The Dress From Etsy

Here are some pics of the leopard print dress I bought from goodblythe on Etsy. Unfortunately my camera skills are rubbish and clearly, without a tripod, my hands are too shaky for a decent pic (I wasn't drunk when I took these, I promise!). A couple came out OK but you get the general idea.

She still has her original Simply Chocolate shoes

An arty shot...

Showing off her pink eye chips

A Good Week

So, a successful week in the life of this particular Blythe fanatic. No, I haven't yet purchased another doll (with seven days until pay day I'm already living off water and mung beans), rather four things happened which plastered a ridiculous grin across my chops.

First of all, the dress I'd ordered from the fantastic goodblythe on Etsy arrived, all the way from Hong Kong in just under two weeks and Kitty looks a-to-the-mazing in it. It's a puff-sleeved leopard print number with padded cups and a black patent belt. I'll post some pics when the light is better.

Secondly, I pre-registered my 'me plus one' for Blythecon UK 2011! Squeal!! Lucky I did because I just checked the site and they're sold out. It's not until 1st October but I already can't wait. I told the boyfriend and he says he'll come with me although frankly, I won't expect him to! I have sat supportively on beaches and watched him surf for hours on end but rocking the O'Neill surf-babe thing is a lot easier than a man making his way round a doll fair! We'll see.

They may be releasing more tickets in June if pre-registered people don't pay the balance so keep checking the site if you want to go. Click here.

Thirdly, just over an hour ago I won an auction on eBay for an almost-complete set of stock from the Natasha Moore Blythe (UK seller)! I say 'almost complete' because it's missing the handbag but otherwise it's a bloody good lot. Here's a pic of the full stock from cybermelli on Flickr.



The bids went mental just before the end of the auction and I ended up paying a wee bit more than I wanted (ahem) but it was worth it. A kit including shoes (albeit slightly rubbery ones), a necklace, earrings, hair accessories, a coat, stockings, a dress and sunglasses has got to be worth grabbing! Hopefully it will arrive next week.

Fourth and final 'good thing' is to do with hair. Now, much as I love my Simply Chocolate, her hair isn't her best feature. It's cut with a heavy fringe which I adore but the overall texture is very coarse and it has quite choppy layers through the back which means it sits quite awkwardly. I do think it looks better in brunette as her sister, Simply Vanilla looks like an 80's newsreader with her coarse peroxide do. Anyway, I'd pinned Kitty's hair up as per the pics in my first post and yesterday I took it down. It turns out a week in a topknot was the best thing I could have done as Kitty now has bouncy, voluminous locks! It's just the right side of Tina Turner which, if you're a fan of big hair, is a good thing. As I type this she's sitting on the table in front of me, fully decked out in her vampish new dress with hair Cheryl Cole would be jealous of.

Stylist Magazine: The Blythe Shoot

The utter scream-inducing joy. In honour of London Fashion Week, leading designers including Felder Felder, Henry Holland and PPQ have taken an outfit from their couture collections and made them Blythe-sized. Stylist say they tracked down the only doll currently on sale in Britain and begged a loan of a further two for this shoot. The pictures are by photographer Cody Burridge.

These images are currently available for download as desktop wallpapers from the Stylist website.

Blythe Couture!

OMG! House of Holland have put Blythe in one of their designs. This picture from tomorrow's Stylist magazine was just tweeted by Henry Holland.

It reminds me of the couture range Alexander McQueen made in Blythe sizes for her to model a couple of years ago. Here are some pics, the full range of which can be found here

Silver Dream...

Wanted to post some pictures and links for Kiss Me True, the doll I mention in my last post. I'm pretty bored at work so while I've got a few minutes spare, of course my thoughts turn to her and whether I can justify buying her! Anyway, here she is...

This is her official 'publicity' shot from the CWC website.

Here's a link to a wonderful photographer, Moon Rouge on Flickr. She has an enviable collection of Blythe dolls and has taken some brilliant shots of her KMT, who is named Krystal Blue.

Click here

As I already have Kitty who is brunette, I was really keen for my next doll to be a blonde, purely for balance really. I'd seen a few different blondes in my price range and just this weekend was outbid on eBay on a NRFB 'Sunday's Very Best' Blythe. Actually, that was really upsetting. I'd been watching her for days and noticed that by some miracle, the price wasn't increasing as quickly as I would have expected (this was from a non-wholesale UK based seller with excellent feedback) so I decided to bid on her. I was the winning bidder right up until the very last second then, just as I thought she was mine, it said I'd been outbid with one second to go. My boyfriend said it was probably a sniper bidder using a pre-programmed bid system. I was so upset but had to accept that's just the way things are on eBay sometimes.

Anyway, having set my heart on her I had to move on and it was while I was scouring the eBay listings that I found Kiss Me True. She wasn't one I'd seen before and at first I wasn't sure about her hair colour (I'm not a fan of the fantasy hair colours - I prefer more natural colours). However, once I'd read her biography and looked through some more images, I was smitten. I don't like the 'cutesy' look for Blythe, I prefer her when she's high fashion and cutting edge so KMT's strapless dress, leather jacket and platform boots really appealed to me. Her hair is a very unusual colour and it's long which is another feature I wanted of my next doll.

Oh, but look at me trying to justify my imminent purchase! I do think she'll be mine soon, I just need to make peace with the expense. Eeek!

So It Begins...

As I type this I am obsessing over a Blythe doll. A gorgeous, silver-haired Neo Blythe called Kiss Me True who wears a leather jacket, platform boots and huge, glamorous sunglasses. I don't have the money, I'm considering putting her on my credit card; when I say 'obsessing', I mean it. I've been off work today and all day I've been online looking at pictures of Blythe dolls on Flickr and gazing endlessly at Kiss Me True on eBay, in between looking at clothes on Etsy.

Around twelve years ago I saw a t-shirt for sale online with a picture of a doll's face on it and the name 'Blythe'. I had no idea who 'Blythe' was, or why I was so drawn to her image. After a bit more research I found that this wasn't just a t-shirt design, it was a picture of a genuine and frankly, cult-status doll. I learned about Gina Garan, her history with Blythe and how much she's dedicated her life and career to these wonderful dolls, but I still didn't have any idea how vast the global community of Blythe lovers is, the different versions of the doll or how far people will go to customise their own dolls. I was just never able to justify spending money on my very own doll.

Then, on Christmas day 2010, my wonderful boyfriend presented me with my own doll. A gorgeous Simply Chocolate Blythe. I've named her Kitty and I'm already completely in love with her.
In order to find her, my boyfriend had done weeks of research and as we talked, I realised how much more he knew about Blythe dolls than I did and knew that would never do. Since Christmas, I've spent hours online reading about the history of Kenner and 1972, the first year Blythe dolls were introduced, right through to the modifications that can be made such as sanding the face to achieve the matt finish and changing the eye chips. Incidentally, this is not something I have attempted or intend to attempt any time soon but I find it amazing.

I've now realised that this is a true obsession. I sometimes wonder what I'm doing, a 32 year old woman, living a busy life in London, yet I'm 'playing' with dolls. My friends don't understand at all. When they discovered my boyfriend bought me a 'doll' for Christmas, they were baffled. I've tried to explain but I guess when it comes to Blythe, you either get it or you don't. Perhaps that's why I decided to start this blog. I needed to document my new found passion and hopefully, in time, connect with other Blythe fans. For now though, this will just be a place for me to document my thoughts, purchases and photos.

Simply Chocolate before she left her box.



Kitty in her original 60's inspired dress with heart-detail flat pumps (not seen) and funky earrings. She also comes with orange tights but I chose not to put them on. I put her hair up for this picture but she has a mid-length, layered cut.



I love this close up of her. The blue eye colour is gorgeous; she also has green, orange and pink eye chips.