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| Three of a set of four ugly Christmas sweater ornaments, by North Pole Trading Co. |
An ugly Christmas sweater party, an appearance by actor/writer Hill Harper, and doll designer Stacey McBride will feature her Prettie Girls dolls on The Real Talk Show on Tuesday, December 16, 2014. (Stacey is mentioned in the final paragraph at the previous link.) Check your Fox network local listings for air time.
McBride, a former Mattel designer and creator of their So In Style dolls stepped out on faith, left Mattel's employ, and created her own line of fashion dolls, the Prettie Girls. Congratulations, Stacey, for your current and future successful endeavors. Continue to follow your heart and make your dreams a reality.
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| So in Style Chandra (now retired) sizes up a customized (formerly white Santa) ugly Christmas sweater, the 4th sweater in a set of four by North Pole Trading Co. (The other three sweater ornaments are shown in the first image.) Chandra likes the now-brown Santa sweater and could probably wear this as a dress, but she chose not. |
On a loosely connected note, the So In Style Barbie doll line designed by McBride for Mattel, has been retired! The only surviving member of the line is Grace, who will continue her life as a friend of Barbie in the Barbie Fashionistas line. See three versions of the 2015 Grace here, here and here.
Kudos to Stacey for designing the S.I.S. line of African American dolls to represent females with different complexions, hair textures and styles, who sometimes wore designer labels, and occasionally came with articulation. I will miss, Trichelle, Kara, and Chandra. Marisa, the beautiful Latina S.I.S. doll, will also be missed. Darren's brief appearance was also appreciated.
A debt of gratitude is owed to Stephen Sumner for working with Stacey at Mattel on the S.I.S. dolls and for continuing the work after her departure. Wishing you much continued success, too, Stephen in your new, hopefully greener-than-Mattel pastures.
dbg
So sad that the SIS dolls will be retired, but I really like the new Grace! I notice that the all of the pictures seem to originate in Germany. Hope we see them in the US market!
ReplyDeleteHi Phyllis,
DeleteI like the new Grace, too, and I am as equally sad about the retirement of the other SIS dolls and the SIS brand.
I found it quite strange that photos of the 2015 Barbie line originated outside the US. I too hope the dolls will be available here. If you haven't seen photos of the other proposed 2015 lines, here is the link to the blog where Grace's photos and others can be seen. The language there is Portuguese.
dbg
No more S.I.S.?!?!?! Pfui. I do like the new Grace face-ups, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about Prettie Girls being stocked at Walmart, as I seem to be emotionally incapable of placing a doll order online, but remarkably susceptible to dolls placed fetchingly in front of me on the store shelf. I hope this is a huge success for Stacey McBride.
I hope the success for Stacey is huge as well.
DeleteI picked up a SIS Grace at Marshall's yesterday. I already had this particular one, but thought since the SIS brand will be disappearing, I might need her for something.
dbg
This is such sad news about the SIS line. Grace does not look he same, but I do like her.
ReplyDeleteGrace's look has definitely changed. She also reminds me of the Teresa/Spanish Barbie head sculpt from the 80s/90s.
Deletedbg
Nice that Ms. McBride garnered experience creating the So in Style line that she can now use with her Prettie Girls line. I wish her well in her new endeavor.
ReplyDeleteGuess it's time for collectors to nab the poseable S.i.S. dolls that they can find. On your mark, get set, GO!
True... just nab a non-poseable one. The articulated ones should definitely be nabbed now.
Deletedbg
*nabbed
DeleteThank you for sharing the pictures. It's great to see that two of the new Graces are articulated! I've pretty much stopped buying new dolls that aren't articulated. I have three of the Prettie Girls (Lena, Valencia, and Kimani), and they are quite nice. One drawback is that their feet are too big for Barbie shoes, and not all Barbie clothes fit them. Hope that Prettie Girls starts releasing outfits and accessories soon to increase the fun value.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Troy.
DeleteI am hoping for separately sold Prettie Girls outfits and accessories, especially shoe packs, too.
dbg
Thanks for the info! My daughter and I are big fans of both the S.I.S. girls and the Prettie Girls. I like the new Grace dolls, and I wonder if she'll make appearances in additional Barbie movies. To date, she's only been in one (Fashion Fairytale).
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that Grace had made an appearance in any Barbie movies. Thanks for this information, Jewell, and for sharing the title.
Deletedbg
These ugly sweaters are really very cute. I was sad to read that the SIS line is being retired. I enjoyed the articulated dolls, the kiddies, and Darren. I'm happy that the Prettie Girls are continuing to receive positive attention!
ReplyDeleteI wish the sweaters had been a little smaller, but they are nice.
DeleteI hope everyone was able to watch the Prettie Girls segment on The Real. If not, the follow up blog post for today shares the link to the Youtube video of that segment.
dbg
SIS is my favorite doll line. So sad they're being retired -- if anything, the line should be expanded! I'm glad that Grace is staying with us, though.
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for more doll sweaters, Michaels has some in the ornament department. They're pretty cute.
I haven't had an opportunity to check Michael's to see if the sweater ornaments are in stock. I will make a note to have my daughter do that for me. Thanks for the reminder Saturday Sequins.
Deletedbg
I might go tomorrow to see if they are on sale. Hopefully there are some left!
DeleteAlso, have you seen the City Shine Bronze Dress Barbie doll? http://www.barbiecollector.com/shop/doll/city-shine-barbie-doll-bronze-dress-cfp40 She is absolutely stunning and at the top of my wish list for this year. I'm practically drooling over her. <3
Yes, I have seen the City Shine Bronze Barbie She is lovely. I want to see good photos of the actual doll.
Deletedbg
Love those sweaters! I'm not surprised to see the SIS line go. Mattel is famous for getting rid of lines we enjoy. And why they've made the decision to get rid of articulation on most of the dolls now, is beyond me. It actually helps me out because I'm less likely to buy a non articulated doll. The new Grace is cute but much younger looking. This is a great opportunity for StaceyMcBride-Irby to corner the market on articulated dolls of color. Hopefully she will expand the line to include children and males. I also hope they fix their articulation so the dolls can appear more natural in their movements.
ReplyDeleteAxing the articulation I think had something to do with children getting pinched by the joints. I guess we can blame parents for complaining about those, probably isolated, incidents.
DeleteHopefully the end of SIS will be beneficial to Stacey. Expanding the line to include males, extra fashions, and accessories would be nice.
dbg
I'm really disappointed about the SIS line. I started collecting pretty late in the game and only got a Kara and Grace doll this year. Guess I'll have to keep trying my luck at the thrift store to find some.
ReplyDeleteHopefully some of the dolls will show up at thrift stores, particularly after this holiday season. After Christmas is usually when I find a nice supply of dolls at the thrift store. Children have received new dolls for Christmas and dolls from the previous year are usually donated.
Deletedbg
That news massively bites, because I don't have ANY S.I.S. dolls, and I like to choose dolls in the stores, as opposed to shopping online.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the fact that Grace will get a new lease on her doll life, but why can't Trichelle join her? I really like Trichelle's face! Why can't the entire S.I.S. line join Grace, anyway, as friends of Barbie, or why can't it continue as the S.I.S. line? I wanted more articulation; that's what I was waiting to see in the isles, and that's what I don't see anymore. I should have just gotten the salon dolls...with those cool chairs, but I kinda wanted to find an articulated Trichelle with more curl to her hair.
I think that the S.I.S. dolls suffered the same fate as the 2003 Flavas dolls; I have one of every single Flavas character...except for Tre, darn it! I felt LUCKY to find one of every single Liv character (They're not by Mattel, but still); Jake re-appeared in Big Kmart, and I got him before he disappeared!
I think that I have more My Scene Madison dolls than anybody I know (I have tons of My Scene dolls, in general, anyway), and I wish that they were still available, too.
During 2015, those completely non-articulated Barbie-and-friends dolls will sport lots of new face molds, but the only African American dolls in the entire Barbie line seem to be Nikki and Grace...and maybe one new friend of Barbie (?). S.I.S. gave all Barbie enthusiasts an array of truly unique dolls that displayed a certain range of diversity, and now, not only will that diversity disappear, but the little siblings will disappear as well, and they were extremely sweet!
Maybe TRU will have a few leftover S.I.S. dolls? I really, really, really don't want the non-articulated, super basic S.I.S. dolls, because I really love the articulation.
The news of their discontinuation was very disappointing to me as well. I hope you're able to find some articulated SIS dolls.
ReplyDeleteI was late catching the Flavas wave and had to purchase my Tres and Kioni Browns on the secondary market online.
dbg