Hollywood Dolls

The Fashion Royalty convention this year was very successful for everyone involved. Integrity and Jason Wu managed to present a well coordinated glamorous event and the attendees had a blast attending the various events and picking up lots of dolls: this was the convention with the most dolls released ever. The theme was The Royal Life. And here we will start a series of articles presenting some of the convention dolls. First to arrive, the beautiful Going Places Vanessa.


Vanessa Perrin is considered the most sought after face of Fashion Royalty dolls. Each one of her re-incarnations becomes an instant collectible, its value rising much higher than the retail price. The reason? It is not the number of dolls being produced for sure; even the Vanessas on big releases have become collectibles. I guess it is the face mold: she's the best looking Fashion Royalty lady ever made. My personal preference may be Kyori, but every Vanessa doll released is looking great, a thing not easily said about Kyori Sato dolls.


This Vanessa is no exception. Dark haired, with smoky eyes and sensuous coral lips, she is simply stunning. The hairdo, a double French twist, gives her an air of hauteur, befitting the royal theme of the convention. There were again complaints of badly painted eyes, but far less than Pale Fire Vanessa (see previous post here).


Her jewellery set is impressive but not anything unusual. Filigree "gold" chandelier earrings with coral and black "pearls", with matching necklace. A bracelet would have been a nice addition, after all, she is a convention doll.


Her dress is the classic mermaid style gown that Jason Wu has given us countless times until now, especially in event or special dolls. This one looks even a bit like the Lights, Camera, Royal Veronique gown. Here we get it in a blue/black fabric with tulle and lace overlay. I love the draping on this gown, especially around the hips, pity it gets lost as it is black on black. The lace is gorgeous, with a lovely eyelash finish:


Underneath, contrary to expectations, she is wearing only flesh colored panties. No elaborate garters and stockings here. Her shoes are not much better than Pale Fire : black strappy shoes again, nothing to brag home about and certainly not royal looking.


So, while the doll itself is lovely, as all Vanessas usually are, the total package leaves a lot to be desired: un-original dress, less then stellar shoes and underwear, incomplete jewellery set for a royal lady (the crown given with her at the convention only does not justify the title by itself). The advantage is in that she makes a very good substitute for those like me who do not have a dark haired Vanessa and especially the raven A Fashionable Life Vanessa FAO special doll.

Fashion Royalty, unlike the fashion dolls I have written about in previous posts, is a series of 12" fashion dolls. Jason Wu, a very talented designer, has created a coveted doll collection that, for six running years, has never failed to capture the fashion doll collector's enthusiasm and fantasy. All dolls of the many FR collections are highly desired collectibles, with their prices rising immediately after their release. The quality of the dolls and their outfits, their original design and style, makes them worthy of any fashion doll enthusiast's attention.



Agnes Von Weiss is a character created by Jason Wu for special event dolls. However, the Agnes presented here was an FR W Club exclusive for Fall 2006. A limited edition of 750 dolls, this is one of the most coveted dolls in the FR collection today.
The doll was presented in a special box, with the Hi Fi Theme ribbon. This Agnes is blond, while the FR Convention Agnes was a redhead and the FAO Agnes was raven haired. She has the Modern Pompadour taller articulated body.



The doll comes with a versatile ensemble. It includes a black embroidered bodysuit with an opening under the breasts,, two black skirts from the same fabric as the bodysuit (a full skirt with a tulle petticoat and a pencil skirt lined in burgundy silk,), a burgundy sash, short black gloves, a pair of shoes (fabric with plastic soles) in black with burgundy insteps, a black bag from the same fabric as the outfit, and a set of jewellery with red crystals (a pair of earrings and a bracelet).



Included in the box was a Christmas ornament, consisting of a small faceted silver ball like a disco ball in miniature, tied with a black ribbon. In its place I would have preferred a second pair of shoes - a pair of simple black pumps. The lovely slingbacks are difficult to stay in place and can easily fall off. No complaints about the rest of the outfit, it is gorgeous. The black on black embroidery makes it very elegant and stylish. The jewellery is spectacular (although a ring could have been included here).



And how about the doll itself? Agnes has a very strong personality. I find her extremely beautiful and elegant, in a sombre and demure fashion very much in the style of Lisa_Fonssagrives, the famous model wife of photographer Irving Penn. She also reminds me a lot of Nicole Kidman. She is not a face that will appeal to everyone, far from it. But that makes her even more special. Her face screening is great, with a real expression and not the classic vacant stare of many dolls. Her hairdo is impeccable, showing off her lovely face.
I do not know how versatile she can be, but I did photograph her with other outfits. Here she is wearing the FR Guaranteed Chic outfit from the Modern Pompadour Collection, 2006:



And here she is wearing the dress and shoes from Barbie Fashion Model Collection's Happy-Go-Lightly outfit by Robert Best.



This outfit is a mixed bag: silk shirt is by FR Social Call set, skirt is by Barbie



The lovely Mies Van De Rohe Barcelona chair imitation is the FR Luxury Decor Furniture Set High Definition Black Suede Couch from the Graphic Flirtation Collection of 2005.