Fashion Plates have come a long way since I was a little girl. You used to have to place texturized pieces (head, top, bottom) in a tray, place a piece of paper over them and rub a crayon over it. You could color it when you were done. The iDesign Ultimate Stylist has taken that concept to a whole new level. Now you can create your fashion outfits and have them show up on your computer.

It comes with 60 cards (5 backgrounds, 5 characters and 50 fashion cards), the installation CD-ROM (Windows only), the USB scanner and a storage case. Installation was easy. I had no problems at all.

The character and fashion cards are clear so you can layer them - choose from dresses, shirts, skirts, pants, shoes, boots and accessories and see how they'll look together. Once you've put together an outfit you like, you swipe the cards through the scanner like a credit card reader. Each card has a small barcode on the back of it that the scanner reads when swiping the card. Your outfit will show up in the Design Studio closet, and you can then have a fashion show with the outfits you've designed. The music, lighting and theme of the runway show can all be customized. To my daughter's disappointment, shows cannot be saved and disappear as soon as you start a new one.

After the show, you can relax in the Designer's Club. Here, you can watch the tape of the runway show or design a magazine cover with your fashions and customized text that can be printed. You can also play 4 different games: Style Challenge, Fashion Match, Closet Cleanout and Fashion Finder. My 10 year old's favorite is Fashion Match. You are shown a silhouette of a character and a grayed-out outfit. You have to figure out the model and clothing and scan them in. She didn't like Fashion Finder, a "20 Questions"-style game, because you have to scan a card after every question. All games can be played with 1 or 2 players.

If you get tired of the same outfits, you can buy an expansion pack that includes 3 background scenes, 3 character cards and 9 fashion cards that you can mix and match with all the other cards to create unique outfits. The expansion packs are available in different themes: School, Sporty, Party, Casual, Princess, Rocker, Beach and Bling and come with a fashion frame to allow you to display your creations.

The storage case can hold up to 200 cards, so you don't have to worry about running out of space. It also includes stickers to label the pockets where your fashions are stored.

Mattel did a great job of taking a well-liked toy and updating it for today's computer-savvy girls.