That was, honestly, how I fell in love with Felicity. She had the fanciest, most beautiful dresses that I had ever seen, and I wanted all of them.
I also enjoyed learning about the Revolutionary period- I fancied myself as a young historian- and that she had a horse.
I kind of see why American Girl marketing focuses on the things that it does in creating new characters, because I see my own priorities as an 8 year old. I came to appreciate Felicity's story and spunky personality, but first and foremost, I was there for the dresses. Ha.
And I am looking forward to Felicity's re-release so that I can get her MORE fancy dresses. Double ha.
Then American Girl came out with the American Girls of Today, and I got Anne. Anne was in no way my mini-me. She was a totally different character. Anne is Cherokee and her best friend is her cousin Meg.
What Anne had in common with me was many of the same interests- such as reading and roller blading- and the wardrobe. For Anne, I collected the same clothes that I wore at the time.
I envisioned one day sharing Anne with my daughter and using Anne to tell my daughter about what my life was like growing up. So Anne had the T-shirts and jeans and black ballet flats that I wore.
It was at least ten years before Anne owned any kind of fancy dress. I got her Molly's Christmas dress because I had a very similar black velvet dress for Christmas one year.
So for a long time, my dolls had either every day clothes or fancy dresses, but not BOTH.
You can of course argue that Felicity's fancy dresses were her every day clothes, but that is not the way I saw it.
Now my priorities are shifting a bit and I am learning to appreciate every day clothes more for their own sake. I am starting to build a more balanced collection for my modern dolls, one that includes pretty dresses and pants and sneakers.
I still prefer sewing pretty dresses, though.
It's interesting the way my collecting has changed, even as I remain true to it.
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