Review Time! Maru and Friends Winter Wear for Dolls, Part 1

   On my birthday, on the 10th, it was a nice sunny day that wasn't very much beyond cool. We went without coats all day. The next day it was very cold and snowing madly! While you may think I was disappointed, I wasn't. I had been hoping for snow, because I had a bunch of beautiful winter doll fashions to photograph! I was lucky enough to receive these wintry fashions from Maru and Friends for review, but as usual, you can expect my honest opinion on them.

  I took some of the pictures for this review on the day before my birthday. (Another nice day). I was afraid we wouldn't get the snow that had been predicted, but kept being moved farther ahead in the weather predictions. I wanted to take some pictures just in case things started to bud out and look too green and springy. As I said, I needn't have worried. It was just as well though, because even though we got snow the day after my birthday, it wasn't sticking or compiling enough for wintery pictures until later in the afternoon, when Ken had to leave for work. I wouldn't have had time to drive to somewhere picturesque because Ken needed the car. So my snowy pictures had to be done right here in my yard, which is a hard place to photograph anything larger than a Gene or something  similar. There's too much unpicturesque stuff always getting in the shot, like my neighbours' ugly fence that looks like it should be behind a convenience store, the houses across the street. my own siding, or parked car, or the barbecue grill and patio furniture. I like things to look in scale with the dolls. For these pictures I would have liked a snowy forest. Let's see how I did, and see these lovely winter things.

  Before I start the actual review, let me tell you that if you are interested in any of these outfits, or the dolls for that matter, Maru and Friends is offering free shipping on all orders, (within the first 48 states of the United States), from now until the end of the month, (March 2022.)

  I was sent four winter outfits. I say 'outfits', but two are outfits, and two are coat and hat, (and boots) sets. The Mini Pals outfits also fit Little Darlings dolls. Here are my girls all together, with their new gear on.

  From left to right, here are Maru and Friends dolls Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Pepper, Maru, and Joy, wearing Icicles in the Snow, Snowflakes, Pea Coat, and Cache Chic. This was the day before my birthday.

This is the unsnowy day. It was still chilly though.

Snowflakes, Icicles in the Snow, and Cache Chic.

We'll start with Snowflakes and Cache Chic. These are both Mini Pal outfits, although Snowflakes is also available for the larger 20" Maru and Friends dolls. 

Cache Chic is a full outfit. It includes a white turtle neck, a pair of leopard print stretch pants, a knitted capelet, and grey faux suede boots with folded down tops. 

The knitted capelet has a snuggly faux fur collar and diamond design.

And this is the day after my birthday. It was snowing like crazy and freezing cold!

It closes at the collar with a plastic snap. 

It's very soft, and I like the look of it.

It's thin enough to be in scale for a doll this size. It's not bulky on her.

Maru and Friends clothes are always nice quality. Look at the detail in the weave. It's so nice.

Her white turtle neck is a stretchy nylon type fabric. The pants are a soft stretchy fabric.

The shirt closes in the back with plastic snaps. I was glad to see snaps instead of Velcro. I hate Velcro for most things. With doll clothes you always have to worry about the clothes getting stuck in the Velcro and becoming snagged. Another thing I always think of is, kids these days don't learn to button or snap their own clothes by buttoning and snapping doll clothes like we did back in the old days. So it was nice to see snaps on doll clothes for several reasons. But, I had a terrible time getting the plastic snaps snapped. Maybe it was due to my eyesight, but the metal ones on Icicles in the Snow snapped fine. Just saying. I find plastic snaps are never as easy to snap. No idea why.

  The pants have an elastic waist, and a sewn seam down the front of the legs.

I'm not much for animal prints. I could do without the leopard print. I guess it's popular though.

  The boots are great. They look really good, and are an easy on and off. There is a faint texture on the bottom for realism.

The boots have a Velcro closure on the side.

Icicles in the Snow is actually more my thing. It includes a soft knit dress, white tights, white boots with faux fur trim at the tops, and a head band that matches the dress.

The dress is very soft, and is a thin knit, also in scale with a doll this size.

The dress has ribbed cuffs on the short sleeves, and a cute scalloped edge on the collar and placket.

The skirt part is a separate piece, sewn onto the upper half of the dress.

The dress closes in the back with metal snaps.

  There is a set of cute heart shaped buttons on the placket too.

They're so tiny, and are a really nice detail.

Remember these buttons for the next half of this review.

They're so tiny!

The tights are knitted tights, in a knit that is also to scale with the doll. The boots have faux fur trim at the tops, and the faint texture on the soles.

 

  The boots have a Velcro closure on each side, making them easy to get on and off.

  The last piece of this outfit is a headband that matches the dress.

  This headband looks cute on, but getting it on was aggravating. It was so tight it was hard to get on the doll's head and in place around the hair without it popping off. It would have been easy enough if I had been able to just slip it over her neck and just push it back. But this doll has a wig with bangs, which I didn't want to shove back. I'm not sure how a kid would do with this tight elastic headband. For kids it might be better to have a snap closure on it. Of course, the thing about elastic is, it can make the head band stay on better...or be so tight it snaps off. This one does stay on well, once it's in place.

  One thing you might have really noticed from the snowy day pictures of this outfit: There's no coat. Boots, yes. But no coat. So she looks a little chilly in the snowy pictures. We'll talk about that in Part 2 as well.

  That's it for part one. Part two coming soon.