Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessory Reviews: Samantha's BeForever Meet Outfit and Accessories

Nellie: Pretty in all that pink.

I continue to gush and gush about how much I like the BeForever revamp, in great contrast to a great many older AG collectors who grew up with the original looks. There's some bits I don't care for--there's not much that has my undying love without at least one thing to complain about¹--but overall, it's been a good thing. And when AG went for the relaunch, they relied on their regular fall back for all-new historical product launches and first tries. Yep, that's right. They reached back into the Historical Character vault, pulled Samantha out, shook her off and gave her an all new look. Same brown hair and brown eyes, but nothing from her prior collection came with her, not even her meet outfit and accessories.

And for that I'm glad. I never liked her original meet outfit or accessories. Oh, the underwear and black stockings had their usefulness, but the dress was mediocre at best and blech at worse and helped highlight the idea of turn-of-the-century sepianess and dull colors. And don't get me started on those pitiful ass plastic ugly shoes² or the high neckline that had to cover up that poor ugly white body the first three started out with. It wasn't even shown in the illustrations until the 1998 redraw. Away with it. Now Samantha comes to you in a much more pink set: a pink lace and dotted swiss dress, bloomers, white tights, black Mary Janes, and a velvet ribbon on a ponytail holder that that I don't have. Cause while all the new BeForever outfits come separately for about $36, they don't come with any of the hair decs. Either buy a new doll, clip your own ribbons, or see if you can obtain replacements for the hair clips. The accessories also transmogrified: a headband, velvet purse, and "locket" necklace for the standard accessory cost of $24. This was sold out the day of the BeForever launch--and also, I was getting all the Addy I could get--but later trips to AG got me a set to put on gang members such as Marisol and Nellie. So far there's no reason to touch eBay to get a set--even when it's not sold separately anymore, there's always the possibility of stripping a Samantha to get the hook up, though of course that's the more expensive option. There's also a matching sundress and headband. If you're like Zagat Editor Molly Moker you can fit in the set. I am plush and fat and can't do that.

With Nellie around, she can help share the Edwardian reviews with Marisol. She does an excellent job.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Addy's Sunday Best and 30th Anniversary Mini Doll

Addy with Mini Addy is the cutest thing you've ever seen and you know it.

Let's get the news out of the way first. Yes, I have seen Melody Ellison. I stayed up well past 6 am Monday morning¹ to watch the CBS This Morning video off their YouTube site. I read the article with the pictures. I saved the pictures to my hard drive. I squealed so fucking loud I was worried for a hot second that I might wake up the Bae.

I have seen Melody Ellison, our 1960s BeForever Girl, and she is absolutely goddamn fucking gorgeous and no one can tell me otherwise. She has the flipped pressed textured hair, she has the cutie-patootie Sonali Mold--which I adore just as much as the Addy mold--she has an awesome plaid dress and yes I will be inspecting my DeeDees for the best dress with matching plaids, and she has big brown eyes that I could get lost in. She has a March in '63 pin²  and a kickass hat and bright blue pajamas and a recording studio. Between her and the HamilTome that's coming out this summer, I just will have to remain on the broke side of money outside of my bills. The funeral for my wallet was held Monday night. In lieu of flowers which die too fast, send funds to the Melody Ellison Day One Fund. Thank you.

I keep waving at her and calling her pretty girl, and the gang here is super excited to have her. Addy can't wait to have another member of the Black Historical Club. Ellie is excite to meet her and share science and stuff. Otters thinks she's going to have awesome clothes, Shanna wants to know as much about the music as she can.³ Dorothy is eager to meet more black kids. And Edith? Edith just realized she is like Felicity and Melody is her Elizabeth.⁴ Their relationship will be so Radical. I didn't expect a new face mold--AG tried that with Marie-Grace and while there is nothing wrong with the MG mold, the circumstances of the situation has likely made AG gun shy on pulling for another mold. Her without dimples is fine. Her hair is straight because in the 60s girls didn't wear naturals--they pressed their hair all the live long day. If you had read the book you'd know that her mom sorta has a mini-shock when her oldest daughter wears her hair in a fro. It wasn't the style--Black and Proud was still working its way into the system.

And if you're whining mewling and puking that Melody looks too much like Cécile because they have the same face mold, you can get smacked by the same picture I put up on my IG: #AGIG Racist Logic. The first three girls all has the same face--first four when you include Felicity--and the Classic Mold has more dolls than any other mold released. There's more blond haired blue eyed Classic Mold Dolls about in the moddie line than there are black historical characters ever released. If you have more than two Classic Mold white dolls in your collection but you think Melody looks too much like Cécile to have around, then you need to enema the racism out of your brain and go cleanse your soul and wash your ass. Same if you're whining about her textured hair as being too fuzzy or frizzy. I will harbor no quarter. No County for Old and Young Racists.

So that's the Melody news, and it's got me bouncing off the walls. I'm itching for her so much. The last time I wanted something this badly I french kissed a girl. (We both liked it.)

To today's review because I can't review any Melody stuff til she's out.⁵ Today we're covering one of my most liked outfits for Addy FirstArrival Walker. Back in the far-flung era of 2008, I had been kicked from two, count em two boards and been stabbed in the back by the person that had been my best friend. So I wasn't in the best of contentment in the AG fandom. I still had AG > 18 though, and so when some new shit hit that September, I still got news on it. Among the plethora of things were Kit's New School set, Ruthie's Super Fug Holiday Dress, Felicity's even more Fug Fuckawful Gala Dress, Sam's Velvet Dress that would only last a few months before AG flipped the script and put her in the vault, the Moddie Meet Outfit change to the Star Hoodie set...

...and a set for Addy which I geeked about because Addy hadn't had new clothes since that damned African Dance Outfit. Addy's Sunday Best had a black felt decorated hat and purple print dress and I got it as part of a fall order a couple months later after getting what I wanted from Sam's then-retiring collection. The set was $24 when I ordered it but had eked up to $28 by the time it was coded into the Wiki in 2009, where it has stayed. This year, it even got a mini form in representation in AG's 30 year anniversary mini dolls--sans hat, and with the new shoes Addy wears nowadays. Advertisements originally had this as made by Ruth Walker for her daughter to look cute on Sundays, and I can dig it because Ruth Walker is that kinda momma. The outfit originally had no story ties at all, but with the BeForever recovers, the outfit is seen on the cover of Volume Two of Addy's central stores/Classic Volumes, A Heart Full of Hope. Which is tons better than having the cover of her birthday book have her Stilting Outfit in the revamp, an LE set that was hard as burnt buns to get. Seriously AG, what were you thinking?

Outfit, then mini. Addy's wearing her Classic Meet shoes and stockings because that is how we started and that is where we're staying.

Off Brand Reviews: Carpatina's Vintage Pink Party Dress and Sophia's Ankle Strap Dress Shoes

Ellie: Pretty in Pink.

So here we are in February, and I'm both in a great mood about some things, "seriously? seriously?" about others, and in a "at this rate I will burn it down and leave no trace" about others. The stitches are out of my knee, but the other day I tumbled over a chair and bruised my upper arm on a table and can't really lay on that side when sleeping--which happens to be the side I want to sleep on. So we're at neutral. I made a cute quick fleece blanket and some AG clothes for the gang, and plan to cut out and make more and try to sew more often. AGC's Secret Snarker is underway, and I've finished mine for my giftee--I hope they¹ adore it. There was a short release on Thursday the 11th. I'll try to get it tomorrow, likely--it's a very short release. All Moddie and Bitty Shit, and y'all know how I feel about Bitty Shit. There's some good dates on when Melody will be out, and I'm still saving up for her and her stuff in my tip jar. So excited!

But first, a quickish review.

This likely isn't news to most people, but not everything in my AG collection is by American Girl, LLC. There's some people who are strict AG purists and won't buy anything that doesn't have an AG tag in it, but I ain't ever been one of those people and I ain't ever gonna be. If I can find cute things for my gang--or even new members of the Gang--outside of American Girl proper, I'm going to go for it if I think it can work with them. Hell, a lot of people do. Etsy thrives on it. I've been working on a blogger post about saving money when collecting AG with tips on what I've been doing. Alas, it's been something of a plod. I will finish it sometime, but even without finishing it I can start to talk about some of the other companies with good stuff.

One of those is Sophia's Doll Clothes, a manufacturer of quite a few AG basics--shoes, socks, generic outfits, tights, the like--and various outfits and furniture components. I don't order from them directly so much as I order off of Amazon. They sell both directly to consumers and to wholesalers, so you can likely find someone selling their items on places like eBay, or with handmade outfits as extras. I've got some pieces here and there--mostly shoes, and notably a very nice doll hairbrush.

Another company--and one I simply adore and could gush about forever if I wanted--is Carpatina. Carpatina is probably my favorite outright non-AG seller of fine American Girl and Other Gang Member clothing. The company and brand has been around since 1998, and started to offer dolls in 2002, designed by some of the designers that helped make Stardust Classics.² Not only do they sell clothes for AG sized dolls under their Girlfriends Collection, they also sell clothes sized for their 18" Slim dolls--sizes such as Magic Attic, of which I have a few--and have recently branched into offering patterns in both sizes. While I've yet to buy a doll from them specifically (Julia is my most likely bet when I do pull the trigger, unless they come out with a beautiful dark skinned doll) I have gotten some outfits from them, and I plan to go back.

This December, Boom and I were doing what we do best--chattering about doll stuffs between Hamilton squee--when she got super squee over Carpatina's Vintage Pink Party Dress.³ This was as an alternative to Ellie's birthday dress, which we have both declared Too Hideous to Get. Look, authentic or not, it looks like a tulle nightmare and I won't fucking do it, even if it's in the books. Ellie, when she almost doesn't get to wear the Green Nightmare at her birthday performance, almost wears one of her older sister's pink prom dresses in is place. And well, this is a pink party dress. So it's even slightly canon. After picking out some nice shoes--namely, the Sophia's Ankle Strap Dress Shoes in pink to match--we both ordered sets and I got mine as a post-New Years gift on Amazon. Well, it arrived on the 31st, but my office was closed and the package delivery guy decided that dropping my package at my door was clearly dumb, and making me wait two days was the smart thing to do. Because Reasons. Anyways. The dress was $12.95 and the shoes $6.95, for a total of 19.90 plus tax.⁴ Good deal, considering most AG Direct sets go for $25+ nowadays.

Ellie gets two reviews in a row. It happens. I wanted to do something pink for Valentine's Day. I also didn't do a second body shot of the dress. Alas, it happens.

Also, congrats American Girl Collectors on two years of successful boarding! The members there have in many ways restored my lost faith in AG collecting communities. Love y'all~

Pajama Jammy Jams and Historical Clothes Reviews/Historical Accessories Reviews: Maryellen's Pajamas and Hairstyling Set

Jamming for bed, the 1950s way.

Don't you love it when things conspire to make sure you get fuck all done? I sure don't. So there I was on this past Friday, planning to take some shots of Addy in her Sunday Best Set and Maryellen in her meet set, after getting the mail. Addy so I could compare her to the tiny LE mini, and Ellie to show her in something before her PJs. This was planned after getting my package from the office.

...And then I had a random encounter with a curb. I rolled for dexterity to save my balance, hit a two out of twenty, tripped hard, fell even harder, and both scraped my palm and felt shooting pain in my leg. I caught my breath, got my package and went back home, and inspected the damage. And wow that was a lot of blood and a wide ass cut. A temp patch up and a painkiller later, I waited for the Bae to get home from work and hoped it maybe wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I was wrong. He took one look at the cut and put me in the car and made me go to the urgent care center. This is where the doctors looked at my cut and made faces at it before injecting me and poking and flushing things out with others and three hours of my Friday evening was spent in the urgent care center, including a book reading. All that is to say that there are probably six to twelve stitches in my left knee,¹ it hurts like a son of a motherfucker to walk anywhere or flex my leg too much, and I'm not going to be doing any kneeling for pictures for at least two weeks. Fuck you too, gravity, you whore.

But I did have some older pictures I took beforehand, even if I wasn't planning this review to be Ellie's debut. So Ellie will just have to accept that her debut on the blog is going to be her in her pajamas. She's cool with this, considering she came with me to the Urgent Care center. If anyone understands healthcare needs, it's Ellie.

Ellie--Maryellen Larkin, but around here she much prefers to go by her nickname--wasn't initially going to be a Historical Character I cared for. The 1950s are the most overhyped nostalgia era ever for obnoxious white Baby Boomers, who want to remember the time of their childhood as a wholesome, perfect era of American Greatness when people didn't think about segregation, sexism, racism, or oppression and they didn't have to think about others at all. The Fifties get overly wrought down to the surface aesthetics: poodle skirts, records, jukeboxes, bobby soxers, roller skating diners, television spread, drive in movies, ponytails, white rock and roll, families with father knowing best and mother in pearls and heels, etc. Basically all the fluffy feel-good times with none of the understanding or discussion about the sociopolitial issues that plagued the time. But like Caroline and Kit before her,² Ellie's stories endeared her to me--she likes comics, science, does art, and supports vaccinations (having been disabled by polio). I basically went through a set of Five Stages with her:

1.) Denial: "Damn the 50s! And damn her! She's hazel eyed, she's white, she's got the classic mold, her name is meh--there is nothing special about her. I'm not getting her."
2.) Bargaining. "That outfit's nice. And that one. I'll just get a few of her things for Edith. Edith can wear her clothes. Dorothy too. I don't need Maryellen."
3.) Anger: "I've read the books and why is she such a charming character?"
4.) Sadness. "eeeen I wasn't supposed to like you eeenn i am cry eeeeen"
5.) Acceptance. "Come on, Ellie-jelly. You're the newest member of the Gang. Meet Edith and Dorothy and be friends."

So I ended up getting her as my 35th birthday gift to myself along with some of her clothes, making her the fastest from "I hate you" to "let us snuggle and be friends" since Kit. This included her Pajamas at the standard cost of $24: a top, bottoms, and flat style slippers. A later trip I picked up her Hairstyling Set for $20: a set of twelve rollers, instruction card, storage bag, and sleeping bonnet. The eBay costs are not even being considered on this post. Go to AG, Go Directly to AG, do not pass eBay, do not spend $50. Seriously, it's been five months. Girls' variations on the pajamas exist for those that can fit into them; I am not one of those people.

Hairstyling set first because Ellie had her bonnet on and I took her curls down as I was taking the pictures.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Samantha's Limited Edition Flower-Picking Set

Marisol, always looking fine in Edwardian wear.

We have less than a week until Maryellen Larkin touches down officially and Caroline Abbott leaves forever and ever and ever. AG Scottsdale, since they opened this weekend and (smartly) didn't want to set everything up for Caroline and then have to take it all down in a week, released Maryellen first, so the stuff is floating around. Good for them, allowing the new store on the block to get the shiny new stuff before everyone else who's already done this game. It's not like we can't wait a piddling week.¹ I'm still working out how to go to the ME release because I lucked the fuck out and got PAX Prime tickets for Saturday and Sunday, and Thursday and Friday are always complicated for me getting anywhere. But I will get there, by gods. Even if y'all don't see the post about it all til that Monday.

It's only been about a year since the BeForever Launch and the anniversary of the return of the line's favorite Edwardian, Samantha Mary Parkington.They're slowing down on giving her a crapton of stuff, but she's still ahead of the game in sheer volume what with the gazebo and the ice cream parlor and the easel. AG won't leave her out of a release if they don't have to, and the Limited Edition outfits gave her a spot to shine. Since Addy is no longer going flower picking and kite flying in the same dress,² Samantha has stepped in to make flower gathering a respectable task again with her Flower Picking Dress: a wrap-style calf length dress, tights, high button shoes, a hairbow, and a basket of tulips. The set retails for $48 right now but like Kit's Chicken Set, I snagged this one on sale for $38. eBay prices are ridiculous, and this set has--as far as I can remember--never gone on backorder so there's no excuse to not get it direct until it's retired. The girl's outfit--the  Lacy Tee and Lacy Tiered Skirt--I personally find utterly hideous. Nope!

Flower picking is actually fitting for the era. During the Late Victorian and Edwardian period, bringing nature into the house and prettying it up was a high class hobby, especially if you lived in a city because it showed you had the money to skip out and visit the rural life. At the 1900 Census, about 40% of people lived in urban areas like cities, and only two decades later the population would shift to an urban majority population. (Now about four-fifths of the population resides in urban areas and the percent is still going up.)³ Samantha could be counted as one of the rural turned urban, moving to NYC before the end of her series. All that squished up city living was mentally bothersome and so people would always try to bring nature into the house, though not always for the positive. And since little girls were supposed to be ladies and not go climbing trees Samantha Mary, flower picking and arraignment was a proper activity.

Marisol has graciously decided to wear this outfit for you to see; she does love the turn of the century aesthetic. She even has little pink studs to help the look. Nellie didn't model this set because at the time of the massive photography session, she was wearing the pink dress and pinafore I'd made. She'll model the next Edwardian set that looks bomb on her.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Kit's Limited Edition Chicken-Keeping Set

The care and keeping of chickens, by Kit.

The availability of Historical and BeForever Characters marches on. In only about five weeks or so, Caroline will head off into the archives and be replaced by the red headed, some-colored eyed,¹  Florida living Maryellen of the 1950s, leaving only three girls not placed in the 20th Century--and all of them girls of color. AG's balance is, shall we say, hella imbalanced.

I'm still up in the air about Maryellen's collection--the doll is still on the miss me side for now--but I will be reading the books and jacking things for Edith and Dorothy. Speaking of which, if you haven't preordered Maryellen's books, your best bet right now is Amazon. Thanks to Lucina on AGC, I've been informed of a huge sale. Her Central Series dual books are almost half off;  The One and Only is down to $5.23 and Taking Off is down to $5.18. The Sky's the Limit--the My Journey With book--doesn't have as steep a discount at $9.18, but all three books have the Amazon Preorder guarantee: If the price goes down before release then you get the cheaper price and if the price goes up, you still get the cheapest price that was offered. Right now that's pretty much like buy two of her books and get one free, and all still less than $20. Along with Josefina's Journey book and any item of about 6.50 or more, you can even get free shipping, and you won't be charged until things ship. This is cheaper than getting the box set from them and definitely cheaper than the $10 that AG will be charging for each book and $30 for the box set. Game the system and go read books. They're brain making, and can make folks like a character more than if they'd just gone on looks and sparkly collection things.

I know that was the case with me and Kit Kittridge. Kit--along with Samantha and still-vaulted Molly--used to be part of what I called the 20th Century Block Out. Starting at about the time I got into AG collecting in 2005, AG tended to be on a trend of releasing sets that only focused on Kit, Sam, and Molly. First it was the Rolling through the Ages sets of outdoor wheeled activities and outfits. Then the swimwear through the ages sets, which again, was the three of them and their beachwear. Then the Scrapbooking collection of books that and even though Kit did not get a new outfit for those, she was included by having a book. So I didn't like Kit, and felt she was kind of an usurper taking emphasis away from Addy. Then I picked up her books secondhand and started to read and found that Kit, for all her blue eyed, bobbed blond hair self, was more than just another classic molded face. Girl was struggling in poverty, dealing with a best friend who didn't always get it, and liked to write news. Six read books later Kit went from "do not want" to "do want" and so became part of the gang in 2007 soon after I moved to the place I'm at now, and she's in my top five Historical loves. Addy keeps winning at BeForever, but Kit's not so far behind her and often places second in the race, and if I have to dicker about who to get something for after busting the budget on Addy, it's quite possible that I'll go for Kit. Especially now that her BeForever Wardrobe is less 40s mashed with 20s and more properly early 30s.

Like Addy, Sam, Julie, Kaya, and Rebecca, Kit was included in the BeForever Limited edition release as well as the prior Limited Edition Release with Rebecca, Julie, and Kaya.² This spring, she got Kit's Chicken-Keeping Set which had me geeking from the moment of release. At the cost of $48 dollars, Kit gets a cherry print blouse, green checked overalls, brown buckle shoes, a headband, and a plushy chicken to tend. Accurate to the books, even--in Happy Birthday Kit!,³ Aunt Millie comes up from Kentucky and stays with the Kittridges for a bit, and in the process sets up chicken keeping and selling the eggs for money. Kit's mother thinks this makes them look even more country rube than anything, but Kit really likes the chickens and loves helping take care of them. During the spring sale, it was offered for $38 and like Addy's Sewing Set, went quickly on backorder. Unlike Addy's sewing set, it's practically stayed that way. First until April, then August, and currently it shows backordered until October. Sweet Polly Oliver, Kit. At least when things are on backorder, they can still be ordered, so that's what I did. I managed to order it during the sale over the phone at AG Seattle and while this meant paying shipping, it meant also that I got the set at discount. If you're small enough or have kids that are small enough, you can also get into the Cheery Blossoms Top and Cheery Checks Jumper for historically inspired cosplay. The set's only here in this form until December 31st or as long as supplies last--and Kit's supplies on this have not lasted worth a damn, so place the backorder and wait til it ships out this fall.

Under the cut!

Historical Clothes Reviews: Addy's Limited Edition Dress and Sewing Set

Crafting done right with the right girl for crafting.

It's been a rough couple of weeks and a great couple of weeks. I had a good time visiting family and I had a great time at A-Kon--it's like family reunion for me my trips to Texas. I took Addy and Kira with me to Texas and managed to get to go to two AG stores in the process--AG Houston with family and AG Dallas on the way back from the airport.  And I got back home safe and with neat things, including the Last Hearts 4 Hearts I wanted and a new little darling BJD that, if you follow my Instagram, you've seen shots of.¹ (I shall pick back up Casual Fridays and post more about her then.) But on the flip side, I've been super duper exhausted. Not physically so much as mentally. Not only is there the draining news over and over of assaults on black people and the utter mental strain of being a black woman in America looking at all this hate and cruelty and racism, there's been the tropical storm coming too close to family for comfort, and general malaise and anxiety. I have been suffering from what can be called a severe case of "Fuck This Shit, I'm Out."

Time to retreat back into doll blogging and restabilize myself.

To show you I'm keeping up with the AG News: There's been a small release for Grace--well small for dolls, largeish for stuff overall--and I'll cover that when the summer release comes out so that I'm not blogging about just three things and people clothes. There's also the Pintrest sneak peeks for the new BeForever and Truly Me stuff ²--and Addy stays winning and blowing away the competition. Goddamn, is blue her color. I can't help myself when it comes to Addy--I want practically everything she has AG offers, and if that means she owns two beds and two nightgowns then damn it she's going to own two beds and two nightgowns.³ My girl will stay spoiled rotten and there's shit all anyone can say to me about it.

I tend not to delay on getting my happy brown hands on Addy stuff, even if it means I don't pay the sale price when prices drop a few months later on one of the frequent AG sales that they seem to be doing nowadays. So when Addy's Dress and Sewing Set was released as part of the Spring BeForever release, I went straight to the store as soon as I could and snapped it right up. Not only was it Addy, it was sewing, and that's one of the most perfect combinations for me, like combining ducks, ballet, fairy tales, and magical girls.⁴ For $48 dollars--or $38 if you got it on sale--the set comes with a plaid dress, white ribbon trimmed pinafore, stockings, inner laced boots, scissors, tape measure, and pincushion, and the story with the set is that Addy is helping her mother and Mrs. Ford out in the dress shop in her cute new duds. And y'all were whining that outfits weren't going to be tied to the stories anymore. Wah wah wah. I may have payed Early Adoption Taxes⁵ but it's Addy, so I take my lumps. That and when the set was on sale, it was hella backordered. As it is Kit's Chicken Keeping Set only came off back order long enough for me to get my mitts on it before it decided not to show back up again until August. The set is part of AG's new deal with Historicals where they release Limited Edition outfits that are only here til December 31st in their current incarnation, so this one has an end date before you're looking at eBay for a complete set. So don't delay or you'll find yourself shortchanged on the pretty. There's also a matching girl's set--historic cosplay in modern styles, and that would be the Periwinkle Plaid Top and Classic Crops--it'll go away as well, when this set does.

Once again I find myself blogging about Addy on Juneteenth. It's only fitting, I guess. To the review--where I've decided stuff comes before clothes cause that is how I took my pictures.

Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessories: Addy's BeForever Meet Outfit and Accessories

It's the all-new Addy-Meet Review, starring Addy Walker.

Oh, Addy. My first and forever American Girl. As soon as I saw her BeForever revamp, I knew that she was going to top it all and threw money at AG for her and her things. She's winning the game better than anyone with what she's been getting, including Samantha and her Goddamn Gazebo. Yes, I have innate bias and I don't even care that I do, because Addy needs and deserves love. Addy is the best character and written with a massively poignant character arc since she didn't get her stories mealy-written or the teeth torn out like some characters--Samantha, your potential was so great. People who claim otherwise or don't give her her props and shit on her need to get a clue and a half and get the racism out of their souls.¹ I've yet to get her tweaked books other than her Journey book, but I'm aiming for that eventually. And not just hers, but all the others. Again. Even if I have them which I do, The BeForever Books added text and tweaks, as I saw messing with Samantha's for a bit in the store, and that's just enough change for me to desire a whole new set. The life and struggles of a bibliophile are many and take up lots of shelf space. If they offer the books at Costco again, I'll likely bite down for that as the best bargain of a box set.

But let's not dwell hard on that. This is a clothes review, not book blather, and clothes review means clothes cuteness. Since Molly's out of the game for the forseeable future and not likely to come back any time soon, Addy's taken over the blue color² and that includes her meet clothes, since we're doing color coordination now. Gone is the classic cinnamon pink dress and cap toed boots that I reviewed some time back; now when Addy is given brand new freedom clothes, Miss Caroline hooks her up with a whole new fancy set: a blue calico bell-sleeved day dress, white drawers, white stockings, and black button side shoes.

I was almost ready to buy a whole new second Addy to get the new outfit and still may get one later on to help push the Addy love. But AG smartly offered the new outfits for all the revamped girls on launch day for a flat rate of $36, and I was lucky enough that there was one left in stock at AG Seattle when I went to the BeForever launch that I snatched right up. Fates with me. The boxed new outfits--which will each get their reviews as I get to them--don't come with any hair ribbons or decs in box, so if you want those you will either have to call in and order them or get a new girl, and I have blue ribbon around the house everywhere so I just clipped two of those to get her hair in the new style. But you get everything else. Her accessories also were revamped; she still has her cowrie shell necklace that means a lot, but her bonnet has been revamped with a new black plaid ribbon and she has given up the kerchief for a practical quilted tote bag for the low cost of $24. Yes, it cost me $60 plus tax to outfit her in her meet set again, and I don't even care because it's Addy. There's sets on eBay, and they cost varying amounts, but don't buy things from eBay that are available to you standard. I took these pictures right after she got her new set--the same time I took the ones for Josefina's review--but it took a while to get to. My review also includes the new Mini-doll, since I have one of those too.

Before I get into the review, news up. Yes, I know about the upcoming Fall BeForever Character on the docket and her three books, as well as the upcoming Journey book for Josefina. But until I have more details, I'm not going to speculate. I don't like speculation that can't be confirmed.  That's how you say wrong things. And one last Josefina thing--I recently got her older rebozo, so go back and look at her Meet Review to see it!

Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessories: Kit's Classic Meet Outfit and Accessories

Kit, old school in more than a few ways.

Kit, like everyone else in the Historical group except Kaya and Caroline, received a complete outfit revamp and collection refreshing with the launch of BeForever. Her teal color scheme on the side of her books migrated to her clothes. This brand new outfit look--teal and red, the basic Generidress silhouette done well--led to a lot of misinformed, uneducated mewling about how teal was somehow invented after the Great Depression and how her now-Classic meet set was so much better. I have to wonder how many people are blinded by nostalgia. It's not a terrible set, but--well, I'll go into details.

Kit was one of the two Historical characters that came around in that lull I had when I wasn't really focusing much on American Girl in college, the other being Kaya. Her books brought me around to adoring her and adding her to the group. Kit is not a flouncy fluffy pink girl¹ (this is why I didn't get her Easter set, along with the faux chocolate) and both her meet outfits have reflected that well given the confines of the 1930s in girls' wear. My girl's not just into waste-not, want not--she's into recycling, the environment, canning and jelly making, and socialism. And drinking out of Mason jars before hipsters Columbused² that shit. So I'm really kind of glad that Kit's one of the girls who got a major revamp from BeForever, since she's one of my up-there girls. Since her movie, things have gotten pretty fluffy in her collection--Ruthie, what did you do?--and while there's been a few things I've given major side eye to, I've gotten a lot of it. Including all her original Base Six outfits, which includes the meet set.

Kit's Classic Meet Outfit was released with her back in 2000--a mauve-lavender sweater and cardigan set, floral print skirt, closed toed canvas sandals, and basic white bloomers. Fun fact! Until later in the set's run, this was the only meet outfit that contained no Velcro; when it did, it was solely on the shoes until later versions also velcroed the skirt. My set doesn't have either. Currently it's available for $36 while supplies last. Her classic meet accessories included a woven clutch purse, Buffalo nickle, cloche hat, handkerchief, and compass necklace; these were available for a limited time after the BeForever release but now would have to be purchased on eBay and the costs are high. I've had her meet outfit since she joined up the gang in 2007 and brought her meet accessories with her--but not her underwear, so I had her wear some close-enough pink bloomers until I got her some closer white drawers.

Those are some pink panties, girl.³

Kit, like pretty much all my Historical girls, displays her own outfits here on the blog and doesn't have to share them with anyone else. She's a little more willing to share clothes with those that like her style for casual shots, but for reviews she's here to do the stuff herself and so she gets to do the stuff herself. So all you people bitching that I seem to be "racist against white people" by putting most of the outfits for Historicals I Don't Own on my Dolls of Color can shut the entire hell up. I don't know how you managed to not notice that Felicity only shares her clothes with Dear Elizabeth.⁴

Unlike Josefina, where the meet changes were mostly in two items, everyone else who was revamped got a lot of major changes. So when I do the BeForever meet sets for everyone else--I own them all--I'm going to do separate posts.

Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessories: Josefina's Meet Outfit (Classic and BeForever) and Meet Accessories

Hola, amigos y amigas, from Josefina.

November has been one of those draining months. Between Nano work (went slow but passed the goal, so ten years of victory, though), disabilities, clutter both good and bad, and current events, Nethie has been half curled in a ball trying to shut out the world. Shit happens, and sometimes the answer to handling shit is to not look and take time to just not. And there has been a lot of just not being able to. But I would be even more upset with myself if I went a whole month without a blog post here. Even if it's been almost a month since my last one. You still love me. As of right now we only have whispers and rumors of next year's Girl of the Year, though we know so far that she's a baker and has to go do some stuff in Paris. And that she's probably white, because people of color, whatever, they need to be mixed to fit our aesthetic, let's have four years of white girls. Le Sigh.

BeForever has been, in my opinion, one of the best things that could happen to the Historical section of American Girl. Before the launch, the line was getting muted out by both Girls of the Year and the modern line, who unlike the Historicals weren't stuck in a narrative of still being tied to the old days of  Pleasant Company for a huge part. While new things came out here and there, they had their meet outfits the same since the initial release--and as I said in an older post,¹ AG could only bleed us so long on old things. I'm a reliable Addy buyer, but before BeForever launched I could count the number of outfits of hers I didn't have on one hand. I have her whole collection, and I'm not the only one. American Girl can't really make money off of collections that people have already, especially not in an era where people can buy secondhand a lot easier than before (eBay yoooo). BeForever has given the Historicals a huge breath of fresh air that several characters had been lacking, and there is little in the line I don't adore and don't want to get my hands on for the girls I collect for.² The three biggest Historicals to get makeovers were Samantha (back from the past), Julie, and probably Kit; however, there are those that got very little focus. The biggest example is Josefina Montoya, who didn't get anything but a new BeForever Meet outfit. She hasn't even gotten a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book yet. This has led to whispers of her being retired or downplayed by AG, mixed with the rumors that she was set aside and she'll get her full new things come spring. We'll see.

Josefina was the last Historical Character released before the Official Purchase from Mattel, coming out late 1997. She and her stories represents the New Mexico area in the 1820s, when it was not yet part of the US and still part of Mexico, a still new country that had very recently separated from Spain. As in, Josefina would have been considered Spanish when she was born, since she was born seven or so years before the Mexican Revolution.³ Josefina is from a fairly well-to-do family; they have their own ranch which wasn't cheap, and her grandfather traveled as a trader. When Josefina was released--with a brand new face mold--she joined Addy as the only other character of color outside of the American Girls of Today and the only expressly Latina character.⁴ It wouldn't be until Marisol Luna in 2005 that another Latina character would be released and not until 2006 that the face mold would be used for a moddie. Her face mold, however, has been used for four other Historical Characters, another moddie, and two Girls of the Year, all who have been white. I find this slightly annoying, personally. Can we get some Josefina Face Mold darker than unflavored oatmeal, please. Ahem. Originally at release, Josefina also had her books translated into an older style of Spanish, something not done anymore and only done with her. Somewhere in my house is Josefina's birthday book in Spanish. Unique, but it didn't last long.

Josefina was one of the characters I fell for in the AG line, having grown up in Texas and having lots of exposure to Chicano culture as a child, and so I definitely wanted her to be part of my collection at some point. I was fortunate in 2006 to, with a tax refund check, be able to get Josefina with what's now called her Classic meet set in a private purchase that included some of her outfits, Kaya, and some of Kaya's stuff at a discount. Her meet outfit is intended to reflect the loose comfortable wear of women and girls in Mexico during the era; it consists of a camisa (blouse), print skirt, sash belt, drawers, hair ribbon, flower hair decoration, and moccasins and came on her. I'm not about to work out the math of how much that cost me but it wasn't full cost; currently the Classic Meet is available from AG direct for $36. Her accessories were purchased soon after I got her for what was then $20 and consist of a jola coin, handkerchief, waist pouch, garnet necklace, and rebozo; the cost is now $24 as with any other set of accessories. At the launch of BeForever, I got her updated Meet outfit for $36 day of release; it has all the same parts, but with some notable changes. It's quite possible that she'll be losing the coin and handkerchief come any BeForever revamps, so if you want those jump on it soon. Since little changed in her meet outfit, I'll be comparing things as I go for the most part. It doesn't make sense to write two separate paragraphs on parts of the outfit that are near exactly the same in design.

Earrings: Now for Josefina.

Before I dive in: like Addy, Josefina was given non-removable gold loop earrings. A lot of Hispanic and Latina culture has ear piercing done very soon after birth, and this was true in the past. Josefina likely would have had the ice needle and potato soon after she was born, and worn earrings her whole life. I love that she has this little bit of clear culture in her design.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Samantha's Play Dress and Pinafore

Nellie-girl, looking properly Edwardian.

Aooga! Aooooga! Less than two weeks to the BeForever Launch! All hands on deck! Batten the hatches and hard to starboard! It's the return of Samantha and her ruffles and new books and people mewling that Teal Wasn't Around in 1932¹ or that this is "extremely traumatizing"--which if the redo of a doll line from a major company that isn't catering to you specifically is your biggest trauma in the last year and change, I am glad you haven't really had major problems. I for one am so excited I can barely sit still for the want of new things for Addy, Kit, Josefina, Kaya, and the others. I may be at the launch--working things out with buddies--and will likely give y'all my happy reviews that Friday, seeing as I won't be at PAX til Saturday. Doll blogging gaming nerds unite! Our moddies have a 3DS and take pics with nerds.

If you have spent any time on this blog, you've heard me nearly pop a vessel at the fact that AG marketed Samantha Parkington as a bright "Victorian" beauty for a majority of her release. This is because it's wrong. I refuse to let her be referred to as Victorian. Samantha, and the time period from 1900 til about 1910 is better called Edwardian, if we're going to tie American eras to British monarchs. Queen Victoria of England--who the era was named for--died in 1901, and while most eras don't have a definitive end date we have this as a record so good goddamn there's no excuse. Sam's series not only is set in the US--despite the whole "England was the center of Western culture" thing going on til about WW2--but in 1904, which is well into the Edwardian era. The Edwardian era was big on fighting the rigid class hierarchy and societal positions and assumptions that had been thought of as default in the prior era. Women sought rights, the common laborer was pushing back against the idea that it was all right for them to be exploited in the name of progress, and people of color were fighting back against the idea that they just had to put up with white people shit and their colonizing everything and killing people just because they could. In the US, the better term is probably the Progressive Era, which ran from about the 1890s to the 1920s and was characterized by the reformation of government, society, and economic policy. Samantha's books--well at least the first two²--emphasis a rebellion against the class structures that characterized the Victorian era. Grandmary is Victorian minded, but even by the end of the main series she's opening up her mind. So for the sweet love of fucking ruffled bloomers, hairbows, and gingerbread, stop calling Samantha Victorian. Addy is more Victorian--at least Queen Victoria was alive then.

I may not have tons of love for Samantha the doll, but she's starting to be an okay distant character and I do like her time period. Which, at the launch of AG, was one of the big throwbacks of the 80s; there was a huge revival of late Victorian and early Edwardian fashions and trends. So Samantha and the AG launch took a bite down on that and held on, and that's why so many years we're looking at her again to be the bridge to support a relaunch of the Historical Line. When I first started having AG pop on my radar in the late 80s I was not much into Samantha, because I much more preferred the idea of the Pioneer era thanks to it being a huge thing at my elementary school. I did like some of Samantha's clothes, but I was very much of the mindset that each doll kept to her own era, and that was that. You stayed in your lane, and I didn't like Princess Samantha, and her stuff was not allowed. And since I didn't want her, I didn't have her stuff. This carried through my first years of actually collecting after I got Addy--with a few exceptions such as kimono and yukata--until Kaya arrived. Kaya was not going to stay stuck in the Braids Beads and Buckskins mentality and pulled on a set of jeans, thus becoming my first Historical/Moddie blend. Then, several years back, I and a collector friend of mine, Jane, came upon a store locally that sold secondhand AG clothes. They had Samantha's Play Dress and Pinafore among some other older, retired outfits. I decided that if I hated it that much, I could always sell it secondhand and bought it and the Tea Dress. I put it tentatively on Marisol, Marisol looked goddamn gorgeous, and that was all she wrote.³ I started picking up Sam's things for her and then Rebecca's, and expanded my collection focus.

But the outfit. When Samantha launched with Molly and Kirsten in 1986, she only came with stuff and things from her first three books, followed later by her last three books and the stuff from that. Then in 1989, she recieved an outfit not on the cover of her books but mentioned in her very first book, her Play Dress and Pinafore: a blue checked dress, a matching hairbow, and a white pinafore for $22. Samantha, being rich, did not have a work dress. Originally the outfit did not come with the lacy socks--but these were later added by 1999 when the huge Wishes Catalogues came out. I think I paid about that much. I got the socks and shoes--which are part of this review--in Samantha's Shoes and Socks set for $15 when I was building up Marisol's turn of the century wardrobe. The pinafore was retired in 2006 and the shoes and socks set went down with Sam's initial retirement. Right now we don't know for certain that it's on the way back in a few weeks or a new version of it. Ignoring the stupid spikes on eBay for the outfit, it can be gotten for about $25-30 bucks with everything. The shoes and socks go for dumb prices and I would not pay them. My dress is a PC version, but I'm sure there's little to no difference in this one and the Mattel one.

Since Nellie recently joined my gang this January, she now has the beautiful distinction of getting to model a lot of Samantha's clothes for reviews. I dickered on getting Nellie before her retirement in 2008, so I got her more recently when a buddy of mine in AG collecting wanted her to find a good home when she was downsizing her collection and held on to her for me for a long time. Nellie O'Malley is a mix of moddie and Historical, and now she can wear all Sam's stuff for reviews (cause gods knows Tara has to be dragged kicking and screaming into it). I don't have much for Nellie directly out of her collection except her meet dress, so she'll be rocking Sam's stuff. Nellie shares my birthday--October 15th--and is a much more practical, sensible, thoughtful, and knowledgeable girl than flighty, froofy, head in the clouds Samantha. It's really terrible how she got shuffled off in the books by Valerie Tripp/on AG's order because she really sort of smacked Samantha out of her privilege just by being her friend, and her being pushed off until book 6 was terrible. 

Freckles everywhere!

Also, fun fact? I didn't like the sparse freckles on her and so added a ton more, including three on her chin and one on her lip.

Review ahoy~!

Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessories: Addy's Meet Outfit and Meet Accessories

Addy meets the world! And runs this joint.

Did you miss me? I'm sure you did. I'm pretty awesome. I got back home about a week ago, but circumstances got in the way of my posting. I'm sure you still love me, and I'll try to get back on a regular weekly schedule. Anyways, enough chatter from me, and more posting. I'm here to both review and educate, and I plan on doing both.

If you didn't know--and how could you not?--now you know: BeForever is coming down the pipeline. This is a revamping of the Historical Characters Line that will be resulting in a lot of changes to appeal to a new generation of children and the return of the doll Everyone Loves to Kiss the Ass of, Samantha Parkington. Some changes I've seen the leaks of include new Meet Outfits, redone Central Series books¹ that will be bundled into two-book volumes, and new outfits and accessories. This has also resulted in the official retirement of the Best Friends Line (with Ruthie Smithens the first doll to drop out of the race and end up out of stock). While not every Historical will be getting redone clothing--Caroline, for one, will be keeping her current look--several are getting a whole new Meet. Including my favorite girl, Addy Walker.² So I'm likely going to go over her and several other Historical Character's meet sets in some reviews.

Before we talk about her meet outfit, let's have some history education, Today is actually a very historically significant day in Black American History: Juneteenth. Juneteenth marks the last day that slaves in the US learned that they were free. Everyone knows about the Emancipation Proclamation, which announced the end of slavery. But that was just in the Confederate States--and only in places not already under Union control. Plus it didn't apply to the border states--states with slavery that didn't secede. Hell, Delaware and Kentucky still had slavery legal until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. The Emancipation Proclamation was less a "Lincoln freed the slaves" moment of equality and more "Lincoln wanted to cut off a major part of the South's production and fuck them up" war maneuver. But given the circumstances, black people took what they could get.

Anyways, freedom for slaves! In theory. The Confederacy--Texas included--didn't give a single fuck what those Yankee bastards had to say, and ignored the shit out of the news. And unlike nowadays, news didn't move very fast, and if you didn't tell someone news, they just didn't know. So as the Union Army worked its way south and west and took shit down, they would tell the slaves "oh by the way, you've been free since January first, 1863, get on that." Also, travel was slow as shit, not helped by the fact that there was, you know, a fucking war on. This all led up to the fact that Texas kept its slaves for practically the entire war and a few months afterwards.

It wasn't until June 18th 1865--over a month after the official end of the war on May 10th (and three days before the final shot was fired on June 22nd by the CSS Shenandoah) that a Union General, Gordon Granger, and federal troops showed up on Galveston Island. They took Texas back for the Union and enforced emancipation. On June 19th, General Granger got up on the balcony of the Ashton Villa and let the black folk of Texas know that they were free people and that this was the way shit was. Celebrations started immediately and were formally done the next year in 1866--and have, in some way, been happening ever since. This makes Juneteenth one of the oldest Black History celebrations in the US. In Texas it was made a Texas state holiday in 1980--the same year I was born--and in the 80s and 90s when my black ass was growing up in Texas the celebration was in major revival and spread across the nation. So yes, Addy would have likely participated in Juneteenth celebrations at some point.

Back to her meet outfit. Addy Walker's debut in 1993 added the first doll of color to the AG lineup and the first girl with earrings--permanent as they are. She came with her first three books illustrated by Melodye Rosales and a lot of neat shit that I absolutely coveted and now pretty much have all of--including the desk. Addy's meet outfit--until the relaunch--consists of a pink and white dress, white drawers, black stockings, black boots, and a blue hair ribbon. Her accessories--for $20 originally and bumped up to $24 as prices rose--are a straw bonnet, half-dime, kerchief, water gourd, and a cowrie shell necklace. You've got til August 28th before the revamp to get her in original form; after that, you're looking at eBay prices which range from "that's not so bad" to "you're getting ripped off, honey." But you'd probably still be able to find them for respectable costs since she's been around for over twenty years. Addy was a Giftmas Gift to me in 2005 and my first AG ever, so I paid "ohmigawd I love you in-laws you are the best" for it. Unlike several meet outfit and accessory sets, Addy's entire outfit is given major significance in her books: the outfit (and hat) is the first outfit she is given by Miss Caroline on her way running to freedom in the north, and the accessories are all mentioned in her first book.

Oh, and the background isn't my usual fully backed green for the most part; it's the wall of my mom's place on top of one of her display tables, and the images are a little yellow in places because of the lighting at the time. I meant to make this post while in Texas, but so much came up that it didn't get posted. And with my scanner in WA State, I couldn't give you all the beautiful data I like to give with my historical reviews so it all works out.

On with the show!

Clothes Review: Colonial Williamsburg Doll Dresses and Hats

Felicity and Elizabeth: gay as springtime.

So I'm heading to my yearly Texas Vacation, which means that the reviews I meant to get done all May will have to be put off again. Granted, I'm taking my Samantha all-in-one book, Addy, and Charlotte--but the more detailed stuff will have to wait a bit. Such is life. I get swept up in life stuff and look up at my calendar and son of a bitch, half of May is gone.¹ But I'm not a news blog, so it's not like I have to report on the new stuff immediately. Speaking of the new stuff, yes I know the following:

• BeForever is Coming AKA the revamp of the Historical line. I'm actually excited for it, even if it means buying a whole new set of Addy books again. And a not!Addy to get that beautiful blue dress. The illustrations aren't so bad, and there's nothing cuter than Addy and her baby sister on the cover of that volume 2, fight me.
• Samantha is coming out of the AG vault, done known for a while. She gonna be paaaaaaaank.
• Cecile and Marie-Grace are looking at retirement, as are Ivy and Ruthie, so I need to get Ivy's Chinese Dress and then figure out what to do with it. Ruthie I never wanted anything for or to have, so eh, and I have all the Cecile stuff I want. 
• Wonderbread's Movie is on the way down the pipeline. I will watch it but I'll be dragged if I'm buying it. That's what NBC broadcasts are for.

Are we all caught up? Good. Now I can do this review and pic blurbing.

One of the neat things about my collection is that I've never felt obligated to just get clothes for any of my gang members from AG direct. Not only do I craft outfits myself, I look at other craft places and outlets for buying: etsy, eBay, Toys R Us, Target,² and the like. I never understood people who only wanted AG stuff for their AG girls; AG makes nice things, but they don't have to be the only people getting your cash money. Branch out, for the love of gods.

One of the sources worth considering is Colonial Williamsburg.³ Williamsburg, Virginia basically has a living museum where visitors can see what the place was like in the era around the time of the American Revolution. I've never had a chance to go--some day, damn it--but I have been interested in it since I was a teenager. They have an online shop, which is how I've gotten everything I've gotten from them. The stuff to buy ranges from books to bedsheets, jewelry to mobcaps. A lot of what they have is for adults and/or the house, but there's also cloth dolls, plush, and patterns. Plus I have an e-mail subscription to their mailing list, so I get discount coupons. A few weeks ago I ordered a set of outfits for Felicity and Elizabeth: two doll dresses in purple and pink and matching straw hats. They also come in children's sizes that match and there are adult sized dresses, but not with matching prints. Alas, there goes my cosplay idea.

It's a touch hard to find them on the site; the best bet is to just search "doll" or go through the Made in America section. (ETA 3/11/17: My links now point to the sets I got.) The items were made in Colonial Williamsburg from reproduction fabric: the dresses cost $35 each, and the hats $16, so you're looking at $51 per set. I had a 20% off coupon plus free shipping, making each set about $41, so relatively good to an AG set--and considering that Felicity and Elizabeth's stuff is all in the Vault and has to be purchased off the secondary market, it's a good cost. This is half review and half fluff pictures, since I took the girls outdoors.

Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessories: Felicity's Christmas Gown and Stomacher, Invitation and Fashion Doll, and LE Mini Doll

Merry Holidays from Felicity Merriman~

"I'm going to post Felicity's set on the seventh, the day the dance is in her stories," I said with great exuberance on the sixth. My body said differently. Two days past an aggravating headache and a considerable amount of sleep later, we actually start this. Yay, chronic illnesses. Felicity accepts the things she can't change and changes the things she can do something about, and so do I.

Many people really don't care for the beginning of January. This is because we as a society nowadays tend to compress everything. You only have so long to go on vacation, enjoy childhood, mourn deaths or celebrate life changes, and celebrate any and all holidays. Move on to the next thing and stop sitting around in the past, or something. Also everyone's harping on you about your resolutions¹ or something, the gray skies are still gray, the days are only marginally getting longer--say what you want, the sun's still set at five around these parts--and right now a huge part of the country is caught in a polar vortex of cold where blowing bubbles literally will freeze. I much prefer my personal trend of carrying the winter celebrations on as far as I possibly can. And if right now that means continuing the holiday reviews, then so be it. Plus I said I was going to try to cover everyone at least once, and I mean it, even with spacings out of other things such as crafting, customizing, and magazines.

Historically, Christmas and the entire holiday season started to get a bad rap in about the late 1600s, with some places in England and its colonies banning the celebration outright. Christmas was considered pagan, Papist² and the drunken revelry and such was looked down as a vulgar holiday. You can blame the Puritans and hardcore Protestants for that. Like you can for most things. It really wasn't until Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that the holidays started to reroot in society as a season of joy and celebration. Even then that wasn't about Jesus either, especially in the story. It was about compassion and goodwill towards fellow man, peace, and a time for family and friends. Christmas has always had a secular side since it became the sort of modern situation it is now. "Jesus Birthday" is a pretty modern turn on the holiday, to be honest. (And that's why I'm cool for calling it Giftmas.)

Christmas was and wasn't popular in the American Colonies--it really depended on where you went. Virginia and New York were pretty gung ho for the holiday season, and Felicity is from Williamsburg, VA, so she would have been for the holiday and the Christmastide season. In her story she gathers holly, makes Shrewsbury cakes, and spends time with family--and this culminates in her going to the Governor's Ball on January seventh and participating in a dancing lesson--which is a nice way to say "come and dance your butt off and enjoy things."³ Felicity had originally thought she'd  just wear her brown silk gown⁴ she wore to church every Sunday, but she sees a sample of the dress on a fashion doll and just lights up--and when her mother sees that for the first time she can think of that Felicity wants to have a pretty gown and actually be girly, she indulges her daughter's girliness and gets the stuff to make the dress. This is why I side eye the people who act like Felicity was some sort of 24/7 gung-ho, fuck all your feminine ways tomboy. Lesbians can like pretty dresses too. I like pretty dresses. But this is a outfit review, not a book review, and if I start babbling about the book I'll never ever get to the outfit.

Like Felicity herself, the Christmas Gown and Stomacher (also named Felicity's Holiday Dress) came out in time for holiday 1991. Felicity was the first historical to come out after Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly. Which is weird, because Saint Pleasant the Overly Revered initially got the idea--so the mythos goes--by going to Colonial Williamsburg. (Whatever, Ms. Rowland had and has issues and I'm not above bitching about them at a later time.) The outfit initially consisted of a gown, petticoat, two stomachers--one lace, one ribboned--a ribbon choker, and pinner cap when it was released. The hair ribbon was added in 1993, and white flat shoes with blue bows were added sometime after 2005 with Felicity's revamping because when I got the outfit as my Giftmas gift in 2006 it came with those shoes. Yes, Felicity was also a Giftmas gift like Addy--I got my husband the Wii since I'd just started working at Nintendo, and he got me Felicity and a good starting chunk of her collection, including this dress for the going cost of $28.

Felicity's holiday collection contained several things, much like the other girls before her: the Shrewsbury Cake food set (with Real Sugar!), her Invitation and Fashion Doll, and Noah's Ark--which was a special toy only for the holiday season for the children to play with. While I have the ark, it is not appearing right now because my house ate the little wooden ramp. If I don't find it by this weekend I may assume it got thrown out and make a new one. And I don't have the Shrewsbury cakes set. If I ever come across it for less than a hundred fucking dollars, I'll consider it--I really only want the basket, cloth, and cookie cutters. We can all live without actual sugar from 1991. The Invitation and doll were retired right before Felicity was in 2009 or so, the ark in 2007 (after a few revisions), the cooking set in--sometime, I don't fucking know--and the dress set with Felicity when they put her in the American Girl Vault in 2011, though it sold out before she did. Since Felicity's retirement prices have shot up on everything; her dress goes for upwards of $60 bucks, though with patience you can get it for around the $32 that it was before retirement.

I'm actually about as purist fussy about Felicity as I get about Addy--she doesn't share her clothes with the notable exception of Talk Like a Pirate Day and Elizabeth getting in her clothes in more than one way. Well, to be honest it's to a lesser degree when it comes to getting things for her collection. While I won't blink twice about paying through the nostrils for some of Addy's collection at times--though I do try for bargains--I will not pull the trigger as fast for Felicity. (The costs for that Travel Trunk can fuck off.) But she's one of my favorite girls and I fell in love with her easily--she was the second AG Historical to join my gang back in 2006. When they put her up for retirement I got almost everything for her I didn't already have, which was mostly furniture and accessories. (But not that gala gown, what even was that shit.) I even did a whole photostory series about her arrival that I scooted out over the course of weeks that December: Naomi's Giftmas Surprise.⁵ I also later got her her love, Elizabeth Cole. She's a custom with brown eyes and hair. That blond girl ain't Darling Elizabeth. I'm an original book purist.

I don't have the white shoes anymore. Well I do but they got reappropriated to someone else's holiday wear because I much prefer Felicity in her meet shoes for this set. Of course, this review has the mini-doll. And there will be lesbian innuendo all throughout. There always is with Felicity here, because I ship Felicity/Brunette!Elizabeth hard. Their love is so revolutionary.⁶

Historical Clothes Reviews and Historical Accessories: Addy's Tartan Plaid Dress, Ida Bean Doll, LE Mini Doll, and Sweet Potato Pudding Kit

Merry Giftmas, AddyWalker!

Merry Fucking Giftmas to all my readers, lurkers, lovers, haters, and hangers-on. And that's not sarcasm, that's exuberant joyful cursing.

Normally, I don't do back to back day posts, hence my holiday series reviews going to carry into January. It's stressful on me, and I get tired and feel like I'm flooding you with too much data. I always worry I'm going on and on about shit no one cares about when I get into The Doll Zone. But today is Giftmas, and Giftmas is very important to my AG collecting. Because, if you haven't read the story before or spent any time on this blog, let me remind you. Christmas Morning, 2005 was when I got my first AG doll ever after wanting one since I was kinda around eight or nine and falling in love with Addy when I was thirteen: Aduke "Addy" FirstArrival Walker.¹ I was 25 years old, and my mother- and father-in-law² got me her, her meet accessories, her nightgown with her heartwarmer and slippers, the hair kit, her work dress, and her Tartan Plaid Dress. I cried, people. I fucking sobbed when I got her and I'm not ashamed. I immediately changed her into the dress and she was so pretty that I swear she glowed in my arms. I cuddled her all day and eventually started snuggling in the bed with her every single night. Every year, she gets into her dress for the holidays. Even last year, when some shit went down through my family--the December after I got laid off that March--and I thus had a miserable, shaken holiday season , I changed Addy into her dress because she just has to get dressed. It's as much a tradition now as fucking around on the internet and staying up ridiculous hours. Addy is the leader of my gang, she is bossy and she is brilliant and she is cocky and better than your blond and/or blue eyed moddies and she doesn't have to share her collection with anyone except maybe her bestie Sarah because fuck you, that's why.

Yes, that's right, I started with one doll and one holiday set, and eight years later I have twenty-six gang members and enough AG holiday stuff that it takes a calculated effort to do the holidays and some people have to change outfits twice. Aw yiss.

The Tartan Dress came out the same year Addy did in time for Holiday 1993, and originally cost $22 but has since been bumped up to $28 because gas ain't less than a dollar anymore. And at the time, she also had

• a holiday food craft set, the Sweet Potato Pudding Set for $16: cast iron spider, glazed  mixing bowl, spoon, faux holly spring, and recipe
• a doll, Ida Bean, for $18 (originally $15)
• and a craft set, the Needlework Kit and Lamp. for $18: Plastic and metal oil lamp, plain apron, embroidery floss, needle book with needles, wooden hoop, and instructions.

Everything else has been retired--the kit in 2002, the needlework kit and lamp in about 2005-2006, and Ida Bean just this year in 2013. But her dress still stands for the holidays. AG sort of wants you to want to get holiday wear for dolls, and so they almost never retire a holiday set if the historical character is still there to wear it.³ And I have almost every bit of Addy's Holiday collection. I got Ida Bean off eBay for $15 with shipping since the cost was cheaper than AG's costs at the time within months of getting Addy; since she's retired her price has almost doubled but I'm sure with patience you can get her for a good cost. I paid $75 for the complete, unused Sweet Potato Pudding Kit from private purchase in 2012 because Addy and I are spoiled absolutely rotten by my husband, and on eBay it goes for about that much when it shows up complete. My needlework set is a mishmash of stuff. I got the authentic apron from someone for about $10, I scanned someone's instruction book and needle book, I have so many needles I lose and replace them on a regular basis, and I took my ass to Joann Crafts and Micheal's and picked out embroidery floss and a wooden hoop for maybe 6 bucks in total. I just don't have the lamp.  But that will change when I finally focus on eBay and find a good knock off. So it's not going to be a review so much as a Crafting Creatively and adaptation.

Order is: Dress set, Ida Bean, Mini Addy, and Sweet Potato Pudding Kit. Of course I have the LE Mini Doll. She was the first I got, as soon as she was released. So this bonus? Is me showing some of my fancy cooking. I'm way too good to you.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Rebecca's Hanukkah Dress and LE Mini Doll

Marisol doesn't celebrate Hanukkah, but she does celebrate nice clothes.

Yesterday was Yule--which is my religious holiday as an eclectic pagan. The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year, and many pagans celebrate with bonfires, holly and ivy, keeping the lights on, and reminding ourselves that though the darkness seems long and endless, from this day on the circle gets brighter and the days get longer. Celebrate the reason for the season--Our Lady of Darkness Persephone spending the winter with her husband and lover, Hades, in the Underworld.¹

Among my gang of AG girls, I have a major pagan and her younger sister, a faithful Roman Catholic, several nominal Christians, A gang member who feels Episcopalian, and some that really don't give a shit about Christianity beyond the cultural influence. However, I don't have any Jewish or Muslim girls. I have a mild fascination with Judaism the same way I have one with Islam or Catholicism, in that I like to study and learn about faiths not my own. I already know enough about Protestant/Non-denominational Christianity, being raised in it partially, and eventually chose to make a deconversion in my 20s. I own a copy of the Tanakh and read it in college, and will probably read it again, especially if I eventually have a Jewish gang member. But I don't purport to know everything about the faith.

American Girl was pretty lackluster on the Jewish front for some time. At first all they had was a Hannukah outfit and accessories which, despite a reformation at one point, have hung on through the years--and been misused by many people.² Then there was Lindsey Bergman, Girl of the Year 2001-2002 who had one book which mentions that her older brother is having his bar mitzvah. Her traits are more like what TV Tropes calls Informed Judaism: a marker here and there but nothing really Jewish, more Jewish in opposition to Christianity. Then in 2009 after the removal of Pretty Princess 'Mantha, we got her replacement: Rebecca Rubin, a Russian-Jewish girl living in post-Titanic era New York City. Rebecca wasn't just nominally Jewish: her family keep the traditions and so does she and while she is only one example of living Jewish in Eastern Immigrant America era, she does it in a lovely way. I did pick up "Rebecca" soon after she came out, but only to customize into another historical I had planned as she was the perfect look for the job. And since Marisol Luna--my pretty Latina dancer--had started to find a love of early 1900s clothes, I gave her Rebecca's meet wear and started getting Rebecca's clothes for her here and there. Rebecca feels a major level of awkwardness in the US and the pressure to assimilate to the dominant faith by her peers. One of Rebecca's books that best show her discomfort is Candlelight for Rebecca, where she and her classmate Rose try to explain to the teacher that they don't want to participate in making Christmas decorations, but are told by the teacher that since Christmas is a national holiday, everyone celebrates it, and thus pushed into doing things that don't make her feel right or comfortable.³ Rebecca's grandparents assure her that she is free to feel discomfort and not want to do Christmas things, because Christmas is a Christian holiday, and tell the signifigance of and celebrating it in America freely, and it all works out for her.

For Hanukkah, Rebecca has a dress she loves wearing for the holidays, and it is quite relevant to her stories. Rebecca's Hanukkah Dress consists of a a purple striped dress with white sleeves and collar, a woven embroidered hairbow, cream tights, and cream shoes; the set was released the September after her release and just in time for the holidays. The current cost is $32 direct from AG--it was $28 when it came out, but costs rising and all. It's on eBay, and most of the prices are not a good one. Why are you on eBay for this? Just buy it from AG. I paid Gift for it--that is, in a holiday swap this was gifted to me.

Since I don't have Rebecca, Marisol Luna will be modeling Rebecca's wear for you, but they share face molds so it works. Marisol would have had three clothes changes, but Tara and I came to an understanding. My Marisol is a lot like book!Marisol, with the noted traits here of being a little ditzy, a touch snippy, allergic to chocolate, in love with Disney princesses, and beautiful with languages. And also being Felicity's first crush here, because she looks like a Latina version of Felicity's Dear Elizabeth. Like the others, this review contains LE Mini Rebecca.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Samantha's Cranberry Party Dress and LE Mini Doll

Holiday Party Time with Tara Johnson!

Holy Baby Mithras, it's a week til Giftmas. Last minute purchases abound. If you haven't ordered it online, it's not going to get there before the holidays unless you rush that shipping.¹ If you haven't got it in the store, you might not get it cause the shelf could be cleared out. And if you didn't get Molly and Emily before they sold out, then hie your ass to eBay cause they're gone, and their stuff with em. Play Taps, y'all. This is why, if you are sensible like me, you make all of December and the first two weeks in January extended holiday gifting, so that if things don't get there day of, everything isn't spoiled.

As I said in my complaint department about Molly and Emily heading out the door, while they won't be available from AG direct there's ways of getting your hands on stuff post retirement. Molly's second ed Floral PJs and Yellow Bed might be a little harder since they were only out for a year. But the stuff that had been out since 1986? Take your time, you'll find a bargain. I got a lot of the Samantha stuff I have for my gang post retirement. Like today's review.

The Cranberry Party Dress --also known as Samantha's Christmas Dress--was released with Samantha Parkington back when she was released in 1986 along with her meet stuff, school dress and supplies², and extra holiday gear--all fresh and new for 1986, ready to become the icon of American Girl for the next decade and a half. The outfit came with a red slightly high waist (for the fashion) dress with lace trim, ribbed white tights, and one of Samantha's signature ribbons to tie enormously into her hair--this one white with v-cut ends. Purchasers were expected to use Samantha's meet shoes with the set. When Mattel took over, they changed the ribbed thicker tights to thinner, white generic AG tights. The original cost of the dress was $20; as inflation costs rose, the dress went up to $22 before being retired in 2008 with Samantha's archival. I got the dress--a PC version--in Spring 2009 in a private sale from a friend. I think it was about $20 for the dress alone. I originally had plain white tights from buying Samantha's Shoes and Socks set, but at some point I got the ribbed white tights from a private gift before I was message board destroyed. The shoes came with Tara--our model--back when she first arrived, and the hairbow is my own doing, a long length of wide white ribbon cut just so. On eBay prices range from $10 to well over $50, though the average selling price is about what it was for retail with maybe $5 over. 

A bit more about Tara: Tara Johnson was sent to me by a buddy as a gift back in September 2009 to join the gang. She arrived in a homemade dress, with Samantha's meet shoes, black stockings, and bloomers, with her hair in four awesome hair wraps and needing a set of glasses and a good bath. And while she does look like a PC Samantha, she will adamantly inform you that she, madam or sir or miscter³ or neither, that she is not Samantha. She almost didn't put this dress on, in case anyone wanted to get bright ideas about calling her so. But when I explained that it wasn't fair for Marisol to have to do three clothes changes for the holidays--Marisol being my go-to-model for Edwardian and Titanic Era wear--she grudgingly said she'd put the set on. But she will only wear Edwardian clothing if she doesn't take off her glasses, lest you mistake her for anyone but her nerdy, steampunky self.

Do note that there will be two tights reviews, along with the bonus of Samantha's bloomers, meet shoes, and the LE Mini Doll. And that most of the pictures are taken with the plainer tights. Damn it, Samantha.