Mermaid Gown Arrives..and Bewitches ITFDS!
When news and promotional photos were shared of this one, I was beside myself with excitement. I mean come on…she was all in pink! I have been waiting patiently for this one to arrive and my lovely Barbie Collector dealer Claudia of Pink Ponytail made sure my Ms. Mermaid Gown was shipped promptly to me. Typically, I will photograph a doll upon receipt in what’s come to be known as ( yes, Rogier…you have named it) putting her in THE WINDOW. I like to take photos of a new doll in natural light without enhancing anything ( no Photoshop!) up against a soft white window sill so people can get a good idea of the actual coloring of a doll. These are the photos I took of Ms. Mermaid Gown just after she came in the door.
Her gown is the softest crepe de chine in a dusty pink. Her skin tone is “Silkstone peace” which means she is very, very pale. I am not sure what the back of her hairdo was “supposed” to look like but I had to do some reconstructive surgery to get mine to look something other than a hot mess. It wasn’t difficult but it did take some work and some hair gel….just sayin’.
I am very, very happy with her though. She is a beautiful addition to the 2013 Silkstone Atelier line. And now…the studio shots!
And…because Rebecca was having WAY too much fun with Photoshop today…. Kind of had a Bewitched moment didn’t I?! I almost looked for a witch on a broomstick outline to put in the sky…
…almost .
In Her Easter Bonnet
With all the frills upon it. Easter is upon us so I thought I would showcase a couple of favorites from the Paris trip.
Model: Paris Luncheon Ensemble
Dress: Spring Bouquet: Grass by Bellissima Couture( http://bellissimacouturefashions.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/more-spring-fashions/)
Hat: Market Day Silkstone ( modified with new hat band and flowers)
She’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.
The Oscars Gala
With the Oscars this weekend, I couldn’t resist another award themed photo shoot. I always enjoy watching the red carpet and I am looking forward to this years festivities.
Model: Gala Gown Barbie® Doll
Gown, belt and fur: Randall Craig RTW
Earrings: Regal Solstice Anja Fashion Royalty 2011
It’s Complementary My Dear Watson
As I have stated before, I love to photograph a red headed doll in a green dress. I am partial to the redheads in my collection so I enjoy photographing them. Why then do I always seem to gravitate towards dressing them in green? Yes, I like green but there are other reasons at play here.
Most of us learn in grade school art class that there are three primary colors red, blue and yellow. All other colors come from these three primary bases. We also learn that there are complementary colors. These are colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel
In art and graphic design there are many theories about these colors and usage. In photography, it is generally accepted that the use of complementary colors helps intensify colors or makes them more active in your photo. I am simplifying it I know and if you really want to do the research, there are ample reams of info on the internet. My point is, using these complementary colors can help give that extra pop in some of your photos.
Red/Green
Blue/Orange(yellow)
Gala Dior
I almost always love a redhead in a green dress. Most people do and there are aesthetic and photography reasons for this…see upcoming blog post this next week. I recently took receipt of the most exquisite green dress from my dear friend Hilda of Bellissima Couture. She patterned it off of a Dior gown from the 1950’s as seen here in this iconic 1957 Life magazine photo
(Photo credit: Loomis Dean – 1957 LIFE)
I had to find the perfect model for it and who better than my muse o’ the moment…Gala Gown.
Model: Gala Gown Barbie® Doll
Gown and hat: Bellissima Couture
Necklace and gloves: Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Getting Ready for the Oscars
When I was doing multiple posts on award show fashions, I was thinking wouldn’t it be fun to do a photo of Barbie getting ready for the Oscars. I needed an appropriate background and Mattel provided that with their amazing new Barbie Look Wardrobe. It also needed a bigger than life dress because it is…after all…the Oscars. Who better than Jason Wu and his talented team at Integrity Toys could do that?! Finally, I needed the prefect model for the dress and I wanted someone who is not seen that often. Since I am a deboxer, I have the luxury of redressing a rare or low production number doll. For this photo shoot, I decided to use Pinch of Platinum. She is a platinum edition doll which means there are no more than 999 of her in the world. I also felt , given the pain and aggravation of her entry into my collection https://insidethefashiondollstudio.com/2011/05/25/pinch-of-platinum-how-about-a-bucket-of-valium/ , she deserved her moment to shine. No valium necessary with this one .
Model, earings, shoes: Pinch of Platinum Barbie
Bracelet: Showgirl Silkstone Barbie
Gown: Dark Romance Giselle NuFace Fashion Royalty
Set: Barbie Look Wardrobe, Horsman pink chair and scroll side table, Jonathan Adler side table, Randall Craig zebra rug and too many little items to name individually. If you have questions on any item, just ask .
Stylist: ITFDS
How about this fabulous closet and it’s potential! When it comes to diorama pieces folks…it doesn’t get any better than this. My only complaint is the price. It is pricey ( $70!!). I purchased this one on sale and received $20 off. That definitely made it more palatable. It comes with three interchangeable backgrounds ( I love the black and white one!) and you could make your own too I suppose if you had big enough paper. Oh, and drawers open and it comes with a bunch of hangers. Someone mentioned on the doll boards that it would be great if Mattel could offer an extra set of hangers on their website. Excellent notion!
And… because Rebecca loves her macro lens…a few more shots of the doll and her accessories. Love those shoes! If you click them together three times and say “There is no place like Mattel” do you think you could be transported there?
Music from the shoot…..
Moving on….
Are we ready to leave the drama of the last post behind? Yes, I think so! The month of January has absolutely flown by and I realized I had not taken a single studio shot during the entire month. Bad me! I have had an idea floating around for the past month to showcase a doll that doesn’t get seen that much and a new product that people are very excited about. Here is the teaser photo…more photos coming soon 
Welcome to 2013!!
It’s the third official day of the new year and it has been roughly two years since I started the wonderful journey into blogging on WordPress. I truly appreciate everyone’s willingness to come along for the ride 
. I am hoping that 2013 will continue to bring inspiration, time and creativity my way so I can share more photos with you. In the year ahead, I am looking forward to more of Mr. Best’s Silkstone Atelier line as well as the wonders that Integrity Toys will have for us. While I will not be attending and reporting from the National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention this year, I will be reporting for the first time from Paris for the Paris Doll Expo in March and I hope to be attending Integrity Toys Fashion Royalty convention in October.
To kick off the new year, I am trying out some new lighting ideas ( received some new lights for the studio from Santa!!). I had a whole “Narnia” thing going on LOL! I was wishing I had a 1/6 Mr Tumnus.
Model: OOAK Silkstone by Jon Copeland
Gown: T.D. Fashions
2012 ITFDS Favorites
At the end of each year, a flurry of photos floods Flickr and doll boards with groupings of collectors favorite dolls for the year. I always have these grand ideas of doing a group photo too and never seem to get around to it . This year, I had a flash of inspiration and decided I was going to MAKE the time to do it…so.. here it is. I was inspired by this years Vanity Fair Hollywood Edition.
In no particular order, my favorite dolls for 2012 are
1) Glam Addict Giselle
2) Gala Gown Silkstone Barbie
3) Fame by Frame Imogen
4) Lilac Frost Poppy Parker
5) High Profile Eugenia
Inspiration photo…..
Flickr 2012
Sorry for the long delay between posts guys. Things have been super busy with photo-shoots lately so…sadly….no doll time. Finished my last job for the holidays this past week ( or least the photo shoot part) so I can put some more time into the blog…yippeee!!
Since I don’t have any new photos to share today..but soon…I promise, I will bring up some favorites from the year. If you are a Flickr member and contributor, you have most likely seen many of these already. At the end of the year, many of the fabulous collectors and photographers on Flickr post their most viewed, most favorited, most commented on and personal favorite photos for the year. I decided to participate this year and wanted to share it here as well. It was a hard choice to come up with a personal favorite so I am going to also share the runners-up for my personal favorite photo. If you had a favorite this year, feel free to comment. I would love to hear what people are responding to and what they would like to see more of.
And now for the runners up for my personal favorite photo…..
1st Runner Up
2nd Runner Up
3rd Runner Up
Verushka Attends A Holiday Party
I was shocked at how a simple updo changed the entire look of this doll. She is now one of my favorite models.
Model: Restyled Verushka™ Barbie® Doll
Gown: Joe Tai
Earrings and gloves: Hope Diamond Barbie
What this picture would look like as a Chanel ad…..
The Lady in Red: Part Four
This is the final part of this series and technically…she isn’t wearing red but in front of it. Red, however, is a big part of the shot. This “ Lady in Red” series had showcased the Fashion Royalty girls in my collection and it was time to pull out the beloved Silkstones. I love these shots for a few reasons.
1) It showcases one of my favorites Silkstones..a repaint by Jon Copeland of SeloJSpa(http://www.facebook.com/SelojSpa)
2) It has a high drama content…LOVE.
I love the lighting in this shot. It gives it that feeling of her actually being up on the stage with that little spotlight on her face.
3) It shows off a glitzy showgirl ensemble(Jazz Diva by Mattel) and the styling was inspired by a great conversation with fantastic doll friend. Matty of http://www.fashiondollfoto.com/ and I don’t get the chance to talk that often but when we do…good doll photos or doll blog ideas follow. Matty, this one’s for you {HUGS!}.
and 4) The background was flash of inspiration and something that caused me to say to myself “ Oh I need to talk about this on the blog”. After Matty gave me the idea that I should dress this doll in this outfit, I immediately saw a red show curtain. I saw “full on diva” and she needed a crushed red velvet curtain falling in folds behind her. One of my problems ( and yes, there are many of those LOL!) is once I have this image in my head..there is no talking me out of it. I knew I didn’t have crushed red velvet fabric for a backdrop. I also habitually run into the problem of having something in my head and then not being able to find it ANYWHERE. I knew I didn’t want to have to spend time or money searching for red crushed velvet at my local fabric stores. That’s when I took a step back and said “Okay Bec..what do you have that would work?” and inspiration struck.
“Ways in which you never thought you would use your kids old Halloween costumes.”
Yes! That was my daughters Halloween costume from a couple years ago sitting in a box in the kids playroom. It was the right color, texture and bonus…it had some black lace detail accents…more DRAMA! Perfect background curtain material. So if you are having trouble finding a background for you photos, don’t forget to check out the kids dress up box.
The Lady in Red: Part Three
A change of models, couture and hats. I have had this hat for a year and on this model for almost as long but just have not gotten around to photographing her…bad me. I am a big fan of the Integrity Toys FR2 Fashion Royalty line. The high couture slimmer articulated body makes for great poseability. I just wish their feet were the same size as the others…it can be a bit of a pain to find the right pair of shoes because the choices are limited. Integrity Toys is trying, in my opinion, to make up for that a bit by gifting us with some amazing shoe sets at their convention every year. Now, if they could make a shoe set available to the WClub each year {hint, hint}, that would be fantastic!
I would have to say that of all the FR2 characters, Elise is my “go to” girl. I feel she has an eastern European look and to me that epitomizes high fashion in all the fashion magazines right now. I think it’s the cheekbones…she has KILLER cheekbones. I guess you could take away from this blog that it’s all about 1) the hat and 2) the cheekbones LOL!
Model and Shoes: FR2 “Engaging” Elise Jolie
Dress: Bogue’s Vogues(http://www.etsy.com/shop/boguesvogues)
Hat: Alyrenee(http://alyrenee.blogspot.com/)
Music is a huge part of my life. Both of my kids play an instrument or in my son’s case, multiple instruments ( amazing to me because he has significant hearing loss…a regular Beethoven that kid). There is always music of some kind playing at my house…so I wanted to share some of the music that influences the blog posts or the music that is playing during the photoshoots. For this one, it was “This is Love” by Will.i.am …a big thanks to my daughter for pointing me to this song. 
The Lady In Red: Part Two
Model: Fashion Royalty “Fascination” Monogram
Suit: Miniature Couture
Hat: Jakki Peters
Jewelry: Silkstone Barbie Mattel
Shoes: FR2 “Engaging” Elise
The Lady in Red: Part One
Photography, in my opinion, is just like any other art form. Some days you can be inspired and others….nothin’. When it comes to photographing my collection, this happens to me all the time. Sometimes, I will be inspired by something that can fuel ideas for sets of shoots that will keep me in blogging material for a couple of weeks. I love it when that happens! I was inspired recently by one prop and a treasure trove of Jakki Peters hats that I picked up at the recent Fashion Royalty Convention. The material that came out of those shoots has become some of my favorite shots for the entire year. Hope you enjoy this series which I call….The Lady in Red.
Model: Fashion Royalty “Fascination” Monogram
Hat: Jakki Peters ( gift from a table mate at FR convention)
Suit: Miniature Couture
Flowers, earrings , Shoes and necklace: Silkstone Barbie
Flowers: Market Place Silkstone Barbie
Bogue’s Vogues Vendredi…In Celebration of Fall
It has been a while since I did a Bogue’s Vogues Vendredi so I thought I would pull this one out. I keep some photos that I take in reserve for special projects. I took this photo a while ago and it was included in the Inside the Fashion Doll Studio Daily Planner for 2013 that I sold at Barbie Convention this year. Since we are enjoying the fabulous days and colors of the Autumn season, I thought I would share this fall inspired set of photos. Hope you enjoy!
Model: Stunning in the Spotlight Silkstone Barbie
Hat and gown: Bogue’s Vogues (http://www.etsy.com/shop/boguesvogues)
HP Eugenia…More Redressing Fun
My camera and I don’t seem to be able to get enough of this lady in red so I have a few more shots to share from a day of redressing fun. My favorite set out of the three redresses is directly below. I love Hilda’s dress and the fact that Ms. Eugenia is waiting to enjoy a glass of wine and perhaps a picnic as if to celebrate the autumn season. Fall or Autumn ( however you call it) is one of my absolute favorite seasons…it means the holidays are right around the corner. I love the smell of leaves, the vibrant colors of the season and those crisp foggy mornings where shafts of sun ( if we see it at all in the Pacific Northwest) fight their way through the foggy curtain. It’s a dreamy sort of light and feel and I just adore it. Hope you enjoy the photos.
Model: High Profile Eugenia
Dress: Bellissima Couture ( http://bellissimacouturefashions.wordpress.com/)
Shoes: From gift pack given at 2012 Fashion Royalty Tropicalia convention
Dress: Dressmaker Details red and gold sheath
Shoes: From gift pack given at 2012 Fashion Royalty Tropicalia convention
Jewelry: From HP Eugenia
Gown and earrings: Palm Beach Coral Silkstone Barbie
And lastly…. a glimpse into the behind the scenes prop shop for this last week of photo shoots…
I Got The Blues for my Party Dress
I adored the dress that she came in originally so it was difficult for me to take it off of her…but I managed…for none other than a Bogue’s Vogues.
Model: Party Dress Silkstone Barbie
Gown: Bogue’s Vogues ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/boguesvogues)
High Profile Eugenia
I was not one of the lucky few who was picked to purchase this lovely lady. I was, however, one of the lucky few blessed with knowing someone who wanted to sell theirs. You know who you are and I love ya! This lady just screams old Hollywood glamour…I see Eva Gardner, Jane Russel or even Sophia Loren
Imogen–Fame by Frame
Or…Frame by Frame as I called her initially and had to be corrected. Frame by Frame would have been the perfect title for this post as I decided to do some redressing and additional photo shoots for the 2012 Fashion Royalty Convention doll Imogen. I have to completely own up and say when I opened the box at the last nights convention dinner, I was underwhelmed. The outfits were very modern ( not my general thing) and two out of the three outfits were coral red. It was all a little one note for me. I would have preferred a gown or even a swimsuit but not two dresses in the same color. The doll just wasn’t doing anything for me in the box. When I flew back home from convention a few weeks ago, this lady was firmly on my “to sell” pile. Then, I started seeing photos on flickr that had me rethinking ( yes Shuga…I mean you!). I decided to debox and play. I found that my first impression was…WRONG. I am adoring this one and have endeavored to glam her up a bit for my shots.
Model: Fame by Frame Imogen
Jacket and gold top: Barbie Basics
Purse: FR Monogram
Jewelry: Fashion Royalty and Dynamite Girl
Shorts and Shoes: In the Trenches NuFace outfit
Okay..so who here bought this outfit below and could never find a doll that looked good in it?? {{Rebecca raises her hand emphatically}}. I adore this outfit but could never find anyone who looked good in it…until now. Apparently the trick is to find a model with a tan!!
Model: Fame By Frame Imogen
Outfit and shoes: “In the Trenches” NuFace outfit
And because I had to find the right evening look for this lady….I finally found someone who could wear the “Anemone” Christian Louboutin gown. The oompaloompa doll it came on had to go. Sorry folks. I don’t mean to be disrespectful and if you have that doll and adore her…my apologies…but..to me she just looked like a bad spray tanning accident. Ms. Imogen however, looked fabulous in it!!
If you want to see this lady shine in some urban chicness, you should visit Shuga’s blog at http://www.shugashug.com/2012/10/09/fame-by-frame/
Evening Gown and a Matisse….Take Two
Nobody expects to win the lottery twice but amazingly enough some people have. I was lucky enough to be able to add another pink Matisse to my collection a few weeks back and it is fabulous! I knew that Ms. Evening Gown was going to look stellar in it so had to wait for her to arrive to photograph. On a side note, if you ever want to spend some time looking at the most exquisite Barbie fashions, take a moment to look at the collection of sold items on Brenda’s ( Matisse) Etsy site. http://www.etsy.com/shop/MatisseFashions/sold?ref=shopinfo_sales_leftnav
DROOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL 
Model: Evening Gown Silkstone Barbie
Dress, wrap and hat: Matisse ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/MatisseFashions )
Gloves: Dressmaker Details
Jewelry, shoes and clutch purse: Mattel
Diorama: See previous blog post https://insidethefashiondollstudio.com/2012/09/07/evening-gown-and-a-matisse/
Envied, Bemused and Passionate…A Second Look
I was moving the displays around in the cases the other day and decided these guys needed a second look. I had these ladies displayed on this couch just as I have them posed for a while but it is time to move them out and display some different dolls. I know that most people ordered these gals for their cute little dresses but I actually really like the dolls. I know that Barb at Windy City Dolls still has a few on sale http://www.windycitydolls.com/frmonogram.htm#Sale
Models: Fashion Royalty Monogram “Envied”, “Bemused” and “ Passionate”
Couch: Horseman Urban Environment ( meant for 16” dolls so scale is slightly off for this shot)
Birdcages: Found at favorite flea market. I think they were holiday ornaments.
Isn’t It Romantic Poppy Parker as Sabrina…Take 2
So I just couldn’t leave this one alone. While I was photographing the original set, I was inspired by another photo and had to do that one too…
Inspiration photo
And what I came up with….
I need to go watch Sabrina now. It feels like its required at this point LOL!
Inside the Fashion Doll Studio 