TBT - Giselle - Madame Alexander + Tips on Buying 18-inch Dolls

In 2013, I bought a Madame Alexander Friends Boutique doll who I named Giselle.

She had bendable vinyl with a chest plate and a pivoting head. Lots of gorgeous curly hair and a sweet face.

Madame Alexander website shares

Tips on buying a Madame Alexander play doll.

An 18-inch doll is not only the crown jewel of a girl's toy collection: it's also her closest & best doll friend.
Madame Alexander honors this special relationship by crafting dolls, with all the love and care in the world. We wanted this love to show in the details.

Here is why we believe Madame Alexander 18-inch dolls stack up nicely against any others and are one of the best of 18-inch dolls on the market today:

Vinyl Upper Body

Where many cloth-bodied dolls only use hard vinyl for the heads and limbs, Madame Alexander's dolls also have vinyl shoulders, chests, and upper backs, meeting the cloth body just below the breastbone.
This makes for a much more natural look when wearing open-collared tops, swimwear, and other such beautiful and detailed outfits.

A Head With Motion

Our 18-inch dolls not only can turn their heads from side to side. Their heads can also swivel up and down for a fuller and real motion.
The two axes of motion give Madame Alexander’s dolls a much wider, more natural range of head motion. And that means more realistic play for the little girls who love them.

Natural Skin Tones

We strive to make the skin tones of our 18” dolls, whatever their particular color, closely replicate the visual essence of real human skin in all its glow and hue.
We believe we're able to achieve a more human, less toy-like look for the skins of our dolls.
*Madame Alexander Website