American Girl Archivals: The Sad Exit

So here it is December 16th. Almost the end of the year.

Mollster and Emmibeans are in the last leg of their existence at American Girl.

Right now most people are giddy over the upcoming

GOTY 2014 shinies and Isabelle.

As we stated in this July 2013 post, we should have been really upset by Molly and Emily's archival, but we are really just numb to archivals now.

In the summer the Columbus AG Store had big displays all over the place, right in your face, stating over and over again -- "Soon We'll Say Farewell to Molly and Emily" etc. etc. etc.

When we went to the Columbus AG on Nov. 10th -- there were still Molly and Emily displays, but the whole 'farewell' signage was hidden in a couple far-off corners.

And Molly was still displayed with everybody else.

Including in her winter skating attire.

It was a pathetic indication that their coldblooded attempts to make us panic-purchase more and more historical stuff did not exactly clear the stock instantaneously.

The feeling in July was "Buy! Buy! Buy! 

Your collection must be complete! Eeeeeee!"

The feeling in November was more of "Oh yeah, they're retiring. 

But we won't be too obvious about it. Whatevs."

Despite being numb to archivals, we are no less disappointed that Marie-Grace and Cecile's collection has been diminished recently, suggestive of possible archival next year or perhaps 2015. Which is actually painful for a collection that really feels quite new.

Marie-Grace's Party Outfit

and

Cecile's Special Dress

are no longer listed on American Girl's website.

Qua?

All of that Fairy Princess Mardi Gras Masquerade Confectionary Madness

is also gone.

No more stupid coats.

No more grossly over-priced banquet table.

Heaped with plasticky food.

What's going on here AG?

Where is all this stuff going???

Truly, we aren't too traumatized.

Overall, we were very disappointed with their collection -- 

But the dolls are very very beautiful.

And we'll probably buy another Marie-Grace.

This purging makes us ponder that maybe AG does read our blog posts or something and realized that we hated most of the Marie-Grace and Cecile collection.

Though the ridiculous bed is still online.

Blech.

So we'll probably order another crinoline set, along with another M-G, 

and maybe a parasol.

We recommend both dolls, the desk, and the parrot set.

The crinoline set is very useful for a variety of dresses and time periods.

Argos is made of awesome.

The other clothing -- parlor outfits, skirt sets, bedtime wear are all fine.

But nothing to really squee about.

They all scream of a cheaper, less historically accurate AG clothing.

Someday when we have endless amounts of time and money we'll really give their collection The DW treatment and give them all the clothing, accessories and furniture 

Marie-Grace and Cecile deserve.

For now we'll just pat them on the head and reassure them that even if AG failed them, they are still very special and worth bunches and bunches and bunches of care and attention.

These are beautiful girls that we'd buy 10 more times.

_____________

So are M-G and CeCe really on their way out?

Are we to see more things drop out of their collection?

We have no idea.

But if you have your heart set on owning anything from their collection, 

we'd put it on your 2014 shopping list y'alls. :'-(

So Long, Molly and Emily: Archival Confessions

Well, everyone and their mother has been talking about this for awhile. So we are kinda late to the funeral here. But we were pondering deep thoughts about all of this archival stuff.

Is your Molly and Emily collection complete?

No?

Well now is the time to run in circles in panic and buy EVERYTHING.

Just kidding. Don't pee yourself.

When Samantha was archived, we were like -- "What the heck?"

But we already had everything we wanted from her collection, so we didn't panic.

We had just bought her winter coat set, velvet dress, and dog Jip.

We were satisfied.

When Felicity and Elizabeth were archived we panicked and bought a ton of stuff we had been waiting to buy. Including Felicity and Elizabeth. 

We even bought stuff we weren't sure we wanted. 

And of course, we bought stuff we didn't even have room for. 

Sound familiar? 

You probably need to join us for Archival Group Therapy then.

But we were happy with all the stuff we got in the end, so that was that.

We especially squee-ed over the tiny Noah's Ark set and the muff, mitts and pattens set.

Then came Kirsten's archival.

Girl didn't even have much left, never mind a best friend doll to accompany her into the blackness.

But we still panicked. We bought like 6 Kirstens. Not even joking.

We still have most of them boxed up.

Only two have been played with.

And only one has her braids undone.

Kirsten's fishing set and lunch were two of our most prized possessions growing up.

Don't ask me why we loved the squishy fish so much.

And Kirsten-style outfits were one of the things our Mommy made for us on a regular basis.

So for Samantha, we were in the "This stinks" Camp.

For Felicity, the "Noooooo!!!! Not yet!!!" Camp.

And for Kirsten, the "There Goes my Childhood" Camp.

And the worse part is that there are still ye old, long-retired items from all three of these collections that we'd love to have. But we have given up on those things for now. 

What's the point?

We have now become quite numb to archivals.

Molly was our first doll ever.

We were obsessed with her.

We should be freaking out.

But we aren't.

Like many people, we saw this coming and bought the things we wanted.

We just received Molly's swimsuit and her birthday dress -- the last two things on our wishlist.

They arrived in a new size square box, fyi.

Yank and Bennett came here a couple weeks before that.

We figured the new Molly bed and pjs were an attempt to increase interest in her collection, with the goal of thinning out stock, leading up to the archival.

We got the pjs. They are fly.

The bed we passed on -- do we really need another bed???

But overall, what is this last-ditch attempt to make people notice Molly???

Couldn't you have paid attention to her before you were about to axe her AG?

Perhaps we are just depressed about the whole thing?

Probably.

So many of Molly's coolest items have already come and gone a long time ago.

It's not even worth crying over.

Archival is a bitter pill to swallow.

On the one hand -- we get new dolls -- Rebecca, Marie-Grace and Cecile, and Caroline.

But we only squee-ed about the stuff in Caroline's collection.

The other two we have mostly ignored, in comparison to our normal "We must buy everything" mode of operation.

We own eight things from Rebecca's collection.

And eleven from Marie-Grace and Cecile's collection.

What's the point to these rambling confessions???

While we have bought things from the above two collections, we have no motivation to buy more and they are not releasing new stuff for them.

We lose dolls through archivals, and the new dolls only get fresh stuff for two years.

Then they are ignored in the interest of new dolls and collections.

Their story, that slice of history, and the seemingly endless possibilities of their collection are passed over.

Most of the outfits, accessories and furniture mentioned in their books is never made by AG.

This seems to be AG's new system.

Steady new doll releases, small historical collections.

I guess it works for them.

But part of the fun of Pleasant Company was the new seasonal releases 

for all of the historical dolls.

We liked the way they all got new outfits and accessories on a steady basis.

True, they didn't have to do 60 annual MyAG releases back then, because MyAG didn't exist.

But we just wish they would pay a little more attention to the historicals.

One or two girls getting one or two things each year stinks.

I feel like AG should at least do five years of new item releases for each new historical doll.

And forget that Limited Edition -- only here for a short time -- BS.

At least pretend that you give a crap about each historical doll you release.

Then maybe your fans wouldn't feel so dead inside every time you do an archival.

More 1940s Outfits!

Hello again! We are continuing with our 1940s theme -- and hopefully this serves as a reminder to vote in our Time Warp Photo Contest... hint, hint. Today is the last day for voting. ;-)

http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2011/10/time-warp-photo-contest-entries-vote.html

Today we have three of the '40s girls showcasing handmade outfits. Linda is wearing a sweater (we think we've shown you before) from Dynamite Threads, and a skirt from Terri's Touch. Molly's fantastic blue wool hooded coat and tam are from AG Seamstress. They are based on the 1986 "Molly's Surprise" illustrations. Check out this link to compare ye olde illustrations with ye new illustrations to see her two different winter "looks"-- http://e.joz3d.net/pages/MollyBooks3.html. Molly's red plaid jumper is from Doll Clothes by Evie. Meanwhile Emily is wearing a green striped tee and shorts set from Terri's Touch.

Here they are looking adorable...

Slideshow...

And for today's fun 1940s fashion facts from the "Molly's World" book...

1) Saddle shoes were popular in the 1920s as golf shoes. By the '40s, girls and boys wore them for both work and play. Classic story of sportswear being brought into the everyday fashion world.

2) Before the war, Girl Scout uniforms had long zippers down the front. Since metal was needed for the war effort, the uniform was redesigned with buttons. So we rarely see zippers in 1940s fashion, for uniforms or coats or jackets or dresses -- it was buttons all the way!

3) Notice that some skirts are short and others are longer? Hems were let down as many times as possible for skirts and dresses in order to lengthen their "lifetime" of use. A law was actually passed to limit the amount of fabric that could be used in sleeves and hems. Eventually skirts just got shorter in order to conserve fabric!

4) Not that these shorts are pants... but they'll do for us to work in this factoid: Women started wearing pants at their factory jobs during the war. Soon they became acceptable fashion outside of work, and even glamorous everyday wear. Actresses started wearing high-waisted, wide-legged "sailor" pants in movies and this helped popularize them.

Thanks for visiting us!

Please be sure to vote in our Photo Contest today!

Molly's Raincoat and Susan's Green Dress

Yep, we are working on the Photo Contest post, we just haven't finished it yet. Haha. So we'll do this post in the meantime -- stay tuned for that post either tomorrow or Saturday. :-)

Psssst... this Saturday is the next Melody Valerie Couture launch... just FYI.

Today we have some shots of Molly and Susan hanging out with our terrier, Beamish. Molly is wearing a raincoat and hat from Etsy's Needle in a Haystack shop and meanwhile Susan is sporting Emily's sweater over a jumper and shirt from Terri's Touch.

Enjoy zee pics!

And for today's 1940s facts from Molly's history book... we wanted to start talking a little bit about 1940s clothing for women and girls... (see the last post for info on zee book we are using.) Pages 14 and 15 are labeled "Victory Style" and they discuss how fashion changed because certain materials were needed more for the war effort than for people on the homefront.

This section begins with: "Making do meant making way for new fashions, too. The government needed 64 million shirts, 164 million coats, and 229 million pairs of pants for soldiers' uniforms." (That's a lot of clothing!!!)

"Cotton and wool material could not be wasted on civilian clothes, so there were no more frilly ruffles or poufy skirts. Instead Americans invented all-new styles of clothing to help the nation win the war."

First up-- "Bobby Socks: Girls wore bobby socks, which used less material than tights. The term bobby socks came from the word bob, which means to shorten."

"Separates: Girls wore separates, or blouses and sweaters they could mix with different skirts or jumpers. Girls could make many outfits out of just a few clothes." (For example, Susan wears a cardigan, blouse, and jumper -- which can all be mix and matched with other clothing in her wardrobe to make different outfits.)

"Round collars, called Peter Pan collars, were popular for girls. They were styled after a costume worn by actress Maude Adams in the play Peter Pan." (Susan's shirt has a Peter Pan collar.)

Thanks for visiting us today! 

Stay tuned for the post with the Photo Contest entries!

The Other Fantastic Four and a Reminder

Sup! Today we wanted to remind you that our Time Warp Photos are due tomorrow -- Monday October 10th. We have a handful now -- so that is good news. But we'd like more if you guys are thinking about sending one in. We are looking for dolls in historical dioramas or rooms, dolls in historical clothing, dolls in events from history, and so on. If you aren't sure your picture applies to the contest, send it in anyways with an explanation. We look forward to getting your entry!

And of course, the winner of the Time Warp Photo Contest gets a $20 AG gift card.

Twenty. Dollars.

Hopefully there will be a free shipping code soon too....

Anyways, we probably made our point by now. *Wink.

Also up for today's post is an introduction to all of the 1940s girls here at Badger's Wood -- We call them "The Other Fantastic Four."

Penny grew up with a Molly doll and read her collection of books -- which feature her best friends Susan and Linda prominently. When we got the opportunity to make those dolls we did -- Susan is a custom MyAG #23 and Linda is just Chrissa renamed. Convenient! And of course, Emily is Emily since AG made her. Haha.

Then this year we ordered a new Mattel Molly -- our Pleasant Company Molly is very old. She has different coloring, a pudgier body, and she can't stand up anymore on her own (she needs restrung, but we'll never do that for nostalgia's sake - poor girl, haha).

Our new Molly looks more like the other three girls and is happily at home with us now. She is pictured today wearing her Meet Outfit. Meanwhile Linda is wearing a dark navy corduroy jumper from Terri's Touch and a white shirt from Doll Clothes by Evie. Susan is modeling a white shirt and reddish-brown plaid jumper also from Terri's Touch. And finally, Emily is sporting a blue and off-white dress from... you guessed it, Terri's Touch! Terri is our go-to-girl for 1940s wear, but we do have items from a variety of sellers for these girls.

Enjoy these pics and stay tuned for more 1940s clothing and historical info in the coming weeks. We are going to try to do another "Historical Theme Week." We did one last year for the colonial time period. It lasted about two to three weeks and involved a lot of work. We meant to do one every couple months, but it has become an annual thing instead (unfortunately). But we'll keep chipping away at that long list of stuff we want to post about. *Chip, chip, chip. :-)

Slideshow!

Arty shots!

And remember: Send in your Time Warp Photo Contest entries before Tuesday October 11th! :-)

Guest Review: Bon Jean Creations

Emily was very excited to be the one chosen to model this dress from ebay seller Bon Jean Creations. This period perfect dress was patterned after a dress made by the dressmaker's own mother! The feed sack fabric is perfectly paired with the ruffles. Emily felt cool and summery all day.

This is the original handmade dress from the 40's that Emily's dress was patterned after. Isn't it cute?