The clove of seasons

When James Hurst wrote about the clove of seasons, I'm almost certain that he was referring to September.  In our neck of the woods September usually begins hot and ends cool.  It's the beginning of Birthday Season in our family, and it's also the time when we start thinking about Halloween.  I'm slowly pulling together a collection of costumes for my girls, but that's for another post.  Today I decided to take advantage of the shifting weather and brought my Madame Alexander girls out for a frolic.

Too bad they lack better jointing!  LOL, at least they look cute in their summer clothes.

Happy Dog Days,
RagingMoon1987

Dolly Dress Discussion: Madame Alexander clothes

Part two of the quest for American Girl clothes.  I've tried the hats, and they worked out quite well.  Now, here's a new outfit.

It's all in disarray right now, but trust me:  it's a full little outfit and it looks promising.  According to the tag this is the My Life hiking outfit; in other words, it's from the same line that made the hats and the bag.  I chose this particular outfit because it was the most complete-looking, and because it was the sole outfit available that didn't feature pink as a dominant color.  It cost ten bucks, which isn't bad considering that you get a full outfit, footwear included.  The outfit has this blouse:

A jacket that goes over the blouse:

A pair of denim-looking shorts:

Some boots and socks:

And this little bandana-thingy:

Before I put these on either of my girls, let me say that these are very nicely crafted little pieces of clothing, just like the hats and the hobo bag.  All the edges are hemmed or tucked under so they'll be hard to get at.  Everything closes with patches of Velcro; the buttons on the jacket are non-functional but a cute touch.  The shorts have little pockets, though these don't open.

Alright, let's start trying these on my girls.  Denise is the doll I want to learn about, so she goes first.  This is off-subject, but when I took her dress off I discovered that those black sleeves caused a lot of staining.

Yikes!  I had no idea that this could be a problem with American Girl dolls.  Now I REALLY want this new outfit to work!!!  And...

It doesn't work, obviously.  The shorts went on Denise's legs fairly easily, but they are WAY too tight for her lower body.

I can't get them to pull up AT ALL.  Not without jeopardizing the seams, anyway.

The blouse looks like it will fit at first...

...but check this out.

The Velcro doesn't close completely.  Furthermore, there's this to be seen.

American Girls have torsos made completely from cloth, including her neck and shoulders.  This probably wouldn't be a huge problem for a child, but I hate the way it looks in a strappy outfit like this (and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way).  That would've been unsightly even if the blouse fit properly.

The jacket does fit and covers the ill fit of the blouse to some extent...

...and the bandanna looks adorable.

The bandanna has no snaps or elastic, just some tails that you tie together.  Normally I have a lot of problems putting these on dolls, but it went on without any fuss.  It looks great over Denise's bobbed hair, but the rest of this outfit does not fit so why bother?  Heck, the shoes don't even fit!

Okay, the shoes MIGHT have fit without the socks, but I'm not in much of a mood to push and shove on some bulky plastic shoes to verify this.  Besides, this type of shoe should definitely be worn with socks, lest blisters be rubbed (LOL).  Sorry Denise, but this outfit is not going to work in any way, shape, or form.  That really is a spirit-breaker for me, because the pieces that do fit look adorable.

Now, let's look at Gracie.  This may seem unnecessary since Gracie is a confirmed Madame Alexander doll and the outfit is a Madame Alexander outfit, but I've put it on her anyway, just for laughs.  The verdict?  Well...the shorts are just a bit tight.

They don't look it, but they're just tight enough that I wouldn't try too hard to make Gracie sit in these.  They DO go on, however.  Remember that poor Denise couldn't even pull those up!

The blouse closes in back like it should.

And it looks cute from the front.

The jacket fits nicely over the blouse, though getting her into it was a bit of an experience.  If you have kids and they're putting this outfit on a doll, you may need to help them get it all turned around the right way.

The shoes and socks fit.  In fact, the shoes are a hair loose.

Unsurprisingly, the bandanna also fits.

Here's the final result.

Yay!

Not bad at all!  Much more suitable for this blazing hot weather we've been having here in Missouri.  Here it is in early September, and our average daily highs are in the ninties!  Gracie definitely looks more comfortable in this outfit than she did in that long-sleeved dress.

Now, the reason why one doll could wear this outfit, and the other one couldn't!

Denise's torso is made completely of stuffed fabric.  She's very round and densely stuffed, which I understand is a feature common to the older, Pleasant Company-era American Girls.  Remember back to first of these two blogs when I said that I'm trying to help a girlfriend find clothes for a doll that I gave her?  The doll that I gave to my friend has the same body structure as Denise.  Gracie has a two-part torso.  The upper part is made of vinyl and thus looks much better in that strappy blouse.  The lower part is stuffed like Denise's, but it's slimmer and softer.  Overall, Gracie has a smaller, slimmer torso than Denise.

I'm probably going to have to examine a couple more outfits before I can give you a final verdict on these Wal-Mart bought doll clothes.  Based on this experience alone I can safely say that the My Life hiking outfit is a no-go for the older American Girls.  Mattel bought out Pleasant Company in 1998, and I've been told that dolls made after then have slimmer bodies (Barbie must've put them on a diet, LOL).  Evidence for this can be found in this blog post by Beastsbelle; her Mattel-era American Girl looks quite a bit slimmer than Denise, though she's still bigger than Madame Alexander dolls.  For now I'll have to tell my friend that the clothes and shoes available at Wal-Mart are not a feasible buy, but the hats and bags are.  There may be a possible Part Three in the future, so stay tuned.

Happy September!
RagingMoon1987

Dolly Dress Discussion: Madame Alexander hats

If you're active in the world of toy dolls, then you know that eighteen inches is a popular size.  American Girl, Carpatina, Springfield Collection, Our Generation, Euro Girls, Magic Attic, B.F.C. Ink dolls, and several Madame Alexander lines are all in the eighteen-inch play doll category.  And that isn't even a full list!  The dolls differ in price and quality, but most are similar enough in body size that they can share clothes.  However, not all of them fall into this category; Carpetina dolls are referred to as "slim," and some parents were upset that B.F.C. Ink clothing is too small for American Girl dolls (check out some of the comments on Amazon).  It turns out that not all eighteen-inch play dolls are created equal, and that will be the point of this blog post.  But first...it's time for a tangent!!!

I recently gave one of my American Girls to one of my mother's students.  Her family can't swing the one-hundred-or-so bucks for one, and I rarely play with mine, so I picked one that I wasn't too attached to and gave it to her.  The child absolutely LOVES the doll and I'm thrilled that I was able to make her happy, but finding clothes for the doll has since become a problem.  American Girl clothing is like everything else bearing the American Girl name:  nice but pricey.  I knew that Wal-Mart offers playline Madame Alexander dolls that are of a similar size to American Girls, and with those dolls come a decent-sized, reasonably-priced selection of clothes.  I told the girl that I'd buy one of the outfits and try it on one of my American Girls to see how well it would work.  And it just so happens that I have both an American Girl doll and an appropriately-sized Madame Alexander doll, so we'll have a looksie.  Part two will be devoted to an entire outfit, but for now we're going to focus on some cute accessories that I found today.

First, let's say hello to the dolls.  My girls are Denise (left) and Gracie.

I thought that Denise wass a well-loved Pleasant Company-era American Girl of Today (the "American Girl of Today" line is now the "My American Girl" line), but a friend on Flickr noted that she looked a lot like Samantha.  I then remembered that "Denise" had been wearing Samantha's meet outfit when I found her.  That was so long ago that I completely forgot!  I also remembered why I named her "Denise;" I already have a Samantha and didn't want to get the two confused.  Thus, Denise!  Notice that Denise's hair is cut.  I have no idea why because I obtained her secondhand, but she has a bob haircut (quite cute).  Gracie is much newer.  She is an Avon-exclusive Madame Alexander doll, and I received her for Christmas in 2010.  The two dolls are of a similar size and height.  Their clothes are also the same, but that's a coincidence.

Now, let's see the accessories.  I've got two hats and a purse.

These items are from the Madame Alexander "My Life" line and are relatively inexpensive; I paid three bucks for each piece.  One of the hats is a panda.  It's made of soft fleece.

The other is an owl.  It is made of faux fur.

A Siberian husky and a cougar were also available.  Both of those were cute as well, so I'll probably be making a return trip for those pieces.  If they're as nice as these hats are then that probably will turn into a definitely.  Both hats are fully lined inside, which I think is a quality touch.

Both hats also have embroidered features.

Okay, the owl's features are really patches, but they're sewn on nicely.

The purse is labelled as a "hobo bag."  It's made of a felty sort of material and has beautiful colors.

Like the hats, it's lined inside.

It has purple braided cords on it that end in huge tassels.  I love this part!

I'm not concerned about the fit of the bag, since bags are always one-size-fits-all.  It'll look great with any of my eighteen-inch girls (no, Gracie and Denise aren't my only two).  The hats are another story.  According to Beastsbelle, some Madame Alexander dolls (particularly the "Friends 4 Life" line) have bigger heads than your average eighteen-inch doll.  These hats are sized for the "My Life" line, but I don't own a My Life doll so I don't know if they've got the bigger heads or not.  Only one way to find out, I guess.  To be completely, totally fair I'll try both hats on both dolls.

First fitting.  Here's how it went.

The owl hat is very tight on Denise.  I had to tug on that sucker to get it on her, but...it does fit.  And it looks quite cute on her too!  The panda hat fits Gracie like a glove, which doesn't surprise me much.  After all, both the doll and the hat are Madame Alexander products.  Now, switch 'em!

The panda hat fits Denise better than the owl hat does, but it was still a tiny bit of a squeeze.  The owl hat is tight on Gracie, but it sits lower on her than it did on Denise.  Based on that, I'd say that these hats are safe accessories for American Girls.  The owl hat was tight squeeze on Denise, but she CAN wear it.  In her defense, the owl hat is snug on Gracie too.  For dolls with big hairstyles, both of these hats would be a practical impossibility.  But for dolls with flat hairstyles or straight hair these are a win.  If you have an American Girl doll and like hats, go ahead and get these.  They're adorable, they're high quality, and they fit.

Stay tuned for part two!

Happy Rosh Hashanah,
RagingMoon1987