A Quick Outfit Swap and Pleasant Surprise

Twist 'N Shout Darla Daley in Rebecca jumpsuit made by Shasha of atelierni Shasha

Since 2013, Twist 'N Shout Darla Daley by Integrity Toys has been wearing the Rebecca one-shouldered jumpsuit made by Shasha. I won the fashion during Shasha's Welcome 2013 Contest. It's perfect for Darla, including the handmade bracelet, earrings, and belt.  However, recently I decided to see if Tamica would look as good wearing it.

Tamica in Tamica dress

Because Tamica was wearing the Tamica dress Shasha made (shown above), I decided to just do a fashion swap between the two dolls. I was pleasantly surprised.

Tamica now wears her bronze leaf-shaped earrings and beaded bracelet along with bronze sandals, matching purse, and a copper arm bracelet with the Rebecca jumpsuit, which I knew would look nice on her, but...

...I didn't realize how great Darla would look in the Tamica dress.  Her body already exhibits a lot of "movement,"  which the dress accentuates.  Darla still wears the earrings that came with the Rebecca jumpsuit, and the belt is now worn as a two-strand necklace with beaded pendant.

Darla finished her new look with a faux-straw hat that Goddess Emerald wore first, which looks rather nice with her new ensemble.

The ladies pose together for one final photo.

I have always considered doll redressing as the next best thing to getting a new doll without the added expense.  Darla's redress really did give me the new doll sensation, but this is probably because she had been wearing the jumpsuit for over three years!  Because Tamica has become my redressing muse, I know she won't wear the jumpsuit as long.

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Color Infusion Janay's Second Photo Shoot

When last seen, 2013 Color Infusion Janay wore a black and white striped tunic and black textured leggings (scroll down here).  After the chevron dress arrived from Shasha of atelierniShasha, we made time for another photo shoot.

Janay styles and profiles the chevron dress, which shows off her long, shapely legs.

As evidenced above, Janay looks stunning in the chevron dress.  We wanted to see where the length would fall on shorter legs.  Guess who volunteered.

Halle models the chevron dress.

We all agree they both wear it well and lengthwise, it appears to fall in the same upper thigh area on both.

Janay tried on her slip dress next, but we found it to be a little short.  So she refused to be photographed wearing it.  (She can be a diva, too).  Once again, Halle volunteered to model it.

Halle models the slip dress made in beach colors that match her PopLife Christie jewelry. 

Since the slip dress is the perfect length for Halle, Janay allowed her to keep it.  Halle wears a pair of pewter Mixis shoes, which are a little long on her, but they work well with the dress.

Happy to have finally received a redress, Halle returns to her chair with other shelved playscale dolls.  Janay continues mixing and matching.

Yellow tunic combinations:

The yellow tunic pairs well with the royal blue sparkly leggings and Janay's own royal blue pumps.

Here she tries on gray leggings and black high heels.

In the same color combination as before, Janay decides to sit a bit.

White Tunic:
 

White tunic with gray leggings and black high heels

Taking a risk with four different colors, Janay adds a yellow belt to the white tunic worn over hot pink leggings with her blue pumps.

She realizes the versatility of the white tunic and decided to skip modeling it with other leggings.

Gray tunic combos:

Gray on gray with black boots and faux diamond choker

More splashes of color are done with gray tunic, yellow belt, animal print leggings, and black heels.

Same combination as before but with borrowed jewelry from Darla Daley (earrings, bracelet and belt made by Shasha).

Janay and Darla await the arrival of another friend.

Until the next redressing session, Janay now stands on the corner of my desk with her current BFF, Darla Daley, who has borrowed Janay's felt hat, faux diamond earrings and choker. 



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I Want Twist 'N Shout!

Image from Wikipedia.com

If you are thinking about the 1960s song Twist and Shout, first recorded by the Isley Brothers (1962), then The Beattles (1963) that is not what I want(ed).  I am referring instead to friend-of-Poppy Parker, Twist ‘N Shout Darla Daley by Integrity Toys (IT)  from the 2011 collection whose bio reads as follows:

Introducing Poppy's best friend, Darla Daley. They met in a record shop and now, they are inseparable. Darla is an upcoming young singer who just made her television debut on the Ted Mullivan show. Thanks to her appearance on the show, she now has her first hit single!

Limited Edition of 400 Dolls Worldwide

After seeing a Facebook friend’s headshot of the original Darla Daley and asking, “who-is-that-doll?” my I want one antennae rose.  The mission to find Darla was not immediate, but she loomed in the back of my head for weeks to months.  Occasionally I would search eBay for her, but knew I did not want to pay one hundred+ dollars.  For a while, I waited for Toonaroona.com to discount Hit Single lower than their sale price of $70, but quantities sold out at that price first.  Thank goodness that happened because I would have been very disappointed with the purchase. 

I recall Facebook Friend writing, “I’m glad I got her before the mold changed.”  I wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but later discovered some interesting history about the original Darla Daley… the head sculpt I desired.

Thanks to Dolly Panic’s blog of March 2, 2012, I discovered why the one I had been hoping would be discounted would not be the version of Darla I wanted.  Dolly Panic wrote: 

…someone at the factory Integrity uses broke the original Darla face mold (so I've heard ... apparently, this was revealed at Integrity's convention this past October). They had to re-do the Darla sculpt, which is why the original promo photos of "Hit Single" look so different from the production doll. She even managed to go from left-glancing eyes to right-glancing.

See the comparison shots of the original and the new Darla Daley here.   Dolly Panic’s PoppyParker-dedicated blog again mentions Darla’s damaged sculpt.  

After nailing down for certain which Darla I wanted, I googled “Darla Daley Twist Shout” in hopes of finding a reduced price doll.  Bam!  I found one down under, literally, in Australia for $59 shipped from the merchant's American store.  The seller accepted Paypal so I immediately ordered and a few days later received a shipping confirmation minus tracking number.  After waiting a couple of weeks for the doll to arrive, I contacted the seller to  request tracking information and to find out if the doll was shipped from Australia or from their American store (if shipped from Australia, that could have been the reason for the delay, I thought).  That email went unanswered.  Panic and worry set in. 

Long story short:  After no word from the seller, I filed a Paypal dispute that was later escalated to a claim.  Because the seller failed to answer Paypal’s inquiry about my purchase, they sided in my favor and issued a refund on September 29^th (the doll had been ordered on September 2^nd, the claim filed on the 12^th and escalated to a dispute on the 14^th). 

The day after Paypal issued the refund, I found a nude OOAK repainted Twist 'N Shout Darla Daley waiting for me on eBay.  The auction had been listed for several days with two more days to go.  I wondered why no one had purchased it for the low, buy-it-now price with free shipping, a price that was less than what I paid for the one that never arrived.  After emailing the seller with my routine questions to ensure I would be happy with the doll, I completed the buy it now and realized the seller had spelled Darla's surname incorrectly.  I must have inadvertently spelled it "Dailey" like she had in my final eBay search for the doll. 

After the postman rang my doorbell this past Wednesday, I felt like twisting and shouting when I saw one of two packages left on the porch.  Based on the size and shape of the smaller package, I knew it contained my original-sculpt Darla Daley... at home at last.

Twist 'N Shout Darla Daley

Twist 'N Shout is temporarily dressed in SIS Trichelle's dress and Top Model Nikki's extra shoes.

  


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