But today my pc crashed and wouldn't load back up for several hours, so I did some deboxing.
Duchess had been preying on my mind a lot recently, i'd seen some gorgeous shots of other people's doll with her hair restyled and in a more modern outfit and I started getting the itch to try my own restyle.
I always felt the doll was gorgeous, but her outfit was not at all to my taste.
Anyway, I finally got her deboxed so here we go!
I don't like the EAH boxes. I really don't. I mean, yeah the book look is cool and all, but the amount of plastic in the boxes makes me shudder. It's sharp, it's vicious, it's flat out dangerous. And the boxes never go back together looking nice either, they're just.. plasticky and ick.
The old card boxes from MH were wonderful, almost works of art in their own right but I don't feel that same "must keep box" need with this style of box.
Anyway, not much to say about the box.
The back of the box has the character bio. I have to admit, I kinda like Duchess purely because she's an interesting princess. Her destiny SUCKS, and I can't help but want her to win. (her diary doesn't help my opinion of bloody Apple White either but we'll get to that.)
Her art and her actual doll have a few differences. Her skirt is far poofier and seems to have.. netting underneath? the neckline is more sweetheart shaped and her headband is a totally different colour.
But it's pretty close. Her hairstyle is however nothing like her animated form.
There's something off about the art... I think it's the hands but I can't put my finger on what's bothering me about it. (teeny child hands?)
anyway, blah blah..
Good news is, I DIDN'T cut myself opening the tabs here. The EAH boxes seem to use softer plastic than the more recent MH ones. Still, there were a few touch and go moments where I wondered if maybe I should have invested in some gloves.
I decided to read her diary at this point. Apple is still a jerk, i'm with Duchess on this one. Also, the princess teacher is a jerk too.
EAH has always felt like a pretty cold, insensitive institution that treats students who aren't well.. Apple... I don't really like the universe Mattel have built, it just feels... mean and unfair and cruel.
Anyway, doll. Duchess has been given I believe her own facemould. Of late Mattel seem to have realised the whole "identical moon face" thing wasn't working for a great number of potential customers so the latest newer characters have all had unique features. it's a relief, but I can't help but feel it's a bit too little too late. I mean, it creates a big problem in that you have the original 4? all being clones of one another and then everyone else looking different? that... really bothers me.
Anyway, Duchess has a moonish face but it's a little less giant and round that the usual EAH faces. She has a small sharp nose and high cheekbones. She's actually extremely beautiful face on, though her head looks really odd from the side.
Her nose is pretty flattened, as with all EAH dolls, so side on she looks like someone smacked her in the face with a brick.
I KNEW deboxing was proving too easy. As I tugged her gently away from the backing card the tabs in her hair all came with her instead of stretching so I could snip em.
She has not one, no, not two.. but FOUR, yes FOUR of these hideous tabs in her head. Because... I don't even know. They're not holding her headband on, that's held on by elastic bands so wth?
I snipped one and cut a chunk of hair too, so i got mad.
there's just no reason to use this many of this nasty tabs to hold one head into a box. Heck, there's no reason to use these disgusting things at all. All they do is present the risk of cutting the doll's hair OR if you do snip em, leave sharp pointy stabby plastic bits hiding in the hair waiting to get you.
Damnit Mattel, stop with the stabby things! My fingers cannot take any more doll related injuries!
Anyway, I took her hair out of the side ponytail so i could snip these awful things off without risking cutting more hair. I couldn't shove them into the head either, they refused to shove so she has hidden spikes in her hair. *sigh* Maybe that's appropriate.
The actual side ponytail felt too chunky anyway, the elastic band was really wide and the curl of the hair was bulbous and bulgy.
Her hair actually sits quite nicely down, it has a soft wave to it but a huge kink from the elastic band.
Her hair is streaked black and white with some pale pink/purple streaks to one side.
It's a bit choppily cut, particularly the white bits which are really uneven.
Her hair is pretty soft though.
Her headband has some... flowery things and feathers. I don't really know what's going on with it, the ball part is I think supposed to be a ball of flowers but with it being pink all I get is a giant brain or something.
Worth nothing, unlike many of Mattel's recent "headbands", this one actually IS long enough to be worn as a headband without elastic bands holding it to the head. That shouldn't be something to get excited about, but after Lorna and Marisol's headwear having no ability to put them back ON the doll after clipping the packing tabs, the fact this one can be removed and put back on again is a big deal.
Her earrings are feathers, they're quite nice but I can't help but wish there was a little painted detail.
Likewise her necklace is black and loses ALL detail because of it. It has a gem in the middle and it's quite a pretty but versatile item. There's no obvious bird motif.
Her ring is a swan, her bracelet is um... a medallion with another swan on it. I always find the EAH wings odd because they fit over two fingers. They look like knuckledusters to me, not rings.
I couldn't get a clear image of these though, sorry.
Now, I don't like Duchess' dress, but then i'm not hugely fond of frilly sparkly dresses.
Anyway, it has soft tulle sleeves, a patterned bodice, more frills and then a two layered skirt. The lower layer is net patterned with a tulle overlay covered in feathers and um... honestly they look like snowflakes to me.
I'm not really sure, i'm not hugely familiar with the ballet of Swan Lake, but Duchess' dress makes me think snow queen more than swan.
She has a neat little cinch/corset/basque thing that inexplicably seems to be made of vines or something. I really have no idea at this point.
Without the basque on, her dress actually sticks out wierd around the bottom of the bodice. The bodice is a bit too long and it juts out. It's hard to get a picture of, but it doens't look very nice.
Her fishnet tights DO NOT FIT. They're way too big. They bag unattractively around her legs no matter how you pull them up. This really irritates me because honestly? how hard is it to make stockings that FIT? for goodness sake Mattel.
Seriously look at these things. They're all saggy and ugly. Poor girl.
While we're here, I think she has the same body type as Cerise Hood, with the elongated legs. This makes perfect sense for a graceful dancer and I do like the variation in the Ever After High bodies.
Duchess' shoes are I think supposed to look like ballet slippers but the constraints of the foot sculpt means they look a bit odd. They're platformed at the front for some reason, and detailed but I cannot for the life of me figure out WHAT the pattern is. There are moulded bows on the front but you can barely make them out, black is NOT a good colour for detailed sculpts.
The ribbon is a bit chunky, but they're ok. I just feel like they look a little clumsy, the general shape of them seems kinda clompy rather than graceful.
Overall her outfit is just disappointing. She's a very pretty doll but her dress and tights just don't seem to quite fit the doll correctly.
Thankfully, EAH dolls fit Monster High stuff too. In fact, often they fill the Monster High dresses out better due to their wider hips.
I'd had this Create a Monster dress laying about for years. I always liked the dress, but it never suited any doll I put it on. The colours however, match Duchess' eyeshadow and hair streaks very very closely. The black/white/purply pink combo is a perfect match and it fits great.
I boil straightened her hair (it's still damp in this shot) and LOVE how it came out. I'm usually one to curl a doll's hair but Duchess seemed like she'd suit straight hair best. It took to the boiling water very well and had dried lovely and soft and straight. I couldn't be happier.
She's a stunning doll, with a lot of attitude in her little flat face. I really like her, particularly out of that disaster of a tutu.
I can't help but wish the EAH dolls came in more modern feeling outfits, because the princessy frills thing just feels so.. blah to me. I dunno, I suppose the target market lap that up but for me it feels such a missed opportunity. The EAH dolls redress so well, they look SO good in something a bit more modern and less prissy costumey.
There have been a few more recent releases of Apple and Raven where they HAVE been wearing clothes that felt more modern, and I almost.. wish the whole line had looked like that from the start. Modern clothing with a princess twist, rather than princess outfits turned into short party dresses.
I mean, who wears what looks like a cocktail dress to school every day? Who'd wear a tutu to school on a daily basis?
Now I just have to find a way to make those stockings stop bagging so awfully. It's driving me mad.
Overall, I give Duchess a solid 7 clompy ballet boots out of 10. She redresses and restyles great, but the doll as she comes? I dislike the outfit and feel it doesn't fit nearly as well as it should.
But at least her headband works as a headband and at least her hair seems to be ok rooted. This is more than I can say for the last few Monster High dolls I bought.
She's worth picking up, especially now she's on clearance most places. I think she's one of the prettiest Ever After High dolls i've seen so far.
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