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Je préfère la poupée de dentelle.

Je préfère la poupée de dentelle.
I prefer the lace doll.
From Lesson 381:Prepositions of characteristic and material (à, de)·French

Questions & Answers about Je préfère la poupée de dentelle.

Why is it de dentelle and not à dentelle?
When describing the material an object is entirely or mostly made of, French uses de (or en). The preposition à is used for a characteristic feature, accessory, or flavor. If it were a plastic doll merely wearing a lace dress, you might say la poupée à la robe de dentelle, but since the doll itself is made of lace, de is required.
Could I say en dentelle instead of de dentelle?
Yes, en dentelle is perfectly correct and actually more common in modern spoken French for everyday materials. Using de for materials often sounds a bit more literary, poetic, or elegant, which perfectly suits a delicate object like a lace doll.
Why don't we use an article and say de la dentelle?
When de (or en) is used to describe what material an object is made of, it is followed directly by the noun without an article. You drop the la because you are referring to lace as a general material category, not a specific piece of lace.
Why does the accent in préfère point the other way compared to its infinitive form préférer?
Préférer is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, when the spoken stress falls on that syllable (as it does with je, tu, il, and ils), the acute accent (é) changes to a grave accent (è). This signals a change in pronunciation to a more open sound.

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