the holy grail
look what I found this week at an estate sale… fashion plates!! only my most beloved childhood toy. I’ve been eyeballing them on ebay on and off for years. the auctions will get to high and then I’ll forget about them for a while and then I’ll remember and become obsessed. now the dance is over, they are mine! and for only $8.50 
July 5th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Oooh! Fashion Plates!!! I had those! I would so love to find a set for Maddie. Guess I’ll have to put those on my mental list. I bought her a Hello Kitty toy last year that is similar, but not nearly the same. sigh. . .
July 5th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
oh my god! my childhood just came rushing back to me! i had totally forgotten about fashion plates. now i’m going to become obsessed. i just know it.
July 5th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
i always dreamed of having those as a child, and now that i make a paycheck….i will be on the lookout!
July 5th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
So cool! I LOVED those as a child! My daughter has Strawberry Shortcake ones but they are not as cool.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Ohhhh I totally got those for my 10th b-day. I’d lay on the floor of my bedroom, rocking out too New Kids On The Block and play w/ my Fasion Plates. I thought they were the most sophisticated toy ever!
July 5th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
As soon as I saw that picture I immediately thought of my set of New Kids on the Block fashion plates, but then I became too embarrassed to even think about commenting on that, and then Lindsey went and opened the door for me! I actually had a set of these that had the NKOTB guys and you could dress them in the fashions of the day. I spent most of my time putting Joey in pleated jeans. How embarrassing.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Awesome! I don’t remember what happened to my sisters, but man I used to love to play with those when she wasn’t around!
July 5th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
holy cow. i totally forgot all about fashion plates but as soon as i saw this post, the memories came flooding back!!
July 5th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Yay, Fashion Plates! I forgot about those! Those were so, so fun. Sitting around, coloring Fashion Plate drawings, then maybe acting out “Grease 2″ or watching “Muppets Take Manhattan” …
July 5th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
wow!! i SO remember those!! wonder if my mom still has mine. . .
July 5th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Holy 80’s, I completely forgot about those!
July 5th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
Oh my gosh, I haven’t thought about those in years. Thanks for the flashback.
July 5th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
I ALWAYS wanted those and never got them. Totally awesome find.
July 5th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
Wow! I had totally forgotten about those. I had so much fun with those. You are a lucky girl!
July 5th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Yesssss. It’s 10:00 at night and I just called my mom to see if she could dig around the attic for mine! She’s like, “Okay, maybe I’ll go up in there in a few weeks…” “NO! RIGHT NOW! I’ll hold.”
July 5th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Gosh! This brought back memories. I completely forgot about those and so it seems many of the other commenters had as well. Thanks for sharing.
July 5th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
I haven’t seen one of those since I was a kid. That used to be one of my all time favorite toys. I’m so jealous!
July 6th, 2006 at 12:04 am
Gosh. Can you stand one more memory about this toy? I got mine for my eighth or ninth birthday, which was the day my dad scheduled my appointment to have 11 teeth removed (baby and permanent). I played with them up until the time we left for the surgeon, with a full box of Kleenex on the floor next to me, to mop up my tears. No one in my family spoke to my dad for days. Still, I did love those fashion plates!
July 6th, 2006 at 12:16 am
Oh my gosh, I had totally forgotten about these! I was so so so wanting to play with these everytime I went over to my friends house. So cool, awesome find.
July 6th, 2006 at 12:16 am
Oh my gosh, I had totally forgotten about these! I was so so so wanting to play with these everytime I went over to my friends house. So cool, awesome find.
July 6th, 2006 at 1:32 am
OMFG!! I LOVE those. i use to have them as a little girl and they were my all time favoutire toy. I totally forgot about them untill i saw this. Talk about a flashback!!!
July 6th, 2006 at 7:05 am
well, here is yet another girl who was totally smitten by her fashion plates, still has them, would not dream of selling them and still uses the patterns on the backs on paper to use in collages! I just can’t believe no one has recycled this idea for the girls of today in some way, a revival anyone???!!!
July 6th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Alright, alright…..I am green with envy. I totally loved my fashion plates when I was a young girl. And I confess, I have looked at them on eBay also. The fashion, the skirts, the blouses, the sharp colored pencils, the black squeegy thing, loved, loved, loved them all!
I’m headed for eBay right now!
July 6th, 2006 at 7:43 am
why, oh why did my mother give mine away? the question i will ask myself until i die or stumble upon a set like you did.
July 6th, 2006 at 9:02 am
OH. No. WAY.
I had a barbie Fashion plate set when I was a babe. Bar none one of my favorite activities.
July 6th, 2006 at 9:52 am
LUCKY!!
July 6th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Gasp! (sharp intake of breath) Fashion plates!
July 6th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
OH MY! I totally forgot about these! My granny had them at her house and I used to LOVE going there just so I could make up different outfits!
Aww . . . now I want some.
July 6th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
I remember those! Wow.
July 6th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
LOVE! I had a hand-me-down set from my mom’s friend’s daughter. I loved that whack! of the frame slamming down on the paper.
July 6th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
the endless hours dreaming.
oh.
how i love thee.
July 6th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
How totally freaky! Just this week my Dad pulled out a whole heap of old photos and drawings of mine and my sisters from when we were kids and amongst this pile was some of our Fashion Plates masterpeices! I already had my flashback and now this! I have just now read above (the butterfly collector) that my sister still has ours. What else are you hoarding over there, Shae???
July 7th, 2006 at 12:38 am
ooooooooo I still have my beloved ‘fashion plates’ somewhere. I have NEVER seen any others before. I don’t have the original box…..so that’s what it looked like!! You know there were little ‘extension packs’ too of extra styles and patterns…..Goodness I loved (love) my fashion plates!
July 7th, 2006 at 8:24 am
oh the fun of fashion plates! Mine, along with the extension pack I had, are safely tucked away in my mom’s attic, waiting for my daughter to be old enough to enjoy….although I’d been thinking about pulling them out for ME to play with….and now I think I will!
The best part was the “patterns” on the back sides!
July 7th, 2006 at 9:22 am
WOW, I remember those! For some reason we had them at my grandparents’ home–I wonder what became of them.
July 7th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Fashion Plates! Those were one of my favorite toys. I think at one point I had to obsessively rub -every possible combination- of heads, tops and bottoms. I hope mine are still in my parents’ basement. Must look for them next time.
July 8th, 2006 at 1:44 am
ZOMG jammy! I remember those, and they were the Best Fun!
…oh, now I might have to go and look on eBay. Rats.
July 8th, 2006 at 9:24 am
fashion plates! fashion plates! FASHION PLATES!!!!!
July 9th, 2006 at 11:36 am
I have this fantasy in which I am at an estate sale and come across Fashion Plates. You are truly living the dream!
July 10th, 2006 at 7:30 am
fashion plates! i used to love that toy and i’d totally forgotten about it! awesome!
July 10th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
You do realize that between my fashion plates and my Barbie dreamhouse, I felt life was utterly complete as a youth. Today’s version of f.p. is a sad sub for the real thing, you just can’t rub a good plaid pattern worth anything!
July 11th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
oh my goodness! my cousins, sister, and i would spend hours playing with fashion plates. what an awesome find!
July 11th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
oh my gosh blast from my past. i had these when i was young, what happen to them????
July 12th, 2006 at 12:59 am
Fashion Plates!!! I remember Santa bringing me them for Christmas and I love, love, loved them!
I have never come across them since those heady days!
July 12th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
eeeek! how delightful. makes my day just to see them again.
way to go!
July 13th, 2006 at 8:15 am
I used to love that toy. Hours and hours designing fashion and then cutting out the paper dolls to have my own show. Thanks for the nice memories.
July 13th, 2006 at 8:41 am
Fashion plates! I loved those as a kid! What a cool blast from the past, thank you!
July 13th, 2006 at 9:47 am
wow. like many others here i had totally forgotten about this and it took me back with a jolt. I could almost even SMELL them - I remember they or the pencils they came with had a particular scent. and it looks like the set you got even has the original pencils intact - amazing!
July 13th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
The fashion world’s early addiction program for young girls! I would actually have my mom order special black artists “crayons” for me as a kid because plain ole crayola was just too soft. Besides, who want to break up a crayon set, they don’t fit right in the box after. There was another toy similar to this that let you place fabric scraps in the form and place the doll shape down over them - wish I still had this stuff. My daughter went whole “Hello Kitty” hog for her third birthday and we found a set similar to Fashion Plates, it’s called Hello Kitty Tracing Plates from Hasbro. Ah memories…..
July 13th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
there must
be a connection…
craft bloggers
loved
fashionplates.
how i loved them!
crazy to look
at the fashions
now!!!
July 13th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Those were among my favorite toys. During the same period I looooved Spirograph as well.
July 13th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I LOVED them!
My daughter had Little Mermaid fashion plates and we have a set of Van (fashion?) plates where you mix and match the vans and they are all 70’s style.
July 15th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
I also had Fashion Plates as a girl and loved them. what a lucky find. I do have to say, though, is it is a bit freaky that you found them at an estate sale–Oh, it’s so hard to believe the toys of my age group (gen X) are finally starting to show up in auctions/estates (not just thrifts and yardsales)!
July 16th, 2006 at 8:21 am
I loved fashion plates when I was little!! That’s a really amazing find.
July 17th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
i had them and loved them, although i broke the cryaon holder thingy. i didn’t know they still made fashion plates as mary said, i will have to look for my niece. i loved the spirograph, as well, although i always got overzealous and broke my pencil point. ah, childhood. i don’t think kids are allowed to use pencils anymore.
July 19th, 2006 at 9:09 am
Wow, I really loved those when I was little too. Great score, they are really hard to find and the ones you found look like they’re in perfect shape!
July 20th, 2006 at 8:16 am
From the looks of these comments there were a lot of girls (women) out there who really squealed when this emerged on the screen. I know I did. I had forgotten about even having these as a child, but I spent hours designing. This and the spirograph were major faves. How about a litebrite too.
Have a beautiful day everyone.
July 21st, 2006 at 5:19 pm
I didn’t have these, but I had a set to make greeting cards. It was awesome. I’ll have to grab it next time I’m visiting the ‘rents.
July 23rd, 2006 at 9:49 am
OMG I had one of those!! Ages ago, and I bought it at a garage sale then too!
July 23rd, 2006 at 11:25 am
I can’t believe it! I had one of those when I was little! Wow, I had totally forgotten how much I use to love that thing. I can still see the drawings on the refridgerator!
July 24th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
oooo..That was my most beloved toy too! Congrats on such a wonderful find.
July 26th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
oh.my.gosh! i so had those growing up.
wish i had another for bella.
did it come complete?
July 26th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Its so funny to see everyone who remembers having those! Myself included! Now I wish my mum saved mine for me
August 5th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
I had one growing up too, I need to go find it. I absolutely loved this toy as a child. Thanks for the memory.
August 7th, 2006 at 4:43 am
I’d forgotten about these, too! My sister had a set, I think. I had my Matchbox cars and Star Wars action figures. Hehe.
August 8th, 2006 at 7:18 am
oh! holy holy holy!
i love these! i never had them. my older sister did. i usedto sneak and play with them while she wasn’t home… shhhhhhh