More Polls for Isabelle and GOTY

We had a couple more ideas for polls for y'alls to fill out.

Can you tell we like polls???

Well, the end of the year is a good time to contemplate whether or not we liked what AG was doing for the past 12 months. ;-)

The story is that Grace will also cost $120 as her base price with paperback book.

Just like Izzy and her pink hair piece.

Supposedly Grace has earrings that are unique to her and will only fit on her.

So that is why she costs more.

But AG just wants your money, in our opinion, 

and is using the earrings as an excuse to up-price the GOTY from now on.

Also, who wants earrings that only fit on one doll?

Ummmm.

And does that mean other AG earrings won't fit her?

This confuses me, but I am sure we will learn more about this.

Still $120 for GOTYs from now is something we should accept as the norm.

But is it worth it???

So this poll came up into our thoughts....
You can select more than one answer.

And of course, any doll discussion is 

incomplete without the "Meet Outfit" commentary. ;-)

You can select more than one answer.

Thank you for filling out our polls!!!

End of the Year Polls: Thoughts on Isabelle, GOTY 2014!

Just a few more days and Isabelle will be officially gone.

Grace is already in the wings, ready to elbow her out of the way.

But before that happens, we wanted to do 

a set of 2014 round-up polls about Isabelle and her collection.

"Air-Swimming Izzy"

We got a lot of her stuff this year, including the doll, and a lot of her clothing.

We gave her painted eye makeup and then thought about getting a 2nd Izzy.
But then, meh. We didn't feel the need.

We also decided not to get the sewing studio.
Though we kinda wanted it. It really didn't work in our space.
Just kinda useless.
Once you take a set of pics of it, then what do you do with it?

But overall, we really liked many parts of her collection,
especially the mix and match clothing.

So here are zee polls!

Let us know yer thoughts!

Thanks for visiting us friends! 

 And thanks for filling out our polls! 

 You are awesomeness. :-)

Sunday Shop Shoutout: Camelot's Treasures

We are starting a new series for 2015, and the end of 2014, haha.

Sunday and Thursday Shop Shoutouts.

We pick the shops we like.

Because we are bossy like that.

And we pick some items we like from the shop's listings and sold items.

Then we put the pics up here for you to ogle.

Hopefully this helps promote the shops, and the styles of clothing we like.

Because we are bossy like that. ;-)

Today's shop is Camelot's Treasures!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/camelotstreasures

*If you are Camelot's Treasures and you do not want your pics shown here, please let us know in the comments or via email to nora.demington@gmail.com and we will take them down.*

Thanks for looking friends!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/camelotstreasures

Holiday Prezzies Poll!

Hola!

Time for a Holiday Prezzy poll!

Prezzy = Present,

in case you didn't know. ;-)

We didn't get any specific doll stuff this holiday season,
(that we didn't buy ourselves.... haha).

We buy ourselves doll gifts all year long,
so its not like we are deprived.

And our family and friends have really given up on giving us doll stuff
(because they think we have too much of it already...not possible though.)

We did get a tiny Hallmark polar bear ornament that
could work as a stuffed toy for the dolls.

Fyi, Hallmark carries a tiny line of stuffed toys called Itty Bittys.

See Itty Bitty Eeyore below.

They are 3x4x3 inches and could work well as toys for the dolls.

They have Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Marvel characters, 

Disney princesses and more,

as Itty Bittys.

Besides the polar bear, nobody gave us doll stuff though.
And even that person didn't realize she was giving us doll stuff.
(Innocent whistling.)

So we'll just have to buy more of it for ourselves...
(cough, cough, Grace's stuff in January, cough, cough.)

Please fill out our poll about Holiday Prezzies below!

(You can choose more than one answer.)

New Year's Resolutions: To Open or Not to Open Your Own Shop

At the end of the summer we asked shopkeepers 

to submit posts to us about opening their own doll-related online shop.

We got so busy that we decided to hold on 

to the posts until 2015 was looming.

Many of us use this time of the year to make decisions about the next one -- 

What do we want to accomplish???

And, of course, dolly people sometimes 

want to open a new shop in the new year.

So we are going to start uploading the shopkeepers 

posts now as part of this "resolution" idea.

Here was the original idea described below,

and if you want to participate, 

please send in your posts to nora.demington@gmail.com!

This will be labeled as "The Pros and Cons of Opening an Online Shop Series."

Fun title, huh? Haha.

http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2014/08/looking-for-guest-blog-authors-who-own.html

Calling all shopkeepers!

We are looking for a handful of online shopkeepers 

to write blog entries for us in a new series.

You can sell doll clothing, accessories, foods, furniture, patterns, etc. 

Whatever doll-related thing you sell!

If you want to sign up, you literally only have to write one post for us, haha.

And you just write it in an email, and we post it here.

Send them to nora.demington@gmail.com.

Very simple.

The post should contain this info:

1) Background of your shop

Why you started it, and brief overview of how you started it.

Where is shop located?

Ebay? Etsy? Separate website?

Why did you chose this location?

How many years have you run your shop?

How successful do you think it has been?

2) The Cons of Opening and Operating an Online Shop

3) The Pros of Opening and Operating an Online Shop

This series is designed to discuss opening and operating an online presence.

Many of us struggle with the idea of having our own store.

We might want to do it.

We might dream of doing it.

But yet, we don't do it.

We are even among those chickens, haha.

So we wanted to have a rational discussion of this topic.

With thoughts and opinions from people who have an online shop.

So please, send your posts to us 

and we will load them up here for discussion purposes!

Send them to nora.demington@gmail.com.

There is no such thing as a right or wrong answer to these things.

We are looking for personal reactions to these pros and cons topics.

So you don't have to be scared of other people 

not agreeing with you or thinking the same way.

Odds are, we will understand where you are coming from!

Often this topic gets discussed on boards, or chat rooms, or private threads.

We wanted a source that was a little bit more public.

So remember, anyone can read these!

But don't let that discourage you.

The fact that anyone can read these posts 

and get an idea of the experience of owning and operating 

an online presence is a good thing!

If you wish to remain anonymous but still give us your pros and cons opinions, 

you can also certainly do that!

Just email us and we can work that out. :-)

Any questions?

Please feel free to comment below with questions 

or email us at nora.demington@gmail.com.

If you want to include pictures, please send those as well.

They are welcome.

If you just want to do quick answers to our inquiry, 

you can feel free to add them below in the comment box!

Winter 2014 Trends to Sew: Emily Heather Designs

One of the things that has developed this year is Instagram promotions for Etsy shops. It existed before, but now it is really working well.

What this means is that shops with small, limited releases advertise their upcoming items and sell them on a specific date and time.

Then those items often move very quickly out of that shop.

And when you go to search for trendy American Girl-sized clothing in Etsy, those pieces are already sold and will never appear in your search.

So you have to know that the shop exists without the search engine! Gasp!

One such shop is Etsy's Emily Heather Designs.

We have loved their clothing fer a long, long time.

Blog: http://emilyheatherdesigns.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emily-Heather-Designs/212601712232460

Instagram: http://instagram.com/emilyheatherdesigns

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmHeathDesigns

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/emilyheatherdes/boards/

You will see a lot of really awesome Winter 2014 trendy stuff 

in the "sold" section of their shop.

*If you are Emily Heather Designs and 

you don't want us posting yer pics on here, 

please let us know 

in the comments section or 

via email at nora.demington@gmail.com 

and we will take them down. :-) *

Sold Items:

Available for sale right now:

Jacket

Blazer

Winter 2014 Trends to Sew: Part 2, Delia's Going Out of Business

In an ironic twist that pretty much sums up our life...

Delia's is now going out of business.

So right after we started a "Trends to Sew" series 

about their newest winter line....they are closing and will be no more.

Right after I said I actually liked their clothing now....sigh.

Yeah, so if you want something from Delia's -- 

now is the time to get it girls and effeminate boys.

Yeesh.

But that won't stop us from talking about them here.

IN FACT:

This is a great time for seamstresses to buy Delia's clothing 

at reduced pricing and then slice and dice it up for doll clothing.

You can make Delia's clothing live on in doll styles! Haha.

_____________

One of the biggest fall and winter trends of 2014 was 
plaid, plaid, and some more plaid.

Plaid shirts, button-downs, shoes, coats, jackets,
hair accessories, boot linings, pants, skirts. Everything. In. Plaid.

Have I mentioned plaid?

Dark plaids are especially good for wintertime.

Black and red is very in.

And blue watch plaids with black, yellow and green accents.

Start sewing people!

Right after you shop at Delia's.... ;-)

Plaid examples from Hollister...

Winter 2014 Trends to Sew: Part 1

We get a lot of catalogs at The DW headquarters.

You'd think catalog paper grew on trees, they send us so many.

Recently we got a Delia's holiday timey catalog that really intrigued us 

because it was not filled with cutesy, simpering outfits 

that make us want to gouge our eyes out.

Instead we found a lot of outfits that we would love to own.

^^^ We would literally buy and wear everything in these images. ^^^

We probably couldn't afford to eat anything for a year afterward, 

but we'd love to own them!

Part 2 will continue with a closer look at 

some of these Delia's pieces and style trends. :-)

End of the Year Poll: New-ish Pet Accessories

2014 was the year of 600 pet accessories,

which all cost as much for these fake pets as they do for real pets....

As nicely made as these accessories are, 

they are all a bit too cutesy for our collection. 

 Though they do fill a gap in the American Girl collection, 

especially for those people who spend more money 

on the pets than on the dolls.

Some people just don't have the space or the money for 20+ dolls, 

but they can accommodate 6 pets and their stuff. ;-)

Though we purchased the "new" Coconut, 

we decided not to get him any of these accessories.

We started plotting to get him a different set of accessories 

that suit his doggie-hipster personality instead.

We still have to get those things though--

they may be challenging to acquire.

Plus we find it mentally difficult to buy 

toy collars and carriers and pet bowls and food and treats

when we actually have to spend money on these things in real life.... 

On real, living breathing animals.... 

Hmmmm, priorities, priorities...

Sigh. ;-)

End of the Year Polls Continue: 2014 Pets

2014 saw the changing of the MyAG Pets line.

Who knew that was going to happen?

Well, some people saw it coming.
AG kept changing up the animal offerings so much these
past few years it was time they did something.

Does it really pay off to release a new dog
only to retire the thing half a year later?

Make a decision and stick with it AG.

So now we have six MyAG pets to choose from.

And they have more posable bodies.
And a host of expensive accessories.
(See tomorrow's poll to voice your opinion on those.)

We were planning on buying the Corgi puppy ourselves, 

but then discovered that Coconut was actually more posable. 

So we got one of those instead.

We wanted something that could sit and stand. 

And the Corgi only half-sat, like it was in the middle of taking a poo.

Not exactly what we were going for....

But we will probably buy the Corgi later.

Maybe we will take some comic dog-going-poo pictures...

I never said we aren't classy here at The DW. ;-)

Reminder! Winter FDC entries are due today! Dec 15th!

Title is pretty much the point of this post, haha.

Reminder! Winter FDC entries are due today! Dec 15th!

Here is the contest info:  

http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2014/08/winter-fdc-theme-announcement-entries.html

There will be three winners to this contest in total.

Each winner will received a $60 AG Gift Card.

Winter FDC Outfit Theme: 

Animated Character!