Classic Summer

 I love all of my dolls. But I feel almost a sense of awe when I handle Felicity and Samantha and the items from their original collection.

They are so beautiful, and I love them so much. I wanted them so much as a child, and I feel so lucky that I own as much as I do.

I am so glad that I was careful as a child not to lose pieces like Felicity's sash and lace cap.

I recently went to sale where I was thrilled to be able to acquire Samantha's doll pram and Felicity's summer hat. So naturally, I needed to do a photo shoot!

Beautiful Lissie

I thought it would be funny to have Samantha pushing mini Samantha in the doll pram. 

In fact, I am displaying the pram this way in case it falls, so that her porcelain doll doesn't fall and break.

Squee!

I'm including this picture because you can see part of the top of her hat.

Do you have any very favorite American Girl or other doll items? What really makes you go, "Squee?"

Felicity's Wardrobe: Felicity's Rose Garden Dress

 I suspect that with the 35th anniversary release, everyone is re-discovering their appreciation for the original meet dresses.

In my totally biased opinion, Felicity's Rose Garden dress is one of the best of the meet outfits, and it helped me to fall in love with her.

I had to choose between Felicity and Samantha as my Christmas present, and I knew that Santa would only ever bring me one American Girl doll. I chose Felicity.

It's such an elegant dress with its rose garden print and ruffled sleeves.

I'm so glad that Felicity is my girl.

Felicity's Wardrobe: Felicity's Traveling Gown

 I rarely put Felicity in her purple gown.

I bought it when it was a limited edition gown called Felicity's Traveling Gown, and I was really annoyed when they turned a limited edition gown into her new meet outfit. I felt like I had been cheated a bit.

Plus, I don't think lavender is Felicity's best color. I do like it as a color, just not on Felicity.

It's a pretty gown, though!

When I put it on her, I was surprised to see the details. I remembered that it had real embroidery on it, not just printed on the fabric. I had forgotten that it had tucks in the bodice.

Anyway, I wanted to put her in a spring dress, and this made a nice change from her pink birthday gown.

Christmas for Felicity

 I fell in love with Felicity at her release, and got her for Christmas in 1992.

We have spent a lot of holidays together.

I still swoon at how pretty she is in her Christmas gown.

I am also really pleased that I have her doll and her Noah's ark to play with.

I am always on the lookout for more of her collection, but grateful for what I do have.

Felicity's Wardrobe: Felicity's Nightgown

Now this is a piece of clothing that isn't featured very often... Felicity's nightgown.

The American Girl Company would not make a piece of clothing like this today. It's very simple.

Most of the historical night clothes that they make now incorporate color in some way and have short sleeves.

But its very simplicity makes it seem authentic to me. When you have to sew complete wardrobes for a family of five by hand, you would want night clothes that are easy to make and to launder.

The set comes with the nightgown, a night cap, and leather mules. The night cap and slippers would help you stay warm at night.

Here is a better look at the cap:

The leather mules do a surprisingly great job of staying on her feet.

Someone on an AG forum asked once about the construction of the arm seams on the nightgown.
I did not have it on hand at the time to check, but I can show you now:

There is a triangle sewn in the armpit. Interesting!

The nightgown closes with a drawstring. While I am sure this is historically accurate, it has occurred to me that this is not good for small children. It would be all too easy to accidentally yank the ribbon out of its casing, and then you couldn't tie it.

This nightgown is very similar to the nightgown made by A Girl for All Time for their Tudor Doll, Matilda. I suspect that the basic style did not change for quite a while.

I am glad I have this in my collection, but I admit Felicity never wears it.
She has too many pretty dresses to wear instead.

Felicity's Wardrobe: Felicity's Work Dress

Here is a Throwback Thursday for you: Felicity's work dress.

I love this dress. I know that no one is going to open the catalog and buy the work dress first thing.

The first dress I bought for Felicity was in fact her Christmas dress.

I like the work dress for several reasons, though.

I like the colors. It's a very subtle pattern, but I think it's a very pretty shade of green and the other colors harmonize nicely with it.

I also liked the sense of realism that it gave to her collection. It makes so much sense that Kirsten and Felicity and Addy needed work dresses. They didn't have washing machines, so they needed to keep their nice dresses as clean as possible and not get food or dirt on them.

The work dress came with several pieces: a mob cap, an apron and a shawl.

The mob cap has a green ribbon to match the dress.

Here is a back view

This is not the most glamorous item in Felicity's wardrobe, but I do love it.

Felicity and Penny

Here are some pictures of Felicity and Penny, reunited! They look very happy together.

You really can't see Penny's remaining imperfections in the pictures!

I love Felicity's riding habit. The color is lush, and it just looks like such a luxurious historical piece of clothing. It's so nicely made.

Even though both the riding habit and the doll are  made by the Pleasant Company, the skirt does not always want to stay on.

And it doesn't show in these pictures, but the feather on her hat has totally disintegrated with age.

Still, it's utterly gorgeous.

Felicity is my first love and I am happy that I can spoil her with Penny.

Felicity's Christmas Dress

Felicity is ready for Christmas!

Felicity's New Outfit

The final outfit that I got at during the American Girl sale is Felicity's new meet outfit.

I have mixed feelings about it.

First of all, it is gorgeous. Oh, it is so gorgeous. I love it. I love the fabric and the color combination.

I have also been told that the bum roll is more historically accurate to her time period, so that is a plus.

I need to make a bum roll to go with the dress, but here you can see how there is fabric in the back of the dress to accommodate a bum roll.

And here is a rear view of the dress.

On the other hand, I am not sure what this dress is supposed to be in Felicity's wardrobe.
It's a fancy dress. Super fancy.
Wear it to the governor's ball fancy.

So is this supposed to be an everyday dress or a replacement for Felicity's ball gown?

I really liked it when AG made everyday historical clothing or even work clothing.
Felicity's rose dress that she originally came with looked like an every day dress. This does not.

I am sad that it is one piece. I am sure that this is cheaper to make and easier on the mothers of girls.
However, I loved that Felicity's ball gown came in two pieces and how that was historically accurate.

Thirdly, I wish that Felicity came with at least a shift under her gown and that you did not not have to buy that separately. That's just sad.

.....

On another note, this is not my Felicity in this picture. This is Astrid, my American Girl doll 61.

My Felicity is a chubby first run Pleasant Company doll from 1992. There is no way this dress could fit her. It was skin tight on Astrid.

I am thinking that Astrid can step in for Nan every now and then in this dress. I should take some pictures of the two of them together.

Still, this dress is so lovely that I had to buy it knowing that it would not fit my Felicity. That is some good design.

Felicity's Wardrobe: Felicity's Summer Outfit

Well, it's summer, and sure enough Felicity has changed into her summer dress. She says it is quite warm enough in this dress without wearing winter clothes, thank you very much.

Felicity's Wardrobe: Spring Gown With Pinner Apron

April 21st is Felicity's birthday! Happy Birthday, Felicity!

For Felicity's birthday, it makes perfect sense to write a post about her spring gown and pinner apron.

Felicity's Wardrobe: Laced Jacket and Petticoat

Felicity is my childhood doll. She was a gift from Santa. I collected most of her wardrobe that was available in the 1990s by babysitting and saving up. The only thing that I did not get was her breeches. I do regret that now, but at the time I only cared about her dresses.

Since all of her wardrobe that I own is now retired, I decided that I desperately needed to take pictures of her wearing her various dresses and share the pictures with my readers.

I am starting off with her school dress. This outfit is officially known as the Laced Jacket and Petticoat.