Dolls and Doll-related Items for Sale

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Romantic Alice Pullip

Alice was a birthday gift from my husband back in July, and I finally freed enough space on my worktable to get some pictures of her. Alice in Wonderland is a popular theme in Japan, and Groove, who makes Pullip dolls, has made several takes on Alice, with Pullip's friends filling in occasionally for other characters in the stories. For example, Groove has also made Romantic Alice in pink and monochromatic versions. And my Pullip Alice du Jardin is yet another "take" on Alice in Wonderland. Alice du Jardin is really stretching the Alice in Wonderland idea. Romantic Alice at least has a blue dress, apron and striped socks, even if the clothes are rather Lolita-esque. I took these pictures at different times of day with different lighting, so don't mind if the color in the pictures is all over the place.
Here is Alice, mostly complete. For some reason, Romantic Alice also came with a lace cape. It's pretty, even if you can't see it from the front very well, as it's not very full. However, Alice can't wear hers, because not only is the neck fastening super tight, but instead of a hook and eye, this cape has a hook and... hook. Luckily, it is an easy enough repair if you can hand-sew.
Alice's dress and apron have net, lace and tucks galore. She wears a chain with three charms: a teacup, a key, and a crown. Her necklace was "Made with Love."
Like other Pullips, Alice has an eye mechanism that lets her eyes look left, right and center. Rachael pointed out that with Pullip Alice du Jardin, her eyes seemed to go farther to her left than to her right. Romantic Alice's eyes seem to go a bit further.
A note about the brown hairbow: it's a pain. It came on the top of her head, with the lace ties wrapped around and around her neck. If you want to see her necklace, or put on her cape, or redress her, or whatever, the hairbow has to be tied at the bottom of her head at the back. Tying a top-heavy bow on a huge doll head that has lots of hair, was not fun. Maybe I'll put elastic on instead.

Even under the net overskirt on Alice's dress, there are tucks and lace, that you can't really see because of the overskirt. And I think this color is the closest to the color of the dress in real life.
A last couple shots of Alice, with and without her apron.
I think it's funny that the first doll I debut in my new roombox is really too tall for it. I will probably add more on top of the wood paneling, but I haven't decided what yet. Most of what I will be sharing pictures of in my next posts will be better sizes, although I do have another new Pullip in the queue. I should be able to improve my lighting for those, as well.



12 comments:

  1. Hi Barb,
    I had a Pullip once, but didn't keep her. I like them but they are just not for me.

    Your Alice has wonderful brown eyes and they seem to move correctly where as the one with the pink hair is a little sus. Almost looks like the eyes don't fit the socket correctly. You're right about the Lolita look of Alice's dress, the Japanese seem to love all those pin tucks and lace, but as much as I love both, I sometimes find they go over the top.

    My thoughts about her being taller than the room box wasn't a problem, I just thought it looked like she had drunk too much growth serum. LOL! Great post though, I really enjoyed it.
    Big hugs,
    X

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    1. Xanadu, I started with J-Dolls, and didn't think Pullips were for me, but now they are. You never know where your collecting will go next, I guess.

      I wasn't overly fond of Alice's eye color in relation to her hair and outfit at first, but as I was taking pictures, I realized that I was enjoying her look more. I love over the top, I think. Fortunately, I have dolls to wear the over the top stuff.

      I like your idea about the growth serum. :) Really, most of the dolls that I photograph a lot are 12" or smaller. If I ever start regularly featuring larger dolls on the blog too, I'll come up with something as a neutral background for them.

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    2. I actually didn't notice the issue with the room box either! Your Alice is lovely, too big for the box or no. As Xanadu noted, we can all say she drank too much of the "Drink Me" bottle!

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    3. I suppose it's like a lot of other things in life: if you made it, or sewed it, or knitted it etc., you notice the mistakes, whereas no one else does. I'm glad that you like Alice.

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  2. The Alice's are my favourite Pullips. If I ever get one it will be an Alice.
    She's beautiful and that outfit is great.
    Even if the roombox isn't the right height, maybe you could play around with taking the pictures from different angles so it I isn't noticeable? Instead of making a new one. Or put an old calendar picture of a garden against the top and pretend it's a window.

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    1. I like the Alice Pullips very much too; since 2 out of 3 of my Pullips are Alices, that seems a given. I tried to take at least get as little dark background when I took the pictures. I felt badly having plain white foamcore show, but I guess that wasn't an issue after all. Thank you for the ideas.

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  3. Gorgeous doll! I wonder if you could affix strong magnets in her head and under the bow that would hold it in place?

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    1. Magnets hadn't occurred to me, even though that's how my Cu-Poche dolls work. I'll have to think about that.

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  4. I think if she was not on the stand, she would not be bigger than the roombox. Certainly if she were seated she would be fine in that roombox.

    The details on the clothing are amazing! I have one doll on a Pullip body, she has an Obitsu 27 cm head though - it's a much much smaller head! I am now wondering if I can find Pullip clothes second hand.

    Lovely photographs!

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    1. That stand does add to her height, but Pullips are so top-heavy, that having the stand is about the only way to display them standing up. The base of Pullip stands is actually more weighted than you would think to look at them.

      Jun Planning/Groove made J-Dolls, that had Pullip bodies, but proportional heads instead of the oversized ones. That sounds like your Pullip/Obitsu mash-up. Pullip clothes can occasionally be found second hand, but they are still expensive because, as you say, they have a lot of details. The Groove store has some simple Pullip clothes, and sometimes an outfit that they found in their stock.

      Glad that you like the photos!

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  5. What a pretty doll. She is new to me. I like the idea of different Alices.

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    1. It is interesting to see how Alice in Wonderland has been interpreted in different ways, over and over.

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