Disney Dolls Appreciation Discussion

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Snow White:

From the unveiling of the collection's designs, I had already singled out Designer Snow White as my favorite, not only because she is my favorite Disney Princess, but also because her iconic look translates very well into the 1950's-60's couture concept of this collection. Unlike the majority of the other princesses, Snow White's outfit is, by nature, not monochromatic, so she has the automatic potential for a very colorful and dramatic piece. The design sketch did not disappoint.

Even before, when I started this Appreciation thread, I declared that the Designer Snow White doll is my favorite doll in the collection. My initial positive thoughts were that: though the doll was not quite as dramatic as the design sketch, she was still incredibly stunning; her gown and cloak looked great in satin with the bold contrast of the primary colors of blue, yellow, and red; her face held a very sweet expression; her hair was nicely styled (unlike the stock photos). The few things I would have changed were that: I would have liked it if her apple clutch purse had a real chain suspended on it in the same way that Designer Cinderella's pumpkin coach clutch purse did; her red cloak would have looked better if the snap closure were better concealed, perhaps with a faux ruby; and upon very close observation, her lips are actually parted in an open smile, but they painted the "teeth" portion red to give the illusion that her mouth was closed.

My positive feelings about Designer Snow White have only grown since her September 2011 release. She's still my favorite in the collection, even though the three things I would have changed still stand (a chain for her purse, a better way to clasp her cloak, and the issue with the way they painted/sculpted her lips). Naturally, I did have to do a few adjustments to my own doll, even though she is going to stay in the original packaging. First, I took off the black hairnet that was somewhat distracting at the top of her head. The Designer Snow White dolls seem to have had inconsistent hairdos, but luckily my doll's hair came in relatively good order. I have seen dolls with better hair, but I have also seen more disastrous results from the factory packaging the dolls (for example, where the side curls are very uneven-looking in both length and style). I think if my Designer Snow White had funky hair, I would have had to debox her to fix it. Thank goodness I did not have to go there! The other minor adjustment I made was to cut off the tiny white T-tabs that attached her cloak to the waistline of her skirt. Her cloak is already tightly held against her in the factory packaging, so I wanted to loosen her cloak just a bit. It's subtle, but it made a world of difference to me.

I want to take a moment to appreciate the design of her gown. First, I am glad that Designer Snow White's gown has straps. Most of the princesses in the Designer Princess Collection have strapless gowns, which are quite frankly very daring. Designer Snow White's gown straps add just a touch of modesty, which is appropriate for her character. Conversely, the shirring detail and gem accents of her sweetheart bust line is actually a bit va-va-voom, and if this dress were manufactured in life-size, I think that we would see that this one gown out of the entire collection actually shows off the most cleavage! Luckily, Designer Snow White's innocent aura and the dark sapphire blue color of her bodice distract one's attention from this detail on the doll. I also like that her full skirt is more of a golden yellow, as opposed to the paler canary yellow that it traditionally is. The golden yellow color is rich and luxe. Her solid red cloak is fantastic and really sets her apart in this collection, not only because she is the only one with a cloak, but because the red color just draws attention to her.

Her face is gloriously sweet and innocent. Her makeup is not overly dramatic, other than the deep red color of her lipstick, which is appropriate for her and contrasts very well with her fair skin tone. I am not normally a huge fan of side-glancing eyes on dolls, but it works for her here. I cannot tell you how glad I am that her rooted eyelashes are not the super-long antennae-like eyelashes that all of the post-classic princesses received in this collection. Personally, I think that they just would not have looked right on Snow White, Cinderella, or Aurora.

So, not surprisingly, Designer Snow White is still my favorite doll in the collection. To me, she will always be the fairest one of all!


Designer Snow White - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Snow White - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Snow White - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Snow White - 04 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Snow White - 05 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[HugsxNxKisses(X0X0)]

She is fabulous. I love how descriptive of her. And the term clutch actually means no chain, just grip LOL. I think it's cute since it's like a pouch.

 

[Mermaid's_grotto]

I decided to start a Disney doll collection (cause I apparently don't have enough things to collect) and this is the only Aurora doll (besides the Designer doll) that I like so far.

Please send me a PM. I have helped many people with their collections, helping them to focus on ones they love most (I've never been a completist :lol.

 

[Shivatopia]

She is fabulous. I love how descriptive of her. And the term clutch actually means no chain, just grip LOL. I think it's cute since it's like a pouch.

LOL That is technically so true! But some clutch purses do have chains, and they certainly put one on the apple purse in the design sketch. I'm not sure if it was just too much trouble for manufacturing to stay 100% exact with the design or if it was just another disconnect between the design stage and the manufacturing stage (re: the originally switched faces of Anastasia and Drizella in the DS Cinderella Deluxe Doll Pack). Still, you're right: Designer Snow White's apple purse is very cute! It's rounded shape works very well with her.

 

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Rapunzel:

The Lady in Lilac, Designer Rapunzel's doll seems to have been hit-or-miss with most people. Although her Designer pin is the most desired from the collection, her doll seems to not have created the same sort of enthusiasm, which shows how different the trends can be in the pin collecting and doll collecting worlds. The main feature on Designer Rapunzel's doll that seems to be the deal-maker or the deal-breaker is the expression they gave her, which some have described as smug or even a bit arrogantly conceited. I happen to like her, and like with Designer Pocahontas, I made another one of my first really good friends here on DPF, Rose_Valentine, who was very eagerly awaiting the release of this very doll.

My initial review found that Designer Rapunzel is a stunning doll, resembling a modern-day Aphrodite with her long golden hair and being dressed in the softer shades of pastel pink and lilac with a little bit of purple. I do question why they chose to feature the pink aspects of Rapunzel's dress from the film, especially since she is mostly dressed in purple. Rapunzel is the first Disney princess to be dressed in purple, so I would have thought that they would have kept with that in the same way that Tiana always is seen in moss green. Her side-glancing, half-lidded eyes do give her a bit of a smug expression, which is not helped by the inclusion of the hand mirror accessory. The choice of a hand mirror for Rapunzel also seems random, and based on the design of the back of the hand mirror, it appears that they took her hair brush (from the film) and turned it into a hand mirror. I guess hair brushes are not couture enough for the Disney Store!

I do love my Designer Rapunzel doll a lot. After looking at her pretty much on a daily basis, I find that her expression looks less smug and more demure to me. The angle that you are looking at her also makes a huge difference, as does the angle that her head was originally positioned by the factory. I think the way she is posed in the factory packaging should have shown off her long hair better. You see it cascading down behind her, and then it gets tucked into her skirt in the back. Ummm... Rapunzel's most iconic feature is her hair, for heaven's sake! Still, her golden tresses shine like a halo around her and the braided feature is a nice touch, even though it is not quite styled as it is in the design sketch.

Her gown is seemingly simple, but there are a lot more elements to it than it appears. Her skirt actually billows out a lot more than it appears in the factory packaging (as seen from pictures of various people's deboxed Designer Rapunzel dolls). Once her skirt is allowed to expand out to fill in the space under the lilac pleated fabric peplum peeking out from the bottom of her corset, her gown looks a lot more complete. Her corset is a nice nod to Rapunzel's bodice in the film, and it is the only part of her gown that is purple and also the only part that features any gemstone details. The corset is actually bejeweled both in the front and the back, which is nice. The Disney Store could have easily skimped on the gems, especially since it is assumed that most people would never debox their Designer Rapunzel dolls, but they did not. The pleated lilac fabric spreads up from the corset as well, creating a petal effect. This is apparently known as a "crumb catcher," and I really hate that name. It sounds like she's a messy eater. Despite the silly name, the visual effect is stunning and really makes you see the flower influence on her gown. Behind the "crumb catcher" is a complete bodice for the gown in the same pastel pink satin that her skirt is made from. The lilac pleated fabric of the "crumb catcher" only comes up from the corset in the front of her gown, which does make the back of her gown look a bit awkward with a solid purple back panel rising up higher than the level of her purple corset.

I want to take a moment to point out the elements of this gown that seem to be borrowed from the 17" LE Rapunzel doll. First, the lilac pleated fabric is the same fabric that is used for LE Rapunzel's hanging sleeves. Second, the pink cord of her corset with the pink gemstones at the ends of the cord are also the same as the pink cord lacing of the LE Rapunzel doll. I wonder if they just had a bunch of extra materials that seemed to make sense to carry over for use with the Designer Rapunzel dolls, or if they liked these fabric elements so much that they intentionally wanted to use them again.

Her mirror, though symbolically confusing, is a nice accessory, because it is a functional mirror. It actually casts a clear reflection of images.

Unfortunately, there is really not much I can do with her in-box pose without deboxing her. I think if I were to modify anything (without fully deboxing her), I would free her hair out from the back under her skirt and drape it around the hemline of her dress to the front just to show off her pretty hair. In any case, she is definitely still one of my top favorite dolls from this collection.


Designer Rapunzel - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Rapunzel - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Rapunzel - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Rapunzel - 04 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Rapunzel - 06 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[TinkerTigg]

^
Yes, yes, and yes.
At the D23 event, I actually was given a full set of the lithos. I think that almost all of the concept art makes them look vain and borderline villainous. I LOVE THAT! It was almost like they were at risk for developing the same mentality as the Evil Queen.
And actually...I don't collect princess stuff, but Rapunzel and Tiana are the only two designer princess dolls that I bought. I bought Tiana because she is my favorite princess and Rapunzel...well...one of the main reasons I bought her was because she looks so smug and vain, like she'd be a mean girl to have to deal with. And, come on. They gave her a mirror? How unfitting is that with her character? Totally unfitting. But, it makes her look gloriously more vain. ;D (If anything, they should have given the mirror to Snow White or The Evil Queen since they are the painfully obvious and expected choices. But, I am glad the Queen was prop-less. Anywho...) I do agree with everything that you said. I've been so painfully tempted to "unbox" just the hair portion so it can be shown off. I think it would have even looked really nice the way that you displayed your Dark Rapunzel. But, all in all, I do enjoy my Regina George, I mean, Rapunzel doll.

I'm interested in reading your Tiana review next. *cough*cough*hint*hint*nudge*nudge*

 

[Shivatopia]

^I'm interested in reading your Tiana review next. *cough*cough*hint*hint*nudge*nudge*

Well, as the line goes from The Princess Bride: "As you wish..."



Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Tiana:

Perhaps one of the most underrated Disney Princesses is Tiana. Her fans are fiercely loyal, but somehow she seems to be overlooked by the general public and Disney marketing. The Designer Tiana doll was the last to sell out online on Dollmageddon Day, which also made her the last doll from the collection to sell out.

My initial thoughts were that: Designer Tiana would probably look even better out of the box, given that her gown has a fuller skirt; she stands out as the only Designer Princess featured in green; her gown received a lot of pretty gem accent details; her makeup is beautifully complimentary and she was given a new face sculpt (which was great, because the DS play doll at the time had a very wide smile which would not have worked well with this collection); her hair is very neatly styled, recalling Diana Ross and the Supremes; and the tiny Frog Naveen with jeweled eyes is really cute. Other observations included that: it might have been nice if they had used a different gown design to inspire her Designer look (Her bayou wedding gown has become her signature look, but it is a bit over-used lately); the two white fabric flowers at her hair and her waist lack depth and lay a bit too flat; and the staggered green gems on her gloves are a little too reminiscent of spotty frog skin or warts.

I really like this face sculpt for Tiana. She looks far more elegant without an open-mouth smile. Their choice of a purple eyeshadow and clear lip gloss was a good choice for her, as her makeup does not overpower her look. She is the only princess other than Snow White to sport a shorter, non-updo/ponytail hairstyle, and I think they actually gave more attention to her hairstyling than they did with Designer Snow White's hairstyle. Designer Tiana's curls are very defined, even at a distance, and they appear to hold their shape very well. Designer Tiana also has a hairnet, but it appears less obvious on her than Designer Snow White. I kept the hairnet on my Designer Tiana doll.

Her outfit is nice, but of course there are a few of things I would have changed with the final version. I would have made the plain green back "lily pad leaves" of her bodice into an off-white or ivory color in a textured fabric, like the design sketch. In terms of color, her gown is a little one-note. Tiana's bayou wedding gown consists of several colors: soft moss green, off-white, and even yellow. I just think that just a splash of another color in the actual gown would have made her stand out a bit more in the Designer Princess crowd. I also would have restricted the green gems on her gloves to only the top hems, similar to Designer Belle and Designer Cinderella. The warty-like suggestion of the staggered gems on her gloves is a bit too much. Last, I would have spent a little more time with the white flowers. They could have made them fabulous by giving them dimensional depth. Instead, the flower in her hair looks like a flat doily.

The factory pose that Designer Tiana is given is rather restrictive, like Designer Rapunzel. I did remove the small white T-tabs that tacked her bejeweled "lily pad leaves" to her skirt, because they were pulling on the satin when I received her, creating tiny runs in the fabric. Yeah, score one more for the Disney Store's quality control! I did also try out her right hand in the dainty princess bent-wrist pose and also with her wrist straight. I compromised with a slight bend in her wrist, as both of the other options just did not work for me.

In my opinion, Designer Tiana is a very underrated doll, because she is indeed very pretty! Unfortunately, that is consistent with the way that many people tend to set this 20th century American princess aside in favor of the other "more popular" princesses. I think where the DS designers failed her in this collection was by giving her a simplified version of a gown that she is predominantly marketed in, making her seem a little less special. She is not the only Designer Princess that seemed to get a bit ignored in this collection (hint: all three of the LE 4000 Designer Princesses all seem to have received "quicky" designs compared to the sales powerhouses like Ariel, Cinderella, and Snow White). Did they really just drop the ball with them or do you think that they really feel like they did equal justice to all of the princesses? You be the judge!


Designer Tiana - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Tiana - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Tiana - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[TinkerTigg]

I do agree with your review. I also like the idea of using a second color for the second set of lily pads. What I would have actually preferred was if the upper lily pads were more contouring and form fitting. They seem almost like a new take on the "crumb catcher". And, I actually never thought of the gloves being "frog wart" reminiscent, but instead more "dew drop" reminiscent. I think she was thought of as a "less is more" treatment. Maybe? I love the character dearly, but when this was released (and even now), she really was not at all as popular as the other princesses. If it wasn't for her official inauguration in to the princess line, I feel she'd be like Elonwy and Kida. But, no matter. I value the princess. <3


Who is your favorite princess? (from the collection and/or in general) Are you saving those reviews for last?

 

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Aurora:

For me, Princess Aurora is the most beautiful of all the Disney Princesses. There is something about the elegant, classic art style of Sleeping Beauty and the marvelous artistic talents of Marc Davis that just make her stand out in the princess crowd. Ironically, Princess Aurora was given the least character development of all of the Disney Princesses, despite being the title character of her own film. This unfortunate fate carried over into her Designer Doll, as she was placed in the LE 4000 group and of all the Designer dolls she had the worst transformation from design sketch to doll.

Designer Aurora's sketch is not as plain or uninspired as it seems at first glance. I was in the camp that initially thought that her gown was too similar to her iconic gown, but my opinion has changed. Yes, it's a pink gown with a white shoulder-line and a contrasting pink peplum at the top of her skirt, but there are modern elements in her gown, too. She has a pleated wrap bodice, which is clearly not medieval. They removed her sleeves, and her tall collar neckline was transformed into smooth shoulder straps. It's not easy to turn a medieval gown modern, but the design sketch did a fairly good stab at it. The design sketch for Designer Aurora's hair was a disappointment to me, only because I also think that Princess Aurora has the prettiest hair, and putting her hair into an updo seems like a terrible sin, because she looks her best with her lovely sunshine gold curls flowing freely.

So then the production process tried to translate the sketch into doll format, and something went very wrong. The final result for Designer Aurora's gown really became an uninspired garment. Her bejeweled pleated wrap bodice looks great, but that's about it. The skirt peplum was transformed into a sloppy lace belt that they tried to fancy up with faux pearls and gems. No, no, no! The elegant white shoulder straps have a strange shape, which remind me of floppy dog ears or wings. Her skirt lacks any dimension: no pleats, no draping, or anything but a plain flat satin skirt. Her hair, which at least looked like it fit with the style of Sleeping Beauty in the design sketch with her iconic bangs and the stylized swirling curls pinned up in an elegant hairstyle, turned into a very different updo. They gave her a very unusual asymmetrical bun that looks nothing like the sketch and her bangs were turned into a single long curl that looks like a croissant on my Designer Aurora doll.

Despite these disappointments, Designer Aurora has an incredibly beautiful face with glamorous makeup. Along with Designer Pocahontas, Designer Aurora does not have side-glance eyes, which I prefer. Her violet eyes are shadowed in shimmering pink eyeshadow with rooted eyelashes that give her a sweet, slightly sleepy expression. Her cheeks are dusted with rosy rouge and her lips are a pink shade that compliments her ensemble. I never did understand why none of the Aurora dolls have red lips... I distinctly remember that she is supposed to have lips as red as the rose. Oh well, it must come with her being the Disney's princess in pink.

Sadly, my opinion of the Disney Store's official version of the Designer Aurora doll has not changed much. I think she is a pretty doll, but she is such a missed opportunity. I really feel that the Disney Store could have done better, especially since her design sketch is actually quite good. Had they either styled her hair like the design or just kept her hair down as I think it ought to be or if they had actually created her dress to match the design sketch's exact look, I think I would like her a lot more. As it is, I think among the Designer Princess dolls, she is my least favorite, which is just horrifying to me, because Princess Aurora is my second favorite Disney Princess.


DS Designer Aurora - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


DS Designer Aurora - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


DS Designer Aurora - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

So my irreconcilable disappointments with the official Disney Store version of Designer Aurora actually led me to make my own OOAK (one-of-a-kind) Designer Aurora doll, which I love immensely. I was able to keep her hair down in her proper iconic style, recreate her jeweled peplum and white shoulder straps, and make her skirt fuller with more texture and dimension. Perhaps the only things that the 2011 DS Sparkle Aurora play doll does not have are the rooted eyelashes and the fancy eyeshadow, but even without these she easily fits in with the official DS Designer dolls. I do have plans to make a blue version of this gown someday just to have some options.


My OOAK Designer Aurora & DS Designer Aurora - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


My OOAK Designer Aurora & DS Designer Aurora - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr[/IMG]


My OOAK Designer Aurora & DS Designer Aurora - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[Shivatopia]

Who is your favorite princess? (from the collection and/or in general) Are you saving those reviews for last?

Both in general and with the Designer Princess Collection, Snow White is my favorite. Princess Aurora comes in at a very close second as my favorite Disney Princess and also with the Designer Princess sketches, but not with her official DS Designer doll. I think Designer Ariel and Designer Rapunzel are tied as my second favorite official Designer Princess doll.

Now if you include my OOAK Designer Aurora doll, she is my absolute favorite Designer Princess doll, because I made her gown with my own two hands and I was able to style her exactly as I wanted. I do plan on someday making a blue version of this gown, whenever time permits. Here are some new pictures I took of my OOAK Designer Aurora doll while I was photographing my official Designer Princess dolls:


My OOAK Designer Aurora - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


My OOAK Designer Aurora - 05 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


My OOAK Designer Aurora - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


My OOAK Designer Aurora - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


My OOAK Designer Aurora - 04 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[auroradawn]

The design sketch for Designer Aurora's hair was a disappointment to me, only because I also think that Princess Aurora has the prettiest hair, and putting her hair into an updo seems like a terrible sin, because she looks her best with her lovely sunshine gold curls flowing freely.

... and her bangs were turned into a single long curl that looks like a croissant on my Designer Aurora doll.

I never did understand why none of the Aurora dolls have red lips... I distinctly remember that she is supposed to have lips as red as the rose. Oh well, it must come with her being the Disney's princess in pink.

LOL a croissant! you're completely right!!
Ugh... these are completely the reasons why- even though Aurora is my favorite princess- I couldn't bring myself to buy the Designer doll. I felt like the dress really did not translate AT ALL and I couldn't stand her hair. I think they should have gone for something more along the lines of her "couture" created gown by Elie Saab:

or just something simple and gorgeously elegant (in a pastel blue or pink of course):

And you're completely right, Aurora has hair of sunshine gold and lips red as the rose, per Flora's gift of beauty. But I think that also got lost a while ago.... maybe because Snow White has lips red as blood? I kinda think it's similar to why Aurora is almost always in pink to keep her clearly divided from Cindy.

You should totally do a blue dress
p.s. that is an amazing looking phillip icon.... where'd you find it

 

[TinkerTigg]

RIGHT! OH MY GOD! The bangs that they gave her look like they took all her front hair, curled it with a curling iron, and then sprayed the bejesus out of it. (I half expect the iron to still be in there if you were to uncurl it.) Plus, doing the up-do seems to really make her look older and more "mature" compared to the other girls. I don't like it for that reason. And then...that belt...come on...REALLY?!?! The concept art was SO MUCH PRETTIER!! SO MUCH! And she was a medieval concept like you said. That is still totally high fashion and used as inspiration today. I really wanted to ask that girl at the D23 why in the world she opted for the lace instead. Total fail. And, your ooak doll is a lot more truer to the concept art. The skirt should have been considerably fuller with more "gathering" and whatnot. When I think of the movie and her walking up those stairs after Maleficent's will-o-the-whisp, I just think of how her gown had fabric for miles trailing off behind her. If they were to do anything else, I totally wish that they would have done the skirt in a reverse pleating. (Where the top went from the top right to the middle left, the skirt would have gone from the middle left to the bottom right and gradually growing so it almost looked like she was paused in a twirl.)
I do really look forward to seeing you make her in blue.

 

[Shivatopia]

LOL a croissant! you're completely right!!
Ugh... these are completely the reasons why- even though Aurora is my favorite princess- I couldn't bring myself to buy the Designer doll. I felt like the dress really did not translate AT ALL and I couldn't stand her hair. I think they should have gone for something more along the lines of her "couture" created gown by Elie Saab:

or just something simple and gorgeously elegant (in a pastel blue or pink of course):

And you're completely right, Aurora has hair of sunshine gold and lips red as the rose, per Flora's gift of beauty. But I think that also got lost a while ago.... maybe because Snow White has lips red as blood? I kinda think it's similar to why Aurora is almost always in pink to keep her clearly divided from Cindy.

You should totally do a blue dress
p.s. that is an amazing looking phillip icon.... where'd you find it

Thanks! I made the Prince Philip avatar by cropping and reducing the size from David Kawena's original artwork, which was newly released on Monday. My previous Flynn Rider avatar is also derived from David Kawena's fabulous Flynn Rider art. I totally recommend seeing more of his art on his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/david.kawena?fref=ts (*But as an advisory, some of his beautiful works of art are a bit racier than your average Disney fan art.)

I think that the creators of the Disney Princess Designer Collection had a good idea with Designer Aurora, but something went seriously wrong from sketch to doll and her hair should always be down! I agree with TinkerTigg that the updo on Designer Aurora (sketch & doll) make her look much older beyond her years, almost "marmy," especially when she is standing next to some of the others like Designer Ariel or Designer Ariel.

 

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Ariel:

Even after a year and a half, Designer Ariel's doll has continued to dominate the top spot of "Most Coveted Designer Doll," and she refuses to relinquish the title any time soon, if ever. Her popularity is made all the more obvious, because even as a LE 8,000, she consistently commands the highest price on the secondary market (I am not counting D23 Silver Designer Cinderella). Interestingly, from my observations since the product launch, her pin actually seems to have become more and more popular because of the popularity of the doll. From the collection's launch and for many months afterward, her pin was not making the splash that it does now, as it was very affordable and available for some time. That is certainly not the case, and her pin has moved into the second spot behind the much-desired Designer Rapunzel pin.

But back to the doll: when I first saw a store display doll in person, I loved how dramatic she looked. The design sketch underwhelmed me, since a 2-dimensional gown cannot easily convey the fantastic 3-dimensional qualities of the doll's final gown. The drawing reminded me of bands of seaweed: not glamorous at all. Actually, the best thing I liked about the design sketch was actually Designer Ariel's hair.

Thankfully, they did work a lot of Disney magic into Designer Ariel when turning her sketch into doll form. The various shades of aqua are stunning and her red hair contrasts beautifully against them. The choice of the sheer pleated fabric and the way they arranged them in level tiers is absolutely gorgeous! The design sketch showed the tiers of the fabric of her gown in a terribly uneven mess of striped colors in aqua and green... Yuck! The hem of her gown is actually asymmetrical, resembling a pool of water (or her fins, your choice!). The aqua flower at her waist with the aqua silk cords is a bit unnecessary, but blends well with the gown. It reminds me of a bath loofah pouf, but it's still cute. Her jeweled strapless bodice is in a simple cut, which I think was a good choice, so that it would not pull attention away from the skirt portion of her gown. To sum it up, her gown looks like a lovely fountain or waterfall cascading downward, and it's absolutely stunning!

Designer Ariel is one of the three princesses in the collection who did not get a hand-held accessory. I suppose they figured her fancy hair ornament was to be her "accessory" (in the way that Designer Aurora's accessory is her crown and necklace and Designer Mulan's accessories are her hair sticks). When it came time to accessorize the Designer Princess dolls, they were not given equal treatment across the board. That said, Designer Ariel does not really need a hand-held accessory, because her gown commands so much attention on its own. Her opera gloves are made of a silvery blue material that actually looks kind of thick. The scattered gems on her gloves do look like drops of water (they are in a light blue color), and they do not convey the same issue I have with Designer Tiana's gloves, which are have a strong contrast between the green gems and her white opera gloves. I do kind of wonder how she would have looked without her opera gloves, but since I never plan on fully deboxing my Designer Ariel doll, I'll leave that project for someone else.

Her makeup is incredibly dramatic with her opalescent dark coral lipstick and shimmering blue eye shadow. Top that off with her long antennae eyelashes, and she is absolutely ready for the fashion runway! Her makeup does give her a more mature look than one normally would associate with Ariel, but that can be forgiven, seeing as how beautiful she is.

Her hair is incredibly long. I daresay that it is almost too long, being only a couple of inches shorter than Designer Rapunzel's hair. I am not well-versed in hair terminology, so I won't try to describe the details, but I think that the pictures below speak for themselves. The top part of her hair is held in place by some red string looped around that section, so I do advise for all the deboxers out there that if you want to keep this sleek hairstyle on her, do not remove the red string!

Last, I want to say that her factory in-box pose was horribly thought out. There is not a lot one can do with her given the way she is positioned in the box for non-deboxers. I did reposition her head to look a lot more natural than that the weird way they originally pulled her head to the right side of the box, which made it look like she broke her neck. I think she looks a lot more natural and demure with her head in a more neutral position. Now she looks like she is coyly glancing over her left shoulder.

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Designer Ariel - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

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Designer Ariel - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Ariel - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Ariel - 04 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[jennisney]

Your OOAK is amazing!!! Did you make the pattern yourself? i'm hoping to make some OOAK disney dolls ^_^

 

[Shivatopia]

Your OOAK is amazing!!! Did you make the pattern yourself? i'm hoping to make some OOAK disney dolls ^_^

Thank you! I am incredibly proud of my OOAK Designer Aurora, because she is the first OOAK doll I've actually made on my own. I've designed a few series of OOAK dolls for my own personal collection, but they were all commissioned through a doll artist friend of mine for the actual creation (repaint, styling, costuming, and accessorizing). For my OOAK Designer Aurora, I took a Barbie gown doll dress pattern and modified it a lot to get what I needed from it through a lot of trial and error. It was a real learning experience, especially since I did not even know how to use a sewing machine prior to taking on this project. The more difficult aspects were the pleating on the bodice and making the peplum the way I needed it to look.

I have several plans for more OOAK Disney Princess dolls, but I just don't have the time to work on any of them right now. If you need any general pointers or any direction to resources for making OOAK dolls, let me know and I will try to help you out as much as possible!

 

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Jasmine:

And now for the doll for which my opinion has changed completely from when I first obtained her during Dollmageddon. Back in 2011, Designer Jasmine was definitely a doll that people either loved or strongly criticized. I was in the latter camp back then, but after seeing actual pictures of her deboxed, and after I changed up her head position in my doll's packaging, I really started learning to appreciate her a lot more. Basically, she fell victim to some of the same problems that Designer Mother Gothel did: unflattering stock photos and a factory box pose and dress arrangement that only served to conceal her true beauty.

So my first thoughts of Designer Jasmine's doll from the time her first pictures became available until I slightly modified my own doll recently were: that the doll fell incredibly short of the design sketch, which I think is absolutely stunning. Her face is pretty and true-to-character, which also meant that her look came across somewhat "cartoony." In the pictures and in the way her head was turned so severely to one side with her head tilted up in the display case, her forehead looked unusually large. That, added with her tall hairdo, made her head too big for her body. The way her outer skirt is pinned to the base of the cardboard conceals the fitted silhouette of her inner skirt and also makes the lower half of her body appear short. As you can see, my issues were mainly that this doll appeared to have all of her proportions messed up, which was horrible, because her design sketch is so statuesque! I did think that they did give her some good features, though: I love the volume, super-long length, and body of her onyx-black hair; her accessories are plentiful and pretty; and as I mentioned, her face is beautiful.

In terms of her outfit, I think the one change I would have made would be to lower the neckline a bit. Again, it's a proportion thing. Her top just seems a little too long. The details on it are nice, from the shirring of the blue organza to the yellow gems and the turquoise satin. However, if it were shortened just a bit, I think it would look better on her. True, it may have been considered a trifle too sexy if too much skin (especially decolletage) were exposed, but this is supposed to be a high fashion look, and Designer Jasmine has the most ethnic-looking outfit in the collection.

My Designer Jasmine was one of those dolls whose hair somehow got messed up when they were putting her in the factory packaging. Her hairstyle at the top was lopsided and rather messy looking. I made several attempts to try to fix her hair, but because her hair is tightly bound to the cardboard in several places it is just impossible to truly fix her hair properly without deboxing her and restyling her hair. As it stands now, I am still very displeased with how messy my doll's hair looks, but until I build up the nerve to debox (or at least partially debox) her, I'll have to make do. Should that day ever come, I am so totally going to untack her outer skirt from the cardboard and let it flow more naturally around her.

The major adjustment I have made for my doll was to move her head from facing to her right to facing in front with her head level in a neutral position. Now, she looks a lot more regal and poised to me. You would not think that something so simple as that could make me see her in a new light, but it did, much in the same way that I love Designer Ariel even more with her head also not tilted at an awkward angle. I originally said that with Designer Jasmine, the flaws outweighed the pros, but if one is willing to remedy her from the bad factory positioning of her head and outer skirt, she is a very beautiful doll, indeed.

Fun fact: The lid of the lamp actually can come out completely, much in the same way that Designer Cinderella's pumpkin coach purse opens with the hinge.



Designer Jasmine - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Jasmine - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Jasmine - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[Dollover]

Your reviews are great! Princess Jasmine was my favorite one, but I wasn't able to get her. To be fair, her head was too big for her body in the movie too .

 

[LordTremaine]

Great in depth reviews! Ariel, Jasmine and Snow White are my favorites from the Designer princess line.

 

[TinkerTigg]

I really like how you re-posed Ariel. The way they boxed her made her too long hair look even longer and if her caption would have been "my hair's heavy". (pronounced like the dumb blonde stereotype)
Plus, I really feel like it is one of the prettiest and most successful ways to re-create her final dress when King Triton gives her legs. (With out just wrapping her in sequins)

 

[jennisney]

i also cannot wait for Frozen and the dolls! i think i'm going to collect the frozen dolls!

 

[jennisney]

Thank you! I am incredibly proud of my OOAK Designer Aurora, because she is the first OOAK doll I've actually made on my own. I've designed a few series of OOAK dolls for my own personal collection, but they were all commissioned through a doll artist friend of mine for the actual creation (repaint, styling, costuming, and accessorizing). For my OOAK Designer Aurora, I took a Barbie gown doll dress pattern and modified it a lot to get what I needed from it through a lot of trial and error. It was a real learning experience, especially since I did not even know how to use a sewing machine prior to taking on this project. The more difficult aspects were the pleating on the bodice and making the peplum the way I needed it to look.

I have several plans for more OOAK Disney Princess dolls, but I just don't have the time to work on any of them right now. If you need any general pointers or any direction to resources for making OOAK dolls, let me know and I will try to help you out as much as possible!

Thank you!! I have a bunch of second hand disney dolls ive picked up off of ebay which I am hoping to repaint and restyle their hair and make clothes for! So i will definitely come to you for some pointers! thanks

 

[Shivatopia]

I totally agree, Babydoll! The UK has received some very nice dolls and doll sets that never seem to make it over here in the USA or anywhere else for that matter. I wonder why that is, considering that the marketing department seems to think that the USA is more willing to spend more money on things like this (re: the USA getting more quantities of the Designer and LE dolls). I do particularly like the Disney Fairies Flutter dolls, because their faces really look unique from one another, and their outfits look very nice.

You're welcome, jennisney! I have a good amount of resource books and also my doll artist friend to refer to if you have any questions that I cannot easily answer off the top of my head. I did (and still somewhat do) entertain the idea of making a lot more OOAK dolls, eventually opening the door to commission work if I ever feel my skills are good enough.

 

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Mulan:

Without question, Designer Mulan is a lovely doll, but I cannot shake the feeling that her concept originated as very generically pan-Asian, instead of just representing an exclusively Chinese haut couture look. When the original design sketches/pin images were revealed, she really did not stand out in the crowd for me. At first glance, I noted that her hair was pulled back in a matronly bun and her gown was obviously inspired by the outfit she wears to see the Matchmaker, which is one of my least favorite Mulan outfits, even though it has become her most iconic look. Certainly, there were many more princesses that stood out for me in this collection.

Designer Mulan was the fourth Designer Princess doll to be released, and was also the first one to sell out online only a few mere hours after her release (at about 6 am PDT). Yes, the sharks were circling, having smelled the blood of potential profit. This activity was risky and in general did not pay off as well as the sharks probably would have hoped. Designer Mulan is a LE 6000 and not one of the more popular Disney Princesses. As such, her price on the secondary market has never been so high that anyone who wanted to get one would have to sell their left arm to get her, which works out well for Mulan fans.

When I received my Designer Mulan doll, I have to say that I was more impressed with her doll than I am by her design sketch. First, I actually really like the salmon pink color of her gown. Then, similar to Designer Ariel, Designer Mulan's gown is a much more impressive sight in person, when one can appreciate the 3-dimensional details of her gown, especially at her bustline. Her layers of pleated organza and scalloped lace were neatly arranged to resemble a folding fan, which I think is a clever idea. It looks great in person. The other feature of her gown that draws inspiration from a folding fan is the top of her dress train, where it attaches to the back of her gown. Unfortunately, the way she is posed in the box smashes the top of her train between her and the shaped clear plastic behind her, so the only way you could appreciate that detail is to debox her. Note that the top of her train is completely absent in the design sketch, so bravo to the development team for adding this feature to the doll.

Ok, let's address what I call the pan-Asian "orientalizing" of Designer Mulan. First, just to get it out there: Mulan is Chinese. I am sure most people on this forum are well aware of that, but I have seen much ignorance out there about Mulan in the usage of terms describing her clothes. Even whoever wrote up the item description for her on DS.com described her gown as : Mulan's iconic kimono has been reimagined by Disney artists with elegant scalloped lace, while jeweled blossom hair pins hold up her hair in a fanciful bun. There is so much wrong with this one sentence. The kimono is a Japanese garment. The appropriate term for Mulan's outfit is hanfu (漢服). The dark blue fabric around Designer Mulan's waist should not technically a belt but a type of outer waist skirt called a yaoqun (腰裙), however, the Disney Store decided to gussy it up more like a Japanese obi especially with the thin red cord tied and knotted around it. Instead of a red cord, they should have used a red silk sash, or if they wanted to use a braided silk cord, it should have had a jade ornament yupei (玉珮) tied into it. This may sound like nitpicking, but cultural ignorance is just wrong, and the Disney Store has no excuse for not doing their homework. The Disney animators got her outfit correct in the film, after all. Then, let us discuss her hairdo. I hated the bun they gave her in the design sketch; it looks too old and matronly. So then they gave the doll a sleek beehive, which is admittedly a hairstyle that originated in 1960 and was incredibly popular throughout that decade and beyond. In any case, it is not a bun as depicted in the sketch and as is described on the product page (again: do your homework DS.com writers!). I am actually happy with her beehive for a few reasons: 1) I don't like the bun in the sketch, 2) it turned out to be a very sleek and chic hairstyle, and 3) one of my college professors who teaches Chinese history styles her hair in a neat beehive like this. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now...

There is something about the combination of the shape of her head, the shape of her eyes, her long antennae-like eyelashes, and the loose curved strands of hair in front of her face (inspired by Mulan's spit curl) that give her a very insect-like look to me. I still think that she is channeling Cri-Kee. It's not a bad thing, but it is a bit weird that when I look at her, I think of a pretty anime humanoid-insect queen instead of "Mulan, the Hero of China."

Designer Mulan was not given any hand-held items, nor did they give her the iconic magnolia comb. Instead, she has two jeweled flower hair picks and bejeweled gloves. The jeweled flower hair picks were probably created to resemble cherry blossoms, which confuses me. Her name means "magnolia, " and in the film, both times when she meets with her father in the garden of their home at the stone bench, they are under a magnolia tree. Cherry trees do exist in China and cherry blossoms are found in Chinese art, but they just have no direct connection to Mulan. Furthermore, cherry blossoms are a much more common symbol in Japanese art and culture, and given the ethnic hick ups I previously mentioned, I would not be surprised if there were meant to be cherry blossoms. Still, it is very open to interpretation, as even in the designer notes at the back of Designer Mulan's slip cover there is no mention of what kind of flower these are supposed to be. Her gloves are in a matching color to the salmon pink color of her gown and are bejeweled with faux diamond gems, making her and Designer Snow White the only Designer Princesses with more than one color of gem details. Like Designer Ariel, Designer Mulan's gems on her gloves look nice (I hate going back to Designer Tiana's gloves, but I think that those would have looked better with faux diamond gems so that they would look like dewdrops).

In sum, Designer Mulan is a very pretty doll. Is she one of my top favorties? No, because she does not represent the spirit of the young woman who disguised herself as a man to join the Chinese army and proceeded to earn high renown through her military prowess. For this reason, I never buy the DS Mulan play dolls, either. Add that to the cultural stumbles that I perceive that the Disney Store made in her development and creation, as well as the in-box pose that fails to show off all of the finest features of her gown... and well, she ends up being a bit less loved than my more favorite dolls in the Designer Princess Collection. Don't get me wrong: I do like the Designer Mulan doll, but she's just not one of my favorites.


Designer Mulan - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Mulan - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Mulan - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

 

[Shivatopia]

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Belle:

First, I do want to say that I think that the Designer Belle doll has one of the most glamorous faces among the Designer Princess dolls, along with Designer Aurora and Designer Ariel. My initial impression of the design sketch was that they really did not do too much of a transformation for her yellow ballgown: the skirt was transformed from the elegant rococo-style curtain-type drapes into an unusual discordant mass of soft ruffles and they removed her shoulder straps. I was also disappointed that they chose to give her a full updo (I think by now it should be kind of obvious that I am not a fan of updos in general).

When the first photos of the Designer Belle doll were released (official stock photos and unofficial leaked pictures of the store display dolls), my disappointment kind of increased. The random ruffles, which at least looked soft and light, were replaced with a tight bundle of hardened gold organza rosettes. This new direction altered the general shape and structure of her gown, because the rosettes look more lumpy, which for me ruins the elegant lines of her gown. The design sketch shows that she was originally supposed to have a sweetheart neckline, but that was abandoned for some reason. They turned her rose earring enormous, which is a bit distracting. However, the worst sin for me is that they turned the updo from the sketch (which I was already not fond of) into a swirly, marmy beehive that gives her a look of maturity far beyond her years. One of my friends, who is a huge fan of Belle, calls this the "poop-do," due to the unfortunate swirly shape and of course the color of Belle's hair...

Sadly, my opinion did not change a whole lot when I received my actual doll from DS.com. Seeing her in person, I did think that her face was very beautiful and glamorous, but for some reason they chose to give her really dark eyeshadow colors that could lend a slightly sinister air to her. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does not seem very appropriate for Belle. Her skirt still bothered me, as it looks just too stiff and the organza sort of swallows up her waistline, which again works against wanting an elegant silhouette for the gown. Oddly, my doll is missing some gemstones at the top of her opera gloves, which should fully encircle her arm. Her hand-held rose is pretty, but it would have been even better if they had put some red gems on it, as they did with the 17" LE Belle doll's rose.

So, wher does Designer Belle's doll stand for me over a year-and-a-half later? I have learned to appreciate her a lot more. Her hair actually does not look quite as disturbing from particular angles (mostly if you are looking up at her so that her beehive does not look quite so bad). I still think that her face is gorgeous. She is certainly the most beautiful Belle doll, in terms of face, though I still don't think that her sultry beauty is appropriate for her character. I am still not terribly fond of her gown, though I do appreciate the workmanship that went into the construction of the rosettes. It is just not terribly pleasing to me, so unfortunately the Designer Belle doll is still one of my lesser favorites from the collection. If I had a spare Designer Belle doll, I would love to restyle her hair to see if that would change my mind about her.



Designer Belle - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Belle - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Belle - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr