Review: Frankie Stein as Threaderella

Remember in my review of the Clawdeen and Draculaura Scarily Ever After dolls how I said Frankie Stein as Threaderella didn't really appeal to me? Yeah, that's kinda changed. It all happened innocently enough. I was deep in the rabbit hole that is Flickr when I started coming across pics of Threaderella and, in one of those poof doll moments it hit me -- Threaderella is really, like really, gorgeous! And I had to have her. This isn't the first time this has happened to me, and I'd be willing to bet money it's happened to you, too. A doll you thought you didn't like just suddenly clicks, and all those attributes you found mundane or boring before are suddenly so unique, or simply beautiful. And that's how Threaderella made her way into my collection (and, being super cheesy, my heart).

Being part of the Scarily Ever After line, Threaderella comes with the new-style MH stand that I've dubbed the Fancy Stand. It's just a little bit nicer, a little bit sturdier, a little bit prettier than the usual MH stand. She also comes with an illustrated storybook. These mini-books are one of my favorite things about this line. The stories are clever in how they reinterpret classic fairy tales to fit Monster High, and the artwork is stunning. Take a look...

Hey Mattel, see that awesome drawing you did of Abbey up there? The one where she looks like a glamorous fairy godmother who just stepped out of Studio 54? How about you get busy making a doll of that? Because even the Abbey haters say they'd be all over it.

Threaderella herself is nothing to sneeze at. In a theme so naturally fitting it practically could've created itself, Frankie has become a deconstructed Cinderella. Her gown takes the classic fairy princess dress and turns it on it's head, giving us sashes and seams galore. Her purse is a spool of thread and her heels are made of scissors. The whole idea dovetails perfectly with Frankie's already established theme of a stitched together girl who can barely even sew. It's all so perfect; this doll practically willed herself into existence by the very nature of her postmodern weirdness. Amazing.

As you can see this is a beautiful Frankie aka Threaderella. What was I even thinking when I said in that earlier review that her faceup didn't work? She has electric blue eyeshadow that surrounds the entire eye. This is further surrounded by silvery grey shadow. Her lips are a deeper grey and have a very light sheen. Her eyes themselves (the green and blue), seem a tad brighter, a bit more detailed, than usual. She really is stunning.

Her hair is gathered into a ponytail that rests right in the center of her head. Spilling down in all directions are thick, white tendrils. There's very little black in Threaderella's hair. Interestingly, the texture of her hair is very different from the usual Frankie doll's hair. It's soft and puffy, almost cotton-like. I really love it. Plus, there's the fact that had they tried to do this hairstyle using the standard Frankie hair fiber they would've had to have gelled it into crispy rolls. To quote Valerie Cherish, "I don't need to see that!"

As I mentioned, her dress is a deconstructed fairy princess number. It comes in a satiny blue material with red detailing. There's also the occasional silver sash, and even some black mesh. Messy, open threads abound. Yes, very deconstructed. I'm a bit "meh" on princess dresses so seeing the whole idea subverted this way totally works for me. Even back when Threaderella wasn't my thing I still admired this dress. The colors and prints are pure Frankie of course, so this rather fanciful Threaderella isn't totally foreign to us. The dress is paired with electric blue high heels -- the heels are little pairs of scissors (so cool), while red straps attach to the shoe and wrap each ankle. A molded spool of red thread is her purse. It opens on a hinge on the bottom and closes with a blue knob clasp. The handle has some nice blue accents and it spirals at both ends.

We're gonna do a little subverting of our own and end this review at the top -- literally. Threaderella wears a crown of silver pins strung with red thread. Some of the pins have blue accented tops. The crown is super-tight and surprisingly not sewn onto her hair. It's rubber banded on but it fits so tightly I doubt the bands are really needed at all. Threaderella's earrings? Simple silver pins. There's so much else going on with the crown and the hair and the makeup that overly fussy earrings weren't even needed. I applaud your restraint here, Mattel.

Overall grade: A+ The doll I once said I wouldn't even buy has become my favorite of the line. She's cool, she's subversive, she's exactly what Monster High should be.