2017 Spring/Summer Display

It's been a long, dreary, wet, soggy, dank, moist, dark, winter here in Vancouver, Washington.  I loved dressing my Gene collection in their beautiful Spring/Summer outfits.

 

 

I want you all to know that I made a big change to my doll display. 

 

 

In the Fall, I stuffed almost my entire Gene and friends collection into my new Ikea BESTA cabinet.  I was feeling like I had too many dolls and needed to down-size my doll collection.

 

 

 

Evening gowns

 

 

As you can see, there are less dolls now in each box.

 

Cocktail dresses

 

 

I like this look a lot better.

 

 More evening dresses

 

 

 

Daywear

My bridal wear collection

 

More daywear

 

 

I even have room to create some little scenes.

 

 

 I know you're thinking, "Wow! Diane, you really did downsize your doll collection!"

  "I'm so proud of you for letting go of a lot of dolls, that must have been so hard!"

 

"Less is more, right?" 

 

 

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

WRONG!  I tricked you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

WAIT

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOR

 

 

 

 

 

IT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't get rid of any dolls!  I made an even bigger doll cabinet on the other side of my sewing room.  I might have covered up one of my 5 windows with this massive baby.   Who needs 5 windows in a sewing room when you need another huge doll cabinet?

 The Belle of New Orleans gown is so massive it needs its own zip code.

 The rest of my "Belle of New Orleans" collection waiting to be photographed.  I made 3 of the cubes bigger by leaving out the middle board.

My red, white, and blue collection

 

 

Garden party outfits

 

 

So I went from thinking about selling some of my dolls to now needing more dolls!

 

I'm a genius!

 

Or crazy?

 

 

 

The bottom of this cabinet will display the rest of my non Gene dolls, if I can find the energy to dress them.  I have an American Girl doll, Robert Tonner Magic Attic dolls, very vintage Madame Alexander dolls, and others. 

 

2016-2017 Winter Doll Display

 

I dressed my dolls in their Holiday outfits and displayed them for the most part by color.

 

 

Black and White

 

Blues

 

More black and white

 

Greens

 

Christmas

 

Reds

 

Pinks and burgundys

 



My hostess collection

 

Misc. casual outfits

 

Dressing my dolls each season is fun, but very time consuming.  This display ended up becoming my Valentine and St. Patrick's displays too.

 

 

My Bellissima Italian Style Collection

For the past six years I have had the privileged of  attending Sandra Stillwell's incredible conventions.  Every year we gather together in a new location and learn about different vintage designers and local interests.  Oh my goodness, we get so much swag at these conventions, usually an outfit at every event!  There are also many opportunities to go broke purchasing additional outfits.  There is never enough money to buy all the fantastic outfits that I "need".

I have decided to take the best photographs that I can of my convention outfits using my growing collection of JAMIEshow Gene dolls.  They have become my favorite models for photographing my fashions.

In 2015 the Bellissima Italian Style convention was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee with a side trip up to Nashville to visit the Frist Museum and see an exhibit of post WWII Italian fashions. 

Fiore Viola was the first fashion we received it was inspired by one of the designs in the exhibit.

My Satin Doll Violet is modeling this incredible ensemble.
 

 

Her hard wig cap is by Ilaria.

 

 

I wish I had a picture of the original outfit.

 

 

 

We ate lunch at the Frist Museum and the centerpiece was Irene. 

I HAD to purchase this cocktail dress.  It is my favorite fashion of the convention.

 

These are colored photographs.

Black Lipstick Gene is the perfect model for this dress.  Her rooted wig cap photographs a lot blonder than it looks in real life.

Friday morning at breakfast we received Capri Holiday.

Heart of Gold Ivy is my model.  Her wig cap was borrowed from a JAMIEshow Grace.

 

This fun ensemble came with many pieces to mix and match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night's gift was Yvonne of the Night.

Spotted in Manhattan Madra is gorgeous in this stunning cocktail dress.

 

I love the black lace with the navy taffeta.

 

She "owns" this JAMIEshow wig cap.

 

 

 

Inspiration picture

 

 

Saturday morning at breakfast we received Rosa Italiana.

My model is my Le Jazz Hot Oona.

 

She gets to wear all the pink clothes.  Her wig cap is by JAMIEshow.

 

I've become a wig pig.

 

This backdrop is perfect with this outfit.

 

 

 

 

 

In the past I had the very bad habit of mixing up all my shoes and jewelry.  I thought I would remember what went with what, HAHAHAHAHA!  I plan on photographing all the pieces of each outfit together before I mix everything up again.

Inspiration picture

 

I also received Rosa Sommerso.

It is the Rosa Italiana dress in black.

 

Hollywood Canteen Gene is my model.

 

 

 

 

At Saturday's lunch we received Lunch with Luciano.

I love suits, and this suit is fabulous!

 

My model is my first JAMIEshow Gene, Phoenix.

 

Inspiration picture

 

 

Saturday night we received Veneziani.

It's fabulous!

 

Cool Breeze in Vegas Oona is my model, her wig cap is by JAMIEshow. 

 

I love the bright red hair with the blues of this gown.

 

 

 

 

 

Inspiration picture

 

 

Sunday morning our final gift was Arrivederci, Baby!

It's adorable!  I love the vintage print tulle.

 

White Orchid Gene is my model, she is my least favorite model to photograph.  I always lose her nose in the photos.

 

 

Her wig cap is from JAMIEshow.

 

 

So here is where I got myself in trouble.  I already bought the Irene cocktail dress, but I didn't stop there.  I might have bought a few more outfits.

 

 

Breakfast at Bergdorf's

The details on this ensemble are incredible.

 

My model is Poised for Success Zita wearing her original wigcap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luminso

I love the yellow and grey combination.

 

My model is Hollywood Canteen Marsha Hunt.

 

 

 

Marina

My model is J'Adore Gene wearing an Ilaria hard wigcap.

 

Navy blue and pleats are irresistible to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Last but not least is Isola Bella.

I didn't originally buy this outfit at the convention.  I wanted it, but had already spent a lot of money.  I ended up picking it up at Sandra's convention in 2016.

 

I LOVE IT.  I LOVE IT.  I LOVE IT.

 

 

Holiday Gala Gene has beautiful dark pink lips so she wears a lot of pink outfits too.

 

 

Did I mention I love this outfit?

 

I plan on over time photographing all the outfits in my collection.  It is a massive collection, so it will take me a while to accomplish.  Right now my JAMIEshow dolls are wearing the fabulous outfits from last year's Belle of New Orleans convention, so photographing them is on my short list of things to do.