Printable View
Actually, I believe strongly colored clothes were the sign of wealth in those days. I love Elizabeth's riding habit, but you all are right, she would have to be wealthy to have it cleaned! [img]wink.gif[/img] I wish they made a side saddle for the dolls...it would have been hard to keep them on though!
Shelly
Have you guys got your NEW catolaugs yet??? [img]eek.gif[/img] The fall one?????
Well, I must admit I'm not impressed. Although they did a nice job, I am still not happy. I Imagined the carriage elegant with cloth covering, and not painting on it. I imagined the seats to be made of fine velvet. I imagined elizabeth's riding habit not to be PINK!!!! The pink is not practical either, who would wear something pretty and WHITE on a horse, a horse which probably wasn't washed and groomed every day. THe horse would be dirty, right? I would assume elizabeth's habit to be Navy Blue, because felicity's is a dark tone, too.
Patriot is kinda off.
OK... I must admit also that I love the nightgown- not the cap- but the nightgown itself, although it reminds me of jose's night shift w/ embroidery on it.
Polly is cute, but her dress is PINK. Shouldn't it be white and lacy like a baptising/christening gown???
Her cradle should be carved and not solid wood. A different wood would have looked better, considering the cradle looks like plastic.
The cradle is quite modern, too. Looks like something from the 60's.
I am sorry about my negativity. I am just so upset.
[img]frown.gif[/img]
Katya [img]graemlins/wilted.gif[/img]
Felicity's Town Fair outfit was SPEFICALLY issued as a Limited Edition outfit available for ONLY one year. It was advertised as such, and only in the catalog for one year. It will NEVER come back, no matter how much fans complain and beg. Molly's tennis outfit won't be back, Kirsten's skating outfit won't be back. Addy's outfit won't be back. Their outfits didn't sell like Samantha's did, so they have no reason in their eyes to go back on what they said they were going to do.
The new stuff for Elizabeth and Felicity is some of the BEST stuff they have ever produced in regards to being historically accurate. And it's two dozen times better than any of the Samantha stuff from last year.
The food and stuff is fine too, IMO. Things often had a "fake" look to them, and were just as outlandish as the clothing.
The concept of "practical" clothing DID NOT EXIST for the upper classes in the colonial period. Marie Antoinette set fashion in France, England and the Colonies. The more outlandish it was, the better she liked it. The gaudy gosh-awful prints they've used on Lissie's tea gown and Elizabeth's ball gown are PERFECT for the period. Prints like that were all the rage, the gaudier and uglier the better people liked it. These people did not have what we term "fashion sense". Color co-ordination didn't exist either. Some of the outfits that these people would wear in public were HIDEOUS by modern standards. By colonial standards, they were the height of fashion. To me, they're so ugly they're pretty and AG really did their homework this time.
Lissie's dresses are very plain and simple, reflecting her social status. Elizabeth's are more elegant and refined, reflecting her social status. Clothing was a big indicator of where one stood on the social heirarchy. Dark colors were easier to achieve and cheaper to produce. Light colors, like Elizabeth's pink riding habit and light blue tea dress, were more expensive because of the more complicated process of dying the material.
The Cole family was well enough off that "practical" had nothing to do with anything. The more outlandish and impractical, the better people of that class liked it. And they didn't wash clothes that often anyway, so the riding habit would be dirty all the time regardless of whether Elizabeth actually got on a horse in it. And riding sidesaddle, none of the white even touches the horse, and because of the way the saddle is made, very little of the pink part would have touched the horse. Any horse Elizabeth would have rode would have been impeccably cared for and most likely a racehorse.
Polly's gown is just fine. Christening gowns were worn once. For christening. Then it was put away for the next child. Her cradle is also fine. Carved cradles were expensive, and the Merrimans weren't rich. Lace and frills were unheard of in every day wear for a baby.
Grapedy,
You know what would be wonderful? If AG would include in the pamplets that come with these new outfits explanations such as yours as to WHY the outfits and colors were selected based on historical aspects.
That would be very nice indeed.
Laurie
Ok, Grabedy,
Thank you for your opinion.
You are mostly right.
But in the books, did it say anywhere that Elizabeth was wealthy?
I disagree with you on Samantha's collection. I absoulutely love her stuff!!
And what we meant by fake is that American girl didn't make the food look very realistic.
Not like in real life history...
[img]wink.gif[/img]
Polly's gown is PINK, a light pink. Shouldn't it be dark, as you said those fabrics were easier to obtain? I do not understand.
Polly's cradle shouldn't look like plastic..
[img]wink.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] Katya
Yes We in fact will be getting some of the items . In fact we have preordered Felicitys Yelllow tea dress My DD and I love it and think it is just like photos that we have seen. I also like the ridding outfits pink or not as the carigage goes I have no where for it and couldnt part with the money with out being killed by DH [img]mad.gif[/img] But we still would love to see more of the older items come back [img]biggrin.gif[/img] Diane
Thanks, Grapedy, it was wonderful to read what you wrote, and see that the items are all very historically acurate,
I was wondering when someone was going to mention that the Town Fair Outfit was LE, and most likely not going to come back. Even if they decide to someday, they'll have to change it at least a little, like they did Samantha's, and, personally, I still don't find that fair to the people who bought it (or any of the other LE outfits in 1997) thinking it would be available for ONE year. I will be dissapointed with the company if they start regularly bringing the LE outfits back, even in a slightly-moderately changed fashion. That's simply unfair to the people who bought them originally.
I'm not too fond of all the outfits. I love some of them, Felicity's Tea Gown, Elizabeth's Ball Gown and Riding Habit. I don't, however, like how they managed to get PINK on EVERYTHING. I could stand pink on somethings, it's gorgeous on Felicity's Tea Gown because it doesn't overwhelm the yellow. It's ok on Elizbeth's Tea Gown until you think about how they just shoved it on to get more pink >_< !
I'm happy to see that it's all historically acurate, even if it is too pink [img]wink.gif[/img]
I agree that it's not made very clear that the Cole family is WEALTHY. It's made clear they had a governess in England, that Mrs. Cole has a bunch of wigs, and that Annabelle thinks quite highly of herself. Doesn't really sound like they've got a whole lot more than Grandfather does. At all. I haven't read the Elizabeth book, but I'm betting they make it pretty clear in there that Elizabeth has more wealth than Felicity does.
Grapedy, maybe you can answer my question: Are there ANY other hairstyles a girl Felicty and Elizabeth's age would have used to style her hair? Would they have even braided their hair?
I'm thinking the "wealth" factor is more of just an attitude of "refinement", meaning "we're from England, and you're not, you're just a miserable Colonist, put here to do our bidding and send your taxes back to the Motherland" kind of thing.
Especially on Annabelle's part.
Laurie
I am still torn on this. DD wants the doll, but I don't want an 18 inch Barbie. I know she will be excited when the movie comes out, but I am hoping to talk her into getting some of the new items for Elizabeth and use them for Felicity. Such as E's Christmas gown instead of the blue one.