Dolls

Monster High

My love of Monster High started with my partner, who was really into it long before I was. It was an evening dressing up and playing with their childhood collection and weeks watching them make customs that made me fall in love with the series, and with fashion dolls in a way that I never had before. I’m loving the effort that has gone into making each character so physically distinct from the rest with this latest “generation.” My favorite characters are Clawdeen and Howleen Wolf, Abbey Bominable, and most recently Ghoulia Yelps has really been speaking to me.

Clawdeen Wolf

Monster High | Gen3 | Signature Series | 2022 | Mattel

Clawdeen Wolf™ doll struts down the Monster High™ hallways in a clawsome fashion featuring an animal-print jumper and long-sleeve top with crescent moon print. Her freaky-fabulous, werewolf-inspired look is complete with creeperific sneakers, a black purse and glam, golden glasses and jewelry. Take Clawdeen Wolf™ doll’s look to the next level with a fierce, faux-fur vest and scary-chic accessories. And inspire spooktacular storytelling with her creepy-cute pet cat, Crescent™!

— Product description

Clawdeen has always been one of my favorite Monster High characters. She's pretty, her colors are beautiful and the werewolf theme is so beautifully executed with the moons and the pawprints.

Styling/Custom Elements — I've given her little braids in her signature topknot because I really didn't like the way the darker brown hair was impossible to tame, and sticks up and out strangely from the rest of it. I've also styled her with some of the pieces and accessories from the Skulltimate Secrets Fearidescent doll.

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Cleo de Nile

Monster High | Gen 3 | Signature Series | 2023 | Mattel

Cleo, the daughter of the mummy rulers, knows she was destined for greatness! After all, she's second in line for the royal throne behind her older sister, Nefera. If she can't displace her sister, she'll settle for queen of the social scene and ruler of EekTok. Cleo may be a bit spoiled and self-centered, but she has a big heart and a lot of ideas (even if a lot of those ideas involve cursing her enemies with swarms of scarabs).

— Product description

G3 Cleo is SO pretty I love her so much, her makeup is perfect and I love the sculpted mummy wrappings on her. Her beautiful teal/gold/salmon color palette looks so nice against her deep blue hair and her warm skin.

Styling/Custom Elements — I've pulled the tinsel out of her hair. I'm so sorry Cleo baby but I hate tinsel and honestly I think her hair still look so beautiful without it. As long as you pull gently you can just use your hands and it comes right out (no need for tweezers at all).

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I really love the direction this series is going for, and the latest Skulltimate Secrets Fearidescent series I think has been my favorite so far. The pieces are beautiful and I adore the theming.

Rainbow High

Rainbow High is probably the best quality playline fashion doll on the market right now. Even if not every doll is to my taste, I think the clothes, the aesthetics, and the dolls themselves are just phenomenal. I’m so excited to see where this line will continue to go. The faces are getting more and more beautiful with every release. I don't like to play favorites, but my favorite doll is Delilah Fields whose theme color is this beautiful, buttery canary yellow.

One thing I really do wish about these dolls is that the branding wasn't so aggressively in your face with the clothes. I know it's meant to reference high fashion brands but I also think it's tacky when they do it.

Sunny Madison

Rainbow High | Series 1 | 2020 | MGA

Sunny is as bright and happy as her name and her yellow color palette suggest. She's bubbly, energetic and she loves to be a fangirl of everything-- especially her friends. She got into Rainbow High on her amazing animation skills, and at school, she creates a whole animated series based on her BFFs. She's the kind of cutie that can only be described as Kawaii, because she's obsessed with all things adorable. [...] She likes to have fun with fashion, too-- mixing lots of unique fabrics and bold details.

— Rainbow High Official Website Character Description

Sunny was my first Rainbow High doll, and I fell in love with bright yellow hair up in the classic Sailor Moon odango style. A part of me wishes I had waited until she got a more distinct face sculpt, but I'm happy to have her and I cannot imagine swapping her for a full nother doll.

Styling/Custom Elements — My lovely partner replaced the ribbons on her jacket with a plain yellow ribbon so she's no longer branded with the school's logo, which was just way too bold and hardly matched the rest of her outfits.

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Phaedra Westward

Rainbow High | Series 1 (Pacific Coast) | 2022 | MGA

Phaedra Westward is the kind of girl that everyone knows, or wants to know, becasue her star is on the rise. A self-proclaimed girl boss and mogul in the making, she has an entreprenurial spirit that is unmatched. A girl with many talents (and side hustles), her current obsession is building her empire with her very own beauty brand -- Inspired by the beach of course. At Pacific Coast High, she is a cosmetology focus, with an emphasis on the science of beauty and natural ingredients. She's always following the hottest skincare trends and loves to use her friends to help out her latest products.

— Rainbow High Official Website Character Description

Phaedra is probably the prettiest of the first series dolls with that original "classic" Rainbow High face sculpt. I love her theming and her hair, (oh my GOD her hair...) and the multicolored babyhairs around her face are such a nice touch. I feel like I should make her some kind of beach bag or accessory, as she derves some spoiling, but I haven't decided what to do just yet..

Styling/Custom Elements — I knew the second I saw her color scheme and hair that I wanted to do something fun with her hair. I put it up in a half=ponytail after going through and trying my best to give her twists. I know I'll have to refresh her style in the future, maybe with another product to help with how slippery the nylon is.

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Krystal Bailey

Rainbow High | Series 2 | 2021 | MGA

Krystal is the editor-in-chief for the school magazine, The Rainbow High Scene. Her opinion is EV-RY-THING. She's all about chasing the latest scoop and getting to the real deets of what's going on at the school. Krystal began writing at just 4 years old, and went on to break every story in her hometown before finding her passion in writing about the arts, and interviewed every fashion designer, playwright, street artist and animator in town. Artists love her, and she loves art.

— Rainbow High Official Website Character Description

I think Krystal is a beautiful doll: I love her skintone and her deep indigo color palette but I cannot for the life of me figure out what theme they were going for with her. My partner says Doctor Who because of the deep blue/purple and the watchfaces on her shoes, and that's a better answer than I've seen anywhere else.

Styling/Custom Elements — I've given Krystal some braids and a layered ponytail.

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Meena Fleur

Rainbow High | Series 4 | 2022 | MGA

Meena Fleur is from New Delhi in India and is part of an international exchange program at Rainbow High. The students are happy to play host and are intrigured by her confidence and really unique nods to her culture in her Henna, clothing, and jewelery (which she made herself). All the attention is a little overwhelming, but she's genuinely excited to share her culture and experiences with the American students. Meena and Daphne become fast friends, talking for hours about crystals, precious stones, and thier love of travel and music.

— Rainbow High Official Website Character Description

I almost didn't get Meena, which is so crazy to me because how she really is one of my favorites! The bright orange is just so rich and beautiful and looks like it should smell like plastic-y sweet oranges or like a creamsicle. Absolutely stunning paired with her skintone and sharp features. I also love her clothes, and that she came with both the arched high heel foot and flat feet. The detail of the Mehndi on her hands is beautiful and a really nice touch.

Styling/Custom Elements — I have her flat footed in her sandals for the time being.

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Delilah Fields

Rainbow High | Series 4 | 2022 | MGA

From the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, darlin' Delilah Fields has been canning her own jams and strumming her own hand-made guitar since she was about knee-high to a grasshopper. Delilah's nightstand is full of notebooks and journals, overflowing with her creative writing, songs, and pressed flowers (that she loves to give her friends). She surprises everyone, including herself, by stepping up to the mic to audition at Rainbow Vision with one of her country songs.

— Rainbow High Official Website Character Description

When Delilah was first announced I knew right away I wanted her, but by the time I got paid we were sold out, so I wated a few weeks. We never ended up reciving her so I asked my friend to pick her up elsewhere using her discount, which went perfectly well until about a month later she came in, and all our Rainbow High dollies were on sale too. Oh well, such is the life as a casual collector. I love her colors and her theme, the daisies are so pretty, and her beautiful face sculpt and blonde hair are just so warm and delicate.

Styling/Custom Elements — Custom crochet sweater made with thin crochet thread, yellow ribbon scraps and buttons. I think it really suits her and the gauge I got with the hook and thread was the perfect scale.

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Olivia Woods

Rainbow High | Series 5 | 2023 | MGA

Olivia loves movies. She's seen EVERYTHING. And she loves nothing more than the costume design in those movies. They tell the entire story and she can't get enough. Olivia was actually lucky enough to spend time on film sets in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. It's where she was inspired to become a costume designer. So, she came to Rainbow High to learn how to be the best. Olivia is calm and passionate, and while her designs can be polarizing, her big concepts usually win over even the harshest critic.

— Rainbow High Official Website Character Description

Olivia is my first green doll, and I feel like this series is kinda slacking when it comes to the green dolls? Idk I'm not big on Jade, and

Styling/Custom Elements — I made her a cute little hat, and plucked that awful pattern off the boots. I don't care what high fashion brand it was referencing, I hated it. I'm this close to doing the same to her jacket lol. I also gave her a little ballchain necklace to look like dogtags. I don't really get "costume designer" or "film lover" from her vibe, but I do get very military-core so I wanted to lean into that. On the list of doll accessories to make is a little press pass looking necklace.

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LOL OMG Surprise

I’m gonna be completely honest with you: I hate the regular LOL Surprise dolls. I hate the blind bag aspect, I think they’re weird and ugly-looking, and the fact that those dolls are meant to be babies and toddlers is in incredibly poor taste. However, I do like the larger fashion doll lines of the OMGs and BTWs, and I have a soft spot for the retro-inspired ones (as you'll probably be able to tell). I would probably collect them more if there was more variety in the faces, or if there were separate fashion packs that were available outside of paying for a whole doll.

Lady Braids

LOL Surprise OMG | Winter Fashion Show | 2022 | MGA

Lady Braids is fierce, fabulous, and ready for her hair transformations! She needs your help to get on the cover of Fashion B.B. Magazine.

— Product Description

I was actually gifted Lady Braids from management after an unboxing event at my job. I remember bringing an in-box one to the till and asking if I could pay for one but have the one I had already opened and was emotionally attached to, and maybe it was the sincerity with which I asked that did it hehe.

Styling/Custom Elements — Nunc urna nulla, pretium eget nibh at, ultricies vehicula quam. Sed eget sapien mattis, mollis felis vel, semper massa. Curabitur ac finibus sem, non viverra tellus.

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Sunrise

LOL Surprise OMG | Sunshine Makeover | 2023 | MGA

When it comes to makeovers, Sunrise is your girl. She loves to change it up and show all the beauty and fashion looks that are possible.

— Product Description

I fell in love with Sunrise after the very first stock photo I saw of her. You can see I'm a sucker for these retro inspired dolls, I'm sure. I found the color changing gimmick... Well, I like the idea but it barely worked in the sun, and worse still even after sitting under a UV lamp for ten minutes there was barely a change. That's fine by me though, since I like her as-is better anyway.

Styling/Custom Elements — None as of yet.

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Cherry BB

LOL Surprise BTW | Series 1 | 2021 | MGA

Meet LOL Surprise Tweens fashion doll Cherry B.B.! She’s all about that artsy side! Cherry B.B. loves all things vintage and #TBT, as you can see by her vintage, 50s-inspired style.

— Product Description

This little girl was my first LOL doll I ever purposefully bought, if I'm not mistaken. I love her pink lemonade color palette and she dresses the way I dreamed of dressing when I first found a lot of vintage fashions back in middle school.

Styling/Custom Elements — None as of yet

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