Buying a doll previously owned by a
collector is always great. Such a doll requires little work and her
stock is usually complete. She’s beautiful, ready to put on a stand and
display. But I enjoy purchasing dolls for restoration just as much. Sure
they’re far from perfect, but they’re always full of surprises and a
ton of fun. This time I’ve had twice as much fun as I got two dolls, but
they’re both lovely and deserve separate posts. Here’s the first one:
Attracted by the price, I decided to
check the offer and just as I was about to close the website, one
particular doll caught my eye. There she was surrounded by other dolls,
each in a state of post-play neglect, her kanekalon hair in disarray and
her eyes dreamy. There was something quite unearthly about those eyes. I
didn’t think long or hard, just bought her and as it’s always better to
get two dolls rather than one, her friend hopped into the box as well.
She arrived dirty, smelly and
mysterious, there was no way I could identify her by the picture alone,
but when I saw her in person, it took me 5 minutes to unravel the
mystery. She turned out to be the Blossom Beauty Barbie 1996. What
helped me identify her were her earrings that were surprisingly still in
place. She got her ring from a friend who sadly can’t wear it anymore.
The below commercial presents Blossom Beauty before she became a
property of a child.
She definitely needed some effort to
look pretty again, her kanekalon hair not making it easy. It doesn’t
help that my restoration skills are quite limited either. I had no
previous experience dealing with kanekalon and I was surprised at how
well it styles and holds its shape. My first attempt wasn’t satisfying,
the curls were too Gothic Lolita style as I’d made no allowance for the
hair responsiveness. Unfortunately, once curled it also resists boiling
water straightening because the water can’t be quite so scalding ,
otherwise it would wrinkle kanekalon horribly. Well, this is the final
result, for now at least and below the Gothic Lolita – only missing her
black clothes.
She was wearing a very pretty little
mint colored dress that is probably Fashion Avenue or My First Fashion, I
just don’t know which one. It’s also turned out her previous owner had
her stock outfit for sale, but when I closed the deal, the vendor
contacted me she had already sold the dress. Although it’s not my
favorite design, I couldn’t resist the curious combination of Mattel’s
tacky tendencies and cleverness at creating transforming fashion. When I
spotted Blossom Beauty Teresa’s dress I grabbed it. So here it is.
What I like most about the doll is her
eyes. They’re of course blue, like they should be and very 90s, but
there’s serenity in their expression and something that is very hard to
put in words … the doll looks as if she was daydreaming. Her eyeshadow
is yellow and pink and very subtle, her lips are pale pink. She looks
very much fairy-like, just give her a pair of wings and she’ll fly away.
Since she’s so princessy, she received
an appropriate dress, though she certainly deserves better.
Unfortunately, 90s ball gowns are hard to come by these days, especially
if they’re to be in a good condition, so she’ll have to settle for this
pretty dress. This particular design circulated for some time and I can
recall at least two dolls who wore it – Rapunzel Barbie 1999 and Easy
to Dress Princess Barbie 1998. The dress is nice and not over the top.
The bodice is a white layer with nicely draped pink satin covered with
just a mist of tulle. The bottom part however is made of pale pink satin
and a sort of a tulle “apron” specked with gold brocade. A little gold
ribbon adds to the general charm. The apron part is lousy and it reveals
the unfortunate tendency for cheap solutions so frequently practiced
nowadays in a form of one sided print forgetting that Barbie’s dress
should have the back part as well as the front one. I mean, is it really
so difficult to give Barbie tulle all over the dress?
Blossom Beauty is so charming! Sure
she’s one of so many Superstar faced Barbies in my collection, but each
one is special to me and I’ll be happy to rescue more of them.
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