Straw Boater

[DaWaterRat]

Well, AGT14 showed up today, and Bridget is all excited about being my "Old West" doll.

I have a pattern for her "meet" dress, though I haven't made it yet. (no time, what with having to stuff a dragon for my nephew by Saturday)

The thing is, I really want to get a Straw Boater to go with it. Both Kirsten and Addy's summer dresses have the hat I'm talking about, but neither one of the dresses themselves really appeal to me. (They're cute, just not what I want for Bridget) Web searches haven't helped any.

So, what do you guys think? Should I find a different hat? Get one of the dreses (if so which one) and see if I like it in person? Get one of the dresses and keep the hat, selling the dress on e-bay? (both of these last two strike me as a bit much to spend to get a hat.) Does someone on the board have an extra Straw Boater that they can sell me? (I have a slight preference for Kirsten's, but both work for Bridget)

If someone can sell me on one of the two dresses, I'm willing to listen. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Kathy Henning]

Have you tried to buy the hat as a replacement item?

[horsemom]

I'm afraid I won't be much help- I have both and love both. But if you're going for a Pioneer/Old West theme, I'd definitely go with Kirsten's. Addy's is distinctly Civil War and is really cute but doesn't seem Old West to me at all. Her hat doesn't really seem to work either for what you're looking for- it's a lot smaller than Kirsten's with a narrow brim. Kirsten's has a very wide brim and is a lot bigger. I absolutely love Kirsten's summer dress and highly recommend it. [img]wink.gif[/img]

[AGTeacher]

I would also go with Kirsten's! I do not have the summer one, yet. But plan to get it in the summertime. It does come with the hat, you can easily redress the hat to your style! And also the outfit, if you make a shawl or something, that will also change the appearence of the outfit a bit. Hope this helps. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[rosyall6]

What about Josefina's Summer Riding Dress? It comes with a straw hat and is definitely western.

[Kathy Henning]

Nancy,
I thought of this after I had shut the computer down last night. I have ordered hats from this company. I started using this company for doll wigs and they also have ohter items. I will give you the site to check the hats.

http://www.dollspart.com/index.html

[DaWaterRat]

Thanks all. I haven't tried ordering it as a replacement part (yet. I need to call anyway, since I lost Felicity's "bit"), and I may do that, or I may just get Kirsten's Summer dress.

Old west is probably actually the wrong term. More like Wild West. (Actually Weird West, but that's something else again.) She's from Prescott, AZ, and somewere between 1884 and 1894 (I prefer 1884, but I can't stand bustles, which at 9, Bridget would be wearing)

I do think that Kirsten's hat is the best one of the three straw hats they have (Josefina's dress is completely wrong for Bridget, and I'm trying not to get too many duplicates of Josefina's stuff anyway, since Katie's getting her when we go to AGP in a year and a half for her 6th birthday), but I'll certainly check the website as well.

Thanks again.

[DaWaterRat]

Interesting News. Maybe good, maybe bad.

Called AG Customer Service today to order Felicity's Bit and Kirsten's Hat.

Well, aside from a double-take on the price of Kirsten's Hat ($10), I was told something interesting. The hat is no longer available. At least for purchase separately. I don't know if it's "not available currently" or "Not available at all", but I wound up getting Addy's Hat instead. ($7)

Once they arrive, I'll post the codes for Sail-Away.

[Pat B]

There are other sources for doll hats
try TLC doll

[DaWaterRat]

Trust me, I looked. I'm not going to say I didn't find other hats that might have worked, but I wasn't sure about the size on any of them. (Most were sized for 10" heads, AG is an 11-12")

Straw Boater hats are not popular items for American Girl sized dolls.