Dolls, dolls, dolls

One of the reasons I stopped blogging so regularly was because, aside from Instagram photos taken with my phone, the only photos I really enjoy taking these days is of my dolls. (And even then, I go through slumps where I can't photograph them, either). I suppose I felt that it may get boring with lots of doll posts but, honestly, I'm getting too old to do things (or not do them) based on whether or not they may please other people. So, without further waffling, here's some photos I took a while back of my vintage Barbie & friends collection(s). The top and second images show all of my vintage era Barbies (just Barbie, not her friends/family) in vintage (and one repro) outfits. The third image is all of my mod era Barbies, the fourth of my Skipper & friends collection and the last of Francie and her friends. I love laying all my dolls out like this on plain, colourful backgrounds. You can see more of my doll photos on Flickr!

Organising My Study

When I posted, again, after my blogging break I thought I was ready to tackle my blog head on. But I realised I wasn't - not really. So, I decided to just leave it for a little while. I've been struggling with what to blog about and there are some half-formed ideas floating around my head, but those are for another time when they've developed a bit.

But there is one thing I definitely wanted to share, and it's the project I set myself for January: organising my study. Ages and ages ago, now, I posted about how I was in the process of tidying up. But with one thing and another, I never ended up going through with it. So, I set myself the goal of having my study sorted by the end of January, and I more or less achieved it. There are still some things to be done but I just wanted to be able to look at the room and not want to cry.

This was the state my study had got into after months of just dumping things in there. I don't have a lot of storage furniture and what I do have isn't appropriate for everything I need to store. But my first task was to just sort everything and see what there was to get rid of. A lot of what was in the room had already been organised into boxes by my sister and myself, so I started by going through the boxes and shifting things into piles.

And this was the progress after about a week of working at least half an hour each day. It doesn't look like much but it felt good to get here. I kind of forgot to take any more good progress shots after this, though. I stalled for a while as I got to a point where I needed a new bookshelf to really be able to organise anything so there was a week or two when I didn't do anything in there.

I had some Pinterest boards for ideas and inspiration but, in the end, I really just had to work with what I had (with the addition of the new bookshelf) and go with that. Most of my favourite ideas needed little nooks or things like that to work properly, none of which I have. But I managed to work with the space I had and make a room I'm really happy with.

Anyway, how about a photo of how it ended up? You can see more in my Flickr set - I didn't want to put too many in this post. Maybe I should make a separate post focussing just on the re-organised room? Any interest in that, or does this cover enough? Hmmm.

It's like a breath of fresh air. And how about that rug from IKEA?

...OK, maybe just a couple more photos of my favourite spots in the room!

It's so nice to have somewhere to display my dolls. Even though vintage dolls are the bulk of my collection, not many of them are on display, yet. I'm looking for some nice outfits and stands before I display them. You can see my Limited Edition Sergeant Calhoun doll (from Wreck-It Ralph) on top of the shelf, next to my talking Vanellope (I have Toy Story toys on the other side of the shelf).

This is only one of my favourite parts, because I really struggled making room for this table. It belonged to my (paternal) grandmother, whom I never met, and it's beautiful but deceptively large. It took a long time to find a space where it would work and not obstruct anything else. I still have to find some nice boxes to display my fabric stash and maybe use a table cloth to obscure the boxes stored underneath. It's also nice to have a clear space where I can maybe do some craft things in the future.

Does anyone else like to just sit and stare at their bookshelves? I just love the way all the spines look together.

And one last photo because I don't want this to be too photo heavy (it's already very wordy!) I love this corner. It's so busy, and not quite finished, but it makes me happy to look at.

There are still some things left to do (new curtains, the boxes I mentioned for my fabric, more stands to display my dolls, a little chest of drawers and so on) but it's come such a long way. And I'm really proud of myself for achieving this; I rarely feel proud as I have a lot of issues with internalising my achievements. I think it's a lot easier when there's something so very obvious to see for all the effort I put it (which is a big reason I took lots of before/progress photos). But it feels really good. Now to deal with the mess it's left the rest of the house in...

Doll Spotlight: Most Mod Party Becky

Seeing as a lot of people seem to like my doll posts, I thought I'd focus them to one post a month with a spotlight on a certain doll or part of my collection. I'm also thinking Fridays might be a kind of 'Feature Friday' but instead of having the same feature every week, there will be four features that rotate throughout the month, so the 'Doll Spotlight' will be the last Friday starting today. I haven't thought of any other features, yet, so we'll see how it all goes! I'm not sure if I'll keep the name 'Doll Spotlight' for this one, either - I'm trying to think of something a little catchier.

Anyway, I'm starting with the Most Mod Party Becky set that was released in 2009. She is a reproduction of a prototype doll, from 1971, that was never released. Here's what the booklet that comes with the doll says about her...

The Becky Doll Story

Do you remember seeing that pretty, perky face in 1971 Barbie doll fashion catalog? Becky doll was introducted as cousin Francie doll's new mod friend. With silver-ash blonde hair, styled in a classic flip, this prototype sure did make an impression in pictures. But as 1971 went on, Mattel never moved forward with Becky doll's production. Until now! For the first time ever, Barbie Collector presents Beck - with Twist 'N Turn waist and bendable legs. The wait is over! Welcome, Becky doll!

I love the design of the box - for some reason it makes me think of a 1970s board game...

but the inside is more fun!

Becky uses the Casey mould (also used by the Twiggy doll released in 1967) which was the biggest smile the Barbie family had seen at this point! She comes with three of her very own fashions, with little 'Becky' labels sewn in, a number of accessories and a booklet which shows some of the original images of the Becky prototype.

Becky close-up.

Look at the neat accessories she comes with! I love the pink turntable and the little record. And you can't have a party without invitations and a guest list.

All three of the outfits being modelled by Dee Dee (a 30th anniversary repro Francie), Lulu (Smashin' Satin repro Francie) and Becky. Lulu is wearing an extra jacket not from this set and Dee Dee wears the repro boots she came with.

What do you all think of the Doll Spotlight feature idea? Are there any doll related questions anyone would like me to answer for the next Doll Spotlight? Or, if the question is more pressing, you are welcome to email me at andi.b.goode@gmail.com

Hopefully you all enjoyed this Feature Friday Doll Spotlight and I'll be working on the spotlight for next month...as well as trying to think of three other features! (Maybe I'll just try to think of one other, for now...) And you can follow the tumblr I use for my doll collection in the meanwhile, if you're interested.

Barbie convention finds

Today is the last of the posts about the Barbie convention! I wore another pink outfit for Sunday but was so exhausted I didn't get a proper photo of it.

I think you can see just how exhausted I was...

The pleats look so sharp in this photo. I wore my glittery loafers again as they're very comfortable and Sunday was sales room day! I was hoping to find some more vintage Barbies but I ended up with a lot of boxed dolls from the 80s on. I remembered the day after, though, that there was a really rare doll that I'd wanted to go back and look at again but I forgot. I probably wouldn't have been able to afford it, though, despite having been saving for this for ages. I'm incredibly happy with what I did find, anyway.

I've developed an attraction to space-themed dolls so I was super pleased to find three astronaut Barbies! I love the pink one - as I said on Instagram she seems more B-grade sci-fi Barbie to me.

And here they are displayed on my (tiny) space shelf! I've since added another astronaut that I nearly forgot I had packed away.

There was a Wonder Woman doll on the 'lucky dip' table and I was a bit miffed that I didn't draw the ticket for her, so when I found two Wonder Woman dolls in the sales room I was obviously quite pleased. I was also happy to get the Frenchy doll as I'd been so annoyed at myself for not getting more when they were on the shelves. The Bedtime Barbie is one I had when I was little.

And I also got a partial vintage Francie outfit!

Well, I hope you've all enjoyed seeing my convention outfits and finds. I had so much fun and being around so many other people who love what I do was a great feeling. But it's also fun to find out the different ways everyone loves Barbie and what their collections focus on. (Just like with any kind of collectors, really.)

Has anyone ever been to a convention like this, whether for dolls or other types of collectors? I'd only been to the two pop culture conventions this past year, Oz Comic Con and Supanova, which are very different formats, of course.

Red, white and pink

For the Saturday of the convention, I decided to wear pink on pink with a dash of red, white and gold. I grew up during the Pink Box era of Barbie so, while not all or maybe even most of Barbie's outfits were pink, it was the colour most associated with her, so it seemed appropriate to wear pink over the weekend. Plus, it's my favourite colour.

Accesory details, including the only sweater clips I own and my vintage valentine brooch.

Some of the competition entries for the day. This category was vintage Barbie  - I voted for the Barbie in the electric blue coat. My little Fluff doll in her green dress is just next to her. She didn't win but I did win one of the raffles!

And here is what I won! A repro Barbie in a custom made outfit by one of the women in the club, inspired by this vintage Barbie outfit. She is so lovely and I'm so chuffed that I won her. I'll have to find a nice place to display her.

I was attracted by her red hair and the paisley fabric.

The jacket is even lined! The detail is just gorgeous, really.

Hopefully you aren't all getting sick of reading about dolls because there is one more convention post to go! (But there will be a pure outfit post in between this one and the next post with dolls).

Loving the spin I'm in!

As I mentioned in one of my recent posts, the doll club I'm a member of held a Barbie convention this month. They are held every two years and this was the first one in Adelaide in ten years, luckily coinciding with my first year as a member of the club! 

The Friday night was a birthday celebration for Barbie's best friend, Midge, who turns 50 this year. I wanted to wear a Barbie themed outfit so mum and I set out to recreate the Barbie outfit Black Magic from 1964. (Hence this post's subject). To cut a long story short, the dress pattern I bought wasn't quite right and didn't work the way I wanted it to but luckily there was a similar enough dress on ASOS to save the day.

Barbie's outfit didn't include a hat or belt but I felt it looked better with both. My hair isn't long enough to put in a ponytail, so I tried to style it similarly to an American Girl Barbie, who had a bob in various lengths throughout her production run.

I think the overall effect of the outfit worked quite well. I didn't wear the cloak for most of the night, though, because another lady there had the same idea. Later on, I talked to her and she thought it was great we wore the same thing and we could be titian and blonde Barbie twins, so we got a photo together (with someone else's camera).

A look at the dress sans cloak.

There was a competition for OOAK (one of a kind) party dresses for Midge. The one in the middle was one of my favourites!

And here are the party dresses I made for my Midges. They didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped and the fabric was awful to work with but they seem pleased with their new frocks. They didn't win, sadly.

Everyone attending also got a gift courtesy of Mattel - this Barbie and Midge 50th Anniversary gift set! I already had a set but I'd not wanted to take the dolls out because they look really lovely displayed in the box. So, now I have an extra set that I can take out (as you can see I already have) and play with. It was an incredibly lovely surprise.

I've got a few more posts about the convention so hopefully you all don't get bored of dolls.

Op Shopping Tuesday

Last Tuesday it was my birthday and I spent most of the day op-shopping with my mum. I used my birthday money and managed to find a few nice things. Nothing particularly old or what I usually look for but some neat finds, nonetheless. And here are some sneak peek photos of the clothes and proper photos of the rest.

Check out the sequinned design on the shoulder of this 80s cocktail dress I bought.

A similar design on the hip.

The print on the utterly ridiculous 80s dress I found. It has a detachable peplum and very big shoulders (of course!) but it actually looks pretty good on, I think. I posted some terrible photos of these on Tumblr for anyone who wants to see them.

I'm honestly not sure where I will wear either of these dresses but I feel nearly certain there will be some occasion in the future that one of these will be perfect for.

A nice vintage plaid skirt. It has a bit of a '30s sillhouette to it.

I love the covers of these Kim Aldrich Mystery books. I found a little information on them here. It seems there were only four books in the series, so I'm only missing one! They sound kind of interesting so I may actually get around to reading these one day.

And some various dolly things. Mostly clone (i.e. knock-off) things, except for the mermaid and I think the white hat as I believe it's from Day to Night Barbie's outfit.

A photo, a song, and a winner

One of the things that I've discovered lately is that getting into a regular blogging schedule is harder than I thought. After all this time, you'd think I'd learn to have some back-up posts for times when I'm too busy to blog, wouldn't you? Well, apparently not! I think the best I can expect, whilst I'm studying this year, is that my blogging may be sporadic but I'm reassessing my aims for my blog. These, when I get around to them, will remain just for me but hopefully it will make blogging a better experience for myself and my readers!

Until then, here is a photo of one of my Barbie families (yes, I make families and life stories for my dolls). Three sisters, Casey, Cilla and Tutti (whose name is subject to change.) I love all of these clothes but the dress worn by Casey (standing up on the left) is my favourite and has a little matching bonnet, too. She even has a cute little half-slip to wear underneath.

In other news, I can't stop listening to this cover of Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me from She & Him's new album. Mel Carter's version is still my favourite but Zooey's voice suits this song so perfectly!

Lastly, but probably most importantly, I wanted to say that the winner of the What Katie Did competition was notified and her lovely lingerie is on its way to her! I'm sorry for not announcing that sooner but I've not been feeling the best. Congrats to Karin Wennerberg! And thank-you to everyone who entered the competition and to the new followers I now have. 

Some lucky finds

It isn't often that I find clothes that are remotely vintage at op-shops, these days, but I quite fortuitously found a lovely 70s/80s pink dress whilst out last week. Fortuitous because I'd been longing for something a little late '70s and for more pink in my wardrobe!

If I'd paid attention to the measurements on the tag I would have let this stay there thinking it was about three or four sizes too small for me. Well, it fits really well!

I'm going to replace the buttons as I'm not too keen on pearly buttons. Plus I think they're a wee bit small.

I also managed to snag this Raffia (or Raffia look as it's probably plastic) bag on the same day. And it will actually fit most of the things I like to carry around with me in it! This is rare for a vintage-y bag in my experience. (I say vintage-y as I'm not entirely sure when it's from. 60s? 70s? Earlier or later? I'm not exactly a bag expert, unfortunately.)

I don't think these are very old, from the feel of the plastic, but the design is quite mid-century.

And I got to pick up a Barbie set I've been anxiously waiting for for months now, today. Midge is my favourite of Barbie's friends/family (OK, close draw with Francie) so I'm excited she's getting a bit of attention for her 50th birthday this year.

Oh, also, I know I've let my Murder Mystery Monday feature fizzle out but the weather's been quite warm and I've just not been in the murder mystery mood. Maybe I can pick it up again if winter ever arrives! I know many of my Northern Hemisphere friends are longing for warmer days - if I could control the weather I'd send some your way. Alas, I cannot. (But I can still dream about it...)

Love,

Andi B. Goode

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Questions answered

It's not very often that I get questions on my blog but I've had a couple on the last two posts that I have done, so I thought I would answer them!

Helga asked which pattern was used for my pumpkin costume dress...it was a Retro Butterick pattern that you can find here.

{Source}

And below are the dresses that have been made using this pattern...(one is missing as I don't have a good photo of it).

This is actually one of my favourite dresses.

The pattern wasn't very good for the halter version - the bust just didn't sit right at all but it works well (on me - most people I know have to adjust patterns to fit them but I, luckily, don't have to do this often) with the sleeves and it's one of my favourite dress patterns. We also added a 'modesty panel' as the v of the neckline is quite low-cut.

And Alli said "What amazing dolls. And in beautiful condition. Wherever do you find them? And is there a doll that you would really love to find for your collection?"

Well, these three ladies were bought on eBay and I have bought quite a lot of dolls on there - I don't like eBay as much as etsy but there are a lot of Barbie sellers on there. Just like everything else, though, you have to know what you're looking for and this site is a really helpful place to start. I've also bought things from etsy (like the clothes in the above photo), local selling sites like Gumtree, op-shops (for '80s & later), and I get a lot of my repro or collectible Barbies from a store here called Kollectable Kaos.

There are a lot of dolls I'd really love to find for my collection. I would still love to have an original vintage ponytail Barbie but they go for a lot of money and I would also love a No Bangs Francie (last on this page) but they are the hardest to find of the Francie dolls. Oh and I'd love a Free Moving PJ or any of the PJs on that page, really. My wishlist is actually quite extensive! Ha.

I've also been asked in the past about my blush so I thought, while I'm at it, I would let you all know that I use peach glow by Natio - I used to use one by MAC but I realised it looked and lasted exactly the same as my super cheap blush so I'm never spending more money than I feel I have to on blush ever again.

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have and I'll try to answer them (only respectful questions, please, which I suppose goes without saying as I've very respectful, lovely readers, I think).

Love,

Andi B. Goode

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