So in Style Fan Club-Exclusive Chandra

2014 So In Style Fan Club-Exclusive Club Doll

This year So in Style Fan Club members had an opportunity to select Grace, Marisa, Kara, or Chandra as their club-exclusive doll.  If desired, more than one doll could be purchased.  I chose to purchase one doll, my favorite among the available choices, Chandra.

 Inspired by vintage Barbie, the doll's hair is styled in a ponytail with curly bangs. 

She wears a beautiful purple satin, one-shouldered, full-length dress with gold pleated satin at waist. 

Her jewelry of gold hoop earrings and gold and purple gem bracelet (next image) ...

...along with a gold satin clutch and gold strappy heels are perfect accessories. 

A purple faceted perfume bottle and certificate were also included.

In this final photo, Chandra's exquisite beauty speaks for itself.

*****

The So In Style Fan Club at Yahoo! Groups was founded in December 2009.  The So In Style dolls are discussed, photos shared, and lots of activities take place throughout the year.  If you collect So In Style Barbie and are interested in joining (it's free), click here.  

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Baby Phat Chandra Deboxing, Comparison, the Numbers

S.I.S. Baby Phat Chandra #1 of 3 before deboxing

After reading a status update written by a member of the Facebook SIS Group and noting the mention of glue used in the doll's head along with other issues she reported, I decided to debox one of my three Baby Phat Chandra dolls.

My doll, in my opinion, is without problem.  I love her hair, her straight-forward glance, and her outfit (even if it is one piece).  I took several pictures which are included below.  Click to enlarge any.

Her hair looks a little windblown because I didn't take the time to finger comb it before her photo shoot.

Chandra exudes confidence.

Isn't she gorgeous?

For others who have not deboxed any Baby Phat SIS dolls, I took the following body comparison photo of Chandra and Fashionista Artsy #1.  

While their body markings differ, their bodies appear identical with some exceptions.  Chandra is not articulated underneath her breasts.  The knee articulation and the shape of their hands and legs is identical.  The body and leg markings are different and Chandra's upper legs do not have the same range as Artsy's as illustrated in the final picture:

Artsy can do a full split while Chandra can only slightly part her legs to the side.

Why do I have three Chandras?

Inquiring minds might want to know the answer to the above question.  After waiting for the dolls to arrive locally for what seemed like an eternity, I purchased the first Chandra along with Kara and Marisa at Wal-Mart.  Grace was not in stock. 

A few weeks later while my daughter was out and about, I asked her to check a local Target to see if the dolls were in stock.  At that time I only needed Kara (a purchase for someone else) and the Grace that I was missing.  All dolls were available except Marisa, which I did not need, so I had my daughter purchase Kara, Grace, and my second Chandra.

My most recent Chandra purchase was made a couple of weeks ago when Toys R Us advertised a Barbie sale for $8.99 on all dolls regularly priced up to $14.99.  With the TRU sales paper in hand, I went to Wal-Mart and price-match purchased my third Chandra along with a duplicate Kara.

This still doesn't answer the why three Chandras question.  While her body does not have the full range of movement as Artsy's, it is articulated.  Dolls with a complexion as deep with full articulation are few and far between.  I can always use the extras as body donors should the need arise.


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Chandra is So In Style

SIS Chandra wears a SIS Club-exclusive fashion

So In Style Rocawear Chandra #2 was redressed in a two-piece purple, So In Style Club-exclusive fashion by doll fashion designer, MashauDe'.  This two piece ensemble is crafted from a rich silk shantung fabric.  It is fully lined, featuring a top with a wide décolleté, shoulder straps with button accents, a gathered bust line, and button over snap back closures. The matching pencil skirt is fully lined with button over snap back closure and is tailored specifically to fit the S.I.S. doll hips. 

Doesn't Chandra look absolutely stunning? 
Chandra's accessories, which were not included with the ensemble, include:

1.  A faux diamond necklace (made from an expandable toe ring).
2.  Faux diamond stud earrings.
3.  Faux diamond bracelet (made from a strand of a dangle earring; clasp together with a clear rubber band wrapped several times around the two adjoining faux diamonds at the ends.)
4.  Glimmering clutch bag (made from heavyweight silver wrapping paper, folded into a clutch shape, and painted with silver glitter nail polish, sealed with clear nail polish).
5.  Glimmering silver strappy high heels, painted with silver glitter nail polish, sealed with clear nail polish).

I created the background of Chandra's redressed photograph using Microsoft Paint to type the purple words, So In Style in Freestyle Script.  Next, I stood Chandra on a small doll box in front of my monitor and snapped several photographs using a variation of light techniques.  The best three photographs were cropped.  Using a combination of Microsoft Paint and Adobe Photoshop, I painted away the unwanted items in the background to create one color.

Below is a photo of Chandra wearing her original Rocawear fashion.  The images that follow illustrate some of the steps and photos taken to create the first picture in this post.

Chandra before the redress

Chandra stands on doll box in front of a computer-generated background for an initial photo; this photo captures the true color of her dress, but the monitor reflects the camera's flash.

This photo was taken with the camera's flash off.  I did use a snap on lamp for extra lighting.  Before deciding not to use this picture, I painted away some of the background from the lower portion of the monitor -- you can no longer see which programs I had open when I took this photo and the DELL logo is no longer visible on the monitor.  I used Microsoft Paint to "paint" that away.

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