Mood:
brightNow Playing: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit ?" - DVD rental
Wheee ! I had a lot of fun today, playin' with my dolls. Mostly the Barbies, I brushed hair and traded clothes and sorted through stuff. Went through the clothes and ditched 110 of 'em. You can only imagine how many doll clothes I have if I can decide to donate over a hundred. It barely made a dent !
For some reason, I had 72 sixth-scale swimsuits. I only have 40 dolls, and just under half of them are male ! I've never actually gone out and bought doll swimwear. Didn't make any, either. It's all either stuff from old eBay lots, what the doll was wearing when I bought her, in a bag of clothes from a thrift store, or was part of a set. Thinned those down to under 40 - which is more than plenty.
Found several that need repairs - if school ever starts again, my 'waiting for Dearest Son' sewing box is full - and got rid of stuff I was hoarding. It's the second time I've done this since 2004, but I still can't shake the 'It's mine, mine, mine - it was cheap and even if I don't like it, it's still mine !' mindset. I have no idea why I held on to stuff I don't even like. Usta buy tons of stuff at yard sales and at a favored junk shop - when it came in bagloads, I'd buy as many as I had cash for at the time. About the only selection process is when there were more bags than cash ! I'd think, 'Even if I don't like the color or whatever, I can always take it apart for patterns or something'.
Silly. There's been patterns every year for Barbie ever since 1960, both from someone's kitchen table and the big commercial companies. If there's something out there I wanted, it's darn near a dead certainty that it's already a pattern somewhere. But I'd even hold on to ratty stuff, ugly stuff, colors I hated and mostly wrecked. Most of the real trash was ditched in the '04 clean-out, and I really haven't bought much since. So it was kind of a surprise to see so many pieces that I knew I'd never use, even back then.
It was also a treat to see all the vintage and 70s stuff I have. Not a lot of vintage, it gets expensive - but the stuff I love is mostly here. 'Swingin' Easy' is here (it's a green version of 'Let's Dance'), and the blue 'Suburban Shopper' is beside it. There's a 90s repro of 'Solo in the Spotlight', of course, bought at a flea market. Found a red 'It's Cold Outside' for a quarter, complete with tag, and a torn 'Barbie Goes to Mexico' dress that I repaired. There's the odd pak piece here and there, which still amazes me, because they're in great shape for being 1)second-hand, bought for pocket change, 2)played with, and 3) over forty years old.
I also have most of the stuff I loved as a kid. Best Buy 70s, feel the groove ! I can remember buying Palazzo Pants (#7746), I thought it was a long dress ! Still loved it even after I found out it wasn't. That lacy halter top was just too elegant ! The similar long dress - think it's actually for Francie - a lacy white halter with a long mint green skirt...oh, you know I made sure to find and get that one (#9620) ! There's that navy blue dress with the huge bright flowers on it (#3343). Various Barbie references highlight it specifically as 'the point where couture and Barbie went their separate ways', but I thought it was cool then, and now.
I even have stuff I liked, but didn't have as a kid. About six different peasant dresses - the cream one with the mint trim and matching apron (#7824), the white one with the red flower at the waist (#8684), the green one with the rosebuds and pink bodice(#7416), the long blue one (#7749), the sunny yellow one (from Magic Curl Barbie), the one with the blue skirt, red bustier, and white fluffy bodice (#7755) - are here, from various second-hand sources. I didn't have any of these, so it's lots of fun to have 'em now !
What amazed me is how often I had two of several pieces - and that I still wanted to keep both ! There's two patchwork jumpers (#9805) in about the same shape. It'd be nice to donate one. But I don't want to. I also have two of the white-with-gold-trim shorts-suits from Hollywood Hair Barbie. It's not a favorite, but I somehow got two. And a pair of the dress I most loved as a kid - the turquoise one from Deluxe Quick Curl Barbie. I didn't have it then, but both my slightly different hued two are treasured.
Now, why I have *three* Pretty in Plaid blonde dresses - when I've never owned a PiP doll - is a mystery ! Found the dress that got me involved in second-hand hunting. I'd just seen it in stores, a short pink Fashion Avenue dress. $5. at the Mart, $1. on a doll at a flea market. I even have dupes of Fashion Avenues - one is a blue and white lace 1997 party minidress that had badly torn tulle sleeves. I removed them completely, and later scored an intact one. So it's fun to have two of them, they look so different now.
Anyway, I had lots of fun, and I'll probably play some more tomorrow. Maybe one day I won't be so darn selfish about my doll clothes, as for now, I'm gonna go play. Thanks to dollreference.com and eBay for help in researching Best Buy numbers. That was fun, too !
