-round shirt.

Santa also brought Grumpy Bear Cutie Reveal and a whole bunch of clothes!  (Also some Mini Brands Home, but that's got no bearing on the fashion show you know I planned immediately.)  The clothes are second-hand and not all in pristine condition, some need repairs, but Santa did an excellent job of finding me a variety.  No complaints.

I decided to use the dolls in the diorama (and Grumpy, because none of the diorama females are standard body molds.  Susan B is curvy, Morgan and Diana have the athletic/heroine mold, Rose-Grace has a Wild Hearts body) as models in the fashion show. 

Are we ready, kids?

We'll start with the Disney Princess gowns.  I'm assuming the solid-color skirts go here because they were packaged with the gowns.  Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel, Rapunzel skirt.  (Grumpy's built-in top helps with modesty!)

Mirabel, Isabella, and Merida

Anna, Belle skirt, Belle, Elsa skirt.  Rose-Grace's improvised top is not part of the fashion show.  

Three versions of Elsa.  The sheer fabric on Morgan and Diana's shoulders were in bad shape, so they went bye-bye.  Other wise, all fashions shown are as they arrived.  

The red/yellow on Casey would work better as a top, or on a shorter friend. The red on Diana (I'm pretty sure) came from a Holiday Barbie.  I suspect the ones on Susan B and Morgan are hand-made.

More dresses.  

Susan B's house robe is really quilted.  I think it and the dresses on either side of her are hand-made.  

Skating costume and some more dresses.  I promise, we'll get to britches eventually.

I wonder where they are going, all dressed up?

Susan B finds another dress that better serves as a shirt.

The dress on Susan B looks like it came off a teddy bear, definitely needs some taking in.  Or turned into a skirt.  She's one movement away from a wardrobe malfunction!  (And yes, I know Diana looks like Jeanie dressed her.  Because I did!) 

Look!  Britches!  Now Susan B looks like Jeanie dressed her. 

Rose-Grace and Grumpy rocking the micro mini skirts.  Or are they shorts?

Now that we're into britches, the guys join the party.  

Ignore the dice bag holding up Khalil, he has a bad case of the floppies.  

Hagrid is wearing his original pants.

Now we're just getting silly.  Ron's in a life vest and Yule Ball Harry is wearing a coat with shorts.

Now Casey's wearing a coat with shorts!

Now, I know that Baywatch suit came on a full-size Barbie!  But it was even too small for Grumpy?

Trying really hard not to go off about doll proportions here.  Barbie's unrealistic, but them undies came off a doll with a head bigger than her torso.  

Back of the jackets modeled elsewhere.  The blue one says POP, not POO.

The swimsuit tops are too big around the chest (under the boobs).  

You saw Casey model the gingham, but it was very tight, and the others' waistband were too small even on Casey.  These things will fit Emma, Dan, or Roxy.  Maybe even the Harry Potter girls - they're quite skinny. 

All told, a very nice addition to the doll wardrobe.  

Fresh Fierce Collection Okoye

 Look who showed up on my doorstep! 

OKOYE! 

Okoye is the the general of the Dora Milaje and leader of Wakanda's armies.  In the interest of honesty, I will confess I have not seen her every appearance in the Marvel Universe.  I've only seen Black Panther in its entirety, and clips from the other movies. 

I have been watching this doll since I knew she existed because I freakin' love Okoye.  Full disclosure: I generally have no interest in superhero stuff.  The only Marvel movies I own are Thor Ragnarok (because Sam Neill) and Black Panther.  Black Panther caught my attention because of the rave reviews, so I watched it out of curiosity.  It blew me away.

Some folks will tell you Danai Gurira is the only reason I watched that movie or wanted this doll.  They're about 50% right, at least about the doll.  When I saw the doll for the first time, I said "She looks just like Danai."  World of EPI did a fantastic job on all three of the dolls in this set.  They all look very like the actresses.  I honestly think they are the best celebrity likenesses I've ever seen.

World of EPI is a black-owned company, focused on making black dolls that are not merely Caucasians in chocolate brown.  The fashion doll line is called Fresh Dolls, not easily found in my area, and a tad pricey.  The Fresh Squad (male fashion dolls) had my eye almost from the moment I heard of Fresh Dolls.  I eventually managed to get my mitts on two EPI dolls, both on sale.  

But I digress.  Okoye was very easy to remove from the box.  The insert has a Black Panther emblem in shades of blue and white.  Very cool.  Since the box didn't have to be destroyed, this gives me the option of keeping her items in it in case I ever decide I want to display her.

Okoye with my other dolls from World of IPA.  Fresh Doll "Lexi" and Fresh Squad "Kalil".  She's a bit shorter than Lex, but her shoulders are higher.  Lex got a big ole noggin.  

WARNING NEKKID PLASTIC PEOPLE AHEAD

RUN FOR THE HILLS

DON'T LOOK, ETHEL

While taking off her armor, I discovered that her skirt/wrap can be a cape.  

The clothes under her armor could be regular Barbieville clothes, but in the interest of keeping the set complete, they will be put away with the spear and armor.  I couldn't do this with my other movie characters because the boxes were destroyed.

Okoye has better hinges at the knee and elbow.  She's more muscular, as befits a warrior, and her wrists are articulated. Lex has smaller feet, so on the rare occasion that my dolls wear shoes, Okoye will have to share with the wrestler ladies and McG.   

With elbows at waist level, Okoye can almost touch her face.  She also sits in a more ladylike manner than Lex.

I haven't figured out yet what Okoye is gonna be doing in Barbieville.  

I now have two mini Danai Guriras in my house.  You are jealous. 

Finally!

I am so excited about new doll lines coming out!  For so long, we've had not much variety in the doll world - at least not the kind that appeals to me.  Barbie, of course, had the Made-To-Move line and sometimes a moderately articulated one would come along but lately the Standard Five have been, well, the standard.

That's not to say I've been languishing.  I've been able to find action figures in the right scale for Barbieville, or dolls from previous lines at places like yard sales and flea markets. Sometimes the Made-to-Move are on sale. There are even a few that have been around, but not in my area or price range.

All the dolls I'm talking about here have The Standard Five (neck, shoulders,hips) as well as elbows and knees.  Some of them have even more -- Made To Move Barbie has 22! 

I'm going to start with these handsome fellows.  The Fresh Squad is the male counterpart to The Fresh Dolls, who I'll talk about in a minute.  My favorite is Malik, the one with the braids.  Since they are fairly new and come with extra clothes, they cost a little more than most, but not ridiculously so.

The Fresh Dolls are a line designed (obviously) for girls "of color".  Even after all the progress we've made, there are still issues getting dolls that are anything but a brown-tinted but otherwise what designers call white-coded. The Fresh Dolls are an excellent way to fill that market gap. Some of these gals can be had for less than ten dollars!  

Bonus points if you can identify Froggy.

The WWE Superstars are Barbie-scaled versions of female wrestlers.  I've managed to get my mitts on Becky Lynch and Eva Marie.  Neither cost me more than fifteen bucks.  There are lots more in the line than pictured here and I love them!  They remind me of the Wonder Woman dolls... a line I neglected to mention in my opening.  I apologize, Amazons.

The Wild Hearts Crew.  These just hit the shelves!  They're carrying on the Monster High "Be yourself" credo, but with relatively normal size noggins. You can even find the Skullette hiding in the fashions.  Each gal has a distinct personality and there is a variety of body shapes. I think my favorite is Charlie Lake, she of the Pegasus shirt, followed closely by UFO chaser Kenna Roswell.   

The Comfy Disney Princesses from Ralph Breaks The Internet.  Articulation and the clothes more than make up for the unfortunate Disney tendency toward Vapid Face.  My favorites here (because of their clothes, frankly) are Tiana and Pocahontas.   

Last but not...  well, honestly...last and least.  The Disney Descendants.  I've gotten two on sale and used them for donor bodies.  That noggin is just a bit too big for my tastes, although a face with enough personality might make up for it.  

None of the photos in this post are mine, all came from the Internet.