Harumika Party (Or How To Be The Best Aunty Ever)

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I have a ten year old niece and I know the way to her heart…

Harumika party 1

I know! Enough mini mannequins and material to make the toughest ten year old girl melt!

At the beginning of the Summer holidays I was provided with a Harumika party package for twelve children. The package included two dress forms with stylus per guest, a pack of materials and stickers per guest, a selection of additional materials, creative tips, and one Petite Harumika per guest as a party bag giveaway.

BEST. AUNTY. EVER!

My niece arranged for eleven of her friends to come over and spend a very pleasant hour and a half exploring the world of Harumika. For those not in the know, Harumika is a world of fashion design involving small mannequins and no sewing, no scissors and no glue. Each mannequin has a slot on the back which allows for the end of the fabric or ribbon to be tucked in securely using the stylus provided. It's simple and ingenious.

My niece and I introduced the concept of Harumika to her friends; most already knew about it but there were three girls who'd never come across it before. They all quickly picked up the idea and I challenged them to make a simple dress for the Summer from the available fabrics; lots of collaborative work and discussion later and we had a great selection on the table.

Next I showed the girls some of the tips of using the belts as straps, wrapping the fabric squares diagonally around the mannequin, twisting the fabric and pleating, and they came up with a great range of ball dresses.

Harumika party

I like Harumika for one big reason; it allows girls to continue playing with dolls in a cool way. And in an age when they are supposed to have moved on from dolls at the tender age of around seven, to see ten, eleven and even a thirteen year old still playing with what is essentially a doll, made me smile. Of course my niece and her friends didn't see their activity as that, for children who play with it they are being allowed to explore the world of fashion, able to make decisions and test out what works and what doesn't.

Harumika sets come in a variety of designs and themes, the guests at my niece's party each received (what seemed to be) the Surfer Style Starter Set which comes in at £11.00. I think that's a good price to get a budding fashion designer started, there are various add on sets for fabrics or dress forms, and investing in one or two of them from pocket money is a good idea to further the Harumika play potential.

I was sent the above party package for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Harumika Pop Diva Set (Review)

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When I was a young girl, one of my favourite toys was my Girls' World Fashion Plates:

fashion_plates_650x300_a01_

The idea was to select a head, top and bottom half of each person and then to choose a pattern for each item of clothing. I completely loved playing the hand-me-down toy from my sister, even if the stylings were a little 1970s!

Move forward a couple of decades and the world of the young fashion designer has changed quite significantly. They can still design outfits and select the fabrics or patterns, but now that happens in 3D using a mini mannequin and fabric swatches! This is the world of Harumika, an award winning and unique toy that has become a massive hit since its introduction to the world in 2009.

It's a far more practical and responsive way for young fashion designers to test out their designs and styles, and doesn't require any needles, thread, glue or scissors, making it a very safe activity for children over six years old. (And I say children because I refuse to confine this type of toy to the world of girls alone, Julien MacDonald and Matthew Williamson would have something to say about it, I'm sure!) Harumika works by layering, folding and customising fabrics and accents using the silicon strip at the back of the dress form. All the materials and accessories are reusable so the possibilities are endless; if you don't like your design just start all over again!

Harumika Pop Diva

I was sent the new Harumika Pop Diva Set for my nine year old niece to review, and I made her world when I gave it to her; her life-size mannequin which she uses to style her outfits is testimony to how much she loves Harumika! The Pop Diva Set includes one purple dress form and two removable corsets enabling the budding designer to create different shaped skirts and dresses with the selection of funky fabrics and accessories.

This is the colourful and stylish design that she (and The Boy who was keen to help!) came up with using the long corset:

Harumika

The long corset skirt easily comes unclipped and the short corset can be clipped around the torso to help create shorter versions of the designs.

Harumika

My niece was over the moon with the set, she particularly liked that there was a small slot on the chest to create some halterneck styles or a fancy collar, and the different length corsets. I do think they Harumika is an excellent toy for budding fashion designers, although for the price of the sets a few more fabric swatches would be quite useful as this set had only five in it. Overall though, it's a brilliant toy and is so nice to see her using her imagination to play and not be in a rush to grow up.

The Pop Diva set comes out in July  with a RRP of £34.99

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review; my opinion, and that of my niece, is honest and unbiased.

Petite Harumika

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I may be a mummy to a boy but I still know what's 'big' in the world of girls' toys thanks to my two nieces, one of whom is obsessed with Harumika, the 'Girl's World' of the 21st century but with added fashion designer power.

We were sent one of the Petite Harumika Romantic mannequins for her to review.

Designed to be clipped onto a key-chain, pencil case or bag, this miniatureHarumika measures in at 7cm tall and comes with a stylus tool, one piece of pretty material, four accents and a sheet of gem stickers for decoration. It's just the thing to play with in a spare five or ten minutes and can easily slip into any young lady's bag.

I'm impressed with how such a simple toy allows for such great fun. My niece is nine and reached that age where she's not a child anymore but also not a teenager; it's difficult for girls of this age nowadays. The Harumika toys allow her to explore the concept of fashion and being a teenager while still actually playing with dolls. Thumbs up from me and from her. The only criticism she had is that it would have been helpful if there had been a little bag to keep all the bits in so they don't get lost or dirty.

The Petite Harumika range is available from most high-street toy retailers and online. It's priced at £7.99 RRP.

I was sent this for the purpose of this review, our opinions are honest and unbiased.

 

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