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 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 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 Reviews: Mix and Match Outfit and Accessories (1995)

Michi's taking it back to the Original AGoT Meet Outfit.

Lemme take you back. Way back. When the internet was just a few meager computer connections and AOL was the wave of the future. When cellphones were huge and hideous. When I was just starting high school and already had breasts. When Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, and Fresh Prince of Bellaire was on the air waves, and I was rocking out to TLC, Jodeci, and En Vogue. Back into time to 1995.

American Girl (still being called Pleasant Company at the time), after massive success with Felicity, Addy, Samantha, Kirsten, and Molly--and the shifting from Our New Baby to Bitty Baby--decided to launch a new line: The American Girl of Today. Billed as "You're a Part of History Too!" it threw out the idea that girls could want to write and create their own Historicals of today--even going so far as to include writing books in the six book style series--and tell their own stories. It was a success in tons of ways, and has lasted ever since. While the modern line has changed names numerous times, shifted to a more "companion" style focus, and it has since taken over AG in many ways, the modern line had very humble beginnings. 

And of course, the brand new American Girl of Today came in clothes contemporary for the style. The first Meet Outfit was called the Mix and Match Set, and naturally was never available as a separate set because if you were buying an AGT, she was coming in this: a t-shirt, overshirt, vest, leggings, panties, scrunchie, and black flats. So if you want to kind of guesstimate the cost, it's probably have been about 30 bucks. The Accessories--purse, hat, lunch ticket, money, library card, and mini magazine--were $20. Michi is displaying this set for me--partially because she likes the old school sets and partially because she came in one of the older sets. (Not this one though. What she came in is next.) This outfit lasted from 1995 until 1996, so not very long. 

Consider this the first of a multi-part series on AGT Meet Sets. Because through many channels, I have managed to get the main outfits of every Meet Outfit they've had, and a lot of the complimentary accessories. So first the accessories I have, and then the outfit itself.