#goldlabelbarbie

[prettylittlecostumers]

Goth Doll of the Day: Legends of Ireland The Fairy Queen Barbie.

What defines a Witch, and where’s the line between them and fairies? In general Fairies are mythical and witches are real flesh and blood women who may have a stronger connection with nature and who believe in nature as divine, or who believe in powers of many non-christian origins, have deals with the devil or something evil. Or, if you go the way of history and read the trials, a witch was in general a woman who knew “too much” of anything to be considered a “normal-your-everyday-christian-woman” in the Late Middle Ages and especially in the Early Modern Period. Or if you go the way of Carlo Ginzburg, you may find very interesting sourcing of the connection between the consumption of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms and witches sabbaths in Northern Italy around the 14th Century. Your mileage may vary according to your own beliefs and readings.

As far as literature and fantasy are concerned, in Irish Mythology that line gets especially blurry. You’ve got Fairies who are witches and Queens who are witches and then are turned to fairies as their tales progress, Fairy Queens who cast all sorts of spells, put the heroes under géise - roughly, it’s a sort of prohibition enchantment - or fall in love with them. So for today I’ve chosen one of my top favorite dolls of all times, because for me, she stands right on the borderline between being a Witch and being a Fairy. Mattel’s Legends of Ireland: The Fairie Queen is, basically, a miniature representation of Danú, the Mother, the main Goddess in the old Irish Celtic religion. A Fairy, by all legendary accounts, and a Queen and Mother Goddess to the old believers, who were pursued by christianity for their beliefs, just like christians themselves were pursued once.

She’s a Gold Label doll, released in 2004 in two versions. The Gold Label one (featured in the photo above) had red hair, and the Platinum Label one - rarer and more expensive - had Black Hair. I’m the happy owner of a Gold Label one, and I never cared much for the Platinum one. Her dress and transparent wings were clearly inspired by the most Iconic outfit in Ever After (1999).

The hair is completely different though, and I love her for it. In my mind Old Goddesses all have long flowing mind-blowing curls in all colors, so she fits right in with my dream!

Her dress underskirt doesn’t have the comely light green-golden shade it seems to have in the promo pictures though. It was a neon-lime-chartreuse-of-hell-thing, and I made short work of it in a blink in my rebel iconoclastic youth. So, for the photoshoot below, it was replaced with a green underdress made to match the overgown years ago.

Her towering crown is lovely and all you can expect of a creature coming out of legends. I love it. Same is true for her sceptre.

My doll is safely stored in a box in the “attic” (meaning a very high storage shelf at the laundry room ‘cuz apartments) at the moment, and I’m in the middle of a hectic schedule right now, so for this photoshoot I have replaced her with a Nu Face doll from Integrity Toys. But I promise you guys that when life gets less hectic I’ll get her out and photograph her for your viewing pleasure.

[prettylittlecostumers]

Doll of the Day: Faraway Forest Fairy Kingdom Wedding Giftset

On April 30th Mattel released the last dolls in it’s very nice Faraway Forest Collection. They are a bride and groom on a wedding themed giftset. IDK if you guys follow the Faraway Forest Collection, but IMO it’s one of the nicest things Mattel has produced in recent years. All photos in this post are by Mattel. All Rights Reserved.

From Left To Right: Lady Of The White Woods (2015), King of the Crystal Cave (2017) The Wedding Giftset (2018), Queen of the Dark Forest (2015), Water Sprite (2016) and Elf (2014).  The whole collection is very beautiful, with marked exceptions - giving Water Sprite’s iridescent plastic skirt the side-eye as I write - and I’d gladly have almost all of them. As it is, I own Lady of the White Woods, King of the Crystal Cave and now the Wedding Giftset.

Wedding giftsets are nothing new to Mattel, and I’m bored out of my wits by them selling the idea that a wedding is the highest point in a woman’s life through their dolls. Non-binary that I am, I also wish for a non-binary wedding couple as well. C’mon, these dolls are directed to the adult collectors, and I’m pretty sure we’re all big enough to handle the fact that the world is a diverse place. Still, with all my pet peeves, I like the dolls and I’m really sorry to see this collection end.

On to the couple itself. I really like the fabric on their matching outfits, and since matching couples is a period thing, I really like it. Her outer dress is also a bit reminiscent of a Giornea, a Italian Renaissance style which I love to bits. The big golden bough is blown out of proportion IMO. It would be prettier if it was a bit smaller.

See what I mean? Still, it’s not ugly per se. Her sheer chemise is probably attached to the upper gown, which is a pity, but that’s usually the way Mattel does these dresses.

Her make up is ok. The blue shadow bothers me a bit, but I’ve seen much much worse from Mattel and other doll companies. I love her fiery hair and her crown is gorgeous!

Her groom is very nice! He’s wearing a mix of  a male Houppelande and a Courtepy. But it’s a Fantasy doll, so everything is possible.

The trim down the front of the tunic is not too shabby. The velvet undersleeves are nice. Some lining on the outer-sleeves would have made the tunic look so much better. His belt is very nice and the buckle is downright gorgeous!

His boots though... They are well into “The Realm of WTFery” (TM). Why-the- fake-dirt-oh-Valar-why... I can’t even... Agh.

His crown is very nice too, and his shoulder piece is cool. It’s a pity he doesn’t come with a floor-sweeping cape like King of the Crystal Cave. But still, he is no doubt a very nice doll. For now that’s all I have to say. I promise another Doll of the Day about them with real life photos as soon as they arrive!

[prettylittlecostumers]

Doll of the Day: Claudette Gordon Barbie.

Claudette Gordon Barbie doll is a Gold Label doll released in 2015. She is the first doll in the Harlem Theatre Series by Mattel, designed by Carlyle Nuera. The Harlem Thetre Collection was an attempt by Nuera to represent the Harlem Renaissance, an intellectual, social, and artistic movement that took place in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s.

She’s gorgeous! Her dress is a work of art. The butterfly wing-like embroidery and colors give her such a fairy tale air, but it still looks appropriate for the time she’s situated in. Her hair is fab and so period too! Since she’s a Gold Label doll, more research clearly went into making her.

The lipstick color could be a tad darker for that 20′s Flapper Dark Lipstick look, but her eye make up is cool. I can easily imagine her singing to the crowds from the Apollo Theater. I hope someday I’ll add her to my collection.

[prettylittlecostumers]

Our Doll of the Day yesterday was the Maiko Barbie by Mattel. She's a Gold Label Doll from 2006. We've chosen her as part of our Japanese Culture week. #dolloftheday #mattel #barbie #barbiedoll #barbiecollector #culture #goldlabelbarbie #collectingdolls #maiko #japaneseculture #twelveinches #kimono #dolls #dollclothes #dollphotography #accurateclothes #japan

[authoravalentine]

Check out our review of Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor Gold Label Collector Barbie here!

[prettylittlecostumers]

Doll of the Day: Queen Elizabeth I Barbie

In keeping with our theme for the week, our Doll of the Day could be none other than Queen Elizabeth I Barbie, from the Women Of Royalty Collection, one of the jewels of my collection. (Photo below by Mattel. All Rights Reserved.)

The Women of Royalty Collection is, IMHO, the one Collection in which Mattel outdid itself. They hadn’t produced anything as fabulous as these dolls before, and they’ve never repeated the feat again. The attention to detail, the careful reproduction of clothes down to fabrics and emboidery. The lavishness of it all... They are unparalleled. But I digress...

QEI was released in 2004 as a Gold Label doll. She’s the second in the series, having been preceeded by Marie Antoinette and followed by Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, the last doll in this collection. Her outfit is a reproduction of the Ditchley Portrait. Photo below by the National Portrait Gallery, reproduced here under Creative Commons License.

Now, the Ditchley Portrait, painted in 1592, is rich in symbolism. No surprise, giving what we’ve already discussed on Monday when talking about allegories. It likely was painted for (or commemorates) Elizabeth's two-day visit to the Oxfordshire home of  her retired Champion, Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley in 1592. The painting is attributed to Marcus Gheerearts the Younger, and was almost certainly based on a sitting arranged by Lee, who was the painter's patron. In this image, the queen stands on a map of England, her feet on Oxfordshire. The Inscriptions on the painting are:

Motto left:  Da ..c..xpectat [She gives and does not expect] Motto right:  Potest nec ulciscitur [She can but does not take revenge] Motto bottom right:  Reddendo .ge(?) [In giving back she increases(?)]

Text right:

The prince of light, the Sonne by whom thin(gs)

Of heaven the glorie, and of earthe the (grace?) Hath no such glorie as (...) grace to go (...) Where Correspondencie May have no plac(e)

Thunder the Image of that power dev(ine) Which all to nothinge with a word c(...) Is to the earthe when it doth ayre r(...) Of power the Scepter, not of wr(...)

This ile of such both grace (...) power The boundless ocean (...) em(...) P(...) p(rince?) (...) the (...)ll (...) Rivers of thankes retourne for Springes (...)

Rivers of thankes still to that oc(ean) (...)

Where grace is grace above, po(wer)

The painting has been trimmed and the background poorly repainted, so that the inscription and sonnet are incomplete. Storms rage behind her while the sun shines before her, and she wears a jewel in the form of a celestial or armillary sphere close to her left ear. Which is pretty much one of the only differences between doll and painting. All the photos below are by Pretty Little Costumier. If you reproduce, please, give me the credits ok?

The original dress is jeweled, and likely slashed with fabric pulled through. But since doing an exact repro would make this doll way too expensive, Mattel simplified by incorporating the jewels and the pulled through fabric into the damask print as they developed it. The result is lovely and as close to accuracy as they could get.

The doll’s make up and skintone are both reminiscent of the “Mask of Youth”. The heavy make up and softened expression are typical from her  portraiture from the end of her Reign, when the aging Queen’s self was transformed into an unaging, goddess-like icon by her supporters. That being said, it isn’t such a strong likeness to Elizabeth’s face at all. What I miss the most is the nose. This Tinkerbell upturned little nose has nothing to do with what we see in QEI portraits. The crown, however is a dead ringer for the Ditchley portrait, as is all her jewelry. I just miss the pearls on her hair as we see in the portrait.

Here we have it all. The chocker, the long pearl strands, the rose tucked into her lace collar, the jeweled bodice... It all looks detailed and in perfect scale! We can even see that the bodice is boned!

The girdle tied at her waist has a lovely and delicate fan attached to its end. I’m sorry about the reminiscent white thread. She was still attached to the box and I couldn’t quite remove all of it for fear of cutting something I shouldn’t.

Everything’s perfect down to the pearl string on her cape sleeve. I’m a huge fan of history and fantasy dolls, and I gotta say that there’s nothing out there like this series by Mattel when it comes to attention to detail and balancing accuracy with costs. Only Sideshow Toys does this kind of details nowadays, but so far there hasn’t been anything as elaborate as this by them. I am very very happy to have this doll in my collection.