Bye bye, Wonder Mynte... Hello, Annie Mesmer.

So one thing that I didn't really expect or understand about Blythes when I first became interested in them, is how their personalities emerge.

I was first interested in making clothes for them... I imagined they would be able to wear a wide variety of clothes... so long as the outfits matched their coloring and hair... but I didn't take into account quite how their personalities would affect their fashion tastes. I made some perfectly nice dresses before the Charlotte arrived that just didn't suit her.  Once I ordered my minty girl... I day-dreamed about what she would be like & named her before she arrived.  I thought some of the clothes that I made for Charlotte would look better on her because of her pastel coloring... but she seemed ill-at-ease in them and rather aloof.

It was awkward.  I loved her, but didn't "bond". She did seem to like these stompy silver boots and a vintage Penny Brite dress. That was about it.

Then one day I was looking at photos on BK and saw a photo of a smock, I think it was a Melacacia or Melacacia-style. Something clicked.  I have all this beautiful vintage lace trim that I have been wabting to use and also, I was trying to figure out some neurtal color styles to go with knitwear that I had been making for Charlotte. I thought the smock would be a good style to add lace too, so I dug out some charcoal cotton voile that i had used as trim on a dress i sewed for myself years ago & started improvising a pattern.  I didn't feel like dragging my sewing machine out, so i hand-stitched it together and left the edges raw, fraying the voile for an added "distressed" look. This was just supposed to be a pattern... nothing special.  But then I tried in on the my SP and something magical happened.

She came alive as a spooky girl.  Here is the actual smock out-of-doors... though she doesn't really like sun.

It was suddenly clear that my Wonder Mynte wasn't a pastel Lolita or a cutsey Kawaii kind of girl... she felt awkward and ill-at-ease in those clothes and that's why her personality wasn't coming out and we didn't bond.  As soon as she donned this smock... she opened up and I had a sense of her style and personality... then I realized that there is actually a Japanese fashion trend that fits her closely... mori girl!  She is a touch more occult & dark than just mori... but she definitely loves loose fitting natural black, white, grey, cream, etc.  She also has a quirky love of mod fashion and enjoys sporting red vintage clothes on occasion.  She is spooky, whimsical, individualistic and quiet.  She loves solitude & she's quite brave... but she doesn't like the sun and out-of-doors by day.

As we got to know each other a bit more, I got the sense that she didn't have the right name. She wanted to be named "Mesmer". I mentioned this to my reluctant oracular source who had named Charlotte aka Char-Char.  He said - of course:  Her name is "Annie Mesmer".  I didn't know about the Annie part & I don't want her to be associated with the dubious Annie Bessant... but I do trust my source, so Annie Mesmer it is! Welcome mysterious girl!