Shibajuku Girls Clothing Packs

I've seen information about the new Shibajuku Girls line of dolls online here and there. They have a sort of anime look, and their clothes are supposed to be based on Japanese harajuku fashion. I'm not interested in the dolls, but I did decide to check out a fashion pack when I saw them at TRU.

I didn't realize until I bought my second fashion at Target, that Rachael has already reviewed a Shibajuku Girls doll and her outfit, here. She's got some excellent comparisons of clothing swaps between the SG dolls and several different dolls. My post won't be nearly as comprehensive; I just wanted to show the two fashions that I bought. Also, while the fashion packs do come with one giant hair clip accessory, I didn't get pictures of those. The hair clips would suit a Pullip or Blythe or similar doll. The fashion packs do *not* come with the shoes or socks like the dolls come wearing.

The first outfit I bought was a black vinyl jacket and dotted tulle skirt. The skirt fits the Made to Move body, and closes in the back with Velcro. It's not exciting, but it is nicely made. Like the dress below, it has a ribbon underneath that goes between the legs. It fits a bit shorter on the Barbie body than I would like.

The sleeves of the jacket are far too small for a Barbie size doll, and also too short. I had to remove Ashlynn's hands to get the jacket on her, but the fit is fine once you get it on. The jacket is held together at the bottom by a piece of Velcro. For some reason, the sleeves are slightly gathered on the seam, which is odd for a "leather" jacket. I also nicked a small hole in one of the sleeves while cutting off one of those wretched plastic tags. Still, whenever Ever After High starts its motorcycle gang, Ashlynn will be ready.

Grrrr. I'm a Rebel.

Next is a dress, which I liked because of all the different colors, especially the ruffles at the bottom. It looks cute on Briar. For reference, this is a Ballet Briar who I rebodied. I also took down her bun/roll.

The facing of the neckline kept rolling up on Briar. I'm not sure if it's because of how it fits the Ever After High body, or if it will happen on the Shibajuku Girls doll it was actually made for. I can tack the facing down with thread, but the collar pieces don't lay nicely either. They're not completely finished underneath, only along the edges, which I think contributes to how they roll up. I suppose I could make a very tiny tack at the corners of the collar pieces, to hold them down. Or I could try steaming them flat with my iron. I'm afraid if I try to tack the collar pieces down, they will rip a hole in the dress.

The armholes in this dress are incredibly tiny, so the number of dolls it will fit are limited. I had to take Briar's hands off to get this on, just like the jacket above. The Velcro also sticks out a lot in the back. But at least the dress patterns go all the way around to the back *cough.*

At $9.99 each, these outfits are not *cheap,* although you do get the hair clip in addition to an outfit, if you're into those for your dolls. But these outfits don't really work for Barbie, who has fashion packs in abundance. There are no commercially produced Ever After High outfits, for example, out there, and a handmade dress from an Etsy seller will probably cost you more. The price point isn't bad considering these are somewhat uniquely sized. Also, if you like the outfits, but not the dolls, as I do, it's great to be able to buy the fashions separately. The other outfits I recall seeing were a pastel fabric jacket with a pastel tulle skirt, and the sailor schoolgirl uniform that Rachael reviews. If this first wave of dolls goes well, I hope we'll see more fashion packs down the line.