Clothes Reviews: Sparkly Tunic and Jeans Outfit (2006)

Otters is Sparkling to the Nines.

Hey, guess what? The new stuff's out for the End of Year! Hey, guess what? I'm going to go see it Saturday, so I'll blog about it the day after. For now, a review of older stuff. 

My birthday is in less than a week; I'll be thirty-four, Year five giving a big eff you to the cultural assumption that assumes that women never want to be older than twenty-nine. Fuck "forever twenties" ideas. I remember my twenties, and most of it was terrible and rife with wracking depression that I now keep generally under control. Part of my celebration is that I'm going to the AG Cafe here in Seattle with a buddy--as the Beyoncé song goes, I'm a grown woman and can do whatever I want. And what I want is to take one of my gang members to the American Girl Cafe and eat their food and be a dolly nerd. Fun fact about me is that I like to say I ran a gauntlet to get my birthday as my own day. The 4th is my late Grandma Valeria, the 7th (or 8th) is my Aunt Florence, today (the 9th) is my grandma Aquilla (affectionately called Goose)¹ and the 14th is my father, Harold. I missed all those days one after the other, showed up two weeks late, and hit Wednesday the 15th--and did the same thing my dad did with my grandma Goose and showed up as a belated birthday gift. That's fate for you.

When it comes to birthday gifts, I'm simple and complicated at the same time. Because I like dolls, right, so you'd think I want dolls and doll accessories--but when it comes to AG there's so much I already have so your best bet is to ask instead of trying to surprise me. Well until new stuff comes out and I go "I don't have that!" or "I don't want that." This was not true when I started collecting in 2005 and 2006. So for my 26th birthday, a buddy who wasn't even much into AG, Kaze, sent me the Sparkly Tunic and Jeans Outfit which had come out just that year in 2006. At the time I had two historicals and three moddies. Otters, Marisol, and Naomi had to share the set--and it looked great on all three of them and cemented itself as one of the best outfits ever.

The set at the time cost $26 and came with a tunic top, jeans, clogs, hairbands, and an informational story about bands, likely an article from AG Magazine.² It was retired in 2008--about standard lifespan for an AG set, and unlike a lot of older clothes is somewhat common and almost never goes higher than the original cost, only to about $30 or so. It shows up regularly enough on the 'Bay to be found at a sensible cost.

Otters is rocking this because I took pictures of her in it. There is very little Otters does not rock because Otters is awesome.

Pet Reviews: Coconut (2002), Honey (2009), Chocolate Chip (2011) and Himalayan Kitten (2014)

AG has made a lot of small animal things.

American Girl has always had a level of pet to its collections, starting with the release of the birthday collections for Molly and Kirsten. Samantha, who apparently was too posh to pet, got a teddy bear as her "pet" until Jip came out with her first revamp, and it may be likely that she'll come back with a pet. A very early issue of AG Magazine¹ focused on girls and their animals. And I more than anyone went through a pony stage that has never ended, thank you Almighty Hasbro and your one true Creation, the My Little Pony. Overall, girls and pets generally go together. And since AG knows girls like animals, and AG likes money, AG has released a lot of pets. Every historical at some point has had a pet from Addy's bird in a cage to Felicity's huge-ass horse. Even the Girls of the Year are getting in on this pet action and have since the days of Kailey.² And of course, there is Coconut.

A short intro about the Coconut Gang. PC had a rather pitiful showing for modern pet sets: Baxter the Bunny, a husky dog to pull the AG sled, and Penny being made to be the stand in horse outside of her collection. Then in the year 2000 Mattel--now fully in charge of this crazy shack--came out with Coconut, a white Westie dog. Male initially, Coconut flipped to female in 2001, got dress up sets, and started showing up on moddie outfits. In 2003³ Licorice--a black cat--was released to become what would be the first of many pets based on and hanging around with Coconut, most with food-based names and appearing on clothing options for the moddie on the go. Several pets have come and gone, but they've all had a base in a little white fluffy dog that has been around for fourteen years.

I've had a few pets in my life--birds, cats, a couple dogs--but I've never really had a love for Coconut. I'm more of a cat person. However, my husband is allergic to cat fur--like, his eyes will crust over and his throat gets all coughing and wheezing allergic--and we don't have much space for pets anyways in my house, AG collection notwithstanding. So my pet options right now are limited to nothing, stuffed animals, cursing out the squirrels outside, and small AG animals. Over the years I've managed to get four official modern AG pets:

• Coconut v.2, that ran from 2001-2004;
• Honey, a golden retriever released and retired in 2014 with the pet revamp;
• Chocolate Chip, a Labrador retriever released and currently only available in the Service Dog Set;
• And most recently, the Himalayan Kitten released in 2014. 

This has resulted in me having at least one of every major "pet shape". These reviews are both coverings and going into some of the variations on Coconut pets we've had over the years. I'll talk about how I got each one; only one so far has been purchased direct from AG.

Before I dip into the pet reviews, just a thing. You may notice a Paypal donate button to the side. That's recently added. Here's the thing: I've been unemployed for well over two years and come from generational poverty. I do write books--and will probably put another of those up on the Createspace--have a modest etsy account which needs more AG stuff, and my man keeps me on my feet. But for the most part I don't have a steady income and we live in a capitalist society until the revolution comes. So if you like what I read and would like to toss a couple bucks my way in appreciation, that would be boss. It's of no obligation to anyone; at no point will there be a cost to hear me bitch and ramble and scoot around on my side.

Anyways, on with the reviews!

Accessories Reviews: Lindsey's Laptop and Bag (2001)

Man, has technology changed in thirteen years.

April has been a very tiring month for multiple reasons: some good, some bad, some still up in the air. The fun part of chronic invisible illness/disability is that sometimes, I literally can't do much beyond playing Pokémon X, hitting the reblog button on tumblr, posting on/reading SA¹ threads, and catching a bunch of Vivillon on my secondary decommissioned 3DS system to get some rare patterns. But don't worry, my loyal readers (and not so loyal haters, why are you here). I'm still kicking around, trying to get things done in bits and pieces. Believe in the Neth. She does things as she can get to 'em.

A lot of people who participate in the American Girl Fandom fall into one of two major camps: people who had access to the dolls and/or books as a child and have either continued to stay attached or returning after a hiatus, or adults who got into the company in because their children² found out about AG and thus they latched on to it and persevere after their child has put away their own dolls. This leads to both camps having a crisis of age when they realize they're no spring chicken anymore and times of their childhood are now historical. Julie was a special litmus test on the fandom: with rumors of and then release in 2007, many women who grew up in the 70s began to lament that the 70s couldn't be historical, because it meant that their childhood was historical.  I have even seen the ludicrous³ claim that historical fiction must be at least fifty years old to actually be historical. Which is bullshit. History happens every day, and every day over is another day in the books of history. I made a joke in a book I'm working on when my characters argued that history was anytime before reliable indoor plumbing, but it's just that: a joke. Serious claims that history can't be the 70s will make me laugh right in your face and call you out. Accept the fact that you/your parents are older than twenty-nine and live with it.

One of the major things that scream that history is always ongoing is technology. While early centuries of technological advancement were in less large jumps, the last twenty to thirty years alone have had an explosion of technology--and just looking at the 20th century shows the major changes, Live music playing went to sound recordings went to phonographs went to record players to 8-tracks to cassettes⁴ to CD to mp3s; from short silent film to talkies to color, radio to TV to streaming boxes, hand drawn animation to CGI--from movies only being able to be seen in theaters to being able to download and stream a movie that just came out a few months ago when I need background noise. And when it comes to computers--whew. When I started on a computer, I typed hunt-and-peck style on an Apple IIe at my grandmother's house when I was four years old. Now I communicate with that same grandmother online over the internet.

American Girl has not released much in the way of doll tech. Whether this is to avoid dating themselves--too late, moddies have dated ways already--because parents whinge that dolls don't need all that tech to play with, or because it's cheaper to ignore it, they don't really give their modern a lot of technological play items. But a few of the Girls of the Year have had some technology. And they started it off with Lindsey Bergman and her Laptop and Bag. After her release in 2001, she plodded along for about two years before retirement in 2002, doing so poorly that AG was debating that maybe this modern limited line wasn't going to be a big thing. Lindsey had a very tiny collection--she didn't even have a change of clothes--and for accessories, all she had was her laptop set and her scooter set, with the laptop set going originally for $32. The set not only came with a laptop styled organizer, but a shoulder bag, two faux CDs, diary, and pencil. The laptop design was later reused (with different colors) for the Backpack and Laptop in 2002, thus starting the trend of LE stuff being released in a new form. I have the backpack and one CD from that, which will get a look over in a Bits and Bobbles review.

While I will never pay the costs for a Lindsey (can't say I like her all that much personally) I had been peeking about for her laptop, or at least a doll sized one. Last month I managed to luck out on a set for only $29 with shipping, and was delightfully surprised to find that it was new in box and had never been used. eBay costs vary; anywhere from retail cost to triple that or more, and it doesn't show up very often. Since I don't have Lindsey, Kanani will be our adorable presenter as needed. 

Kanani will be your tech girl for this dab into the past.

Clothes Reviews: Petal Pink Outfit (2001) and Pink Tank and Brief Set (2014)

Pink. Lots of pink on Nellie O'Malley.

And then I didn't blog for ten days, because seasonal/personal depression is a horrible on and off thing to deal with. (Love my posts, deal with my issues.) I'm actually coming up on my one year anniversary of having this blog, and soon will have something that I hope will be a boon to the AG fandom as well. I've also decided that, while I have about ten more holiday sets I could cover--including the ones I have designed for my made historicals--that it won't do to blow out all of them now and have nothing for the next time the season rolls around. So I'll be holding the rest of my holiday wear for my gang til next winter, After all, it's not like there won't always be holiday wear to do. Plus, my blog. So let's do one more winterish outfit--which kind of fits for the fact that Valentine's Day is this Friday--and introduce you to someone new to the gang in the process.

Yep, that's right, I've got a new member of the gang. A buddy of mine was looking to send Nellie O'Malley to a new place, and I do adore Nellie more than Samantha. Practical, bold Libra Irish girls who share my exact birth date are pretty awesome. She actually got here mid-January along with her meet dress and some accoutrements. Welcome, Nellie, to being a member of the AGGiB. She's still a historical girl from the 1900s--and will be getting and wearing stuff from the era along with Marisol. But like Kit and Kaya, she likes wearing modern stuff.¹ And she's debuting here in the Pink Petal Outfit. 

Like the Ice Blue Outfit I reviewed on Michi, the Petal Pink Outfit was an early Mattel set that came out in 2001 and was gone by 2003. The set has a pink angora style sweater, pink glitter skirt, pink stockings, and pink shoes (and a snowflake necklace) and sold for $24. AG later recycled the name in 2010 for a completely unrelated outfit that was more spring than winter, so you're going to have to filter for that in your searches, ask questions, and make sure you get this one. It actually goes for a sensible cost of about $15-25 on average. It's a little surprising how low some of the older outfits go--it's generally the "new" stuff people try to gouge you on. I got mine in a private purchase way back in 2010 or so, and can't remember precisely how much I paid but it was around retail costs. I don't have the necklace, so unless you're planning on getting me one as a gift, there's not going to be a review of it. But there is a bonus review: the Pink Tank and Brief Set² that came out at the start of the year with Wonderbread. I had to put her in nice underwear that would fit with the modern clothes.

Clothes and Accessories Reviews: Twilight Outfit and Twilight Accessories (2000)

Naomi is rocking Twilight Blues. At any time I desire.

The reviews shall go on! My sleeping schedule has been all fubared, which has led to rolling up all night and into the morning and then sleeping til evenings. The fun part of being nocturnal and unemployed is that I don't have to get up early and can sleep when I want, but the bad part is that I sometimes sleep through an entire day from the time my man leaves to work until he gets home and thus miss everything that most people do. (I plan to get a Magazine Monthly out before the end of the month which gives me--three days. Challenge Accepted.) I also have semi-special Casual Friday for the Chinese New Year; this is the Year of the Wood Horse.¹ (I was born in the year of the Metal Monkey, myself--Shrine of the Silver Monkey~!²) I shall be continuing my holiday/winter reviews, all Winter Wrap Up jokes aside. Even into February, because February counts as winter. This one I've been sitting on for some time, but eh. My blog, my time to take on things. It's not like people are complaining that I'm taking my time on my reviews. And if they are, they can sit and spin the fuck off.

Y'all didn't come here for sweetness and light and meekness, that's a little short of accuracy for me. 

I've already done reviews on the other special sets that tumbled out through the years, specifically the ones that came with special accessories: the Garnet Holiday Outfit of 2001, the Radiant Rhinestones Outfit of 2003, and the Winter Magic Outfit from 2004 to name a few. I tend to like the outfits that come with accessories. Today's set I believe is the first holiday outfit that came with special boxes (since phased out) and matching accessories: The Twilight Outfit and the Twilight Accessories of 2000, which made it through the holiday season before being retired. (Lords and Ladies, this outfit is old enough to be on the internet all by itself.) The outfit retailed for $26 and came with a jacket style top, skirt, stockings, and loafer shoes. The accessories went for $22 and had the headband, stick on jewels, a purse, and a gift box that contained a surprise--the surprise being a compact mirror. So basically original cost of  $48 for the set. I paid $20 for the accessories, which was actually under retail, and about that much for the outfit I think--it's been a while and eBay auctions don't always pull up the full details so. The outfit generally doesn't go for too much on eBay, even the accessories; generally about $20-40 for the outfit, and about $20-30 for the accessories.

Our model is the ever popular half-Desi barefoot geeky pirate gamer, Naomi Kirkland.³

Clothes Reviews: Winter Magic Outfit (2004)

Marisol would like to inform you that it's still winter.

And then I didn't post for four days. The first of the year sometimes leaves me very worn out. I've been sorting my AG things--I got a lot of things last year that no one saw, and trying to figure out things to review over the course of the year. Also, my brother and I went to the AG store yesterday and I confirmed how much I don't like Wonderbread the Ballerina to my face.¹ Many people have taken down the lights and trees and all the shiny bits and made things boring again, and started to make New Year's Resolutions--generally about some arbitrary need to lose weight that will peter off just in time to gorge on chocolate for Valentine's Day. (Things that are never my problem nowadays. Allergy powers activate.) I try to make New Year's Resolutions, but they mostly consist of "draw and write more," "discover more of the world through the internet," "take more pictures of my collections and dolls," "love me and all my black woman awesome" and "try not to let the depression win this week, but not hate me when it does."

Though one of them this year is to post more on my AG blog. Especially reviews, snark, Magazine Monthly, and Crafting Creatively. And we're starting with--more fancy holiday outfit reviews! Never a bad time for fancy outfit reviews. Today we're doing one of the first modern holiday sets I ever had--the Winter Magic Outfit. The outfit--one of the paired fancy sets--came with a white fur detachable collar, black velvet top with beaded decor, white tulle skirt, black ankle strap shoes, and textured tights. It was paired with Winter Magic Accessories--and you know me pretty well, I don't always have the accessories. This set came out a year before I got Addy and retired before I had any moddies so I only learned about it after it was gone; it actually didn't fancy out the box, and you just got a standard American Girl Today box.² Originally, all my moddies were going to have crafted dresses, but now I reserve that if possible for created historicals.³ However, once I got Marisol and was assured that she was a dancer, I decided to get this set for her and got it in a private purchase for a touch under the original cost. eBay costs are pretty sensible at about $10-15 over face. 

I still haven't taken Marisol's hair down from her fancy hairstyle I got months ago at the AG store. It's too cute.

Clothes Reviews: Shimmery Gold Dress (2003)

Ring in 2014 with Tara and some shiny gold!

So we've got a day left in 2013, the first year in Western Year recording since 1987 that had four unique numbers in the date. We got Hanukkah near Thanksgiving, a government shut down, some terrifying terror and bright blessings and famous births and deaths, and personal deaths. We got Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria Girls, all new Monster High, new Pokemon released worldwide simultaneously, and that movie based on the Snow Queen in the sense that there was snow and a queen--and that had no influence on AG's plans for dolls, contrary to what stupid shit posts in my tumblr tags said.¹ It's been a year of ups and downs and tears and joys and transitions, and I'm hoping that 2014 will be good as any year can be. 

In the AG fandom we got the year of Chiplote Mayo Artistry for our GotY--ugh--and stuffing Molly and Emily into the AG Vault--eh--and steady data that next year's Girl is another in the pattern of white privilege--fucking bells. I added two girls to my AG gang--both secondhand--and a lot of outfits and accessories. And also I started this blog and got my hands on almost every AG mag and every paper doll, and made lots of friends and a couple haters I keep to the left. 

I had debated doing the Year 2000 outfit today, but I may do it the first of the year. New, fresh start to the blog with an outfit old enough to sign up for sites all by themselves. Abbi and Naomi's sets have a lot of fiddly bits that we'll get into soon. And Felicity? Well book canon says she goes to her holiday dance on January seventh because long holidays were and are long, so at least by then. Don't rush me, I give you good detailed reviews, the least you can do is be patient about it.

So Tara is back again, in her own holiday set that doesn't belong to Samantha. I'm following silver with gold. Look at that, I'm far too clever. After Tara arrived in summer 2009, I needed to get her a holiday dress because everyone in the gang had holiday outfits and it was very important that I keep this fact up.² So I started searching eBay and luckily stumbled upon the 2003 super limited edition dress, the Shimmery Gold Dress: a gold dress, cream tights, gold shoes, gold hair clips, a gold and rhinestone choker necklace that my set came without, and stick on earrings. The dress was more limited than most holiday items because it couldn't be ordered via catalog. It could only be ordered online from the website or picked up directly in AG stores. Of which there were exactly two, one of which--the NYC location--had just opened that year. And it was shut down in 2004. Limited as fuck. I paid $24.65 which is a touch above the original cost of $24. Damn last second snipe attempts. It can be found on the secondary market for about that range and up to about $40 for a full set--with of course, the stupid price hikes that come with a lot of AG things and that you shouldn't bite down for.

Let's get this New Year's partying started right.

Clothes Reviews: Silver Belle Outfit (2008)

Otters doesn't mind if the celebration goes into January, and I don't either! 

So here we are with three days left in 2013--not including today--and the series on holiday wear continues. Because here the holiday wear will going on as long as I want, damn it, I do what I what to make things lovely.¹ Plus, after showing you everything I've bought for holiday wear from AG, I get to show you all the pretty outfits I've made too. Cause I'm talented like that.

Now it's no secret that AG characters are supposed to resemble ten year old girls, thereabouts. The books almost always start before they turn ten, they turn as such by their birthday book or at some point, and by the end they are still in that not near teen range. The dolls back this up--no figure to speak of, and with very young looking faces. However, I keep my gang a little older than that--in about the eleven to thirteen age range.² Yes, technically they should be hitting puberty at that edge and being more towards teens than girls, but I let some things slide for my gang. Plus, AG actually has good books for girls who are about to hit puberty and are like "why am I getting bumps and hips and freaking out about everything and feeling sexyfeels for other people and what do you mean every month?" It's better that making the dolls look or dress younger than that and being a creep. Yes, I have horror tales. Later.

In the AGGiB, Otters is one of the oldest gang members at thirteen and a quarter--the only one older than her is Kaya who's thirteen and three quarters. So she tends to wear more mature clothing--not too mature, but a little more sophisticated than the others. She almost never wears pink, and she doesn't wear ruffles, and she doesn't want floofypoof holiday clothes or flippy stuff. She actually owns a pair of black goth boots that no one else wears. She's goth-hippy-bohemian, which is why I'm amused when I walk through the store or look in catalogues or skim stuff on the site and see her in things like, for example, a cheerleader set. Her first year here I made her a holiday outfit rather than buying her one, because there wasn't much I liked for her in holiday wear. This was true for 2006 and 2007--I especially hated 2006's holiday set--and she wore the same set for her first two years. Then in 2008, AG came out with the Silver Belle Outfit--and Otters was like "I'll be taking that for me, thank you." And she's worn it ever since, with her curls pinned up just so and looking like the sophisticate she is. 

The outfit--with its punny name³--consists of a silk-and-taffeta dress with Chinese stylization at the bodice, heeled shoes, and two decorative hair sticks (and a short story in a book form because AG did reprints of short stories and little fact books before they switched to the charm beads). Original cost was $28; the set was, like most holiday wear, retired by the next year's season to leave room for the new sets. Since I didn't have a local AG store at the time, I still did all my ordering direct and ordered this in group that that also included spoiling Addy, getting the then-new meet outfit back when they were available separately,⁴ and jumping on more ballet wear for Marisol. Since it was only out for about a year, the secondary market prices are high in places but it's possible to get it for no more than $10-12 over the original cost. Short opening is short. Don't get used to it outside of Magazine Monthly--bringing it back next month. November threw me.

Clothes and Accessories Reviews: Garnet Holiday Outfit and Coconut's Christmas Accessories (2001)

Kaya and Macro are excited for Christmas Eve!

I'm all bouncy today. After all there's only one more sleep til Giftmas! And Giftmas is one of my favorite holidays. I don't do much right now, but the tingle is there.

When I was a kidlet, I loved Giftmas Eve, and Giftmas Eve Eve, and pretty much counted down the days from the time winter break started to Giftmas--the day of presents and ham and visiting relatives and the joy of the day. My mom would hang our stockings next to the tree in front of the window, and we used to use that spray snow in the windows that got you a little buzzed, and throw the long streamer style icicles all over our eight foot artificial tree that we started setting up at the start of December. I liked making ornaments in school, and adding a new one to the tree every year. One year my mom made a fireplace with wrapping paper under the mirror in the living room since we didn't actually have one in our apartment and I had panicked that Santa couldn't deliver things. (After that, she explained that Santa just came in the front door while we were sleeping.) I used to have a holiday stuffed flat doll that my mom told me to make my Giftmas wishes to (one year all I wished for was ponies, and I got at least one--MLP Yay!). And Giftmas Eve was the best. I'd set the radio to holiday music at about eight p.m.--this was before I was totally burnt out on most songs--and I'd watch holiday specials and slurp down candy canes and stay up until that beautiful stroke of midnight, where we'd have Present Frenzy, and then regardless of the temp I would get out one of my holiday sweatshirts and wear it to my grandfather's house.¹ I liked the plays--I was in a semi-nativity play once (I got to be a shepard with spoken lines and everything which was very important for six to seven year old me, and used my grandfather's cane as my crook), I used to perform or act with the school choirs (I was Vixen when I was acting for the Reindeer (w)Rap in 7th grade, and dyed old clothes deep brown to do it) and in fifth grade I got to play the ghost of Christmas Past in a retelling of A Christmas Carol (she was from the 20s). I still love Caroling of the Bells. I once went caroling with my college buddies. I have favorite commercials.² The I just adore the season.

When I had a job, I didn't like Giftmas Eve. Sure I got off work an hour early, and I liked Giftmas as a day off with my husband. But I also had to go in an hour early, I had to go in the day after Giftmas regardless of it being a normal day off or not, and I had to deal with so much shit the day before and after. Mostly people screaming at me that because the (3)DS(i) wasn't turning on or the Wii wasn't reading discs or a point cards got messed up or whatever, I was personally responsible for their issues and yelling at me would solve them. I would sometimes come home crying. from people's nastiness.³ The bright spot was wrapping and giving gifts to myself, my husband, and my gang. But I don't work there anymore, and in the two years since I haven't the holidays have become happy for me again. And even if I don't wrap gifts for the Gang specifically anymore, I still get everyone dressed up. I'm sure I'm going to be one of those moms that decks the tree out and wraps presents and spoils my kids rotten. But I will not ever do the Elf on the Shelf. Fuck that shit. I know that there are people setting AG presents under trees to be opened and loved by people of all ages (hopefully of an appropriate age, at least). And gang members are getting in or already in their wear. Thanks to these reviews, I've gotten everyone except a few into at least the first round of holiday wear, and the two who didn't have sets before will likely be getting dresses cut out tonight or tomorrow. And everyone has special fancy wear, generally.

And then we get to Kaya'aton'my. Kaya, understandably, does not have special holiday wear. Her third book, Kaya's Hero, is about general winter giving. And this is only marginally. Kaya wasn't Christian by the slightest--she canonically had her own Native faith. But AG has only made one third book that hasn't mapped to the winter and that is because Marie-Grace and Cécile are splitting a year. So Kaya's "holiday wear" with AG is generally her Adorned Deerskin Dress, if you go by her LE mini. I have it, mind, and when I first thought about adding Kaya to the gang I was sure she was going to want to stay in her own clothes, because I was a historical purist with everyone.⁴ But when Kaya first arrived with Josefina in early 2007, I learned quickly that--while she loves her classic clothes, and I've gotten almost every one of them for her--she is not about that Braids Beads and Buckskins life, and we started putting her in modern stuff. We tried various things with her for Giftmas wear--the Adorned set in 2007, the Jingle Dress in 2008, and Otters' first set I made for her in 2009.  Then in 2010 I got my hands on the Garnet Holiday Outfit and Kaya claimed it as hers, and so it has been ever since. At the same time I got a good portion of Coconut's Christmas Accessories. And while I do have a Coconut, she's not really part of my gang because I prefer more creative pets if possible.⁵ And Kaya has her own mini-pet: Macro the mini buffalo. While buffalo are not part of the Nimipuu situation--she's not a Plains Indian, let's not assume all Native people are stereotypes--she loves Macro and Kaya is a net girl. So Macro it was, and he's our display instead of Coconut. Some people would say I hate white dogs as much as I hate white people, but that's not true at all. How could you say that? Some of my best friends are white. They're just not, you know, white. I don't even see them as white unless they do white things like kiss their dogs on the mouth, threaten to move to Canada every time politics don't go their way, cry when called out on racist thought, claim that a handful of characters of color are enough for fandoms, or oppress the shit out of me.

The outfit itself consists of a garnet colored empire dress with faux fur trim, white tights, and garnet velvet ankle shoes and was the Super Special Holiday Set of 2001 and so was gone by 2002--it even had the special Shiny Box. The official accessories--barrette, purse, and gift box with snowflake ornament--are not owned by me. Coconut's set came out the same year but stayed around til 2003; it has a body drape, reindeer headband, stocking, and snowman and candy cane (the latter two are Sirs Not Appearing in This Production since don't got em). Original cost was $26 for the dress and $14 for Coconut's gear. I got one set I'm sure in a private purchase off Craigslist with the Coconut set, and while I can't remember how I got my hands on two sets of the dress I am 100% sure I paid less than retail both times--in fact, I got it twice and gifted a set to AJ when I sent her Miss Mari. (When I love you, I give you nice things all year long. When I don't like you I throw hexes all year long.) eBay shows the outfit rarely, sometimes with the box, often with the stocking, rarely with the accessories, almost always in the $15-30 range which is pretty respectable. The Coconut set is almost never complete, and most of the time bits of it show up with the dress.

Bonus unrelated hair clips, because Kaya twists her hair up nice. No LE. That's for when I do the Adorned Dress.

Clothes Reviews: Ice Blue Outfit (2001)

Ice Blue outfit on Michi for ice days.

It's rare that I get or have had a white Giftmas. Southeast Texas don't cotton to your snow falling bullshit most of the time, and up here in Seattle it often snows but not around Giftmas. And I used to hate it when it snowed worth a damn any time between the fifteenth of December and the fifth of January because while the man had the week off between Giftmas and New Year's most of the time, my black ass had to be in to work every day I was scheduled unless it was so shitty that they shut down CS. And the day after Giftmas was always scheduled, and there was no getting out of it because we had to deal with every asshole who got a Wii or DS for the holiday and was coming to yell at us because it didn't come out of the box shitting perfect rainbows and we had ruined the entire holiday.¹ Customer service for Nintendo, oh god. I have horror stories.

But enough about my ex-job flashbacks. Because it snowed today! And I react the same way every time: Oooo pretty let's go out in it oh god it's cold who told me snow was cold fuck this shit I'm going inside. Think a very excitable cat who has to be reminded physically that the white shit that falls from the sky is not sand. Today's snow didn't stick too much, and then it rained which means ice which well, fuck that. Hopefully if it sticks a good level later on, I'll put someone out there in the best winter coat set I've got and snap pictures.

Which segues into the outfit I'm doing today: the Ice Blue Outfit. This set was one of the first Mattel holiday sets, released in 2001 and not retired until 2003. The set consists of a blue wrap sweater, silver overlay circle skirt, tights, silver Mary Janes, and silver hair clips for $24. It shows up here and there on eBay and tends to get lost in the shuffle of ugly homemade blue outfits and ice skating dresses, and while there's always some dumb spikes it actually goes sensibly for less than or about original retail--the $10-25 range. I got it for $15 in that nice post holiday lull, partially because it had a couple little flaws. Seriously, you want things off eBay, start searching in that post holiday slump, when people start scaling back after blowing the end of the year loads.

This set is being shown off by Michi. Michi got here at the very start of the year. I'd wanted a girl like her in my gang for some time. I was nosing around eBay and saw her for a very low cost and in an outfit I didn't have just yet, and picked her up with no regrets. Veronica Michiru Taylor is half black and half Japanese--black mother, Japanese father. She likes to organize things, read books by Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein (absudish children books are the best), 30s and 40s era wear, traveling, and the thrill of performing the stage.

Mine was a little cheaper because it had no hair clips and some flaws that I was willing to fix up because fuck skipping broken shit I'm a seamstress. I'll point out these issues. The ponytail holders don't originally come with it. But they match so there. And while it greatly resembles the Frosty Party Outfit I reviewed earlier, remember this came first. 

Clothes Reviews: Starry Night Outfit (2002)

Happy St. Nicholas Day from Kanani Akina!

Who should be next? I thought as I was sorting out outfits and cursing the name of stick on decor and mule shoes. I'm a 3rd Decanate Libra with Aries Rising and Moon in Capricorn,¹ so I'm brash and bitchy and distant if I don't know you, but when you get down to my essence I'm fair. And part of fairness is making sure all my girls get a day in the spotlight. So while Naomi is chomping to show off some new and old duds and Addy would like to know why she's not in her holiday dress yet, I have to cover the girls who have never been in a review yet first. Everyone gets a turn. So this is how we ended up with Kanani Akina displaying on St. Nicholas Day. You know, that guy who got turned into the secular Santa Claus. I'm not Catholic, Anglican, or Episcopalian--I've never been, though the religion fascinates me. But I like St. Nicholas Day. And I happen to be posting on it. Enjoy your presents, European children!

The Starry Night Outfit was released in 2002 and, like the Twilight Outfit and Garnet Holiday Outfit before it² and the Radiant Rhinestones Outfit after it, was a Limited Edition Holiday Set that came with extra accessories, a shiny special box, and was gone by early 2003. The dress cost $26 originally. I actually bought the set twice; once with just the dress for $15 with shipping, and one that was complete with another set for, when divided, $22. But I gifted one set to AJ when I sent Miss Mari along to her because when I like a person, all the generous comes out. So either way, I got it for below cost.

The dress came with a long black sleeveless velvet dress, black knee high net socks, and black ankle shoes. Accessories had a purse, silver hair combs, and a present in a silver box that was--spoiler--a Coconut snow globe. Excitement, she said in a flat sarcastic voice. Instead, we have decided to dress this up with a black grosgrain ribbon and a black choker made of a black ponytail holder.

Our presenter today is Kanani Akina. Kanani is the absolute best. I loved her the moment I saw her. She was so exciting for me as a collector--what's that? A collection not focusing on another boring white girl?--that I ordered her and a massive part of her starter collection at midnight with my Giftmas money from my in laws, and then blew my then work bonus on the rest of her collection when AG Seattle opened in July. I have all of her collection except the ice stand, because it was sold out when I went to buy it in November. (Eventually someday, she said.) Also, while book canon has her as half white, here in my gang her mother is Hawaiian and her father is Japanese. I don't need a spoonful of whiteness to make the ethnicity go down. She loves her heritage, warm sweaters, Cooking Mama, and  Lilo and Stitch.

Clothes Reviews: Radiant Rhinestones Outfit (2003)

Happy Holidays with Gwenni Damico!

Look at that, next post on the docket! I'm trying.

Last night, in my "get out the holiday clothes, sort away the others, discover there's enough Julie here to give those clothes their own bin, do that"¹ sorting--I still need to sort through for Beth Cady's set--I counted my modern sets. Yeah, I have almost twenty official moddie holiday sets--and that's not counting the one that has been retrofitted to the 60s or the ones I made for Naomi and Otters originally. So what I'm saying is that the Mod Squad is going to be getting a lot of clothes changes, just to show off everything. What can I say? I love holiday wear, even if most of mine consists of jeans and long sleeved faux ugly sweaters from Shirt.woot. The gang dresses better than I do, s'all I'm saying.

Today, I'll be covering the Radiant Rhinestones Outfit. Starting with Mattel's take over of the line wholly in about 2000 or so, they started doing Limited Edition Holiday wear, starting with the Year 2000 Outfit in 1999.² The outfits would come in specialty boxes just for them, many times with a unique hanger, and often had separate accessories including a purse, hair decs, and those infernal stick on earrings that I will stick to the handbasket before I throw it into hell. Soon after the holiday season, the outfit would be retired and then the next fall it would start all over again. They don't do the nifty boxes or hangers anymore, but they always do a really nice holiday set with a nice overcoat/shawl/shrug or the like and matching accessories, and I sometimes get it at one point or another. The Radiant Rhinestones Outfit was one of the earliest sets to do this, released in 2003³ and retired by that next spring. It consists of a red velvet dress, winter white fur-trimmed coat, winter white tights, and red velvet mules. Original cost was $30. I bought this past September for $35 plus shipping soon after the holiday release for this year was out; it came with the box, but no hanger. The outfit goes for about that much on eBay--with of course, the ridiculous spikes here and there. I do not have the accessories, but I am fine with that. The tiara, if I desperately wanted one, could be faked; I could always make a necklace; purse can also be faked; Ornaments are....yeah; and as I maintain, fuck stick on earrings.

Our model is Gwenivere "Gwenni" Ruth Damico. Gwenni, as you likely remember, was my first blog-posted makeover but not my first AG restoration. She likes princesses, fairy tales, fancy clothes, and being something of a little diva. So yes, this was a perfect fit for her. She has accesorized her set with a simple red hairbow and the cutest little star earrings that are perfection; you'll get a close up interlude. 

Clothes Reviews: Marisol's Spotlight Outfit (2005)

Enjoy the spotlight, Marisol, and enjoy the Spotlight Outfit.

Marisol Luna was Girl of the Year the same year I got my first AG: 2005. So naturally, I skipped her in my mad scramble for Addy. She was later gifted to me by an ex-friend, who I've since fallen out with.¹ But that doesn't stop Marisol from being one of my most beautiful gang members--I've thought she was gorgeous since I got her. She came in her near complete meet outfit; she's an MCM doll and has the black x on her ass to prove it. I have made a slow creep of getting most of her LE clothes that appealed to me, and am practically done. Marisol was marketed as a dancer, even though her story more dealt with moving issues and her love of dance and ballet folklorico--a traditional Mexican dance style that I, growing up in Texas, fell hard for. Swishy swirling skirts wee. In fact, Marisol here has a folklorico dress I made myself. I think it was a gross oversight that she got a bunch of common dance style clothes but no folklorico dress. That is why I had to make the set myself--and will make a set for Josefina. Damn it, AG. Moving on.

One of her more beautiful outfits is the Spotlight Outfit, which is basically a ballet performance set. The outfit originally came with a mesh and stretch leotard, a "lace" and tulle tutu, purple tights, purple iridescent toe shoes with tying ribbons, a stretch choker, and six pairs of stick on earrings. The original cost was $26. My set that came with no tights and earrings cost me a bargain at $16 last December. Costs range on eBay from about $26 to $50, ignoring stupid prices. The few times it shows up, of course--Marisol was one of those first three LE girls that didn't get her and her things hoarded like the new girls do now for resale. Not only is Marisol here to display her own outfits, but she is our resident dancer girl and wears her dance outfits with gusto. So you'll see a lot of her when I do any dance outfit reviews. Any of them. It's her niche.

A few things I'm gonna point out before we jump in: 

1: The tights aren't AG authentic. I just happen to have purple tights that work well with her ballet outfit. Not like AG tights have much variation, and there will be authentic tights in later reviews.
2: The tiara is not from her spotlight stand set, cause I don't own it. It's from me spoiling myself and her at AG Seattle and getting her hair done. So the tiara cost me $25, and came with the added bonus of watching Marisol get all prettyified for thirty minutes or so and chattering with the stylist about dolls.
3: Fuck stick on earrings. Even if I had them I wouldn't use them. Marisol will be getting her ears really pierced in a Crafty Crap post. They are graded F and I don't even have them.