Fashionista #12 is Finally Here, Red Ruffles, Too

I looked high and low, both locally and online for the doll I was formerly referring to as "blue sweater." No one had her -- not Target, not Walmart stores or  their dot coms.

I never made special trips to these places, well maybe to Target, because I have not shopped there as a routine since their security breach a few years ago.

Whenever and wherever I looked, this doll was nowhere to be found.  Frustrating.

Red Ruffles is a caramel complexioned 2015 Barbie Fashionista.

During a trip to one of the two Walmarts that I checked, I saw Red Ruffles up close and personal and, although she and Goddess Emerald share the same head sculpt, her complexion and hair color combinations were inviting enough for me to bring her home.  Unlike Goddess Emerald, this doll has high-heel feet.  I have not deboxed her yet, but will soon and will share better photos than the one above and the next two in-box photos.

Her dress makes it pretty obvious why I refer to her as "Red Ruffles."  Her box refers to her as this as well.  She will be given a real name later.

The number 11 and Red Ruffles appears on the lower right-hand corner of the doll's box.

Red Ruffles' presence preceded "blue sweater's" by almost three weeks until  I casually mentioned my desire for her in a Facebook group.  I received leads from a couple of members.   One led me to Toys R Us.com where the doll was priced $12.99 (more of course than I desired to pay compared to Walmart's price of $7.94) but my patience to find her was wearing thin.  Shipping was free since I purchased something else costing $7.99 as a qualifier for free shipping for orders of $19 or more.

She is here and is as lovely as I expected.  Because of her Tyra Banks resemblance, I have named her Tyra (even though her box refers to her as, 12 Pants So Pink).

Tyra also has not been deboxed, but I did take the following additional photos.

Like Goddess Emerald, Tyra's feet are flat.

Tyra will make a return appearance along with Red Ruffles once they both have been freed.

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Replaced Fashionista and Two Separates

Found at Walmart for $7.94 this doll replaces the smudged face doll received from TheBarbieCollection, which was returned to them for credit.

Denim pants and sleeveless jacket found at Walmart for $2.24 each.

These two denim separates were purchased from Walmart on the same day the replacement doll was purchased, a floral patterned jeans and vest.  The plan had been to use these for this doll's redress.  I am not sure which Barbie the pants were cut to fit but even on So in Style Chandra (seen next), the hip area has a loose fit.  They swallowed the Fashionista Barbie and I did not bother to photograph how foolish she looked wearing them.

Chandra wears the two denim separates that were purchased for the Fashionista Barbie.

This is the redress we settled on initially.

In the above photo, the Fashionista wears what Chandra had been wearing (minus the shoes).  It is a Sparkle Girlz fashion.  She wears her original tan sandals, muted gold earrings, and turquoise shoulder bag.

She needs a name, but I am not good at remembering names unless they were chosen by the manufacturer or unless the doll reminds me of someone.  She does remind me of a young child that was my son's babysitter, but that was over 30 years ago and I cannot recall her name other than the fact that it began with a K.  I am open for name suggestions.

Update 5:40 a.m.
After the original publication of this post, I decided I did not really like the way her body looked in the turquoise top and peach skirt.  For some reason the fashion itself seemed to make her head appear over sized.  I redressed her a second time in another Sparkle Girlz fashion that better complements her head/body proportions.

Here she is, front and center, standing out among the rest in her multicolored cotton sundress with  faux suede belted waist, lightweight sleeveless "denim" jacket, still wearing her original shoes and earrings and still needing a name.

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Which Comes First the Fashion or the Doll?

The above fashion pack contains two fashions made for the now discontinued 4Ever Best Friends dolls by MGA Entertainment.  I purchased the fashion pack specifically for the school girl fashion. Because I do not own 4Ever Best Friends dolls, I had no idea which doll would have the opportunity to wear it.  I still had to have it.

The first doll to try on the school girl get up was Goddess.  She loved it, even though she had to wear a pair of her own shoes.

Goddess rocks the school girl look.

4Ever Best Friends dolls are only 9-1/2 inches tall with different proportions than playscale dolls, including their feet, which are longer and wider.

Once Goddess entered the classroom (because of the mini skirt and crop top) she was sent home! Back at home she continued to wear the fashion until I scanned the doll room and found the following two girls who looked like perfect models for both fashions.

 

These two girls, Kiki and Sami, by Madame Alexander were originally white dolls that I dyed brown using Rit clothing dye.  The Alexander company did not make African American versions, so I made my own, as discussed here.

Kiki and Sami are perfect models for the 4Ever Best Friends fashions.

The girls wanted to show off their backpacks.

As shown above, they are now wearing their 4Ever Best Friends fashions and shoes which fit them to a T.  I am so glad I scanned the doll room.  Goddess wears what she wore previously, her Live, Love, and Laugh top, black leggings, and black sandals.


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New Fashionista, Waiting on One More

New Fashionista Barbie has an Asian-African American look

This girl was supposed to be a travel companion for Carlyle Nuera's Claudette Gordon.  Both were ordered on the same date from TheBarbieCollection.com (formerly known as BarbieCollector.com); however, Claudette's flight was delayed.  I am expecting Claudette to arrive later today.  While free time permits (of which I have very little these days), I wanted to post the initial and additional photos of this lovely auburn haired doll.
 

Wearing a pink and turquoise print romper, she carries a turquoise shoulder bag and wears beige sandals on her flat feet. Bronze diamond-shaped earrings complete her casual look.

Her auburn hair has red streaks.

The beauty mark below her left eye adds to her appealing appearance.

After deboxing, I discovered a dark smudge on the right side of her lovely face and another discoloration in the vinyl on her forehead.  Both areas are too faint for my camera to capture, but because I see them, the plan is to call Mattel for a replacement.  Even though the price was only $10.99, I expect at least a flawless face.

This doll is the final one in the new collection of Barbie Fashionistas that I desire. 

At the time of ordering Claudette and the Asian-African American-looking fashionista, the above doll was not available at TheBarbieCollection website.  At the time of this writing, a couple of Amazon sellers are offering the doll for triple the amount of retail!  I choose to wait until a retail-priced doll is available.


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Fashionista Six: Are Two Heads Better Than One?

Mattel must have felt that two versions would be better than one of the blonde Fashionista with freckles, that I incorrectly assumed had only one hairstyle (all-over big curls).

In a comment to my post  about my doll, Jewell informed me first that two versions exist, one with all-over curly hair and a second with flatter curls.  A day later, another collector mentioned this. Seeing, as they say, is believing.  Fellow collector, Betty Jones shared the above photo of her dolls confirming that two versions of the Fasionista that I refer to as Doll 6 do exist.

In Betty's close-up photos, she points out additional differences:

The freckles on the big-haired version are more visible than the one with flatter curls, shown next.

This one's freckles, like those on my doll, are visible but very faint.

So if you opt for online ordering from places that do not use actual photos and your desire is for curlier locks, be forewarned:  that might not be the version you receive.

Thanks again, Betty, for the visual and for allowing me to share your photos here.

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Tending to An Important Issue When...

Amazon.com labels the above two as:  Barbie Fashionistas Party Glam Doll #5 and #6

... I saw these two wish-listed dolls at the same online site at a price I was willing to pay with free shipping.  So.... I had to order them!

Yes, I know, I am or was on a self-imposed doll-buying hiatus that began in mid-April.  I remained faithful to my promise that I would not buy another doll until I saw these two last week.

See, "what had happened was" (or what prompted the purchase):

I received a credit card statement from a card connected to Amazon.com and did not recognize the lone charge.  Thinking "fraud!" I  went to the site to check past orders to ensure the charge was valid because I could not recall placing any recent orders.  Ah ha!  It was something I ordered in May for my mother.  Relieved, and while I was on their website, I decided to search for these two dolls since prior searches elsewhere only led to other sites having one of the two available with Doll 5 being the one that was usually already sold out.  Paying separate shipping for both was out of the question for me.  I wanted them, but not that bad.

After discovering Amazon.com's free shipping for Prime members for both, I carted the two and immediately went to check out, but remembered that Amazon is an Ebates affiliate.  Before I completed the order, I opened another window in my browser, went to Ebates.com to earn cash back on the purchase, searched their site for Amazon's link, and clicked it from Ebates to return and complete the purchase.  Then I exhaled.

With these two dolls crossed off my short wish list, I thought seriously about ordering the action figure that I want, but decided I would put him on hold for a while longer since I am now confident that I-can-do-this (go weeks at a time without purchasing a doll).  My doll-buying roll needs to remain slow anyway.  So the arrival of the action figure can wait.

Now about these two:

This is their initial photo, taken while they were still in the shipping box.

Doll 5 is featured in the graphics of her box (lower right-hand corner) along with 2 other Fashionistas.  Likewise, Doll 6 is featured in her box graphics.   Their assortment numbers from the backs of their boxes are BCN36CJY44 (Doll 5) and BCN36CJY45 (Doll 6).

Freed from their plastic confines but still attached to the Fashionistas lining

This enlarged close-up headshot illustrates that the lip color used for Doll 5 is deeper than the prototype (seen in the first photo of this post), which is a good thing, in my opinion.   Doll 6's stiff hair is not as curly as the prototype doll's.  The prototype's curly locks were part of the purchasing appeal for me.  Had I seen the doll in person with hair like this as the only option, she would not be here now.  Doll 6 has a sprinkling of freckles (barely visible in my photo).

Their hair has not been combed in this picture ↑, which illustrates Doll 5's reddish-brown highlights and Doll 6's flat curls in the back.

The Hands↓

The long and ring fingers are fused on both dolls' hands. 

The Feet↓

Doll 5's flat feet will pose a problem in the shoe department unless I am able to find a shoe pack made especially for her.   In an online review of this doll, the reviewer wrote that jointed ankles would have given the doll more versatility in shoe choices.  I agree.   The reviewer noted that Doll 5 can stand alone.  She can.   As illustrated above, Doll 6 has high-heeled feet which afford her the opportunity to wear other Barbie high heels.

The Goddess head sculpt was used for Doll 5.  She is shown above with the 2014 African American Holiday Barbie, another Goddess sculpt.

Doll 6 uses the Desiree head sculpt.  The doll on the right, Artsy Fashionista from a previous year, shares the same (devoted-to-and-overused-for-dark-complected-dolls) head sculpt.  However, this is another reason I wanted Doll 6.  Until now, the Desiree sculpt has never been used with Doll 6's complexion.

Finally, I brushed Doll 5's hair and finger-combed Doll 6's.  Without achieving the desired curlier look for Doll 6, I gave her an updo.  The two are shown next in a final photo together where the height difference, due to Doll 5's flat feet and Doll 6's big hair, is notably apparent.

My new dolls are two of the eleven Fashionistas scheduled to be released this year.  Unfortunately, like these two, none of the Fashionistas will be articulated.  All eleven are illustrated on the back of the box as shown next.

Ms. Leo lucked out on a Doll 6 with better hair.  She has already re-bodied her doll.  See her post here.

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I extend a special thanks to Sarah Sequins of Sarah Plays Dolls.  After reading my reply to her comment on my Who is Barbie post, where I expressed my deep desire for Doll 5,  Sarah found one in her area a few days later that she was willing to sell me.  This was the day after I ordered these two and I no longer needed the doll, but I truly appreciate the gesture.

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When I ordered my dolls from Amazon.com last week, they were priced $10.99 (Doll 5) and $9.94 (Doll 6).  The price remains the same for Doll 5, but when I last checked, Doll 6 was a whopping $19.34 with only one available.  What a huge jump in price in less than a week.

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