Photostory: Pretty Princess 'Mantha

I haven't blogged much here. Sorry about that. I'm mostly on Instagram and AGC for doll things, and I don't really have the time to sit down and write reviews of things/write photostories. But I did have time today, so I whipped this up real quick. These were all snapped with my phone since I lost the card reader for my camera.

I only do photostories for debuts. Maybe I should change that.

Photostory: There's Another Person in This House!

I went to the Scottsdale store last week. Someone came back with me.

Off-Brand Reviews: Our Generation Retro: Dream On Outfit

Going back, Kaya style.

So. I haven't blogged much here. I don't really blog, I'm more of a "Instagram random things and lurk on AGC" person when it comes to my dolls. But, I've decided to try my hand at reviewing, so here it is, my first ever review!

I got this outfit several weeks ago at Target, because for me it invokes some 80s feels. I like this for 3 reasons:

1. I love the 80s. Love. It's one of my favorite decades, actually. And even though I didn't live them, it doesn't mean I don't love them any less.
2. I am currently in the process of writing the meet book of my 80s girl, Pilar Yañez. So this will go to her when she exists in doll form.
3. My Kaya wears clothes from all the eras. She's a time traveler.

When I first saw this outfit, I thought, Love!! Mostly the vest. (Marty McFly, anyone?) I'm actually kind of mad at the outfit from the waist down, but in love with the part of it from the waist up. You'll see why.

Hey kid! What's with the life preserver?

Vest: Let's start with my favorite part of the outfit, the vest. It's a reddish-orange vest made to simulate a down vest, very similar to that of Marty McFly from Back to the Future.¹ The rows of topstitching help with the "down" look. I love this vest so much! While I personally don't wear vests for the sake of keeping warm, because I believe in keeping your arms warm too, I like doll vests.

Back.

The topstitching doesn't carry over to the back. Real vests have the stitching on the back too, so this makes it look a little less accurate.

Tag.

There's also an OG tag on the left inside. It's kinda big, but it doesn't interfere with wear, so it's alright. A-. Minus for no topstitching on the back.

Necklaces.

Before we move onto the shirt, I want to talk about Kaya's necklaces. She wears her "meet" necklace almost all the time, and an angel feather one I made for her. All of my dolls have some sort of necklace with a pendant. The symbols are all unique, and they give the wearers magical powers.² Kaya gets time travel, which is also partially why she wears clothes from all the eras.

It's a shirt.

Shirt: The shirt is a basic cream-colored t-shirt. The material is very soft.

Happy sun~

There's a rainbow graphic on it with clouds and a smiling sun peeking out from behind it. The area of the fabric around the graphic is rougher than the rest of the shirt.

Skleeve.

 The sleeves and collar have purple trim sewn on.

Rep your brand.³

 There's an OG tag on the bottom left side of the shirt.

Hem.

Basic hem, nothing to smile about.

Nice, clean velcro,

It velcroes up the back, like most doll clothes do. B. It's a nice shirt.

And this is where it got weird.

 Pants: Before I describe the pants, I have one thing to say. THEY DON'T FIT.

This is as far as I got.

SAGGING ISN'T COOL WHY DON'T THESE PANTS FIT

Even Kaya wants to know.

"Why?"

I kept the tag.

I'm thinking they just don't fit AG girls. Or my pants are fucked up.

Hey look it's a completely worthless piece of fabric shaped like pants!

Anyways. Just 'cause they don't fit don't mean I'm not gonna talk about them still. They're made of blue corduroy, and even though they're too small, they're well made.

Not fly. Not fly at all.

There's topstitching pretending to be a fly which I really don't like. If you're gonna do pants, either put a real fly, or do a more reliable elastic waist and don't even try to fly. None of this mess.

Loop for the belt.

They have an elastic waist, a pink belt, and belt loops. That detail is nice, even if fake fly and no pockets and BAD FIT HURB DURB.

Hemmings~

Simple hem. Also a little bit of flare, which makes me think this outfit was supposed to be 70s and not 80s.

I don't like the material the belt's made out of either.

The belt is sewn in as part of the waistband, so you need to do some major taking apart if you want it to come off. D. Well constructed, bad fit.

Now on actual 70s girls.

ETA, 2/22/16: It does too fit. I put it on Ivy and it's fine, although I was scared the elastic would snap. It required a lot of pulling, but it fit.

See?

Yeah they're fine. I just didn't want to pull them on. And I don't even really like corduroy anyways, so these probably won't even get worn that often.

Plastic Shoezzles.

Shoes: I have to admit it: I've been spoiled by AG shoes. These shoes don't compare. They're made completely of plastic (whatever happened to dolls being like little people?) and even though they're kind of a Mary Jane style, they have no buckles or anything. They just slip right on. Luckily these don't have an fitting issues.

Sideview.

From the side you can see the molding tha makes them look "Mary Jane."

Sole.

The soles have a slight heel, but are otherwise completely smooth.

Our Generation. By Battat.

On the inside of both shoes, there's a stamp that reads "Our Generation. By Battat." I bumped the contrast up a little on the picture, so you can kind of see it. It's hard to read in real life too. C. They're not realistic, but they work.

Overall Opinion: I don't usually buy off brand things for my gang, unless it's something that's not even supposed to be for dolls anyways, like a keychain. But when you goes to Target and see an OG outfit you wanted, you buy it. Even though it's supposed to be 70s, I bought it for my 80s girl and Kaya, who wears everything anyways. The vest will become part of a Marty McFly cosplay in the future; the shirt is nice enough and can be for the mods, Ivy, or Pilar; the pants can suck my dick, and the shoes might get some use.

Cost Value: The only reason I bought this was for the vest, to be honest. I got it for $13, full price. That's cheaper than AG outfit, but With the pants being completely useless, it was not worth all that. Boo. If you can find the vest on eBay, get that. Maybe the shirt too. But don't buy direct. $10-15 for shirt and vest.

Authenticity: For the 70s? Vest is good, rainbows were really popular, the pants could have more flare, but no one was wearing all plastic shoes. For the 80s? The shirt can kinda slide, andhe vest is perfect, with Back to the Future and all. The pants aren't skinny enough, though, and once again, forget the shoes.

Final Grade: B. Everything is well constructed (except the shoes what the hell is that), and works nicely for my purposes. Fuck you, pants.

Reviewing is fun. I'll do more soon.

--Shark

¹ Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies ever. I first watched it when I was about 5, and wow was it cool. It was one of the many things that spawned my love of the 80s.
  ² So many stopmotions I want to do.
  ³ Y'all should totally check out Nethilia's blog, AG Outsider! Very good.