There are dolls, such as Crystal Barbie
or Peaches’n’Cream that are gorgeous and universally admired and thus
objects of desire to most collectors, if not all of them. Royal Romance
1992 is not such a doll. In fact she’s one of those obscure beauties
that few know about and I was ignorant of her existence until a certain
collector decided she no longer needed Royal in her life. I did, but I
never really thought she would be so stunning in person, pictures don’t
do her justice. It makes me wonder how many amazing dolls are out there
and I don’t even know about them.
Her previous owner took a great deal of
care of her, as she did of Purple Passion and Midnight Princess which
come from the same source. Royal is the oldest of the three and one can
see some sings of passing time, but given that she is now 26 years old,
this is to be expected. Still the doll is spectacular and full of
surprises.
Royal arrived in her own box which has
seen better days but is always the best source of information regarding
the doll it holds. The back of the box presents Barbie in her glory. The
box also contained a brush and a metal stand (always welcome). The
shoes that Barbie came with are replacements and don’t add to the doll’s
gracefulness, but I’m glad the previous owner included them, especially
for the price that I purchased Barbie. Unfortunately, the box doesn't
say of which store Royal is the Special Limited Edition.
The dress, however, turned out to be a
surprise as it has the potential to be an example of the ingenious
Mattel transforming fashion. The dress has been designed in an intricate
way, namely it’s a combination of the body fitting Lame with the
silvery lace train stitched to the left side and snapped to the right to
make it possible to remove the dress. But Mattel could have gone one
step further and instead of permanently sewing it to the side of the
dress, it would have been better to attach it with snaps on both sides.
This way the train would have been detachable and allow two dresses in
one. Also, Lame isn’t my favorite type of fabric, it doesn’t age well
and Barbie’s gloves are the example. It’s not the best solution for the
90 degrees bent arms, but back in the 90s Mattel would frequently
accessorize Barbie with Lame gloves, they were often a part of fashion
packs.
The train, however, is simply
spectacular. The glistening silver lace over two layers of tulle looks
magnificent and the silver Lame rosettes together with the cascading
ribbons add to the effect. The dress may not be perfect, but still, such
elaborate designs and the amount of effort put into creation of the
dress must be appreciated, and even more so because they are very hard
to come by nowadays when everything seems to be printed on and only on
the front part to spare the expense. And talking about the expense,
Barbie wouldn’t go out to collect her mail from the mailbox without
putting on her jewelry first. The set includes a pair of earrings, a
matching ring and a necklace which is my favorite part as it’s not as
repetitive as the other elements.
The doll’s face is lovely and it has the
look of the early 90s. The eyes are large, but they’re very gentle, a
feature to be replaced by sharpness in the upcoming years. The eyes are
striking blue and her make-up is very subtle, just a touch of bluish,
opalescent eye shadow and pink lipstick. Barbie’s face looks fresh and
youthful. Her kanekalon hair is a bit frizzy, but manageable. It’s also
unbelievably thick and soft, still curly after all those years. I
believe no brush has ever touched it.
Despite the fact that Royal Romance is
not a very popular doll, on the contrary, she’s hardly recognizable, I’m
very happy to add such a striking beauty to my collection. She’s the
embodiment of everything I love about the dolls of the early 90s. She’s
glamorous and slightly over the top. When I compare her to the modern
Barbie dolls I regret the change and feel a little blue …
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