Ski Suit Ensemble*

The Ski Suit finally showed up *years* after it was first promised by FM customer service reps. It's red with black stirrup pants, and not the more famous bright pink one for which many collectors like myself had hoped. It is very cute in any case.

This item was supposed to be in the first subscription set of 6 outfits, but was repeatedly postponed ("crafting delays") until many collectors forgot about it or wrote it off. The seven piece outfit comes with the items shown to the left: a padded fluffy, down quilted-style, red ski jacket; black stirrup pants; red socks; black mittens; ski boots as well as a pair of small gold stud earrings, plus a hidden bonus: a black turtleneck sweater which is tucked under the jacket. The pockets even have clever little zipper pulls and the boots have laces. Everything is nice quality and well made. The niceest thing about the turtleneck and ski pants is that they can be swapped around with other items for new looks (pieces from the Black Sportswear set are prime candidates for this.)

The skis are sold separately in an ensemble box stuffed with related accessories. My guess is that the delay in issuing the ski suit was due to dithering over how to get the outfit and all the accessories in the box at $45 ($55 to late arriving collectors) and still pull a profit.

When looking at the attention to detail included in the two put together, there are very few pieces that could have been left out, so that conundrum was solved by splitting the equipment into a distinct, separate "ensemble" and charging full ensemble price for each. The cute little extras, such as the camera, socks and mittens, meant that collectors were so charmed they likely didn't notice how little clothing they were getting for double the money.

*Note: If you are offered this outfit on a dressed doll as "NRFB," please note that this ensemble set was NEVER sold by the Franklin Mint dressed on a doll. It was only sold in the accessory box as shown above. The items may be pristine and "new" but they are being misrepresented, and likely the price is reflecting a claim of rarity or "unused" condition. (Redressing a doll somewhat constitutes use.)

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