Chavonne's Japan Outfit

A Beautiful, But Generic Outfit for Chavonne

Chavonne's Japan meet outfit is the most generic feeling of all of the outfits in this group. She comes with jeans, a white t-shirt, a purse, an over the shoulder cloak, and rain boots. Of all of the items in this outfit set, the cloak is the only thing that is really new. Is this outfit worth the cost of the doll.

Chavonne has some of the same issues that the other dolls from the Japan line have. My doll's neck joint is awesome. It can turn and tilt, and has no clicking. Unfortunately the same can not be said for her shoulders, which are very tight and click as they move, making it difficult to move her arms. In my experience, the more that the arms click (and the harder the clicks are) the more likely the joint is to break. Hopefully that isn't the case with your Chavonne. Other than her joints, Chavonne is wonderful. Her hair is wavy and beautiful. The cloth for her body is great. It's just those pesky joints that are an issue.  

One thing to note is that Chavonne has I-fasteners everywhere! The back of the box is littered with them. 

And since her cloak flows, there are I-fasteners hidden on the doll itself. So look out for them as you get your doll out of the box.

On to Chavonne's outfit. As I mentioned in the introduction, not much of the outfit is unique to this doll. Her dark blue stretch jeans are very similar if not identical to stretch jeans in other outfits. 

There are no fake pockets sewn in these jeans, as some of the jeans before have had. Fitting snuggly around Chavonne's waist and butt, the jeans loosen as they go down the leg. Because of the stretch to the material they are easy to get on. Nice, well made, versatile, piece to the set.

Under her bright orange cloak Chavonne is wearing a simple white t-shirt. Although I love that she has a versatile t-shirt, the white t-shirt is plain and dull. It would have been nice to have a t-shirt with a Japanese iron-on, similar to Kyla's shirt. 

As usual, there is Velcro on the back of the shirt, but usually the opening and Velcro only go halfway down the shirt. This time, the whole back opens, making it much easier to get the shirt on and off.

As the only piece that is new in the set, the cloak is the main piece of the outfit. Even though it is simple, it is pretty darn awesome. The bright orange is wonderful! 

So glad that Journey Girls did not go with a purple, blue, or tan, instead giving us a beautiful, vibrant orange cloak. Only a half cloak, Chavonne's hangs around her shoulders and goes down to her waist. Like all cloaks, hers is open in the front from the neck down. Fastening with Velcro, the cloak does not use the beautiful over-sized button that you can see on the front of the cloak. It would be wonderful if this button was functional rather than just ornamental, but it makes the cloak look better even if it's not functional. A large bow, made out of the same material as the cloak, is sewn on the neckline a little to the left of center. On the inside or underside of the cloak, a white fabric is sewn in as a liner, like many other Journey Girls outfits. 

The cloak is made really well, with quality material. The only down side is a strange design in the back. Instead of being solid, the cloak is open in the back. 

It's not a design that has never been used in real life, but it is a little strange. Still, the cloak is the only thing in this outfit that is unique.

Although the soft plastic rainboots aren't new, the material design is new. The newer hard plastic sole is used for the bottom of the boot, with a blue material top, that has a plastic (raincoat like) top layer. 

Fern leaves and red flowers adorn the blue material of the boot. On the back of the boot there is Velcro to help get the boots on Chavonne's feet.  

I love the rainboots, I just wish there was something different with them other than the material design.

My second favorite part of this outfit is Chavonne's purse. For me, that is a big deal, as usually I do not really like the purses that come with the outfits. The white canvas bag has a black bottom and handles. An embroidered "C" adorns the middle of the bag. It looks like something you might find on Etsy or a store like "Things Remembered". 

Plus I really like that it is personalized to Chavonne. Personally, I like when the accessories and the outfits match the girl (and their personality) that they come with. Good job TRU. Please give us more of this!

All ratings are out of 10

Value 7 – Although Chavonne has the same issues with her joints as the rest of the Journey Girls, the versatility of her outfit gives her a little bit of an advantage over Kyla.  Also, my Chavonne's joints are not nearly as bad as Kyla's are.  Compared to Ilee's outfit, this outfit has lots of pieces to it. 

Fitment 9 – Everything fits great.  The jeans are tight, but slide on and off fairly easily.   The boots are the only thing that can be a challenge.  They just don't always slide all the way on the feet without a little struggle.  Nothing too bad, but something to note.

Versatility 9 – Even though the pieces of this outfit lend themselves perfectly to versatility, the unimaginitiveness of each piece, especially the white t-shirt and the nothing new jeans, make this outfit seem like it was thrown together at the last minute to meet the release date.  With the cloak being thrown in as the new item, just so there is something new.   It's too bad, because the other outfits in this release (except maybe Meredith's) are all well thought out and are very unique.  In my opinion, each release has had at least one outfit that was just kind of blah.  I guess this release, it's Chavonne's.

Cuteness 6 – I love the cloak, but that is really it.  I almost skipped buying this doll completely, because the outfit was just so-so.  Meredith was the same way in the Japan release.  If the outfit was sold separately it is one that I would only buy on a good sale.  Mostly because I am basically paying for the cloak and the purse.  The orange is beautiful on Chavonne and the boots are cute with the rest of the outfit.

Overall 7 – If you don't have Chavonne, this doll is maybe worth it, especially if the doll went on sale.  The outfit is cute, and if you don't have jeans and a white t-shirt, or if this is your first Journey Girls doll, this doll is a better value.  If you have another Chavonne or a couple of Chavonne's you may want to skip this doll.  Maybe TRU will release the cloak as a separate piece that can be purchased at another time.   Right now you can purchase Chavonne through Amazon. Eventually she should be available through Toys R Us online.