i have no idea which category to post this to, so. . . >_O

reading time; 7 mins~

DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!! i do not dress Decora nor do i claim to know everything about it, this is just my opinion about a doll brand that i thought was cool and unique, please take everything i say here with a grain of salt and DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!!! do not believe everything you read on the internet and please do not take what i say as gospel!!! thank you ♪

also a little bit of a tw for eyestrain - Decora is mostly very brightly coloured in nature 
( keyword mostly!!! ) and that's definitely the case here - take care and don't feel bad for clicking away if it stresses you out ⸜(｡˃  ˂ )⸝♡ there are no flashing images or anything of that sort here, i struggle with sensory issues and that would make it pretty impossible for me to even write this!!! so don't worry about that, though <3
this blog is formatted for desktop reading, sorry if images don't look right on mobile :l
in addition, if there are blank spaces, there's probably an image there that's failed to load!!! please refresh the page to fix this <3

with that being said, i think these dolls are super interesting and i hope i'm not alone in that?!! i don't see discussion about this online much at all so i'd like to change that :> and that's not to say i don't appreciate r/DecoraGirlz or the people on r/Dolls talking about them 'cuz those people are so awesomesauce ⭑.ᐟ

now, let me give you a brief rundown of these guys . . . ༉‧₊˚.

as of right now, there are 2 lines in production under this franchise - Decora Girlz ( commonly referred to as the " blind box " ( more on this later . . . ) or " mini " variations by collectors. . . ) which stand at 5 inches, and the Decora Girlz Fashion line, which are the more traditional 11 inch fashion dolls more commonly seen today ( OMG LOL Surprise standing pretty close in height to them ) ♬⋆.˚

☆ DECORA GIRLZ MINIS 

Series 1 of these dolls was first shown off at Toy Fair 2023 in New York and were subsequently released in March, 2024 - a lineup of 9 dolls were announced and released, including. . . Decora, Luna, Heather, Blossom, Celestia, Sweetie, Kat, Buzzy and London ( pictured below, left to right!! ) each sporting a unique style and including rubber clothing and shoes with their aesthetics' colours painted on, nylon vertically ( very uncommon!!! ) rooted hair and - the main feature of the toy - stickers to decorate the doll with!!! ⸝⸝

the clothing they come with is very reminiscent of clothing commonly seen in other smaller dolls - namely MGA's LOL Surprise and Mattel's older Disney Princesses lines 𝄞

i think this style of clothing works for these dolls because of their gimmick with the decoration aspect, making it so that the stickers are pretty easy to move around and remove but also don't fall off as easily as they would with regular fabric, along with the issues trying to make fabric clothing that small would arise ( seam issues and not enough space for velcro, making it very visable, etc. . . ) so i don't mind too much, though fabric clothing can be a dealbreaker for some and i understand completely :> they have 5 points of articulation, pretty standard for dolls of this size
these dolls' designs really remind me of Shoppies, not sure if anyone even remembers these. . . but idk i see a lot of resemblence x) 

sigh. . . i miss shopkins

i'd like to touch on what i briefly touched on before - the fact that, in the US release - these toys are blind boxes
i hate this idea, i hate it on every aspect
when i used to be really into doll collecting, and was trying to build a small collection of dolls that i liked from the LOL Surprise brand, it was super demotivating to have to just pray and hope that i'd get the doll i was hunting for
plus, my empathy for inanimate objects always made me feel bad for the one that i got when i didn't get the one i was most excited for T T 
not to mention, obviously, getting the full collection would be a nightmare!!!! i never attempted to do this, but anyone who ever did knows the pain, i'm sure, especially when you aren't guaranteed a full set, in most of these lines, when you buy a full box!!!!
this made me more drawn to the OMGs, not that i wasn't already because i've always had a preference for larger dolls anyways
needless to say, this was controversial, i'm once again glad i live in Europe and don't have to deal with this when purchasing these dolls, of which i only have one for the moment x) i'm glad i got to pick my Decora. . . i'm overall not a huge fan of surprises in any capacity, anyways

☆ DECORA GIRLZ FASHION DOLLS 

these dolls were first shown off alongside the minis at Toy Fair 2023, and were released around the same timeframe as the minis, in early March - a total of 4 dolls were released, including Luna, Decora, Celestia, and Sweetie ( pictured below, in order from left to right!!! ) - all fashion doll versions of their mini counterparts, featuring fully fabric clothing, this time - which is an awesome upgrade in my eyes. . . alongside the same nylon hair and unique stickers for deco!!! plus REAL HAIR CLIPS!!!! this is huge in my eyes, i really enjoy that they did that for these dolls :> wish it was the same for the minis, but i digress

these dolls were an afterthought i believe, but it doesn't show in any bad quality or anything of the such, i just believe the smaller dolls were more thought through and were more cited for an individual release - that's not to say i don't appreciate these designs, because these dolls are truly unique and super beautiful :0
also, of course - the point that only four of them were released in series one as apposed to 9 of the minis
their heads are really big which i enjoy, they remind me a lot of Novi Stars in that regard, which i looove x) 
the one critique i do have for these dolls is the lack of articulation and posability. . . with only 8 points of articulation and click-ointed knees, there is a lot to be desired from this design, in my opinion - it's super cool that they can tilt their head and such, i think that adds a lot of expression in just a simple ball-joint, though the rubbery arms as seen on the smaller dolls really dissapoints me, i won't lie here - i expected a bit better from these dolls on that regard, same to be said about the click-jointed knees. . . i just think they could've done a little bit more here, but i understand that being cost-effective in this industry is important, since these dolls are marketed towards kids - though it is still a bit sucky
to leave it off on a lighter note here, i REALLY enjoy the clothing designs from these dolls, and the bag charm idea is super cute, i love the paintjob on all of their faces and they're just beaming with personality and character for sure :>

i'd like to use this space to give a little history of Decora!!!! i think it's super important to include since these dolls are definitely going to introduce a few new people to this style, and being the representation of Decora for some people is a big responsability!!!!

☆ WHAT EVEN IS DECORA?!

modern looks

Dark Decora

Dark Decora is another way in which people dress this style!!!! it consists of using darker colours, usually black, alongside white or other colours of lower saturation!!!

☆ BONUS!!!

╰ Decoden「デコデン」is an activity many people involved in the Decora scene enjoy partaking in, and is also characterised by lots and lots of accessories trinkets being attached to something to decorate it!!! arguably, Decora Girlz fall under Decoden!!!

i'd like to credit these websites that immensly helped in my research for this blog!!!!

╰ Dollect

- Decora chan : Japanese fashion subculture - A Blog

- The Aesthetics Wiki 

 and these sites were a major assist in making this blog look nice :>

AAAND i'd like to thank YOU for reading!!!!! this blog took a lot of time and effort but i thoroughly enjoyed researching and putting this all together!!!! i hope to blog a lot more about topics like these so if you're as passionate and interested about this stuff as i am, definitely shoot me an add!!! and if we're already friends and you're reading this, i love you and thank you so much for the support :>

anyways, that's all for now!!! hope you enjoyed, or at least learned something new!!! feel free leave to comment, i'll always respond!!!!

thank you again <3 ⋆⭒˚.⋆ bye for now!!!!! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )☆

- Jayden ツ