I'm a bit late to the East 59th party, after just deciding to take the leap to collect the line this year. The line is designed by Chris Stoeckel, a man whose designs I have admired for years. I first saw his designs on the Studio Commissary, ( a wonderful doll board mostly devoted to Gene Marshall and her friends) through fellow collectors lucky enough to own his work in 16" scale. When I became aware of Chris designing for Victoire Roux, through Integrity Toys, I had moved away from the 12" scale and was determined not to be sucked back into that vortex again. I admired the dolls from afar, through other collectors for years. This past year I found a couple of the East 59th dolls for sale for a price that was just too good to resist, and feeling the need for something different in my collection, I decided to take the plunge and place an order. The rest, as they say is history.....................I have jumped completely down the rabbit hole, and am totally enamored of the line. I have been scouring Ebay and dealer sites trying to play "catch up" on what I have missed out on since the East 59th line was introduced in 2017. This morning I was looking at my collection thus far, specifically my different Victoire's' and decided it might be a fun installment for the blog to look at her character, the different sculpts and screenings as she has been portrayed thus far. I'll start at the beginning, with the only doll I have from the original Victoire line, Pret a Partir, from 2014. I was lucky to acquire her from a friend. The original sculpt is a bit more stylized than Victoire's current incarnation. I think both versions are beautiful.
I believe the original Victoire line issued the last dolls in the regular line in 2014. East 59th was introduced in 2017, but Victoire did not make her appearance in the East 59th line until 2018 with the introduction of Blue Gold Victoire seen below. The sculpt was completely redone to fit in with the more realistic aesthetic of the other characters in the line.
A shot of both sculpts side by side. I love both versions, but am partial to the more realistic features of Victoire 2.0.
In 2019 we got an updated screening for Victoire. The first version of the new screening was featured on Late Night Dream Victoire. This screening features forward glancing eyes, and lips painted a little fuller.
In 2020, we were given two beautiful versions of Victoire in the Integrity basics series, (a raven and a redhead) both with the second forward glance screening. Pin Up Allure is one of those basics. She has been a favorite for me to play with and redress. Below she is redressed in Mid Day Venture Aurelia's suit.
Next is a comparison of screenings one and two. Pin Up Allure (screening two) is on the left. Lunch at 21, with the original screening on the right.
And a shot including the original Victoire sculpt.
The 2020 holiday collection introduced us to Della Roux, Victoire's sister. Della also uses the Victoire head sculpt. I saw an interview with Chris recently where he stated that people had been asking for Victoire in a darker skin tone, but as Chris is very committed to the "stories" of the East 59th characters, Victoire in one of the darker skin tones just didn't ring true to the character. Della was the perfect solution. She has a completely different screening than Victoire to further differentiate the characters. She was a huge hit with collectors and sold out very quickly. A shot below of the sisters, Della on the left (redressed in a Barbie reproduction ensemble), Dramatic Evening Victoire on the right.
And in closing a final shot with Della added to the line up showing all the different screenings of this beautiful sculpt(s) since her debut. I am very much looking forward to what the future brings for both Victoire and Della Roux.
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