Which AG has the most authentic clothing?

Kit, hands down..Most of her clothing seems to be very much what was worn in depression era America(your talking to the person who wore out Seabiscuit and Wild Hearts Cant Be Broken and whose great grandmother passed down ALL her carnival glass to me! and yes, it looks very similar to Kits depression glassware in her b-day set!)

With Molly, my grandmother grew up at the same time she did, and all her photos I see her in slacks..now, my great grandparents had a working farm and lived in rural NY, so perhaps this is the reason behind that? The photos I did see of her in dresses, they reminded me much of her christmas dress..

And Samantha..well, the more I talk to popsie, the more I get disgusted with it..that fact Samantha is AG's poster child and has all these clothes that ARE NOT accuarte representations..

MAbey Popsie can help me remember..I read a book in HS, about victorian/edwardian times..I cant remember the year. Involved a young man betrothed to a young women..both from wealthy upper class families..the young man falls in love with his fiance's cousin, who is married to a count of some ofreign country. They always described the fiance(in the book) in washed out muslin colored clothing, in regards to the cousin, who wore deeper colors and was considered "scandalous"(also the fact she apprently was without her husband)

Popsie, help me, what book was this!!! Whenever you speak of the colors of edwardian America, this book comes to mind!

Sarah

Wow Sarah, Never heard of your book - I want to read it too.

Never heard about St Lucia's day being newer - interesting.

The calicos Kirsten wears are not accurate, but close enough that they don't offend ( they give the historically important idea) though I really wish they would do some that really were right - with little callico ( printed ) buttons - lovely. I'd probably bond with her if they did. My dd has her red (school?) dress in her size and it has a lace collar I wish they had left off.


I agree that Addy's clothes are beautiful. I want that birthday dress for me, and am still irked that I listened to my dd when she said she didn't want the gir's version and even more irked that she later decided she did! Could have gotten it on clearance - live and learn.

I think there is an assumption children want pretty clothes, but it might not be so. There are a lot of assumptions we make about kids that aren't true - JK Rowland disproved a lot of them with Harry Potter. We underestimate kids. I'd have loved a doll with a dress like Addy or Nellie would have worn. And some of the AG clothes are not at all pretty - like Kit's tree house outfit.

Another minor bone to pick - no this is the big one. Yes, there were only 10 years between Molly and the 1950's but they were momentous years, fashionwise as well as lifestyle wise. You cannot put a doll in a full skirt and call her wartime anymore than you could give Kit a party with a big roast beef, and a chocolate cake wiht lots of icing. Actually Molly's cake is seriously pushing it.

Finally, don't anyone let me make you resent Samantha. She's got a few great (and accurate) pieces and she can be worked with. Lets pool ideas to see how we can maximize what AG provides and encourage the company to be truer to her in the future. Okay? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Popsie

Quote:

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Originally posted by Popsie:
However, she does boast the only dress we know for sure was taken from an actual garment ( it is pictured in her World book).

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, Addy's Cape Island outfit is pictured in her World book. Also in the world books- a dress similar to Josefina's school outfit, a sack (or sometimes spelled "saque", French looks pretty and sounds sophisticated. Don't know what your talking about? Add a few French phrases! OK, that's probably actually a really bad idea) dress that is similar to her meet dress. Also, the real life version of the basket from Kirsten'd midsummer dress. So even if it gives us historical purists nightmares, hey, at least the basket is accurate!

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ April 08, 2005 08:35 PM: Message edited by: Felicity+Addyfan ]</font>

Either Felicity, Kirsten or Samantha.

I have to say that I agree with Felicity-Addy Fan regarding the authenticity of Addy and many other of the doll's dresses (besides Samantha). If you go to the Museum of Wisconsin website and click on the children's clothing category, you can browse by eras many samples of dresses, etc. I saw several that were almost exact AG duplicates (ie: a green pioneer dress in the style of Kirsten, Addy's cape island and kite-flying etc.) check it out for yourself, here is the website - [URL=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/collections/online/pictsrch.cfm?ParentID=376567]

Thanks for the link Mary! What a great site.

Kim

I've wondered why Kirsten didn't have a calico dress, because I thought those were common out where she lived. The closest is her school dress. Also, I wish that she would have maybe had more traditional Swedish-inspired clothes, other than her Christmas outfit. (Or maybe she did have a Swedish style "special edition" outfit that I can't remember at the moment?)

I found a picture of a dress that was very similar to Kirsten's retired trail dress only the apron was blue. Exact same embrodery on it though. The dress had a similar print too.

Oh look at this...http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/muse...ObjectID=79476

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ April 09, 2005 10:34 AM: Message edited by: Felicity+Addyfan ]</font>

Kit like dress
Addy's cape Island dressThe weird thing is it was meant for a toddler.
Samantha's talent show dress

I can't speak for the other European countries here, but here in Austria wearing "Tracht" (our national dress) is still an integral part in dressing, whether in the rural areas or in towns, even in Vienna you see people wearing it, and these aren't people who have just traveled into town from the country. You don't necessarily see them wear it all from head to toe but mixed with modern day clothes, and even wearing it from head to toe is not just for shows or just tourism aspects either. We're proud of our national dress and we have our own industry for both the traditional dress and it's modern version the so-called "Austrian Look".

The wearing of "Tracht" by city people too has its roots in about 1820 when Archduke Johann started wearing a grey/green Loden-jacket, leather-knickerbockers and darkgreen kneesocks - to show his love for simple life. It was a huge scandal when he married a simple girl, Anna Plochl from Aussee. He passed on his love for "Tracht" to his great-nephew Franz Josef - the future emperor - by giving him a Styrian hat for his christening. Emperor Franz Josef enjoyed wearing "Tracht" for the hunt and whenever he spend his time in the Salzkammergut-area, and the aristrocrats adopted his style.

The word "Tracht" derives from "to wear" and stands for the Austrian traditional wear, for girls you have the Dirndl and suits (jacket, skirt and/or trousers) and for guys the typical Lederhosen (trousers made of leather in special cut from short to knickerbocker-length and with embroideries) and also suits. There are lots of additional pieces to go with like jackets, cardigans, kerchiefs, socks, special shoes, jewellery and so on. Often it's fun to mix traditional with new elements, e.g. I would love to wear my Dirndl with a denim jacket, or I wear my jeans with a Trachtenbluse (blouse) and Haferlschuh. We still have many companies in Austria producing traditional and also "Austrian Look". This is a nice example of a company combining tradition and fashionG?ssl

Just talking for the women's dress:
You have a so-called "Alltags- or Arbeitstracht" - the dress to be worn on a daily basis and/or for work - which is usually made of cotton and/or linen. The dress always consists of a bodice with a full skirt, sometimes it has sleeves sewn to the body too (usually a modern version) but most of the time a separate special "Dirndlbluse" (a short blouse which ends just below the bust and has strings to tie or in modern version an elastic) and an apron. Depending on the area you live in, the bodice has a certain cut and also the colors vary - you can have bodice and skirt in the same color and print, or in different color combinations.

One of the best-known Dirndln in Austria is the "Ausseer Dirndl" from a small region in Styria - an area famous for it's lakes and mountains and it used to be a popular vacation area already during the 19th century, and for the love-affair of Archduke Johann and his Anna Plochl. That Dirndl consists of a simple dark-green bodice with mother-of-pearl buttons, a pink skirt and lilac apron. For Sundays or holidays you wear it with a black apron.

In the old days the woman would get a "Festtracht" (festival dress) for her wedding and then wear it on all holidays, Sundays, weddings and funerals she attended etc. until she died. These are often made in silk or also a combination wool bodice, silk skirt and silk apron. It always depends on the area you live in. A beautiful example of a "Festtracht" is the Wachauer Goldhauben-Tracht. The dress' cut originated in the Biedermeier (1814-1848) and the dress is made of silk. The caps are handmade with brocade and gold threat, a very special way of embroidery and unfortunately a dieing art.

The Tracht also indicated whether an area was wealthy or not, as it would show in the kind of fabric, the amount of embroidery, use of gold and silver - just to name a few.

Sorry, this turned quite into an essay, but I still love wearing "Tracht" and I'm proud of our Austrian heritance and that it's still wearable on a daily basis today, whether in the traditional way or just by adding one or two pieces to modern clothes, and so do many fellow Austrians. It seems that everywhere else it's only become a piece of clothing that you wear when you attend a folk-dance group or other touristic reasons.