Dollgasm

Hello all!  Bre again.

Today's post is going to be about the familiar feeling of dollgasm.  If you're a doll collector, I'm sure you've experienced this feeling, even if that's not what you called it.

dollgasm (doll-gasm) 1. n. the excited and extremely pleased feeling a doll collector experiences upon the opening of a beautiful doll or doll related item

You may have noticed that this is one of my favorite words... and that's because it's one of my favorite feelings!  I have several hobbies, but my doll collection is my main one.  And as the title of this blog hints, I have very little disposable cash.  So when I can get a pretty new outfit or accessory or a gorgeous new doll, it makes me happy for a long while.  When I got Addy's new outfit a while back, I set her on the back of the couch and I'd glance over at her every so often and smile.  And later, when I was sitting (err, lazing about) on the couch, I kept reaching up to touch her little sleeves and whatnot.  It made me happy.  To be perfectly honest, it's making me happy just thinking back on it.

But this isn't to say I'm obsessed.  A lot of people in my personal life seem to think that my doll hobby is a quirky little thing that I'll grow out of or (even more infuriatingly) that this is the thing I do simply because I'm bored with my life and I need something.  But the overwhelming opinion seems to be that I dedicate too much of myself to my pursuit of the dollgasm.  Well, perhaps.  But I don't neglect my health, happiness, general well-being, pets, or personal relationships in favor of my doll collection.  I'm not dependent on my doll collection.  I don't feel like there's a problem, and my mom (the person I live with and the person who helps me out monetarily) doesn't have a problem with it either.  So why should anyone else have a problem with it?

People love spreading their value judgments even when you don't ask.  My theory is that they're jealous because they don't have a dollgasm or equivalent feeling in their life.  

October Overspending: Antique and Dollar Store Finds

Hello readers (who may or may not exist!)!  This post has been a long time coming.  I've been very lazy and haven't written on any of my blasted blogs.  I recently got The Sims Medieval, and have thus neglected 99% of everything else in the world. =P  But I was playing last night and my king and his stupid wife royally pissed me off (pun intended)... so you all get to hear from me again! Yay! *applause*

Anyways...

I spent a few days last week going around to antique stores in search of the perfect birthday present for a friend of mine.  Her mom and I hit most of the antique stores in our area and had trouble finding anything for her.  We both did eventually found awesome stuff for her, but not before we found a ton of awesome stuff for ourselves.

I got this lovely little chair I've had my eye on for ages.  It was marked down to $9... too good to pass up!  And these pictures don't show off the actual color of the upholstery.  In actuality, it's a really good match for Molly's Christmas dress.

My super spoiled Addy got a little lamp.

Now I know this is obviously not the perfect lamp for her, it'll work for now.  (And it's pretty cute besides. =))  I like that the glass on top is red... that's my favorite color.

Probably the most exciting thing I got though is my lovely Malibu Barbie!  I saw a small bin (about the size and depth of a mixing bowl, but oval shaped) filled with Barbies standing up.  Most of them were nothing special... big hair dolls from the 90s and/or beat up nekkid gals.  But mixed in with them was this lovely Malibu girl.  And she was standing there with her arms raised over her head, as if to say, "come get me and buy me, Bre!"

I've been really fond of Malibus for as long as I can remember.  Here she is with her twin, my 2002 reproduction Malibu Barbie.  She was on the cover of the first issue of Barbie Bazaar magazine I ever read.  The dress she came in is tagged, but I don't recognize it.  Probably a pak item.  (If anyone recognizes it, let me know!)  Based on the research I did, this doll is from sometime between 1971 to early 1973.   Not bad for $5!

The twins, whom I've dubbed Caroline (repro) and Christine (vintage) modelling the only matching outfits I had available.  Christine is in a vintage Friday Nite Date set from 1960, while Caroline is wearing a 2006 reproduction of the same outfit from the Friday Night Dream Date Giftset.

I'm sure you can tell how fond I am of my Malibu girls.  I could do a whole post on them alone!  Maybe when I have more matching outfits for them to model I can photograph them getting into some Patty Duke type shenanigans.  =)  It's also worth noting that I have another Malibu Barbie... a  later Sun' Lovin Malibu Barbie (from circa '78).  I've decided she's a cousin to these two.  Unlike the original Malibus, she has the Superstar face (that Mattel forced on the public from 1977-1999).  She's one of few dolls with that mold that have found their way into my Barbie collection... she's really gorgeous.  I got her for $9 at the very same antique store as this gal!

Anyways, I also got a few books, including a vintage copy of The Lonely Doll, a book I've been wanting for ages.  This has made me so, so happy!  The photos are so amazingly beautiful, haunting, and thought provoking.  Dare Wright was an amazing and interesting woman.

But quite some time before my antique store trips, I went to the dollar store on a routine shopping trip and came out of there with some cool Halloween finds.

First, I got this neat little witch hat.  It was marketed for pets, and as you can tell, it's a little small, but I think it looks cute on Quinn, so one of my girls will be a witch this year.

Did you ever see that episode of The Brady Bunch were little Cindy got the part of the fairy princess in her class play?  She only got one ticket and couldn't decide which parent to invite.  Well, Marcia and Jan both made her a pair of wings for her costume... when I saw these wings, I thought they'd be way too small on a little kid, but adorably oversized on a doll.  I immediately went to Cindy Brady in my mind.

They look like the sort of thing that Keisha might have seen at Party City and begged her mom for in front of everyone in the store.  So she's going to get to be some sort of butterfly fairy thing for Halloween.

And just so you don't think I only shop for my dolls, I bought myself some toy pirate weapons for my pirate costume.  I got an awesome gun and a bitchin' sword.  Out of money at that point, I convinced my mom to buy me a couple of pirate bandanas.  (They are clothes, after all, and that's a parent's job... right?  Right.)

Addy's New Suit

So, we're totally aware that my Addy is the most spoiled doll I have.  Well, some time back, I decided that I really, really wanted my Addy to have a deep chocolatey brown outfit.  I was really spurred on by Kindred Thread's Chartres Street outfit in their French Quarter release last month.  (I actually tried to buy it but the stars didn't line up as such.)

So I decided to contact Terrie from All Dolled Up, and asked her if she could make a version of Addy's school suit in a chocolatey brown floral.  I knew right away that I wanted gold ribbon trim.  She sent me a picture of several different fabric choices soon, and she and I both liked this one best.  When the outfit arrived, I was amazed.  I'm used to her top notch work, but the combination of the world's most gorgeous fabric, gold braid, her beautiful and detailed craftsmanship, and great packaging was almost too much... I nearly cried!  

Doesn't Addy look happy?

So as I'm laying this out to take this picture, I'm in a complete state of dollgasm.  I've never had an outfit that looked so... exactly how I saw it in my mind.  It was like my mental image came to life in 1:3 scale.

Addy modelling her new ensemble with her birthday blouse.  The cream color of the blouse perfectly compliments the brown and gold of the suit.

I think the colors look amazing on her.  You would think the chocolatey brown would wash her out, but no.

And we even have a lovely gold hair ribbon.  Perfect touch.  (Fun fact: It's the same ribbon that Terrie used on Felicity's Town Fair dress and mob cap.  When I commissioned that dress from her, she said she was planning on adding that to her site anyways.  This further proves that I have a creative seamstress style mind.  It's just my hands that haven't heard the news. =P)

I love this fabric.  Paisley floral is so beautiful, and it just looks Victorian.  Pretty perfect.

I'm not going to be tacky and tell you how much I paid for this, but I will say that it cost less than the crinoline Addy's been hinting around about.  (Wow, bad grammar... but you know what I mean. =P)

But imagine how lovely that skirt is going to look poofed out with a crinoline underneath.  Soon, my dear... soon.