Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Target Play Wonder Outfit Review

Well, I was going to start with pics from Oldest Gal's Tangled Party, but I realized that I hadn't gotten the pics uploaded to the draft post yet.  So, being my naturally lazy self, ;) I decided to start with a post that already had the pics added.

[Side note here:  Is anyone else having issues with their post labels?  I'm getting a message saying "These characters are not allowed in a post label:  &."  The thing is, I don't have periods or &s in my labels!  Not only that, but there doesn't appear to be a way to go in and edit the labels!  I think it might be the quotation marks from 18" that's causing the problem.  The bummer is, I use that in my labels A LOT!!   Anyone else having this issue, or am I going crazy on my own?]

Okay, sorry...just dealing with the new Blogger format (why do things have to keep changing just when I feel like a pro?). ;)  On to the actual post...I promise! 

A while back, I decided to try out one of the outfits from Target's Play Wonder line.  Most of you will remember that these are the trendy 18" play dolls made by the Madame Alexander company.  For a review of the doll itself, you can view my earlier post HERE.

I never thought I would be interested in purchasing one of these outfits.  The ones I saw when they were first released looked very Hannah Montana/Disney Channel-ish, which is not really a style I'm fond of.  When I saw some of the more recent outfits, though, I thought they had potential, especially because the items could be mixed and matched with other clothes.

So here's the one I chose:

Here's the tag, which lists all of the items included.

The tag also gives you two style ideas for your new outfit.

The clothing is tagged with both a Play Wonder tag...

...and a Madame Alexander tag.

Here's a picture of everything the set came with.

A denim skirt, a hanger, a white headband/belt, a pink striped shirt...

...a polka-dotted bandana, grey leggings, a purple and pink purse...

...a reversible denim vest with floral print on the inside, and a blue striped shirt.

Since Jenna is the most interested in clothes and fashion, I thought she would be an appropriate doll to model the new clothing. ;)  Here she is with the leggings and the shirt.

Now I've added the denim skirt and the pink striped shirt over the blue one.

And here's what the outfit looks like is you use all of the pieces (aside from the headband and the bandana). Oh, and her shoes were not included.  I got them at Michael's (they're part of the Springfield Collection).

Once I'd seen everything together, I decided to try different combinations of the outfit.  Here's the first one. 

Here's another simple look using just the shirt and skirt.

Yet another look.  I added the denim vest to the ensemble.

As a finishing touch, I tied the bandana around Jenna's neck.  I think it looks really cute that way. ;)

Next, I tried dressing 4 different dolls using pieces from the Play Wonder outfit. :)

Jenna is wearing the headband, striped pink shirt, and denim skirt.  She also has the purse.

Hayden is wearing the denim vest.  This picture makes me think of some of my high school photos.  I totally would have worn something like this to school (denim vests...or any vests, for that matter, were very "in" when I was a teen). ;)

Charlie is wearing the blue/green striped shirt.  I love this shirt on her!  I think she likes it too...she hasn't taken it off since! ;)

Finally, Emma is wearing the bandana and the grey leggings with her outfit.

Overall, I was very impressed with my purchase.  The Play Wonder dolls are just a tad bit slimmer than AG dolls, so some of the clothes are a little snug, especially if you have an AG with a thicker middle.  I was able to get everything to fit, though.  The clothes are not the highest quality in the world, but they aren't terribly shoddy, either.  I think they would hold up to normal play about as well as Battat clothing or any similar play doll brands.  

I think the biggest plus for these outfits is what you get for the price.  I mean, I just was able to use elements from one outfit to dress 4 dolls, and I only spent $16.99 plus tax!  There are lots of different outfits to choose from, too.  I actually had to sit and think for a while in the store, because there were several other outfits I liked just as well. :}

Have any of you tried the Play Wonder clothing?  I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

More posts to come!  These next few weeks will be really crazy as the school year winds down, but I'm hoping to get as much blogging done as I can whenever I have the chance. :}

12 comments:

Carolyn said...

Wow, what a neat outfit! So cute & versatile! I think it's well worth the $$$, especially for children vs. an expensive AG outfit.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

That's what I thought, too. I especially love that you have so many options from one outfit. I might even be more willing to spend full price on AG outfits if they had this type of mix and match quality! ;)

Thanks for commenting, Bama. Good to hear from you. :)

Claire said...

I'll have to check and see if my Target has this specific outfit - I love it! I have to agree with you, it sort of screams "Hannah Montana" at first sight (my phase with that show ended a LONG time ago), but once it's mixed and matched it seems to have left all ideas of Disney behind. Thanks for the review, beast'sbelle! :)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

No problem, Claire! :)

AuntLou said...

Wow! Neat! (another temptation, sigh) :)

Minnie Kitchen said...

what a fun blog you have here! I'm enjoying every post! will be back soon~

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Aunt Lou! :) Yes...I haven't been to great in the whole temptation department this past month. I was a good girl and purchased absolutely no extras during the month of March. Then I went a little crazy in April! :} I think I'm going to have to do another "no extras" campaign for a while again just to get myself back on track! Sorry to be such an enabler for everyone else, too! ;)

Thanks, Minnie Kitchen! :D Glad you're enjoying it. Nice to meet you. :)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

P.S. Thanks for following, too! I just recently lost a follower, so it's nice to get to meet a new one! ;)

Claire said...

I have a question that's not really related to the post: I just now realized that Picnik closed (I'd forgotten), and I was wondering - have you found any websites that are a good alternative to Picnik? I figured you'd know, considering you've expressed how much you use Picnik before. Thank you so much! :)

Anna-Marie said...

I have never bought a Play Wonder outfit for my dolls, but after seeing those pictures, I'm tempted to buy one (if only there was a Target store where I live...). The outfits kinda remind me of Disney Channel (which I'm not the biggest fan of, but I like watching it once in a while), but I like how the pieces can be mixed-and-matched with other clothing pieces from different outfits :)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Claire. :) The site I like the most so far is picmonkey.com (which was one of the suggested sites from Picnik). I like it because it has many of the same features as Picnik. The only things I don't care for are:

1. So far, there doesn't appear to be a way to link to a Picasa album.

2. There isn't an option for collages yet (but it's supposed to be coming soon).

3. I got really used to Picnik premium and Picmonkey has a lot fewer options on font and effects.

Really, though, I've found it to be the most user-friendly so far, and I like that I don't have to relearn a whole new system.

Hope this helps! :)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Anna-Marie. :) I would definitely recommend trying one of these if you have the opportunity. I had my doubts about the outfits myself for the very same reason, but I ended up really enjoying them. :)