Ooh La Valentine

I love the face paint on this Gene (it does have an official name but I can't recall what it is!) who is called 'Ooh-La-La!'. There were three dolls made by Integrity with this face paint, the other two being 'Shadow Song' and 'Rondolet'.

This is an Ashton Drake outfit that I sold and bought back again. I love the style and the fabric is great quality ... I just find the length a bit strange?! The shoes are nice too and a change from the ribbon ties (which I actually do like but it got to the point where AD used them for almost every outfit!). Gene is ready to make an entrance at the Hollywood Valentine Ball ... I wonder who will be escorting her?

'Ooh-La-La!' Gene by Integrity is modelling the 'Ransom in Red' outfit by Ashton Drake. Ruby and diamond necklace by Tonner, ruby and diamond earrings by Franklin Mint and heart-shaped diamond brooch by Facets.

Oh Lordy!

When Integrity relaunched Ms Madra Lord with the FAO Exclusive 'Midas Touch' I was delighted! I always liked Madra; she was the devil to Gene's angel ... a bit like Rizzo vs Sandy! Now to get anything direct from FAO to the United Kingdom is nigh on impossible ... useless website and riduculous shipping cost being the two main obstacles, so I resigned myself to being Madra-less for a while.

This served me well in long run because I saw 'Metropolitan Madra' and just had to have her. It did help that a very nice US seller was willing to ship her to the UK, so over to old Blighty my first Integrity Madra came! I just did not like her outfit one little bit and sold it almost immediately; it was a wine coloured satin gown with big winged sleeves and totally average jewellery and shoes ... just not my thing!

'El Morocco' is one of the Gene outfits that I kept. The fit isn't fabulous but I like the length and the tulle overskirt is cute.  It was also one the few AD outfits to come with black hose. I keep meaning to do something better with the hat!

'Metropolitan Madra' by integrity is modelling the dress, overskirt, cuff, earrings, hose and clutch purse from 'El Morocco' by Ashton Drake. Hat by Fil Baldowski. Crystal butterfly heels by Doll-Scum.

400 Flamingo

This is 'Skye' who is the last of the 400 Club series by Superdoll and was a Haute Doll Exclusive in October 2005. I decided that I did not 'need' her and was happy with my trio of 'Sugar', 'Sushi' and Sabbatha' ... and so it remained for quite a while. 

What triggered the change was the doll I bought with the money I got from selling 'Sabbatha' and, as mentioned in the previous post, I could just not get over the fact that I had made this mistake and every time I picked up this doll, it just reminded me of the fact.

All was not lost however, as a fellow collector posted that they wanted to trade the doll I had for their 'Skye' and I jumped at the chance! No she was not 'Sabbatha' but I was delighted with the swap and have never regretted it one bit. Now I was all the more determined to find the absent sister!

'Skye' is modelling the 'Candyache', gown, pink fishnet hose and wedge sandals, 'Bloodhound' bangles and 'Colorshop' blonde pigtail wig all by Superdoll. Vintage kimono silk bandana by Doll-scum.

Never on the Sabbatha

Well as you can see my "only the one" Sybarite vow was well and truly out of the window and this gave me free reign to order 'Sabbatha' from Haute Doll in October 2005. She was offered with 'Skye' and they were a slightly higher edition than their 400 Club sisters 'Sugar' and 'Sushi' at 95 pieces each.

'Sabbatha' sold out pretty quickly but 'Skye' proved less popular and took quite a few weeks to sell out. they both came in the same underwear, fishnet knee socks and stilleto boots as 'Sugar' and 'Sushi' ... 'Sabbatha' in red and 'Skye' in black.

I stupidly sold my 'Sabbatha' in October 2006 to buy another Sybarite and instantly regretted it but luckily, I did manage to buy her back almost three years later (and at over twice the original  price), so lesson learned hopefully! The reason it took three years and cost double is because she is still one of the most desirable Sybarites and seems to be most people's favourite from the '400 Club' quartet.

'Sabbatha' is modelling a mesh and lace bodysuit from 'Cross' black pencil skirt from 'Will, checked obi, tabi-geta shoes and parasol from 'Marigold, red fishnet hose from 'Librium' and platinum wig from 'Blade, all by Superdoll.

Yo! Sushi

This is 'Sushi' and she is the second Sybarite that I bought (after the usual "I only need one" justification to oneself) a few days after I ordered 'Sugar' from the Superdoll site. If she had sold out quicker I would not have had the choice/excuse but she didn't and, nearly 10 years on, I am still so glad that I did hit that 'BUY' button!

She is one of my most redressed girls and anything pink/green goes straight to her. She suits all hair colours and like her sister 'Sugar', she is going nowhere. I just love her!

'Sushi' is modelling the complete 'Thyme' outfit from the 'Fashion Victim' series and the Ginger 'Fro wig  from the 'Colorshop' Wig series, all by Superdoll. Diamante hair clip by Facets.

Pour some Sugar on me

Moving on with the 'my first' Integrity/Ashton Drake/Tonner theme, it would be downright rude and dare I say a diabolical liberty for me not to give a mention to my first Sybarite, who was the darling 'Sugar'. She appeared on the Superdoll site on 6 October 2005 and the rest is, as they say, history.

Although she was LE 75, she did not sell out immediately as there were not a lot of Sybarite enthusiasts at the time. She appeared with 'Sushi' - who was even slower to sell out (maybe because she was a bit more funky with neon yellow underwear and boots; 'Sugar' had coffee coloured). At the time a few of people painted her odd eyes (one brown/one blue) to match ... didn't get it myself! 

I love her just as much now, if not more, than that first day when I unzipped her silver travelling bag. My experience is that you can't say that for many dolls you've had for almost 10 years! She is still my favourite out of the four '400 Club' girls and easily in my top five.

'Sugar' is modelling the mink-trimmed parka, Superdoll logo tee and pin sequinned mini skirt from 'Superdelic' all by Superdoll. Pink leopard boots also by Superdoll. lace hose from an unknown maker. Directors chair by Ashton Drake. 'Kiss Me' bag, hairpiece and orange mongolian skin wig all by Doll-Scum.