I was browsing today around (what a surprise) and I saw pictures of the Basic Barbies redressed by CDFA designers, I love them!!!

Look at this amazing group pictures, are they not the apex of glamour and fashion?

My favourites of the bunch are the Justin Giunta Barbie:

and Betsey Johnson’s doll

I especially love the necklace on the first doll, such a chunky funky chaos of chains and the gown of the second doll.

They are all so in tune with the fashion of the moment.

I think the people as Asos got inspired and they decided to “redress” Barbie as well (found via impossibleprincess)

And by the way, they are selling the dolls as well, at around 30 pounds, I think it is the cheapest price I saw in Europe at the moment.

Talking about the Steampunk Ellowyne pattern in the previous post reminded me of a beautiful Dress-up game I saw on Deviantart: Clockwork Couture. Already the name is great and the flash doll is absolutely cute but look at the clothes! They are really detailed and sophisticate, I would love to have them for a real doll. Mhhhh….I could try to persuade my sister-in-law to give a go at sewing them

And…not dolls related…but always gaming, I’m downloading Gatheryn, an online game set in a Steampunk world. It is still in Beta version but the screenshots look interesting. The only downside is that most probably my laptop is not up to the task, I remember when I downloaded Forbidden City: I didn’t go much further than that unfortunately we’ll see what happens.

I was browsing around for some quality reading (AKA dolls reading) and I found the digital version of “Fashion/ Forward“, a mini magazine (a supplement to Dolls Reader) dedicated to fashion for dolls. I love that the outfits and accessories are presented and described as in real fashion magazines.

Brenda Cox is one the designers reviewed in this issue, look at her beautiful creations for our favorite doll: Barbie! and start to dream

Don’t miss though the preview of Gene paper dolls and the review of the a steampunk bride dress and pattern for Ellowyne: you can download the instructions and patterns itself here.

The only disappointment is that you cannot download the mag as PDF file but..oh well…we’ll survive.

If after this dolls and fashion galore you are still lusting for more check out the Dolls magazine. From the home page you can download (as PDF!!!) the digital preview of their December issue. They are just few pages but really nice I’m totally in love now with Goodreau Upside Down Oz collection!

ok…ok…I’m a bit single minded…but not really! I don’t always lust after dolls or dream about miniature furniture. Sometimes I also get fascinated by paper (dolls, models, craft) and I have a soft spot for fashion, even just looking at clothes lift my spirit and if I can buy even better. I love for example the new blog I stumbled upon:paper fashion! I’m tempted to write to the owner and ask to post a nice paper-doll as freebie, it would be stunning!

Another blog of fashion illustrations I like very much is Flushbunny, look at the fashion sketch inspired to Jem dolls, don’t you love it? And let’s not forget the fantastic Irina Ivanova’s flickr stream.

But here are my faves

I would really like to post tons of links, I think fashion illustrations are just art on their own and they remind me very often of beautifully crafted paper dolls (ok, so perhaps after all I AM SINGLE MINDED).

And this reminds  me also of what is most probably next on my wish list (the one for things I can actually get ): it looks like a nice set

It comes with patterns, a paper doll and much more.

And a new Barbie calendar for the year to come:

I will let you know if I ever come around buying them

So…for the first time since I opened my blog I didn’t post anything in a full month! September has been for many reasons a long, stressful, sorrowful month and I admit the blog went to the last place in my list of priorities. I decided though that I need a bit of cheering up and since I cannot always go out for shopping (sigh) I thought here is a good place to start with

What about starting with my shopping? LOL

In August and September I received many Barbie things I actually ordered the months before. Here are some:

My Barbie Fashionistas:

I deboxed till now only Sassy and Wild. You can see more pictures on my Flickr stream.

Then I got from Amazon the book I pre-ordered few months ago: All  Dolled Up by Jennie D’Amato:

It is just gorgeous!!! The illustrations are amazing and it comes with some reproductions of leaflets and booklets from Mattel. Here some pages:

Get it!!! You will not regret it

Then in Italy I picked up from my brother the Vogue special issue that came out in summer with the Barbie Booklet. I have no sister to ask to so he had to do it for me LOL. It is stunning as well, the only thing I don’t like about it is the small format, it would have been great in A4:

Last but not least the Barbie scarf I bought at P&C at the beginning of August:

and whatt have you all been up to?

Stay tuned…the posts will be coming again

So…my sister-in-law found them!!! I’m so excited. I’m normally very happy when I meet with her, we have always a nice time together but I’m never been so keen on meeting with her as now since when it happens she will deliver the dolls to me .

You can see both on my flickr account and her german blog the pictures she took of the dolls in the box. Also she posted few pictures of the Artsy Fashionistas on her flickr account. They look gorgeous!!!

Thanks again Ursula!

Most Probably you have seen these already but if not check out the sneak preview of the Barbie collection that will be released by Rocawear for their 10th anniversary in 2010.

They are all black and dressed in Rocawear clothes, the dolls are cute but they do not look so “special”, the clothes are a different story…they are brilliant!

The question of course is always the same….how to get hold of them here in Europe

So…yesterday I went to P&C in Düsseldorf and…they didn’t have the dolls, they haven’t even heard of them. Other 2 people checked in different towns, same story, what a disappointment

I got 1 t-shirt and one scarf, I love the scarf, it is a deep dusty pink with small prints of the Barbie head logo, love it love it I didn’t take the clutch because first of all it was a “micro” clutch (I could hardly fit in my cigarettes and mobile together) but most important it was very plain on the outside. The inside lining was with a Barbie print but the outside was just black, without any evident side of “Barbinesh” so I passed on it.

That’s all, we are keeping hunting for the dolls and keep you updated.

This is a bit “oldish” but very nice and inspiring, have a look:

First Look: Barbie’s Fashion Show In Paris

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Today we went again to a flea-market (love them!). I didn’t find any doll (but last week I found a nice case with Petra dolls and clothes), I still bought quite few things as cheap costume jewelry, a couple of vintagy Avon sets and other stuff but, more important, I FOUND THIS! :

It looks like a promo booklet for the upcoming Peek & Cloppenburg Barbie collection (hitting the stores tomorrow). My husband spotted it, I loved it at first sight and when the seller asked 5 euros for it I was over the moon.

It is roughly 40 cm long, quite heavy and it comes with a CD. The cover is all drenched in pink glitter. Here are just few of the initial pages:

Then, half through the booklet are some sketches of the piecese from the collection with prices:

and the dolls!!! The Fashionistas:

So tomorrow  after work I will go to the store. I decided to go crazy and if I find them I want all the dolls, 1 or 2 T-shirts, the clutch and one schal. Wish my credit card good luck