Today I will write about Esplanadi Katu, she is a J-doll. What is a J-doll? J-Dolls are top fashion models who travel around the world. Their names are based on famous streets which corresponds to their fashion style. They were originally produced by Jun Planning but their release continued under Groove. Jun Planning/Groove are most known for another fashion doll line Pullip (and her various friends) which I devote most of my attention to here but I like to highlight some of the other dolls they have produced over the years. I have a list of all the different J-dolls released here if anyone is interested in checking all the different releases.

Esplanadi Katu’s style is based on a street in Finland famous for it’s boutiques and museums. She was released in December of 2008 which was perfect for her considering her red and green color scheme. She originally had a MSRP of 10000 yen. Pullipstyle  recently got a number of J-dolls in stock at a variety of different price points, I’ve always been a big fan of Esplanadi Katu  so when I saw her for the bargain price of only $35 I couldn’t resist her.

I named my Eslpanadi Katu Holly due to her holiday theme.

Esplanadi Katu in the box

Esplanadi Katu comes with a red poncho, a green dress with beading, red legwarmers, blue-green thigh-high stockings, green knit hat and a matching purse with beaded handle. She also comes with a stand. Generally speaking the quality standard of J-doll clothing seems to be a bit higher than it is with Pullip. The quality of Esplanadi Katu’s stock is amazing, the red poncho is especially well-made and nicely detailed, I love the little mistletoe looking detailing on her cape. A lot of times when the coat or in this case cape is really nicely detailed the dress/outfit underneath is kind of plain but much to my surprise it is quite nice. The beading on her dress as well as her purse is also quite nice. My only complaint is the black heels she comes with are quite plain, I would have liked to have seen something a bit more spectacular for her. I honestly don’t know if people in Finland really dress like this but I must say if I could find that cape in my size I would definitely wear it as it is quite stylish!

J-dolls share their body design with Pullip (the neck attachment is slightly different), a nude comparison of the dolls can be seen here. Esplanadi Katu is on the type 3 Pullip body which means she could share her stock clothing with type 3 and type 4 Pullips if they wanted to have a stylish new outfit for next Christmas ^_- .
Esplanadi Katu is dressed very stylishly for a winter outing. I regret not ordering her before Christmas so I could have taken some more seasonal photos of her.
Esplanadi Katu has a really nice face up and striking blue eyes. At first I kind of wondered why they chose to give her blue eyes versus green eyes as green eyes would match her better but the blue eyes really pop and provide a nice bit of contrast.  I love her eye make up. It’s really kind of amazing to me how detailed the face ups on J-dolls are, they are almost as detailed as Pullips but on a much smaller scale.
I love how structured Esplanadi Katu’s dress is, the little bit of beading at the hemline keeps it cute and feminine. The pleating on the sides/back of the dress are really nice.
More photos of Esplanadi Katu are available on my flickr, you can get your own Esplanadi Katu from Pullipstyle.