Not since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb has man relied so heavily on a reporter's descriptive powers. Luckily, CNN's Carol Costello is gifted with the art of painting with words, and she was one of the chosen few allowed to see a doll so far only viewed in enigmatic silhouette.

The tweenage dora is about twelve inches high, she does have long brown hair with bangs and a headband, she is thin, she is tastefully and fashionably dressed. I would not say she's sexy...but she is attractive, she's a cute doll, but she's not wearing a little miniskirt or anything like that, and her hair is not as flowing as it was in that silhouette.

"So she's not going to be wearing a skirt?" asks Costello's colleague. "She's wearing shorts?"

"Well, she's wearing a tunic with leggings and platform heels."

And The Mothers wait.

'Boy Crazy' Dora? [CNN]
Dora Grows Up-Stops Exploring, Starts Shopping [Babble]
Dora The Explorer No More? [Washington Post]

Earlier: Doll Makeovers Are Not Child's Play

Remember "Fashiongate" or whatever everyone was calling it? Good times. If so, you'll probably recall that when Palin was raked over the coals for spending (jointly withe the RNC) the price of a small house on duds during a global recession, her sheepish spokeswoman was moved to say, "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," and make clear that anything Palin didn't end up wearing would be returned.

Yet! Some sources, apparently lurking at RNC headquarters in D.C., have spied the bags of clothing sitting around collecting dust. RNC types will only say that the glad rags have been duly inventories and are "in the process" of being donated. While this hardly qualifies as a major scandal, if it turns out they're not making good on their promise it could prove embarrassing to the big spenders whose money helped finance the wardrobe, many of whom were already disposed to think of it as a rather frivolous allocation of resources. Guys: the SalvA does pickup!

Palin's "Donated" Clothes Stashed in Trash Bags at RNC [The New Majority]