Reader's 1950s Diner!

Just wanted to post some pics of the 1950s diner diorama that the Photo Contest Winner sent us -- made for her kids' school project, and featuring the dress that Mia was wearing while riding the chicken.... Thank you for sharing them with us "S.P."!

It is pretty darn neat! We love this kind of stuff -- If anyone else has any dolly diorama photos that they'd love to share with our readers, please feel free to email them to nora.demington@gmail.com. It's not a contest or anything -- just for fun. :-)

And also we wanted to remind y'all that the poll about our next contest ends on Sunday morning, so be sure to vote before then. It seems as if the majority of people want to start the contest now.... but we'll see what the final numbers are.

Thanks again to "S.P." for these awesome diner photos!

Vintique Designs Midnight Gala Dress

Yo and sup. Welcome to Tuesday's post. :-)  

Today we have some pics of Connie wearing Vintique Designs' version of the Heritage Doll Fashions Midnight Gala dress pattern available from Liberty Jane Patterns. You can see Heritage4's version of the dress below on the pattern book cover...

It looks "simple" to create but it's not (so a warning to newbie seamstresses on this one) -- it can be challenging if you are working with gauze fabrics (like the overlay on the bodice), and luxe fabrics (like the skirt) which can be slippery. But if you "got the skilz" to pull this one off -- it is a beautiful dress.

Our Vintique Designs dress came with navy see-through leggings to match the dress, but we decided to make it a 1950s dress for our Connie Bonacorsi and put on the ol' white tights and Mary Janes. It is difficult to tell from our pics-- but the dress is made from dark navy fabric, with the gauzy bodice material featuring tiny white polka dots (that part is easier to tell than the color). Enjoy the pics!

Vintique Designs has a bustling Etsy shop (vintiquedesigns56) with 50 sales and 20 currently available items. We have purchased a lot of stuff from her over the years-- most of it custom work which she readily welcomes. So if you have something special you have been thinking about commissioning-- she is a great seller to contact. She makes modern as well as historical clothing. We have a whole collection of Regency-wear from her as well as a bunch of modern items (more things we need to show you but haven't taken pics of, haha.) Here are her currently available items..... oh and FYI we have an awesome coat donated from her that we will be offering as a giveaway item in the coming months. Yay!

Also, we wanted to highlight more of Heritage4's patterns.... We have seen the wrap-top dress we talked about on Saturday, but not everybody is making these other pattern items and offering them for sale. Only a few have offered the peacoat and the panel dress for sale and we would especially like to see someone offering the wrap-tie top and the racer-back vest that you see together in the pics below. Anybody making those? Let us know!

Keepers Dolly Duds Green and Blue Polka Dots Dress for Connie

Penny purchased this 1940s ZigZag frock from Keepers Dolly Duds for our custom 1950s teen doll Connie Bonacorsi. We thought it was a fun and jazzy dress that would be okay to use as 1950s duds. Plus Connie needs something to wear to school. She can't really wear fancy party dresses everywhere she goes. ;)

The combination of green and blue is quite stunning with Connie's dark hair, and we love how the two fabrics are combined in this design. There are so many wonderful details: the tiny buttons, the white cuffs and collar, and the full skirt with the pleated contrast inset. Yet another perfect dress from Keepers- Thank you Eve! Connie just loves her new dress. :)






Come on back to The Doll Wardrobe tomorrow (Saturday) when we present some highlights of outfits in upcoming Ebay auctions. And of course, stay tuned for Monday's Liberty Jane Clothing outfit being modeled by our new Ramona (fka Ivy) with our first LJC mix and match.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Melody Valerie 1950s Custom Lace and Chiffon Dress

Happy Labor Day everyone!
It's so nice to have a bonus day off school right when it starts up. :)

Connie enjoyed modeling her 1950s custom lace and chiffon dress this weekend for our photo shoot. This Melody Valerie Couture studio creation was crafted from high-quality fabrics in colors that dance between dark chocolate, crimson, and maroon. And, as previously mentioned in earlier posts here, it is based upon a 1950s human dress, which is pictured immediately below. All of the best bits of this couture concept, such as the double shoulder straps, the lace bodice, and the fluffy bow at the belt-line, have been transferred into the dolly version.

If you'd like to read more about the creation of this custom dolly dress, please click here to visit the Melody Valerie Couture Blog. As an important note, the MVC studio's Fall/Winter Dress Line was released Friday and already seven of the new dresses have been sold. How exciting! Especially since Penny insists that she didn't purchase all 7 of them herself....though she may be guilty of buying some of them (wink).... Please click here to visit their Etsy shop. :)

After thinking about Connie's personality a little bit more, Penny has determined that she should be 15 years old, and be placed into the year 1956. That was the year Elvis Presley appeared for the first time on "The Ed Sullivan Show." His two #1 hits in 1956 were "Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Was the One." Penny wanted Connie to be a huge Elvis fan (her mother and aunt had gone to an Elvis concert once upon a time a very long time ago...) and she loves Elvis's music herself, so 1956 seemed to be an appropriate year to highlight.

But instead of droning on and on about Connie's background as constructed in the crazy mind of Penny.... you came here to see some pictures! So please enjoy Connie modeling this one of a kind Melody Valerie crimson delight. :)







How fun was that?!? Hopefully pretty fun....

On Wednesday, I, Nora the Marvelous, will post about Sundari and Stella's new school uniforms purchased from Etsy seller ampmcreations.

Melody Valerie 1950s Green Dress

Ah, here we finally are- introducing you to the 1950s doll with her new green eyes- Connie Bonacorsi. She is from an Italian family, which is why we were calling her Signorina. Her last name comes from the original non-Americanized surname: Buonaccorsi. This was the artist Perino del Vaga's real last name and it is also the name of a line of wealthy Italian Counts. Why did we choose it? Mostly because it sounds pretty cool paired with Connie, and we wanted her to have a Tuscan Italian background. :)

So immediately below you will see pictures of Connie with her new eyes in the green Melody Valerie Couture custom 1950s dress that Penny purchased earlier in the summer. Then you will see a slideshow beneath the first two images. This includes pictures of Connie with brown eyes and with green eyes, and features images of the dress with and without the cream collar attached. At the bottom of this post you will see the red and white dress on which this dolly dress is based.

If you don't already know this, today, September 4th, is the official release of Melody Valerie Couture's 2009 Fall/Winter Line. Please click to visit the Etsy shop!

If you'd like to learn more about the new MVC dresses, click here.

Or if you'd like to learn more about this custom dress project, click here.

I think that is enough excitement for today. Join us tomorrow for our Outfit of the Week post, and then on Monday I will show you Connie again in her second custom Melody Valerie dress. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Monday August 10th- 1950s Doll Has Been Named!

Guess what? The dolly heads came back from the TLC Doll Hospital today! Yippee!!!

So Penny thought it would be a good time to close down the "What should we name our 1950s doll poll" and announce what her name will be.

Out of 259 votes- "Connie" has received the highest amount of votes at 67!

It was a close running between Connie and Virginia- which had 66 votes!

And in descending order of popularity- Beverly had 50 votes, Diane 49, Patricia 41, Sharon 40, Gloria 34, and Anita 22.

So our new 1950s period doll will be named Connie! We are still working on a last name though...will get back to you on that once we do our first official post with Connie and her green eyes in one of her new Melody Valerie Couture dresses.

On that note, Melody Valerie only has two dresses left from the Spring/Summer line: so click here to get one for yourself before they are all gone!

Connie says she is very happy with her new name, by the way. She is now singing her name out loud and skipping around the room- in the buff. I think she is happy to have her head back where it belongs. ;)

Thanks for voting in the poll everyone!

Suzebella Cherries Jubilee Dress

What does Rebecca look like in 1950s clothing? Well look below to find out!

This dress, purchased from Ebay seller suzebella, was meant for the late 1940s and early 1950s. But we think it could work for the late 1950s as well, particularly with the novelty cherry fabric and the full skirt. In addition to this lovely dress, we received the red necklace and bracelet- both very well-made accessories which look wonderful with the dress. Rebecca certainly looks like she is ready to go dancing with our 1950s doll!

Marvelous Me, Nora, will post on Friday about some green zebra leggings purchased from Etsy seller MyOwnLittleWorldToo, which we paired with the white top from Etsy seller Doll Closet and some other items.

The Doll Closet Rose Bouquet Peasant Dress

Welcome to July and the summer! Yay! Ok, so summer technically already started on the solstice. But let's just roll with it...

Today we look at a beautiful new peasant-style dress Penny purchased from Etsy seller TheDollCloset. Go here for fantastic clothing made of awesomeness. This is our opportunity to show you a whole bunch of photos of our new 1950s doll, again and again, because she is just so pretty. Of course, she hasn't had her eye-swap yet. But we wanted to show her off anyway.

While ordering more and more clothing for our 1950s girl, Penny was able to form a more clear idea about who she is. She is definitely going to be an older doll than we initially planned. Most likely 13, 14, or 15 years old. And her story would be placed around 1956 when Elvis appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and went "mainstream." She loves Elvis to bits.

Her father helps to run the family business: a hotel chain with sites in Florida, California and (newly opened) in Hawaii. She spends part of the year in all three of these places. We have yet to map out any ideas about the rest of her family members.

Her wardrobe is eclectic, using a variety of fabrics that shift up and down a spectrum from funky flowery and novelty fabrics to sophisticated silks, sateens, and lace. Our 1950s doll is a beach-loving gal, as you will discover as you see more and more of her clothing. Because she spends a lot of time at the shore, she prefers light-weight clothing, breezy frocks, and playful attire for the daytime. At night, she is helping out her father at events at the family hotels so she is required to wear fancy party dresses and mingle with the guests. Not that she is complaining about this. She loves going to the hotel parties and meeting new people.

Ok, back to the handmade clothing! This Doll Closet dress really pops and it looks wonderful with the doll's dark hair. This seamstress always chooses the most interesting fabrics and combines them in neat ways. This is just the type of thing Penny was envisioning for our 1950s wardrobe. Playful garb for the day and elegant dresses for the nighttime (courtesy of Melody Valerie Couture). Of course, we have a lot more stuff stashed away for this doll than just this...but for now, you will just have to be satisfied with the images below and the other items will have to remain mysterious!

On July 3rd, Friday, we are going to show off a holiday-themed outfit purchased from Etsy seller AbygailElizabeth. This Etsy shop is closed until July 15th, and her earlier homepage posting stated that she was only going to be offering doll clothing until August 15th, 2009 due to the CPSIA laws. So check out her shop in mid-July for some neat items!

Introduction to Two of the New Dolls!

Wow, June is quickly coming to an end and Friday is my last day of school! Yippee! Well, my last day of school until the fall comes... but let's not dwell on such dark thoughts. For now, let's enjoy the summer months and get ready to relax!

For this post I will introduce you to two of the three dolls which Penny picked out at American Girl Place New York. The first thing Penny did when she walked in the door at AGPNY was go to the concierge desk to the right of the doors and ask how a customer gets stuff shipped to themselves. All that is taken care of at check-out! Good to know. You fill out your address on a form, you get charged extra for shipping and it is delivered by UPS.

Seven to ten business days for delivery was the estimate from the cashier. But it actually arrived in Badger's Wood in two days. TWO DAYS! Can you believe it? Derek was opening the box (and reading the receipt) before we were even half-way through our vacation!

Anyway, the second thing Penny did was hand her camera to her sister so she could take photos of the store while Penny looked at the dolls. She started her quest in the "Just Like You" areas on the first floor, positioned to the left and right of the doors. (Penny's sidenote: The store's floor plan was not designed for easy-traffic-flow. So it can be a little daunting, especially when people are lined up at the concierge desk to check-in for special events and they block the doorway. Eek! AG, are you reading this?)

The first doll Penny picked out was the mystery girl which will be revealed on Wednesday June 24th. Those of you who consider yourselves to be Sherlock-Holmes-reincarnated have probably already figured out which doll was purchased. Those of you who are more like the Dr. Watsons of the world and are usually asking Holmes "Who? What? When? and How?", check back on Wednesday for the "big" reveal!

The second doll Penny chose was the #16 destined to be customized into our 1950s girl. She looked at every single #16 doll on the floor trying to find one with eyes that were the same size. Or as close to being the same size as she could find. The AG face molds do not always provide the perfect symmetry of parts that Penny finds so comforting in her dolls. By the time she was looking at her 20th #16 doll, Penny's sister was ready to throttle her with her own camera...

Eventually a doll was chosen, and she moved up to the historical floor to find a Felicity doll (with eyes that were generally the same size) to be made into Elinor Dashwood once she gets her brown eyes in place. This search was accomplished relatively quickly in comparison to the #16 quest. With 3 dolls, some accessories, and a pair of doll clogs in tow Penny dragged her bag of goodies up the check-out. (Penny's sidenote: They really need carts, not just big bags. They get way too heavy to lug around- even with just one doll in them. But the store aisles are too narrow for carts and they should be wider for more movement. Again, AG, are you reading this?)

After all the checking-out occured and the goodies were handed off to the cashier to be shipped, Penny remembered she wanted to get a Statue of Liberty costume for Muddiford (fka Coconut), and one of the little carry-all bags for dolls that are store-exclusives. Back to the check-out...

So for now I will show you the #16 and Felicity dolls. In the pictures below you will first see the #16 (yet to be named via our poll, which will probably close after we reveal her with her green eyes), then Felicity, and finally the two dolls side-by-side so you can pretend to envision an eye-swap between the two. (Which will eventually occur.)

Sorry for the long post! (Gee, my little vinyl fingers are tired.) Enjoy our pictures below and I'll return on Wednesday with further AGPNY adventures!

Custom Melody Valerie 1950s Dress Complete!

An extra posting for today to show off the new 1950s dress that was just completed by the Melody Valerie Couture studio for us here in Badger's Wood: here is the MVC blog entry with photos!

We couldn't be more excited about this dress and look forward to receiving it with much anticipation. Now all we need is the 1950s doll to go with it....

But unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the new Felicity and #16 dolls are going to be chosen at American Girl Place New York at the beginning of June. So we will have to wait a little bit more time to see them. And then of course, their eyes are going to have to be swapped professionally. But everything should be ready to go and be revealed towards the end of June. For now, please enjoy all the lovely photos of Lisette in the new dress at the MVC blog!

New Doll and Custom Clothing Plans!

Hello again!

Please allow me to share a little confession with you- once you start this blogging thing and you learn how to actually do it properly it is very difficult to tear yourself away! It's been several months now, but I am finally getting the hang of it!

Having followers and guest reviews from another author, Jess, is just so exciting that I want to keep posting again and again! I really should be doing homework...but instead I'm here on the computer. (Don't tell Penny.)

Let's take advantage of my procrastination and talk custom doll projects! My next post will introduce you to our first custom doll. But first I decided to bring your attention to our next planned project.

We have already briefly discussed our upcoming custom doll project of a brown-eyed Felicity doll to play the role of Elinor Dashwood from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. We need someone to wear all of this Regency period clothing we are collecting!

The new question became: "What do we do with the green eyes and where do we get brown ones?" I suggested to Penny that she finally make that dark brown-haired, green-eyed doll that she has been thinking about since she was a little girl. American Girl used to make a Girl of Today/ Just Like You doll with dark brown hair and green eyes. However, that doll (#10) was retired and Penny likes to buy new dolls (she likes that new-doll smell) so she can't troll Ebay for one.

Thus hatched the plan to create a green-eyed version of a #16- see the AG Playthings Guide to JLY for a headshot of this doll, as well as a guide to the number coding for JLY dolls. We wanted to create a new historical to be our friend, however #16 features bangs, which are not really appropriate for characters dating to earlier than the 1900s.

I began to sketch out a "dating" plan in my Science notebook- instead of writing about plant cells. This is what I came up with: many of the other 1900s decades are already occupied by official American Girl historical dolls- Samantha for 1904, Rebecca for 1914, Kit for 1934, Molly for 1944 and Julie for 1974.

We wanted to be slightly original, so we were left with 1924, 1954, and 1964 as choices. Bangs didn't seem right for the 1920s when we tend to think of flappers and bobbed hairdos for that decade. So it was between 1954 and 1964: sock-hops or the Vietnam War.....um, yeah. You can probably see where this is heading.... Even though Penny's Dad is a Vietnam vet (yay Marines!) and it would be cool to make a Vietnam-era doll as a semi-tribute to him, she felt weird placing a young girl into that part of US history.

Looking closer at the issue, Penny's Dad grew up in the 1950s and our 11-yr-old doll would be about the same age as he was in 1954! He always enjoys talking about his childhood adventures. Can't really say the same thing about his enlisted years. So after that long thought process, Penny gave the thumbs up for a new 1950s doll. She is big fan of poodle skirts and saddle shoes!

So help us decide on a name for our mysterious-yet-to-be-created 1950s doll- please vote in the poll on the right side of the screen underneath my profile photo! You can choose more than one name that you like- but don't choose them all because that won't help us narrow down the list!

In anticipation of our new 1950s doll we custom-ordered a new dress from Melody Valerie! Check out the first blog entry on the project just as the work is beginning!

(Sorry I just created the longest post EVER...didn't really mean to....hope your eyeballs aren't sore from reading it!)