The Leading Ladies Of the Wizard Of Oz auction

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Tonner Doll Company, Inc. have invited prominent fashion and costume designers to create one-of-a-kind looks for the Leading Ladies of The Wizard of Oz. To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the classic film, top fashion and costume designers have created a glamorous collection inspired by Dorothy, Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West – all modeled on Tonner’s 22-inch dolls. All proceeds will be donated to the “There’s No Place Like Home” campaign, benefiting Habitat for Humanity’s mission to create decent, safe, and affordable housing in partnership with low-income families.

I never liked the 22" size for dolls - they look unnaturally elongated (especially their arms and torsos). And for their size, their face sculpt detail is minimal and their huge round child doll eyes are scary. It is for a good cause though and that is the main issue. Regarding the designers, some did live up to their name while others (I'm looking at you Trina Turk) must have been too busy to actually pay any attention to what they were designing. All the dolls are on auction from today and for the next nine days. See them below and go bid here. My favourite is the Erickson Beamon doll by far. Click on the photos to see them bigger. Oh, one last thing: dear designers, choosing to re-interpret the Wicked Witch of the West in 2014 is so predictable. 

 Glinda the Good Witch by Erickson Beamon

Hervé Léger – The Wicked Witch of the West

Betsey Johnson – Glinda the Good Witch

Anna Sui – The Wicked Witch of the West

Anna Sui – The Wicked Witch of the West

Jenny Packham – The Wicked Witch of the West

Sue Wong – Glinda the Good Witch

Reem Acra – Dorothy Gale

Carmen Marc Valvo – Glinda the Good Witch

Byron Lars – Dorothy Gale

Ruth Myers – Glinda the Good Witch

Lyn Paolo with Kerry Washington (yes the Scandal star) – The Wicked Witch of the West

Carlos Falchi – The Wicked Witch of the West

Chris Benz – Dorothy Gale

Charlotte Ronson – Dorothy Gale

Douglas Hannant – The Wicked Witch of the West

Marc Jacobs – The Wicked Witch of the West

Donna Karan Atelier – The Wicked Witch of the West

 Colleen Atwood – The Wicked Witch of the West

Trina Turk – Dorothy Gale

© 2014 Auction Cause - A Premier Auction Management Agency

THE WIZARD OF OZ and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Turner Entertainment Co. (s14) 

© 2014 Habitat for Humanity® International. All rights reserved. "Habitat for Humanity®" is a registered service mark owned by Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat® is a service mark of Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat for Humanity® International is a tax-exempt 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law

The Man Of The Orchestra by The Corréa Sisters - and some Tonner dolls

Enjoli and Sophia Corréa, twin sisters from New Jersey, are making their dream film come true, through Kickstarter: Enjoli will be the director and Sophia the star of The Man Of The Orchestra, a glamorous story about the human nature of greed and how it can change you. The premise of the film is as follows:

A young woman, Olesya is blackmailed into framing Rick, a mysterious man for her own theft at a charity event for the American Troops at War. She falls for him but what unfolds along the way just may have him killed.

Here is Enjoli in her video, talking about the film:

So why is the film mentioned in a fashion doll blog? The sisters had a great idea: make dolls to accompany the film, portraying the film characters, to give away to Kickstarter benefactors. They contacted Tonner Doll about the dolls and the company accepted to make lifelike collectibles of the leading man and woman wearing replicas of the costumes chosen. With the long list of famous films the company has produced dolls for, the sisters have an ace up their sleeve already.

Story board by Enjoli Corréa

Stats of the dolls:
Hand painted To the likeness of the leading woman and man
2 lbs, 16" tall each
custom packaging
Replica costumes
Comes as one doll of choice or as a set
Made to increase in value as production grows

The dolls are available in the following pledge levels:

a) at $240 for one character doll (plus $10 if shipping outside the US)
b) at $250 for one character doll plus digital movie pre-order (with a handwritten thank you letter)
c) at $550 for both dolls or one doll plus another exclusive non-doll premium gift (shooting script or premium coin set).
d) all higher pledge levels feature a doll in the list of gifts accompanying it.
If you want to support without getting a doll, you can and receive a Handwritten Thank You Letter for $10.

Story board by Enjoli Corréa

The dolls will be designed after casting is done (backers will have a say in the casting too). Shipping is estimated for March 2015. The Kickstarter campaign ends on September 16th so, if you want one of the dolls, you'd better hurry. More details on the campaign page here. Every supporter will weigh in on casting decisions, costume design (the official costume designer is Lena Mossum, who has dressed Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Harvey Keitel, and Demi Moore. She will design all costumes from scratch and backers will vote to help select the costumes for the movie), and be thanked in a live stream Thank-A-Thon after the campaign. Backers will be charged at the end of the campaign on September 16th, 2014 only if the fundraiser reaches or passes its goal. There's no charge if the sisters do not reach their goal.

Think Pink - Sunny Harnet ready for the red carpet

One of the most memorable musical numbers in the Funny Face film is "Think Pink". If you remember, a year ago, Integrity Toys release a series of seven dolls inspired from the film and its costumes, as part of their Paramount license. So it was only natural that one outfit at least from the Think Pink sequence would be selected. Well, actually there are two, a pink suit and an evening gown. Here, as a tribute to the Oscar cermony that takes place tonight, we focus on the latter, in a recen photo shoot I did.

The doll is evoking the model Sunny Harnett who appears in the film along more famous models Suzy Parker and Dovima (who has a speaking role). Sunny appears with many outfits in the sequence but most notably the outfit shown here. This look is composed of a pink satin two-piece gown with a transformable pink faux fur peplum that turns into a cape, as shown in the film. Pink opera length gloves (the usual oven mitt variety), bright pink satin shoes and a jewellery set (clear bauble necklace and rhinestone stud earrings) complete the outfit. 

The 12" fully articulated vinyl doll has rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes and sports the FR: Monogram body (with Victoire Roux legs) and the Imogen head sculpt.She does reming me of Sunny Harnett a lot and the gown is a faithful representation of the one shown in the film. She looks ready to pick up an Oscar! The last close-up of her shows her necklace backwards, it was a mistake but I liked the photo so here it goes.

 

 

 

Take The Picture! - Jo Stockton in Funny Face doll by Integrity Toys

The Funny Face collection is one of the best doll ensembles that Integrity Toys (or any doll company for that matter) has ever released. Each and every doll in it stands out, portraying one of the characters of the film with one ore more ensembles to evoke certain film moment. Arguably, the most iconic scene in the film is the one where Audrey Hepburn is being photographed as Jo Stockton by Fred Astaire as Dick Avery (Dick Avedon of course) as she descends the Louvre stairs beneath the statue of the Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace. While she does that, she's shouting to him, "Take the picture!" as she's on the move, stepping down, waving her muslin shawl above her, in an effort to mimic the statue's pose. This is the moment that the "Take The Picture!" doll represents. And it does so perfectly.

I tried to re-create the scene by printing a retouched photograph of it (the retouching involved removing Audrey from it). Then strings, lighting and a feeble wind machine (a small heater actually with the temperature set to zero) came to the rescue. Wish I had a proper fan to blow that shawl properly.

The doll is amazing. As mentioned at the presentation, she uses the Poppy Parker body, but it is the one used for the Breakfast At Tiffany's dolls: this means no ankle joint. The foot is made for kitten heels, which absolutely fits the film and Audrey's outfits. It also offers a better looking result. I know this is not to everyone's liking but for this doll, in my opinion, works best. 

The dress is a faithful recreation of the costume from the film, with the small neat bows on the top and bottom, the slit at the back and the two panels that form trains behind. The shawl is here of course, as are the gloves (elbow length), which are slightly better than the usual mitten-type ones (and get even better with some water sculpting) and kitten heel red fabric shoes. The quality of craftsmanship is very high.

The doll has the original iconic Vanessa Perrin sculpt, used here to perfection. She also reminds me a lot of Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary from Downton Abbey, much like the Let's Kiss And Make Up doll does (with the Vanessa 2.0 sculpt). Not a bad thing at all. She also has an extra pair of hands. Her face paint is gorgeous, in two shades of brown and full red lips. Her hair is neatly gathered into a chignon at the back, with a side part at the front and her long bangs swept to the side over her forehead. 

The most impressive of her accessories is of course her necklace. It is intricately made, with lots of different colour and size stones set in it. It proves that when Integrity wants to, it can make marvels. A pair of earrings with two stones each (white and red) finishes off the set. Below is a photograph of the necklace with the top of the dress pulled down to show it off in its entire length. 

Funny Face: "Let's Kiss And Make Up" Jo Stockton by Integrity Toys

Earlier this year, Integrity Toys presented a collection of seven dolls from the Funny Face film, as part of their Paramount Films license. Six of those dolls were available to all but the seventh, Jo Stockton "Let's Kiss And Make Up", was a WClub exclusive through lottery only. I was lucky enough to get her as a second chance draw winner. She arrived months ago here, but I only managed to finish her photo shoot in the past few days.

The doll has the Poppy Parker body and the Vanessa 2.0 sculpt (the one with the closed mouth) and is a limited edition of 400 dolls. She comes with three outfits from the film: the most well known of course is the ensemble from the train station photo-shoot, the "Anna Karenina" scene. I knew I had to recreate the atmosphere of that scene, so I printed out a large photo from that. (I erased Audrey Hepburn from it before printing) and used it as a backdrop for the doll.

This ensemble alone has so many parts! It consists of a long "fur" coat, a manteau and a sleeveless dress under it, pantyhose, shoes, gloves a straw travel bag, a rose bouquet, a hat and a dog! All look great and are well made and finished, except the dog that looks like it went through the washing machine and tumble dryer before arriving at the station!

The doll herself is very beautiful, probably the most beautiful of all four Jo Stockton dolls. She may not be Audrey but she certainly has the style down pat. As in her promo pics, she looks very much like Michelle Dockery, the actress playing Lady Mary in Downton Abbey. 

The second outfit is the yellow print dress from the flower-shop scene, again part of a photo shoot. This is featured briefly in the film but is probably the most colourful scene. I could not stage a whole flower shop at home so I opted for a simple background to offset the print more.

Again a very well made dress, with a great scale of the print. Hat, gloves, pantyhose and shoes complete the look. The gloves can be easily worn if you place her hand in boiling water for a few seconds to soften it.

The dress even has a petticoat under it, which is a nice touch and adds to the sense of quality. It also helps the skirt stand that much better.

The third outfit of the set is a suit that appears in the fashion show scene of the film. It is a very elegant look, with a hat, umbrella (not functional), pantyhose, shoes and gloves finishing the look. 

The straw hat had to be styled a bit to acquire its proper shape but it was not very difficult to achieve. Again it is not the flat small hat shown in the film but it is not always easy to transfer things into doll scale. The boxy jacket does not photograph well on a doll from the back (with the side pleats) but it is very well crafted.

This is one of the best gift sets Integrity has ever released and is well worth getting, if you are able to find it complete. A beautiful doll and three complete gorgeous outfits in one! Not to mention that the original designs are all Givenchy!