Doll Name: Inspired by Pinafore Purple Code: SBL-10 Released: 25th February 2005 Available: Blythe-shop Exclusive Originally released as a “Blythe’s Boutique” outfit for the Kenner Blythe in 1973, ‘Pinafore Purple’ received a new incarnation as an actual doll in the Takara/Hasbro line as ‘Inspired by Pinafore Purple’. Accessories: Purple jumpsuit, paisley skirt, powder blue trenchcoat, purple wig, lemon crotchet hat and shawl, ice green satin underwear, white plastic shoes, paisley bag, three sets of earrings and brown, square sunglasses.

The new Pinafore is certainly a worthy tribute to the original Kenner outfit (witchy shoes aside). Mine has already graduated to ‘desk dolly’ and she’s watching me type this from her place of ‘power’!

I found it really interesting to compare the original Kenner outfit to the clothing and accessories that came with the new Takara, and here they are:

	Kenner:	Takara:
Jumpsuit:	The original jumpsuit had a rounded neck and flared sleeves	Higher neckline and straight sleeves
Skirt:	Has a three colour (black, yellow, brown) waistband. Skirt fabric is multi coloured (at least 7 colours)	Waistband is brown only and skirt fabric is 4 colour
Boots:	White with rounded toe and chunky square heel	Cream coloured ‘witchy’ boots (My least favourite style of the Takara shoes) with a pointed toe, molded laces and tapered/square heel

A bit of trivia here for you as well: the original Kenner outfit box had a picture of a redhead doll with a fringe and what looks to be very dark eyes. Not at all like the new ‘Inspired By’. From the back of the Kenner box it looks like this clothing set was tenth in the line of original outfits, and coincidentally (or perhaps not), the new ‘Inspired by’ is SBL-10.

The new Pinafore Purple has a shiny face and short honey/ash blonde hair, plus thick lashes, ice green eye shadow, pale pink lips (with a hint of mauve) and almost non-existent blush which make her a very pretty dolly indeed. With a complexion like that she is most definitely a ‘summer’ and so that’s the name of my gal.

She also comes with pierced ears - which I found very exciting - but unfortunately the bad news is that the earrings she comes with, although gorgeous, tend to fall out a bit. Still, I am willing to persevere for the sake of fashion!

I won’t reiterate about the retro part of her clothing because it’s covered above but it’s a worthy tribute; not my cup of tea but then not much of the original Kenner clothing is (and I normally love the 70s). My only gripe is that under the new jumpsuit, the ‘Inspired by’ had so much plastic. Which I know had to be there but it was so hard to get off.

Takara have added to the original outfit with a matching bag (same fabric as the skirt), vinyl powder blue overcoat (which is the coolest thing ever), purple wig (ditto the coolness), crocheted hat with crown decoration and crocheted shawl. All in all a lot of value for money.

Last but not least, the coolest brown sunnies ever; brown square chunky plastic goodness. For some reason my set don’t stay on my doll’s head, which I have to think is a bit strange. Maybe Summer is a bit of a big head…? I’m looking forward to comparing the PP sunnies to the new square glasses just coming onto the market. (I have a soft spot for square glasses, what can I say?!).

Overall rating: 8.5