Monday, November 23, 2020

History of Color Variations & Re-imaginings

If you were to count color variations, it could be noted that Integrity Toys (IT) has a very long history with re-imaginings.

The very first Fashion Royalty separate ensemble, Toast of Paris, was produced in tones of charcoal with lavender embroidery.  It was recreated in soft tones of gray for "Miss Carroll's Study Group" in an edition size of 100.  The following year the separate ensemble was Soir de Paris, produced in rich wine colors, and Purple Factor Adele Makeda showed up wearing a pale lavender version.

The year after that we got both La Petite Robe Blanche and La Petite Robe Noire.  

There have been many of these. 2005 gave us Flirtatious Veronique Perrin and Bodacious Adele Makeda  in different colourways of the same ensemble.   


2006's Lights, Camera, Royal Veronique lavender gown was produced for the IT convention as Lights, Camera, Royal Blonde ("photo courtesy of Amanda" according to the Fashions Royalty Reference Pages) in black.

2007's High Drama Eugenia Frost's Deep Blue version of Talking Drama Adele Makeda's taupe gown.  


2008 brought us Shirred Not Shaken Vanessa Perrin's black version of the blue gown worn by Most Desired Eugenia Frost

as well as Fine Jewel Eugenia's red version of Vanessa Perrin's olive Color Therapy.  

2009 gave us another double whammy of Optic Clash Dania Zarr's black and pink version of Optic Verve Agnes Von Weiss's yellow and gray gown, 

while Silver Zinger Agnes Von Weiss said "turn about is fair play" with Dania Zarr's Red Zinger.


Of course we saw this cross over quickly to the FR2 line with 2011's Evermore Vanessa and Forever Veronique.



IT Basic Editions brought back color variations in  2013 and 2014.  We got Light Strike Natalia Fatale in White, Red Strike Janay, and Night Strike Monogram in Blue.

Then there was Flawless Impact Dania Zarr and Immaculate Finley Prince (only difference is the color of the belt).



The 2015 Integrity Convention brought us High Frequency Kumi (in teal) and Heart Stopper Natalia Fatale in Hot Pink versions of the same gown.


And Santa's Secret Grab boxes of 2015 gave us Wondrous Tatyana Alexandrova (pale lavender), Mirage Ayumi Nakamura (white), and Cloudscape Dominique Makeda (pale blue).  


In 2015 we got an ITBE Ignite Janay with a red version of 2011's Flawless Elyse dress!

But if you consider "re-imaginings" as taking one doll and changing the doll/design to reflect a different take on things, well, that started in 2009 at the IT Convention Iconic.    We got Luxe Life Vanessa Perrin offering an amazing spin on sister Veronique's Lush Life from 2003.

Eugenia Frost's Diamond Society based on 2003's Veronique Perrin Silver Society.

And Poesie Enchantee Agnes Von Weiss taking on the mega Poesie Sans Couleur Vanessa Perrin.

In 2010, things started getting combined.  Flame Bleue Vanessa Perrin took on A Fashionable Life Vanessa from 2005 for hairstyle and face but wore a blue version of 2003's Veronique Perrin Flame Rouge.


Then ... I think there was a temporary shift from re-imaginings because Jason Wu's human lines took off and he started giving us miniaturized versions of some of his favorite designs.  

The idea was resurrected in 2017 with the Design Competition which required the entries be based on a previously issued FR design.  The winner that year was Vasilen Milkov's Passion Week Elyse Jolie based on 2004's Red Blooded Woman worn by Kyori Sato.


And we can't forget the 2018 IT Convention Optic Illusion Giselle Diefendorf taking on the the mighty Optic Verve Agnes Von Weiss.  (The ensemble I'm not so crazy about, but the Giselle is amazing.)


Of course, poor Bergdorf Goodman Poppy Parker from 2010 has been re-issused almost as many times as the original edition size.  2018's Split Decision Poppy Parker solidified the strongest resemblance.

Since that time we've had some direct copies of facial screenings.  Designer Jessy Ayala likes doing this often ... a little too often for my personal taste. In 2019, we even had almost exact replicas of specific "Grail" dolls.

There is the 2019 IT Convention NYFW offering of Spring Romance Adele Makeda which was incredibly close to The Muse from 2008.

And the upgrade W Club doll this year was Le Tuxedo Eugenia Frost ... Going Public's twin.


I guess it was only logical that IT would base all the dolls from it's 25th Anniversary Convention called "Legendary" on previous versions.  Some were obvious choices.  Some were easily recognizable.  Some still have me scratching my head.  There were even a few, I wouldn't consider "legendary".


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much. Ive learned a lot.. i hope to see an update including he legendary convention. Theres tons of reimagines on that line

Anonymous said...

i have some of these. contact me through gmail theseller1306@gmail.com