Florrie Dolls 18 inch doll review

Florrie Dolls 18 inch doll review

A new doll has hit the 18″ doll scene: Florrie Dolls. Visit their website here to see all their dolls.

I was fascinated by them for a long while, crushing on them really. I contemplated  getting one ( or 2, or 3) for over a year. Wondering how they compared to American Girl Dolls in quality and size–would they fit AG clothes and sewing patterns?

Well, I finally broke down and ordered one from down-under. Yes, they’re from Australia. Here’s my review for anyone else who wants to know more about these dolls.  As always, I am not paid for my reviews, nor do I receive the product I’m reviewing for free.  The opinions in my review are my own. I do not financially gain anything from my reviews. My review focuses on the doll not the clothes, though I will talk about them, too. Warning: Lots of photos!

Here she is straight out of the box

First of all, the Florrie dolls are really cute. I think they are just as pretty and photogenic as AG Dolls, which is important to me.  Let me just say, I adore the acorn logo!! Oh my gosh, it is completely adorable!

My Florrie doll came in this exquisite box, first wrapped in tissue and then tied closed with satin ribbon. It’s sturdy and well designed.

The doll is tied inside with more satin ribbons, which is nice for storing your Florrie doll later. It was also very easy and safe for removing the doll when she first arrived.

Her face is lovely. Her eyebrows are painted nicely and she has a little rose coloring on her cheeks.  Her eyelashes are gorgeous!

Here’s how she looks side by side with a couple of AG doll face molds for comparison. First with Maryellen (I think the angle which I took the photo makes Maryellen’s head look much larger than the Florrie doll for some reason. Though the Florrie doll is a little smaller, there’s not as huge of a difference as it appears in this picture, as you can see with Grace/Florrie comparison and other photos later on.).

Next to Grace.

Profile comparison

sleeping

The Hair. Hair is a big factor. The Florrie doll hair is a really nice quality. It styles well and is soft. The highlights are gorgeous! Here I think Florrie does a better job than AG. The blonde AG dolls I have are really fake blonde looking. This wig on the Florrie doll is more realistic and photographs well.

I compared her hair with Grace since they both have straight hair with highlights. Florrie doll has no layers and is a little shorter.

 

They have the same body type and their vinyl is better quality than other knock-offs. In fact, there is very little difference in the feel of the AG vinyl and Florrie vinyl. I would say the Florrie doll is a slightly smoother texture. The doll I bought is Doll #1: “light skin” and as you can see it’s  lighter than the light skinned American Girl doll.

The cloth of her torso is a lower thread count and a bit on the rough side.

There is a significant difference in the chest measurement on the torso, which affects the overall circumference around the shoulder and arms. This can also be affected by the doll being scrunched to the middle as my Maryellen doll is. I measured from arm socket to arm socket (the hole where the arm joint fits into).

This measurement varies on my AG dolls. I have measured most of them and I have some that measure 4 3/4″ here, which is almost an inch wider here.

Florrie dolls have pretty hands, no difference there. One difference on the hands: Florrie dolls have a mini french mani (manicure)–on the toe nails, too. It could be just a little detail to show the nails/nail bed, and not intended to be a mani/pedi though.

Here are the feet and toes compared to the AG dolls.

And legs…

Let’s talk measurements. Here’s how Florrie Dolls measure up:

One big difference: the Florrie Dolls are closer to 17″ tall. You’ll see that clearly in the comparison photos.

The arms are just slightly shorter than AG Dolls. I measure 6 5/8″ (from top of  the shoulder to middle finger) on the Florrie doll and 6 7/8″ on an American Girl Doll. The shape looks a little more rounded on the Florrie dolls as well.

The chest (10 1/4″), waist (10 3/4″), and hip (12 3/8″) measured.

For you cobblers, here are some feet measurements.

Heel to toe= 2 7/16″

Width at its widest part= 1 3/8″

The Florrie doll’s feet look almost the same size as AG dolls when I put the bottoms of their feet together for comparison. The American Girl brand shoes fit the Florrie Dolls. My handmade doll shoes are a bit loose on them.

The Florrie shoes fit all my AG dolls on hand. The shoes that came with my Florrie doll are well made.

I am disappointed in the body shape, as far as the rear end is concerned. These 18″ dolls have weird bums to begin with, and the Florrie bum shape is unfortunate looking in my opinion. Here is the Florrie doll next to the Gotz Little Sister doll and American Girl doll (modern Mattel version),

The horizontal seam is higher up and the torso has a slight “pear” shape to it. Doesn’t look that different until you see the side view.

Here she is in a line up, which also shows the variation in heights of these “18 inch” dolls. I included my Gotz Julia doll, because the Florrie doll reminded me of her torso shape.

Closer view of Florrie vs AG Maryellen doll

 

The clothes.

The outfit she came in is a knit dress. It’s well made and trendy, as well as cute. It could have been more fitted–it seems loose and that doesn’t exactly fit for the style. But it’s not horrible (I think I’m being picky about this point).

The underwear are a little less modern looking than the American Girl Dolls.

And notice no strings. This means it’s not easy to open and change things or tighten the limbs.

With the difference in the torso shape, I wondered how the doll would look in AG Clothes. Here she is wearing the Vintage Party Dress from the pattern book Doll Days! Sew an Everyday Wardrobe for 18″ Dolls.

But what about fitted bottoms? Here she is wearing the Modern Camp Shorts. It looks fine in front, but not so sure how I feel about the back. You can see the shorts look longer on her, since her legs are shorter.

From the side you can see the design was not drafted for her bum shape that she’s got going on. In the photos above you can see how her rear sags a little and her torso is a little longer in back, compared to the AG torso.

It reminds me of the perma-panty debacle. Remember that? Anyway, I don’t think her bum is as bad as all that. But I did switch it out for an AG body, so the fit would be the same.

The quality and overall appeal is very comparable to the AG dolls. I had an issue with the first doll that arrived. Her eye wobbled. They sent me a new doll after I shipped her back. They did refund my returned shipping and did not charge me to ship the replacement doll to me.

However, the second doll also has a wobble eye issue (though not nearly as bad) and it’s a huge inconvenience, especially for something that is about quality control. The idea that they sent  me a replacement doll without making certain the eyes were working properly bothers me a little. I paid $50USD for shipping and $68 USD for the return shipping (which was refunded after the doll arrived back to Florrie).

They did send a few little accessories to compensate me for the inconvenience: a pair of sunglasses, purse, hair clips, and floral headband. It’s disappointing the doll isn’t perfect. I feel that the eye thing will always bother me–it will most likely prevent me from making another doll purchase unfortunately. I really love their faces.  I feel a doll as expensive as that (cost is about the same as AG price) should have eyes that don’t wobble when they stand, moved, or bumped gently.

I hope you enjoyed this review. This little cutie will be in my next book, so I’m happy I purchased her. She is very sweet.

~Erin