Black and White Forever Barbie
2020 will be the final year for the BFMC Barbie adult collector line. While it is sad to see the end, I think it is time to let this one go. The line since the articulated body made it’s appearance and economy measures were installed at Mattel have really taken this line down to the basic level. Case in point, the first doll of the final series in 2020 is “Best in Black”
- Label: Gold Label®
- Designer: Robert Best
- Release Date: 11/20/2019
- Eyelashes: Painted
- Body Type: Poseable silkstone
- Included With Dress, pair of sheer socks,pair of shoes, & Doll Stand
- Facial sculpt: Vintage Silkstone
- Fashion Sewn On?: No
- Fashion: Jet-black mini dress with stylish leg-of-mutton sleeves
Ok…so if you were looking to design and offer a doll to symbolize a funeral for the BFMC line….Mattel hit the nail on the head. This doll is indeed headed to a funeral with all the austerity and solemnity that would entail. No jewelry, no handbag, socks shoes and a black dress. Okie Dokie. Not the way this amazing BFMC line of dolls should begin the end of its career in my opinion but here we are.
Who knows what the last entries for this line will entail but at this point, my hopes are not high. For it’s last offering of 2019, the BFMC managed to at least give us collectors a ball gown so I have decided to celebrate that with a blog post. Don’t get me wrong, the BFMC has thrilled and blown this collector away many times since 2001. I am happy to have been able to collect this line for the past 19 years. I am just sad to see it ending on such a low note.
This past season, I was able to add a tree to the ITFDS studio. The theme for the tree was all black and white. Chanel was an inspiration.
And it inspired me to give the 2019 Black and White Forever Barbie a photo shoot.
Barbie® Black and White Forever™ Doll
- Label: Gold Label®
- Designer: Robert Best
- Release Date: 6/04/2019
- Included with doll: Slingback shoes, Earrings, Doll Stand,gloves, petticoat,wrist tag
- Eyelashes: Painted
- Fashion: Petticoat, Slingback shoes
- Fashion Sewn On?: No
- Body Type: Posable BFMC
- Doll Stand: Yes
- Facial sculpt: 11590
She at least has some earrings 
. I’m not a huge fan of the articulated body or the glitter eye shadow but at least she has a ballgown. I also like the two toned white with black hair in an elegant updo. Is she worth the $100 price tag? I would wait for a sale on this one.
-Rebecca
New Jason Wu Elyse Announced!
Yesterday the WClub announced a new exclusive lottery during it’s week long Dolly Days extravaganza. We have a new Jason Wu designed Elyse people! She will, sadly, be an IT direct right to buy lottery with an edition size of a paltry 450. Mud pit time. Many will happily enter the pit for this one.
Pre-Fall 2016
Dressed Doll
The Jason Wu Collection
Estimated Arrival: Early Jan. 2020
Price: $225 + S & H
Edition Size: 450
Head Sculpt: Elyse
Body Type: FR 6.0 with Velvet Touch
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Ice blond
Foot type: High-heeled
Eyelashes: Yes, hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
Here is her story:
Get ready to add something luxurious to your collection! Jason Wu’s muse, Elyse Jolie, is an absolute vision of femininity wearing a masterfully rendered, miniature couture version of an original look created for the JWU Pre-Fall 2016 collection! Don’t miss your chance to add this truly timeless collectible to your JWU collection!
Included:
- 12.5-inch fully articulated doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes;
- Elyse wears a miniaturized reproduction of a Jason Wu original creation, featuring
- intricately engineered details at the bustier and overlapping skirt panels on the front of the dress;
- Faux-snakeskin spectator heels;
- Clutch purse;
- Sparkling "jeweled" pendant earrings;
- Matching luxuriously "jeweled" bracelet;
- Two pairs of hands;
- Doll stand;
- Certificate of authenticity.
Final fabrics, colors and textures may vary slightly. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only
I really wished they had showed the back view of her hair. It looks like a french twist….I am guessing though. If it is…divine!!
Holy hand grenades people!!! The dress has pockets!!! {no judgment for the Monty Python reference either please LOL!}
This facial screening reminds me of J’Adore La Fete Elyse.
Not sure what the Pre Fall 2016 name is all about. After scouring the released photos of his prefall 2016 line I could find no reference to this design. Some super sleuths over at the WClub forums did find this though…
Kate Bosworth in Jason Wu at a red carpet in 2016. This definitely appears to be the inspiration. Doesn’t appear to have ever been produced except as this one off. Very pretty on Ms. Bosworth and beautiful on Elyse as well. Well played Mr. Wu!!!
For you WClub members who want to try for this one, your deadline is January 6th, 2020 at noon EST.
–Rebecca
Well Hello Miss Ginger!!
The WClub just announced it’s 5th and final club doll for the year and it was an amazing way to end Poppy Parker’s 10th anniversary year. David Buttry finally released his much anticipated friend ( or is it frenemy) Ginger Gilroy. He did it in the best way possible…giftsetted with a Poppy.
Friend or Foe
Poppy Parker™ and Ginger Gilroy™ Gift Set
The Poppy Parker™ Collection
2019 W Club Exclusive
Estimated Arrival: End of April 2020
Price: $199 + S & H
Edition Size: TBA
Head Sculpt: Poppy and Ginger (new character sculpt!)
Body Type: Poppy Parker
Skin Tone: FR White (Poppy) and Cream (Ginger)
Hair Color: Dark Ash Blonde (Poppy) and Titian Red (Ginger)
Foot type: High heeled
Eyelashes: Yes, hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
Miss Gilroy is scrumptious!!! A fitting frenemy to our beloved Poppy. I can’t wait to see what David comes up with for her. I adore the colors and fashions he chose! While I have never been a huge fan of a bubble dress or gown, I adore the light blue confection that Ginger has. The beautiful lavender that adorns Poppy will be welcome when they arrive in the spring of 2020.
Yummy!!!
I adore the lavishness of the accessories too. I like that we now have 2 pairs of white hands and long gloves that we can mix and match with our other Poppy’s. I also appreciated that David gave us two different kinds of wraps…one satin and one fur. Made for a nice change. I am loving the spring pastels as well. This was indeed a fitting way to end out Poppy’s 10th anniversary year. Well done Mr.Buttry!!
If you are not a WClub member(why not?!), you will not have direct access to this gift set. It’s a WClub exclusive. You will need to wait and watch on Ebay next spring. And if you are not a WClub member…you might want to consider membership which will come up again in February of 2020. Watch the blog for details.
-Rebecca
Mademoiselle Eden Wows the Crowd
Integrity Toys’ WClub released information on their 4th out of 5 club dolls and the general consensus is WOW! It’s a good wow not a bad one…at least in my view. I know that many collectors don’t go for different colored hair. I know that for the most part, I don’t either. That being said, I am crazy for this lady. The talented Jessy Ayala has given us a Rococo inspired pastel infused piece of pure femininity. Jessy chose the perfect model for his creation in the sweeter than sweet Eden ( a personal fav). She will be a perfect sister to the epic crowd pleaser Public Adoration Eden which was given as a gift to convention attendees at the WClub luncheon in 2018. Click on the picture to get more info from Integrity Toys website.
Here is how Integrity Toys and the WClub answered calls for another doll like the popular one above.
Mademoiselle Eden
Eden Blair™ Dressed Doll
The NU. Face Collection
2019 W Club Exclusive
Estimated Arrival: Spring 2020
Price: $145 + S & H
Edition Size: TBA
Head Sculpt: Eden
Body Type: NF 3.0
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Color: Pastel Amethyst
Eyelashes: Yes, hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
This one is a WClub exclusive and only available to WClub members. If you are not a WClub member (why not??), you will need to wait for this beauty to pop up on Ebay sometime in the spring or start currying favor with one of your WClub friends with multiple memberships.
And…one other piece of information to share. It has been noted on the ever rich and vibrant WClub forum that the item number on this beauty has a letter after the number. This may or may not mean there is a variant of this doll coming in the future. Dare we hope for her twin sister Lilith to show up with a different and possibly darker color variation? Ohhhhh…I hope so!!!
-Rebecca
Day 1 at the Museum
Model: Integrity Toys Out of Sight Nadja
Dress: Mizi Dolls Fashion “Paris”
Purse: Phillip Nuveen on Etsy
Earings and Shoes: Integrity Toys
Glasses: ITFDS
Miniature Portrait: Kelly Rinaldi ( contact her @ you_are_a_doll on Instagram)
Day 2 at the Museum
I don’t know about you guys…but one day at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is never enough for me. Apparently it wasn’t for Nadja either.
Model: Integrity Toys “Out of Sight” Nadja
Jacket, Dress, Hat, and Boots: Integrity Toys “Female Icon” Dasha
Floral jacket pin: Scrapbooking element….swear…to God LOL!
Purse: Tiny Frock Shop
Earrings: Integrity Toys
–Rebecca
Inspirational Thursday
Good Morning readers! Or for some of you it is afternoon or evening. Well, wherever you are in the world, are you ready for some inspiration? I was recently at the Integrity Toys Convention in Baltimore MD and I was captivated by some mini portraits that were so cleverly done I immediately snapped them up and look forward to adding more to my collection. The clever and talented artist is Kelly Rinaldi and she is seriously multi talented. She walked away with the the judges choice award for diorama and wowed shoppers with these mini portraits.
Sometimes, it’s one item that sends me into a whole different level of creativity. This past week, it has been these mini portraits…or rather just one.
Mini portrait: Kelly Rinaldi ( contact her on Instagram @you_are_a_doll )
Purse: Phillip Nuveen on Etsy
Dress: Mizi dolls
Shoes and jewelry: Integrity toys
Shopping bag and sunglasses: ITFDS
Above is the mood board going forward into the next week of posts. One of my favorite places on the planet to visit is NYC. Specifically I LOVE visiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection art museum and Laduree ( which happens to be just around the corner from The Frick). I give all the credit to this trifecta of NYC loveliness to my sistah friend Hilda Westervelt of Bellissima Couture who used to be Young Fellow of the Frick and encouraged me to explore it when I was in NYC for my daughter’s Carnegie Hall performance ( yes, proud Mom name dropping ). It is truly a jewel box of a museum. That love of museum hopping in NYC and the new love for these mini portraits plus some stellar fashions I have recently added to my collection have Inspired the next couple of blog posts. I hope you enjoy them as much I have enjoyed creating, styling and shooting them.
–Rebecca
Giselle in the Flowers
Wow!! Do I even know how to do this anymore? {snort}. I’m not going to lie people…it felt like rusty gears starting to work again setting up for this photo shoot and getting it done. When all was said and done, I have to honestly say…”Dag it felt good!!”
I have always been a fan of Vogue style editor Grace Coddington and her work. When I first had the idea for this image, I thought of her and her styling and went from there. I had to use this glorious background and then I needed natural light. For those who follow me on Instagram, I teased a few photos there.
Here are a couple quick behind the scene shots and a little peak at my new studio space….will be sharing more of that through the holiday season 
.
And after some post production magic…this is what we have.
I think this Giselle was the breakout hit from last years Integrity toys convention. Many people had difficulty seeing past the the retinal searing yellow outfit she sported. I have to admit, I almost didn’t get her. But then I took a second look at her soft makeup palette and decided, “yeah…I can work with that”. Believe it or not, I had an image in my mind close to this final floral image when I first bought her over a year ago. Yes…I really do have images sitting in my head that long and longer before I can get it on film. So often, it never gets rendered. I was happy to get it and bring it forth today. Hope you all enjoy.
–Rebecca
NBDCC 2019- The OOAK Parties
Many collectors show up days in advance of the actual start of convention to take part in room shopping and to participate in the One of A Kind (OOAK) parties by various artists. There is a rich and varied pool of artists that repaint and redress Barbie in haute couture. It’s one of my favorite parts of convention to be honest and I was honored to be allowed to photograph many of the shows. I apologize in advance for the shows I did not cover…namely Ninimomo. There were simply not enough hours in the day and too many amazing artists to photograph. I encourage you to scrounge the internet to find images of Nick and Marie’s amazing creations. They are not to be missed.
I have put the full set of images on my Flickr ( you can find the link on my sidebar…too the right on your screen) I have included a few of my favorite shots here.
The collection was sublime as always. Such a pleasure to see and be able to photograph these lovely pieces of art.
This year the talented duo of Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi payed tribute to the history of Barbie. They reimagined all the famous and popular looks of Barbie from her 1959 beginnings up through the current day. It was a thorough and imaginative collection with some truly stellar examples of couture Barbie.
Madame du Barbie interpretation
And the original…
Malibu Barbie interpretation
and the original…
Roman Holiday interpretation
and the original…
Every piece was a work of art!!! And lucky me…my number was chosen early and I got to come home with this lovely!!
Evening Splendor interpretation
and the original…
Another show that many collectors will show up early to ensure they won’t miss these works of art.
So many artist dolls to enjoy and photograph!! My cup runneth over 
Again, if you want to see the full set of images, head over to my flickr. All photos from the OOAK parties will be there by end of the day.
–Rebecca
NBDCC 2019–Let It Begin!!!
I have just returned from the National Barbie Doll Collector Convention which was held in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a big year this year as it is Barbie’s 60th birthday. The actual convention began on Wednesday, July31st but most avid collectors show up as early as the Sunday before to take advantage of amazing room shopping. Hilda Westervelt of Bellissima Couture and I opened on Monday for room sales. Here are a few of the shots of what we had available in our room.
Hilda’s exclusives for room shopping and sales room
And some fun eyewear and neck scarves from me….
Needless to say, we hit the ground running upon landing in Kansas City on Sunday 
Stay tuned….more blog posts on ooak designer parties and convention events coming up!!
–Rebecca
The Elyse Chronicles: Purple Passion
I was going back through photo files this past weekend and what do you know…I found a few images I had not shared last year!
Model: Net a Porter Elyse
Gown: Eifeldolldress ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/eifel85/)
Earrings: Party Dress Silkstone Barbie
Love, love, love the feel of the velvety skin texture on these Jason Wu specialty Elyse’s he did last year. I love how it feels and I love how it translates through a lens. There isn’t as much glare from lights, less shine.
-Rebecca
