Chic City Walk Miri (an almost-review)

My cell phone seems to have died, and with it my camera, so we'll have to make do with the rather blurry photos from yesterday.

I think I mentioned Miri was the one I wanted originally, but since the Super Model dolls have been very much "subject to availability" around here, I was a bit reluctant to get attached to any particular version of either doll, figuring I'd wait instead until I came across one that I liked. The Chic City Walk line wasn't one that particularly drew my attention when I saw the dolls online. I try to avoid dolls with accessories I don't want since they tend to drive up the price a bit, and I'm not particularly interested in dogs.

When I found the last Miri in the store, I took a closer look and decided I actually liked her. The shoes sealed the deal, of course, but the rest of her outfit isn't bad either.

This is a pretty simple and realistic ensemble - my favorite kind of doll clothes! The color theme is pink, white and black, and not much else.

The t-shirt has a pink bowtie print. The seams are a little bit uneven and also loose to allow the fabric to stretch - probably unavoidable. The pink necklace was actually sewn to the shirt and for a while I was wondering whether I was supposed to cut the string or never change her clothes, but it was just a single stitch that turned out to be fairly easy to cut. A kid might tear it before mum or dad has a chance to get the scissors, though.

The denim jacket looks like it might stain, but I haven't seen any trace so far. It's black with pink seams which I suspect will turn grey when I wash it. That by now familiar mesh fabric is used to protect the seam of the sleeves, but nowhere else. It's better made than Scary Couple/Mystic Girlz-Steffi's jacket which had a similar cut.

The pants did stain - not much, but still enough that I want to be careful and wash them out - except I can't, because it turns out they and the little tutu are sewn together. Well, more like "crafted as one single garment" - I don't think I'll be able to turn them into two working pieces of clothing. We'll see if I give it a try. I don't want the tutu to turn grey if I wash the whole thing, but I don't want to risk further staining either. Apart from that, they look nice.

I don't know if I've mentioned, but these dolls don't have holes for earrings. Miri comes with a row of bracelets of the same kind as Palm Beach Juls did - I love these.

The shoes are pretty much perfect and yes, I love them. The only thing I can think of is they're the same for both left and right, which is a bit odd for a doll with feet that actually look like feet. The resulting gap can be seen here. They still fit though, so it doesn't really matter. They're just sliiiightly too small for Liv. I don't want to damage them, but it could possibly work, maybe if you do an evil stepsister and file Liv's toes off. I'll let Miri keep these, though.

The hair is slightly wavy and feels a bit thicker than Juls', but otherwise much the same.

She came with the top layer of her bangs glued down flat with gel, and this weird plastic strip that kept the hair under the bangs in place. This is just as confusing as it sounds, and I'm not sure you can tell from the pics what's going on: the bangs start high up on the head, while the front row of plugs (the ones along the hairline) are kept long and just swept to the sides under the bangs. It does add a bit of volume, but then why the gel? To add to the confusion, the whole thing seems to be rooted a bit off-center on my doll, and a few plugs that should have been kept long have been cut and are sticking out at the side. A bit annoying but no disaster. She does have a lot of hair, there's plenty of room to hide the mistakes.

She has very light makeup, just pink lipstick and some glittery copper eyeshadow, same as Juls.

Apart from the dog she comes with a little black clutch, which is cute and fits the overall style but is just a solid piece of plastic. Do kids actually play with those? I can't see the appeal, but I'm just an old lady who is eternally disappointed in fake handbags that don't open.

I think I've discussed the articulation of these dolls before. No news there, she has the same floppy ankles that I'll have to find a solution for. The left leg isn't quite straigh so she looks slightly bowlegged, but not too bad. Something else I've noticed in most of my Simba dolls (Super Model, Steffi Love) is they often have what I guess is traces from the molding. It's usually little lines and patches of rougher surface on the arms, lower legs and feet. Miri has some very visible wrinkles on her feet. It doesn't particularly bother me, but since it seems to be a recurring feature I thought it should be mentioned. I don't think I've seen it in any Mattel doll I own, for example.

I took a few shots for skintone reference, but the lighting was even worse than I realized at the time so they may not be entirely correct. Both Miri and Juls are a more yellow hue, making Fashionista Barbie and Obitsu look reddish pink in comparison. The closest match out of my dolls is the Volks EB Beauty, who is just slightly more neutral/greyish pink. And yes, that's my new Obitsu to the right. :) The head is a Takara Jenny friend doll (but more about that another day).

Volks, Miri, Obitsu natural, Fashionista

Show of arms: Miri, Volks, Obitsu

Volks and Miri