Hola peeps!
LONG POST -- Lots of pics and thoughts.
First of all, we have been trying to publish this since last week, but technical difficulties have prevented that. So bear with us here, haha.
Second, we will fully admit that this dress is nearly impossible for us to photograph properly.
It has a sheen.
A SHEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNnnnnnn!
And not Charlie Sheen.
A sheen: a lustrous surface imparted to textiles through finishing processes
or use of shiny yarns.
It is that fake-satin that AG likes to use as a fancy dress fabric.
It's not completely plastic. But not completely a real, clothing fabric. It is like the windbreaker fabric that most of us collectors refer to for others to understand what we are talking about.
Usually you don't make a nice dress out of windbreaker fabric, but AG consistently does it.
Anyway, because of the sheen -- our flash photos make the color of the dress look a lot lighter than it is in reality. So we will do shots with and without flash in this post.
DW Top Tip: If you want to see any of these shots larger, simply click on one and you will be brought to a larger slideshow that you can click through.
With flash.
Stella models this because I am not going to put this dress on a redhead.
Sorry peeps.
Coral on redheads works well. But this isn't really coral.
Especially with that sheeeeeeennnnnnnnn.
Without flash.
In reality this dress is more of a deeper coral-berry color.
Like you see below.
Nothing really spectacular with our photography this time, haha.
We didn't light the non-flash photos, so we could try and replicate the actual color of the dress.
But it was a struggle.
Don't expect high art here, peeps. ;-)
The set comes with the dress, the gold boots, and the silver necklace.
$30
Not sure why they put a silver necklace with a gold-accented outfit.
In most circles that is a no-no.
Shots with flash.
The necklace has the cactus flower on it, Saige's theme flower.
Maybe the necklace has meaning for Saige, but we don't know what it is because we haven't read the books yet. ;-)
The dress is accented with these cross-over ribbons that are ruched at the seams.
Also it has the gold, shiny graphic accents running across the front of the bodice and skirt.
The ribbons are a slightly darker color than the main dress fabric.
Also, as you can see, the neckline is asymmetrical and the left shoulder has an-almost spaghetti strap.
Without flash.
The difference in the shoulder straps is a little weird at first.
But you get used to it.
The gold accents are also a little weird at first.
Not sure we will get used to these. Haha.
Skirt is doubled-layered with a tiny amount of tulle underneath. Which you can't really see at all unless you look for it / are holding the doll up to look at her underwear.
Guess it is there to help the skirt flair out properly.
Which is fine and cool.
_________
Shots of gold boots with flash.
The gold boots are well made and look really nice.
Yes, they are gold and shiny.
But they are nice. They have a trendy, Western flair to them.
Whether they will go with any other dresses or outfits is another question.
Also you can see, zee cactus flower makes another appearance in the embossed detailing of the boots.
______________
Shots of Meatloaf, or 'Da Loaf' with flash.
We got him for Christmas.
He is one of the most adorabibble AG animals we own/ they have eva made.
He is not soft and squishy though. His "fur" is over a hard-body like Coconut has.
_______________
We thought to ourselves, "Hey this dress would look good with a gold sequin bolero thingy."
And we actually have one from Liberty Jane.
Shots with flash.
If we were going to make something ourselves for this type of accessory, we would go with gold to help balance the boots and pull things together.
Maybe something slightly shorter than this bolero though, or with shorter sleeves.
Or just go all the way with a gold jacket that goes past the dress waistline or
drapey cardigan that does the same.
You either need to go really cropped or really long.
A DW TOP TIP for seamstresses -- think of gold shrugs, boleros, jackets, sweaters, cardigans, vests -- that can accent this dress. I think it would be a good separate to offer in your shops as a "Sparkle Dress" finishing piece.
We like this look with her hair over her shoulder.
Shots without flash.
Playing with white balance in the shot below.
Dress looks a little bit too bright, but it is a nice shot.
Alrighty then..... OVERALL thoughts....
A pretty dress.
But not something we would have bought if it wasn't
a Girl of the Year collection item.
It is a good attempt at a fancy dress.
And it looks fine on.
The great quality of the flashy gold boots makes us happy we bought it.
But we would have made the dress from a different kind of fabric, like the fabric they used to make the 2012 Holiday Purple Party Dress. That is actually much nicer fabric.
I appreciate how they tried to put some 'design' into this, with the asymmetrical neckline, straps, ribbon belts, gold details, etc.
It does okay with all of those things.
I just would have appreciated something more human-esque. More realistic.
Even the Justice dress that American Girl has apparently miniaturized looks more realistic.
The light blue version has gold sequin accents sewn on.
American Girl couldn't be bothered to do that.
Instead we only got the iron-on-esque gold dots.
They offer this black tulle/mesh overlay version that has a glitter floral pattern on the tulle,
with a bubble hem.
Again, American Girl is not offering that, even though it is quite pretty.
Justice also uses little fabric flowers, ribbons, bows, and gathering techniques that American Girl has ignored for this dress as well.
The irony here is that Justice is the least realistic and most doll-like clothing brand out there really. Their satins are 100% polyester.
There probably isn't even a single piece of silk in their whole clothing line.
And yet, American Girl has managed to make a fancy dress that is even more un-realistic and fake-looking than Justice. That honestly takes effort and a keen mind for cost-cutting.
Of course, in the end the Sparkle Dress seems to be very popular with AG Fans.
Which is all fine and good, but we really think that American Girl could have gone the extra mile and at least made the miniaturized Justice dress that they were going for.
Thanks for visiting us today!
Stay tuned for more thoughts on Justice dresses and boots tomorrow for
your "Trends to Sew" ideas!
And then.... more Saige collection item reviews!
And then.....a Special Outfit Giveaway!
This week is just going to be full of fun. :-D
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