Throwback Thursday review: Stilettos Kikki

I'm happy to say that even though I'm not a huge advocate of Valentine's Day this one wasn't a complete washout like so many were.  A very sweet patron treated my mother and me to a chocolate-covered strawberry apiece.  I got the dark one and Mama got the light one.

As the patron pointed out, it was a shame that there were only two!  What delicious and thoughtful little treats they were, though!  Malden Library is blessed to have kind patrons.

Now that y'all have eaten with your eyes, on to today's review.  This doll was my first Madame Alexander doll, predating Kathy Cry Baby's arrival in my life by a couple of months.  She's a Stilettos doll, and her name is Kikki.

The Stilettos were a very short-lived line of Alexander toys, consisting of redheaded Kikki, blonde Nikki and brunette Sami.  Information online is scarce, but I only remember this line being around for one autumn...I think it was the fall of 2006, but I'm not sure.  Either way it was a only for a short time, so these dolls apparently didn't catch on.  As an interesting aside, none of the three dolls wore stiletto heels despite their name.  Furthermore, there are few alternate definitions of the word; it's either a type of shoe or a type of knife.  Maybe Madame Alexander wanted to imply that these dolls had cutting-edge style?  I dunno.  Either way I was attracted to Kikki because she was the only redhead.  She has an explosion of fiery red curls.

One segment of this hair is tied up with a red satin ribbon, and two little spit curls hang down by each eye.

Unfortunately Kikki's hair is very close to Meygana Broomstix's hair in terms of quality.  Boy, I never dreamed I'd say that!  But yes, Kikki's hair was very tangled right out of the box, and if I remember correctly I think there was also a fair amount of spray mixed in.  I do remember that I washed her hair shortly after unboxing her, and that the washing took all the spray out but did nothing to help the tangles.  Heck, a week in THE PLASTIC BAG OF DOOM did little to tame that mess.  I even cut about an inch of it off and it's STILL tangled, though it smells nice and looks less ragged now.  I don't know what MGA and Madame Alexander were thinking, though, because this fiber is the Darlington Speedway of doll hair:  too tough to tame!  Maybe this unfortunate choice of hair fiber was why the line was so short-lived.  That and the hair is thinly rooted.  There are big gaps between the rows, rendering a restyle nearly impossible.

Underneath that pall of hair Kikki has a sweet little face, very typical for Madame Alexander dolls.

Such a shame that that hair is so hard to control, because Kikki's face is painted nicely and has a kind, age-appropriate expression that reminds me a little of my Dolls of All Nations Midori's face.  Boy howdy, has it been that long since I reviewed Midori already???  How time flies!  Anyway, Kikki's face sports big tan eyes with nice details like long, fine eyelashes and reflecty dots.

She sports a broad, flat nose and matte rose-colored lips that are painted into a delicate smile.  Her cheeks are lightly blushed.

Not a super-fancy face-up, one that is age-appropriate and thankfully free of painting errors.  If only that hair weren't so out of control!

Down to clothes we go now.  I would assume that a doll in a line called "Stilettos" would have cutting-edge fashion, but was this en vogue for preteen girls back in 2006?  Y'all tell me; I was so stuck on myself back then that I wouldn't have noticed.  Anywho, this outfit seems a little...well, maybe just a teensy bit mature for Kikki.

But then again it's not risque like Bratz clothing was either.  Kikki's shirt is a red and white halter top with a slightly raised front panel.  The halter bit is made out of fabric instead of satin ribbons, which I often see on smaller dolls and frequently get annoyed with, and to make things even better, the ends of the halter bit snap together.

The top as a whole is made of white...I guess that's polyester, but I'm not certain.  Either way the material is white with red stripes in a vague lattice pattern.  The neckline is deep and would be quite revealing if Kikki had anything up top, but as y'all will soon see she does not.  The bottom hem does reveal a peep at her belly, though.

The back of the bodice fastens with our old friend Velcro.

The interior is lined, which halfway surprised me.  Madame Alexander dolls usually do have well-made clothes, but it still was a bit of a surprise to see a fairly cheap doll with a lined blouse.

That halter top never would've passed muster at my school, but the jeans...I'd have worn these in a heartbeat.

At first glance they're simple little low-rise jeans with stitched pockets and a faux fly...

...but on further inspection it's possible to see that the material is sparkly.  I never owned a pair of jeans like this.  The legs are belled out a little, though that's next to impossible to see when the doll is wearing the jeans.

The jeans aren't lined all the way through, nor was I expecting them to be, but the waistband IS lined.  Furthermore, there's a tag that I didn't know was there.

I wish I'd found this tag earlier, when I was clamoring to find a source that gave this doll's name.  I practically never did find the name online, but here it is on the tag.  Name and maker and all.

The back of these jeans fasten with Velcro.

Sometimes flare-legged jeans look a little ridiculous on dolls since most modern-day dolls have slender legs and small feet that are concealed by wide-legged pants.  But in Kikki's case those flare-legged jeans proved to be a wise decision, as her shoes are sizable.

Of the three Stilettos Kikki's shoes are actually the smallest (Sami and Nikki both wore boots), but they're still a respectable size.  These are a spin on the traditional old mary-janes, having a thick platform sole and a double strap.

I always have a hard time getting these straps fastened, by the way; the peg that goes into the hole is a little too flexible.  The bottoms of these shoes are semi-hollow and have an interesting tread pattern.

Dang, those shoes are cute!  They'd be perfect with some sort of lolita outfit...once I learn how to sew.  Oh yes, Kikki also had a huge purse made out of red and white pleather, but she can't hold the thing so I tossed it in storage and I don't know where it is now.

Madame Alexander unfortunately did not make extra outfits for these dolls, which is a shame because they have unique bodies that are hard to clothe.

Now y'all know why Kikki's slightly mature outfit made me raise an eyebrow a little.  My friends didn't start wearing halter tops until they were about fourteen, and I NEVER got one because I never had the body for it (LOL).  Kikki's body sports a flat chest and a curveless waist, meaning that she should be about ten, give or take a year.  Little girls develop earlier and earlier as time goes by, so I could be way off with my estimate, but for the sake of this review I'm saying Kikki is about ten.  Kikki is made of smooth, hard vinyl all over, with a few molded details like a bellybutton and a gluteal cleft.

Kikki's arms provide some clues for the halter top.  They are straight and do not bend anywhere, and they only move back and forth at the shoulder, not in or out.

The arms thus always stick out to the sides about an inch, like so.

Such arms would render wearing a sleeved top virtually impossible, since Kikki's arms don't move close enough together to get sleeves on.  Due to this odd construction the Stilettos are largely relegated to tube tops and halter tops, though somehow Madame Alexander did manage to get Nikki into a blouse with sleeves.  I still haven't figured out how they did that.

For all their oddness, Kikki does have very pretty arms.  This hard vinyl took to a mold well, and Kikki has dainty little hands with molded fingernails.

The mold itself is also graceful; Kikki would have made a superb ballerina had her jointing been more flexible.

Kikki's legs are molded in a similar manner, and they are jointed similarly as well.  They rotate at the hips...and since these hips are cut at an angle they go outwards as well.  This is what Kikki's sitting position looks like.

Folks, that's a split, not a sit.  And furthermore, Kikki's bottom doesn't even touch the ground when she's in that position!  A more traditional sitting pose ends up looking like this.

As with the arms, these legs are well-molded.  Check out those toes!

The soles of Kikki's feet are almost completely flat, by the way.  She is perfectly capable of standing without shoes...or she would be if that hair didn't tip her back.  In order to get Kikki to stand I have to tip her forward at the hips, a problem that I usually see with larger dolls like Xenia and Mosi.

Strangely, when I put Kikki's clothes back on she doesn't have to lean as far forward in order to stand.

These same jeans do nothing to help Kikki's already poor ability to sit, however.  This is as good as it gets when she's clothed.

It might help a teensy bit if I could move Kikki's head up and down, but her neck joint is strictly rotational, and the only way she'll look up is if I turn her head all the way around backwards.

This motion does have one advantage, though.  Kikki can look up at the camera in an endearing way, with her head cocked to one side like so.

So far this doll has been mediocre at best, but at least she had lots of extra fashions to wear, right?  Wrong-o.  Lose all your money, go directly to jail, five points from Hufflepuff.  I think I said that once already that these dolls didn't have extra outfits, LOL.  Anyway, I was hoping when I bought Kikki that a nice long line of clothing would follow, but as far as I know nothing came of the Stilettos except the three dolls.  Thus Kikki is stuck in her stock outfit, with nothing else to wear...or at least nothing that I know of.  Some of my Yo-SD clothes might fit her, particularly Chloe's jeggings.  Jeggings fit every doll, but why bother with those since Kikki already has a pair of blue jeans?  Maybe this embroidered blue dress will work better...

Pardon me while I pick my mandible up off the floor.  Not only did this dress go over Kikki's widely spread arms, but it fits PERFECTLY.  It fits Kikki better than it does Chloe, in fact (Bobobie's dolls are always slimmer than average).  This makes me optimistic for the rest of Chloe's clothes, of which I have plenty.  But for now, I reckon it's time to wrap things up.

BAD
*Hair, while eye-catching, is horrid.  It's tangled and frizzy, very much like early Bratzillaz hair.
*Posing is bad as well; Kikki can't sit, can't wave, can't cock her head unless I turn it...not good.
*Clothes restrict what movement she does have
*Redressing is a near impossibility due to this doll's unique size and stiff joints.

GOOD
*Face is pretty
*Clothes are well made
*Sturdy
*Can wear some Yo-SD clothes

For the most part Kikki is a well-made little doll, with a pretty face and nicely made clothes, but having looked more thoroughly at this doll I can see why the line crashed and burned.  Kikki's hair is a living nightmare, though I strongly suspect that this is unique to the character (Sami and Nikki have straighter hair).  No, that hair is only the tip of the iceberg.  Kikki's posing is also lousy; she can't sit at all when fully dressed, and even when undressed she sits in an unnatural position that no human OR doll should ever sit in.  She can't pose her arms in many convincing poses either, and her neck only rotates.  Furthermore, this line had no extra clothes, and Kikki's stiff, awkwardly positioned arms make it extremely difficult to find new clothes, though I do have some Yo-SD stuff that fits nicely and I'm pleased about that.  I appreciate the quality of the clothes Kikki does have, as they're well made and fairly stylish, and she has a pretty little face that is unfortunately often obscured by that wad of hair.  So this was a cute line, but Kikki's hair and poor jointing kill my enjoyment of her quite a bit.  She just...stands on the shelf and looks cute.  So if y'all are into Madame Alexander dolls I'd...I'd skip this one.  If you absolutely must have a Stilettos doll I'd go with Sami or Nikki.  They have the same awkwardly jointed bodies, but their hair is at least straight.  This is the second time I've been duped by red hair.

God bless y'all,
RagingMoon1987