When the 2016 Fashionistas were unveiled last year, there were three I immediately knew I had to have: Leather and Ruffles, Blue Violet, and Blue Brocade. Blue Brocade was my tax refund indulgence last year, and remained my only Fashionista for months. (In large part because I couldn't locate Fab Fringe anywhere offline but Wal-Mart, yes, but that is a story for another day.) She rapidly became my favorite out of all the Fashionistas, and remains so even now that my collection has expanded so much.
So I was beyond disappointed when I saw that she was one of the Barbies being offered for clearance this year. As of last week, my local Wal-Mart was offering her for as low as $4. I quickly decided that we were due for a blog review, so that we could explore how amazing she is together!
Her vinyl is actually a darker shade than I have been able to properly capture in any of these pictures. Learning how to be able to do that is one of my many doll related goals, because it's such a deep, beautiful color.
Blue Brocade is a Petite Barbie, meaning that she is more Skipper's size than Barbie's. Like so many Barbies, her body features sculpted underwear. I have yet to try current Skipper clothing on her, but my roommate has current Skipper pants on her own Petite doll and they fit perfectly. I did try an older Skipper dress on her, but we will get to that later.
Mattel has begun releasing outfits and outfit packs with specific size designations in the upper right corner. Whichever body type(s) the outfit(s) in question are designed to fit are highlighted.
Her face is just beyond beautiful to me. (My own Blue Brocade [Estelle] remains my favorite out of all of the ones I have seen, but then, I'm biased.) One of the things I really like about the Fashionista line is that so many of the dolls have so much personality and character, especially in their faces, and I always point to Blue Brocade as a prime example of this.
Also, let's take two seconds to talk about her lip gloss! I've seen a few Fashionistas with lip tints I consider... questionable, at best... so I definitely give Blue Brocade yet another point for having such a flattering shade.
Her hair is incredible. You will have to shape the back when you first get her out of the box, since it will be flattened somewhat, but it was pretty easy to rework with just my fingers. I'm sure mine's could be even fuller, but doll hair still makes me a little nervous, so I haven't pressed the point.
I have never tried to take her hair down, so I'm not sure how that would turn out.
Fittingly, she comes in a dress with a beautiful blue and black pattern and elegant black trim.
Her black boots have a nice little heel and cool detailing, and are actually one of my favorite pairs of shoes out of the Fashionista line.
Her designated accessory is an oversized, pretty pair of turquoise earrings. (Also, look at her majestic profile!)
Until I took photos for this post, I had never actually changed my Estelle out of her default dress. It suits her so perfectly that I never wanted to! But I thought you all might like to see how she looks in other shades, so I experimented...
Red and orange! The red dress was a $2.50 standalone made for default sized Barbies, while the orange dress came on another Petite doll, Crazy For Coral.
Pink and lavender! The pink dress was from Life in the Dreamhouse Barbie (default) and the lavender top is from Blue Violet's set (Petite).
Yellow and aqua! The lemon dress is also a Blue Violet dress (Petite) while the aqua and yellow one is a $2.50 fashion dress (default). I purchased this and the red dress at Target, and if I remember right I saw them at Wal-Mart as well.
Green and black & white! If memory serves, the green dress was actually made for Skipper in the late 90s. I've definitely had it since childhood. I was surprised when I put it on my Blue Brocade, since it actually fitted too loosely in the bodice. (You can even see it in this picture, if you look closely!) However, I then remembered that current Ken clothes are actually too small for my mid-90s Ken doll back home, so it stands to reason that current Skippers are also smaller than their 90s counterparts.
The black and white shirt is another Blue Violet outfit.
In conclusion, if you're in the market for a Fashionista, I couldn't recommend Blue Brocade more highly. Amazing hair, amazing face, amazing outfit, amazing vinyl, amazing everything. It is going to take a lot for any future Fashionista to unseat her as my favorite.
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