Design Lessons from Play Wonder Part Three

Hola!

So we got some good poll ideas and "questions for us" from our last blog post -- but feel free to keep 'em coming -- we'll post the answers and the polls soon, but not for a couple more days. So you still have time to comment on that blog post: http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2012/06/questions-for-you-questions-for-us.html

Today we return to the Target Play Wonder doll clothing we purchased recently

and Maple ties it into her "Trends to Sew" posts.

So this is Maple here. Whattup peoples.

Warning: Longish Post.

Arista and Kenna are modeling the previously-discussed outfits for us (see Part Two), with two additions -- the jean jacket and the tan hooded vest. We actually turned the vest inside out and used the purple striped side. (We liked how it looked better, haha.)

Things to note for design purposes

1) Don't mess up the jean jacket. 

It is apparently easy to do. This one has little structure and detail. 

All it really has going for it is the denim flower. Which might have been awesome if it hadn't been so huge.

Light blue denim is actually "back" so this color should work, but it doesn't because it is low-quality faux denim that doesn't do the job.

We actually own Liberty Jane's Founder's Day jean jacket pictured below -- so we know a good doll-sized jean jacket is possible (though this one was not "inexpensive").

Check out these human examples for sewing inspiration. Hopefully Cinnamon will release a jean jacket pattern for y'alls soon, and you can start experimenting with this classic fashion staple yourself.

Madewell's Goldrush jacket

Old Navy

Urban Outfitters

Fashionista Jean Jackets from Yes Style

Our favoritest-est-est jacket eva

We want to order this one so badly....

And then rule the world!!!

And we also want to order the guy pictured in this jean jacket....

We don't need to order the clothing (though they are super-cool). 

Just the guy....

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2) Vests are difficult. 

They are like the Advanced Biochemistry of the Fashion World. 

Many clothing companies just make dress vests for men only and stay away from female vests. They are challenging. You have to go trendy or just go home.

This item doesn't work very well. 

The stripes help it to be quirky, but the shape and design don't do the doll any favors.

Look to Urban Outfitters for youthful trendy ideas.

Patchwork denim

Steal the men's dress vest, just cut it for a woman

Crochet it up baby!

Talk about a dramatic look

And trot on over to Nordstrom's Juniors department for 

a jean jacket/vest combo style that can really pull an outfit together.

But don't do what Play Wonder did. :'-(

Fashionista Vests from Yes Style

And because we couldn't resist adding him in....

My Korean boyfriend sporting a man's manly vest.

Can't you see the desperate look on his face?

"Where's Maple???" he is thinking, "She is going to be late for our date tonight!"

Though he would be thinking that in Korean, of course....

A girl can dream, can't she?

_________________

We recommend trying these doll-sized patterns to attain your vestie dreams:

The Cascade Vest over at Liberty Jane Clothing

http://www.libertyjanepatterns.com/2011/10/cascade-vest-and-jacket-pattern.html

LJC also has several other vest patterns available.

And at All Dolled Up: Sarah's Vest, available as a sold item and as a pattern

http://www.alldolledup-dollclothes.com/patterns.html

Okay, that's the end of today's Design Lesson.

Come back next time for some blog post on something awesome from someone..... oh wait, from us. Yes. Come back soon for something awesome from us,
here at The Doll Wardrobe Blog. ;-)

Design Lessons from Play Wonder Part One

One of our posts about the Target Play Wonder doll line is actually quite popular. 

Who would have guessed? 

So we decided to go out and get three of their newest outfits and do a little investigative reporting for y'alls.

What does that mean?

Well, we'll talk about fit, quality, and design. And we'll pay special attention to neat things we think seamstresses should try out for their handmade doll clothing, as well as things that we think they should avoid doing.

So it will be a series of tips, advice, do's and don'ts all connected to these three Play Wonder doll outfits from Target.  We hope it will be useful!

(We are also marking this under "Trends to Sew," fyi.)

For Part One we'll just show you the outfits laid out, so we can discuss the different pieces briefly, and we'll show you the Play Wonder tags for the outfits. They show you each item that comes with the outfit and two possible ways to "style" it on your doll.

First Outfit:

Things that impress us about the first outfit:

1) Applique tunic top (with heart)

2) Shredded graphic crop top

3) Reversible skirt with bow

4) Striped headband that can also be a belt

5) Twistable layered scarf that can be also be used as headband

6) "Canvas" cargo Nehru-esque jacket with little pockets and tabbed cuffs

Things that don't impress us 100%:

1) Leggings/cropped tights are just "okay" as far as quality

2) Pink shirt is made of very thin fabric - we know that is the point of modern shirts but this one just looks kinda cheap

3) Skirt doesn't fit around the AGs waist (bummer)

4) Jacket features velcro circles instead of snaps or buttons (you'll see shots of this soon) - and the velcro catches on everything

5) Jacket is not lined

6) Jacket doesn't really fit AGs very well

7) Scarf is rather puffy and never lays flat

__________

Second Outfit:

Things that impress us about the second outfit:

1) Sharkbite hem on tank top

2) Tiny striped fabrics used for tank, scarves, and shirt

3) Floral cuffs on the jean capris

4) Capris are lined with nylon so they slide onto the dolls easier and 

it protects their vinyl from the dark fabrics

5) Fabric cuff bracelet with lace bow

6) Hooded vest that is lined

Things that don't impress us 100%:

1) Top doesn't really have a well-finished neckline

2) Vest has printed gold "buttons" on the pocket tabs

3) Vest's lining is a better-quality fabric than the "outside"

4) Capris barely fit the AGs

__________________________

Third Outfit:

Things that impress us about the third outfit:

1) Tiny striped fabric of the short-sleeve top

2) Cropped jean jacket with floral embellishment

3) Inclusion of 3 belts/ headbands

4) Style of the clutch (size and shape)

5) Tiered floral ruffle skirt

6) Reversible bodice top - ingeniously simple design and looks great on the dolls

7) White fishnet tights

Things that don't impress us 100%:

1) Neckline of short-sleeve top is finished, but in a clunky, non-trendy way - we don't like neckline ribbing unless it is a baseball-style shirt

2) Jean jacket feels quite cheap and isn't lined

3) Some of the belts are rather flashy

4) The clutch fabrics don't really "go" with the rest of the outfit - black and white leopard print? really?

5) Ruffle skirt is built on a very tight, thin cotton that does not give at all.
Could barely get it on the AGs.

6) White fishnets were very tight and we weren't able to pull them all the way up to the AGs waistline. 

Obviously the Play Wonder dolls are simply slimmer in the legs and waist than the AGs.

_________________

Part Two will feature Arista and Kenna modeling some of the pieces 

mix and matched together.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. :-)

Stay tuned for more bloggy goodness!

Play Wonder Target Doll Line

Sup peoples! Yesterday we showed you some bits and pieces from two doll outfits we purchased at Target and today we are going to talk about the new line just a little bit more. And as we said before, we'll show you the complete outfits on AGs in a little while.

So we read about the new line on the AG Playthings board. Then Beast's Belle did a review of a boxed Play Wonder doll, which you can see here: http://nevergrowupdollguide.blogspot.com/2011/08/more-on-new-dolls-at-target.html. We thought they looked interesting -- the clothing more than the dolls themselves. But still cool. The day after, Phoebe posted about one of the PW outfits on an AG: http://lovethatdoll.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-outfit.html. And we were surprised to see that the clothing fit Emily pretty well.

A month later (we are always late with these things) we share our info with you. :-)

So we did go to 3 Targets before we actually found the stuff. Not all Targets are very good about stocking their shelves nowadays. :-( But the one that did have the PW stuff had a ton of it -- more than you see online. But here are the online pics from the Target website (brightened by us to really show you more of the true colors) -- we didn't take pics in the store.

The dolls they show online....

As you can tell-- very much 1980s-revival layered fashions with a lot of pieces to the outfits.

The dolls are cute. We aren't gaga over them -- we like their outfits more than the dolls themselves. ;-)

The outfits they show online... first two are the ones we bought.

And again, there was more in that Target than you see online. FYI. There were two price-points for the outfits, $13.99 and $16.99 (we think) -- but all of the ones you see online are the $16.99 outfits. The dolls are $34.99. Not too bad given the fact that you get a rather complex outfit with each one.

So our first reaction to the outfits were -- "Wow, that is so much stuff for totes less than AG charges!!!" Which is true but these outfits don't come with any shoes - just the ones on the dolls. They do have shoe sets sold separately though. We aren't totes sure if the PW shoes would fit AGs.

Our second reaction was -- "Some of these pieces are really cute!" A lot of the outfits had two or three pieces that we really, really liked -- but in general the entire package wasn't completely made of win. For instance, the two purses we got are kind of over-the-top flashy/gaudy -- but we liked the rest of the outfits...soooo..... yeah, we now own the purses too.

Third reaction -- "Almost every outfit has a bit of pink --- but its not too overwhelming."

Fourth reaction -- "While the quality of our handmade stuff is better, this stuff is pretty good." From what we were looking at most of the outfits were good-quality. In general, the knit fabric choices are pretty awesome. The other types of  fabrics -- cottons and synthetics, less so. For instance, the green and blue skirt we got -- very thin fabric. The dark grey jacket -- also thin fabric and the white velcro is visible when it is open. And again, the bags are kind of cheesy -- the blue one we got definitely looks cheap.

But we'll show you real life pics of that stuff soon.

As far as comparing it to Battat's Our Generation -- we only own two OG outfits personally. And they are also a mixed bag -- some pieces from them are made of great fabric and have perfect design. Other pieces feel like cheap fabric. And the OG shoes are just not attractive at all.

From our standpoint, we like the PW outfits more because they are more trendy, with darker colors, and they are specifically designed with a ton of pieces for mixing and matching, and creating new looks. The tags even show you a couple different "looks" you can make with just one outfit. We'll show you those tags in that post we keep teasing you with. Haha.

So personally, we think PW is better than OG.... but that might just be because the entire OG section is  a block of pink.... pink everywhere and on everything.... sigh.....

Let us know if you have any questions! Oh and let us know if you want to see our two PW outfits on specific dolls. :-)