Barbie - How I'd restyle her.

Barbie by alison-boyd-rasmussen on polyvore.com

This is how I'd style Barbie, if I were given the chance. Scroll through the photos below, and you can see the wardrobe I've selected. And why hasn't there been a Betsey Johnson Barbie yet? Wouldn't that be perfect?

I've been staying far away from Polyvore lately, due to budget restrictions and how much I recently spent on Urban Decay products at the Ulta store recently. (Why can't I just have one hobby?) But really... when you change your hair color as often as I do, you sort of need to update your wardrobe and makeup. Right?

Anyway--let me know what you think. And try it out! Polyvore is a LOT of fun. :)

Dr. Seuss dolls debut from Tonner Doll Company

Sam I Am by Tonner Doll Company

A fantastic blend of pop culture and fashion, this new line of dolls uses the Monica Merrill head sculpt on a cameo skin tone Tyler Wentworth body. The dolls have inset eyes, rooted lashes, and are limited to 500 dolls each. Each retails for $189.99 and are scheduled for delivery in December. Dolls are available for preorder from your favorite Tonner dealer.

Shown above is Sam I Am. She has yellow rooted hair and green brown eyes. She is dressed in an orange shantung top with blue faux fur trim, rainbow ribbon skirt, blue lace tights, and yellow boots.

Truffula has orange rooted hair, green eyes, and comes dressed in a pink shantung top with faux fur trip and orange ribbon, a purple and yellow skirt, pink lace tights and orange pumps.

The Cat's Hat has blue rooted hair and violet inset eyes, a yellow dress, red faux fur vest with corset belt, red and white tights, blue belt, and the classic red and white feathered hat.

Photos are property of Tonner Doll Company.

Waaa! Our view counter! It's time a for a PRIZE!

Scroll down to the bottom to the page -- and check out our page count!

1,003,234 pageviews!

Woo hoo! (And no, I actually do not track my own pageviews.)

It's time for a prize!

This week, I'll be giving away a free copy of my new book, Steffie: Out of the Box, signed.

All you have to do is a leave a comment on this blog post, if you're interested in receiving one. Make sure you leave a piece of identifying information on there--like your first name, and maybe your location. Something like this:

I'd like to enter! Alison in San Diego.

You have till Sunday, September 9, at midnight PST to leave a comment. Monday, I will put all the names in a pot and announce the winner, and have you contact me with your shipping information, and I'll send you a book.

International readers are, of course, welcomed. (Authors of this blog, you don't qualify for this drawing, but I'd love for you to have a copy of this book. So if I've flaked and not sent you one yet--please email me.) And let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks so much for reading The Fashion Doll Review!

Earth Day sale at Angelic Dreamz

Between April 23-25, save 20-40% off select merchandise and get $8 flat-rate shipping from Angelic Dreamz! Lots of great stuff is on sale, including some older Dynamite Girls, Barbie, Madame Alexander, Delilah Noir, JamieShow and more. Go shop!

Doll Duels widget...

Thanks to Tonner Doll's social media team, you can actually play Doll Duels right here on the Fashion Doll Review now:

Click here to visit the actual Doll Duels website.

While it's fun to play around with the gadgets, and for me, a great way to build my grail list of Tonner Dolls from real-life (and some photoshopped) photos, I have to say the Doll Duels site does have a pretty cool purpose. Its primary reason for creation was to feature one-of-a-kind doll artists and their websites.

When you go to the Leaderboard, Categories or Newest Pics pages, you can click on the specific photos you like best. Each photo lists the person who submitted the photo and URL, and information about hat specific photo. Additionally, you can share the photo via Twitter and many other methods.

Fabrizio Vitti's private doll collection

This may be slightly old news, which I unfortunately only discovered today. Originally posted in December 2011 on the Louis Vuitton website, you must visit the actual link for an amazing stop-motion video. (If you love dolls and shoes, that is.)

"Step back in time to 1944, following World War II when due to a shortage of resources, the Haute Couture fashion houses of Paris created the Thêatre de la Mode. Imagine a spectacle of fashion in miniature, designed specifically for dolls but with all the exquisite detail and perfection of the regular collections."

"Similarly, the shoe department at Louis Vuitton is inextricably connected to the sphere of dolls. Exactly the same workshop in Fiesso d'Artico, Italy, where the Louis Vuitton shoe collections are created is entrusted with the task of fabricating the parallel miniature versions for Fabrizio Viti’s private doll collection. The attention to detail is striking and in this short stop motion animation, his dolls and shoes come to life in another inspiring spectacle."

If you liked that article and video, you should check out Part I:

"Photography, the glamour in old style movies, especially French movies from the 60s, art and fashion books, are all an inspiration to Fabrizio Viti, Louis Vuitton’s shoe style director. Nonetheless, it is the history of fashion dolls and fashion dolls today that stimulate his imagination. He has been collecting dolls since he was three years old and as a result, today he has a collection with around 500 pieces."

"The creative process works in both directions, either using his dolls as a canvas for experimentation or adapting the Louis Vuitton shoe designs for his dolls. Fabrizio will often custom make shoes for his dolls and this year he made a specific shoe with a platform for one particular doll. After it was made, he liked it so much that he made it into a larger human scale version and it incidentally became the season must have."

Doll Duels - you must play with this site!

Tonner Doll Company has released a really fun part of their new website, due to be released in full on January 3, 2012. Doll Duels is a giant photo library of owner photos of Tonner-only dolls. You can see

• Real life photos of actual owner dolls, sorted by category, including repainted dolls and link to their websites and eBay stores,
• Pairs of two random photos, side by side, in which you can vote for your favorite picture (or choose "Draw," if you just can't decide),
• The Leaderboard, which shows you the most popular photos of the minute, and
• You have to option to submit your best photos of your favorite Tonner dolls.

Go play! I have to confess, I can't stay away! Read more about it on Tonner Doll's blog (that's my photo of DeeAnna Denton!), and visit the site yourself (and vote for my photos, LOL!) at DollDuels.com.

I'd love to hear your comments!