Enchanted Evening Barbie 1991

17.10.2018

Today I have the enormous pleasure to describe a long awaited doll that I wanted so badly ever since a certain idea sprang to my mind that having a Barbie collection of my own would be amazing. At that time, it was only a dream, now this beautiful doll is my reality standing gracefully amongst her friends. Her name though, is very unfortunate. Enchanted Evening Barbie probably instantly brings to mind a majestic beauty of vintage features clad in gorgeous pink satin. That one I’d love to own and perhaps I will one day but strangely enough I’ve chosen this hardly recognizable Barbie.

Enchanted Evening 1991 was Mattel’s collaboration with J.C.Penney whose joint efforts resulted in many stunning releases over several years. I’ve already described another J.C.Penney Barbie in one of my very first entries. Now, I’ve searched long for any reliable information on the J.C.Penney Barbie series, but very little is to be found except for a multitude of pictures showing amazing dolls most of whom, if not all, dressed in elaborate winter outfits and gowns. Much thought, time and effort were employed in their clothes design and this doll is no exception.

Everything about Barbie’s outfit is just spectacular, but the coat is absolutely the best. For one thing, it’s enormous and I don’t know if it’s for the fabric it’s made of or the many, many years it had been put in the box in one position, but no matter how much I try to straighten it, the coat just returns to its shape, as if blown by the wind. The coat is very shiny, the pink, purple, blue, red, orange, green, black and gold rectangles are randomly distributed. The fur trim and the “shoulder pads” evoke all the glamor of the preceding decade and bring Dynasty to my mind. Oh yes, Alexis would wear it!

The coat comes with a matching hat that from all the online pictures I devoured with my eyes I got the impression, was made entirely of faux fur, but the top of the hat is actually made of the same rectangular fabric as the coat. There’s a single pink, plastic gem to finish the look. Underneath the coat, there’s a gorgeous Lame dress with thick straps. The dress is very fitting and the overlapping layers create an opening up front. The Lame is flawless, no cracks or any other imperfections I had expected. My experience with this kind of fabric hasn’t been very good, but this time Lame is much thicker and sturdier than before and it makes me very glad.

Barbie’s jewelry is this typical 90s plastic type, only this time it was painted pink and the color makes it unique. It’s also very rich, there’s a ring and a pair of matching earrings but also a necklace. But one of my favorite elements of the entire outfit are the shoes! These are much daintier than the classic Barbie pumps and will not stay on her feet no matter what you do, but the color makes up for the wrong size. They are metallic purple and very shiny! I love this amazing attention to detail that the old Mattel once manifested even in budget dolls and those shoes and the coat are the prof and one of the reasons I decided to purchase Enchanted NRFB, another is more simple than that, she was just unavailable in a used condition! All the auctions I followed for several months offered the doll new and in box but also very affordable! I guess it’s because she’s one of those obscure beauties that few recognize.

Even without her spectacular outfit, the doll’s simply divine! Her almond shaped lavender eyes with eyelashes on both eye lids have this softness of expression typical for the early 90s editions that was later replaced with the cat eye look that I also like very much. Her lavender, metallic eye shadow complements her eyes and her blush and Magenta lipstick give warmth to the overall look. Her kanekalon hair is rather short but wild, boxy and unruly, but I don’t fight with it or try to style it in any way. I’ve wanted to have this doll for so long that it’s hard for me to be unbiased and find any kind of flaw about her, but if you consider her hair an imperfection, then it’s nicely covered by the hat and the fur.

We’ve just moved into our Dreamhouse and our home library, where I intend to display my dolls, is not yet furnished, so Enchanted and all her friends temporarily occupy two large cardboard boxes, but every once in a while I just take Enchanted and some other precious dolls just to admire them. Then they return to their boxes that prevent them from getting dusty. Not for long now.

And here's a bonus: my two J.C.Penney Barbie dolls, the regal beauty is the Evening Majesty 1996 that I described in one of my early entries.

Evening Majesty Barbie 1996 JCPenney Special Edition

26.05.2018

Behold! Presenting you... Her Majesty - like literally - 1996 Evening Majesty Barbie! She's a doll that hasn’t been given enough attention in my opinion. It's hard to say why, perhaps it's her eyes that seem to be a bit small, typical for a Barbie released in the second half of the 90s Or maybe it's the dress? Whatever that is, I do adore the doll. To me she's the embodiment of grace and elegance.

A bit of an introduction's in order now. So, she was released in 1996 as one of the JCPenney special edition Barbie dolls. She comes with a Superstar facemold, a TNT body and straight PTS arms. Her head, however, has a strangely limited articulation, or perhaps mine's faulty? The doll just won't look up as much as the other Superstar ladies I know.

She's the second doll I've bought for myself and although she was so inexpensive, she's shipshape! She looks as if she’s just been taken out of her box! Her platinum blonde hair is thick, silky and wavy, almost curly, a proof of a very limited acquaintance with a brush. She's got some bangs, but not over the top and a portion of her hair's been braided and tied with a black ribbon.

Her facepaint is very subtle, she's got some lavender eyeshadow and some minimal blush on her cheeks. Her makeup is balanced by her magenta lipstick adding color to her otherwise very placid face. Her purple eyes with some tiny golden specks give her a truly serene expression.

Her jewelry's complete - she comes with her dangling earrings, a matching necklace and a golden ring. Unfortunately, she's missing her shoes, so I've found her some replacement. Neither does she have her fake fur muff anymore. Her dress, however, is spectacular. It's a combination of a golden top trimmed with faux fur at the neckline and the sleeves and the lavender of the bottom part of the dress with a golden opening and a black and gold pattern all over the lavender part. The dress is a one-piece Velcroed at the back. There's no underskirt or perhaps this part is missing as well.

I really bought her for a laughable amount of money and there's no correlation between the doll's condition and her price. Lucky me! She's a perfect example that doll collecting doesn't necessarily have to be expensive and is merely a matter of choice and patience.