Keeping outfits together

[marymax]

Does anyone have any suggestions on keeping the outfits with accessories together, over the years I accumulated so many and it is hard to remember what dress went with what shoes and accessories..I started buying trunks but that seems to be an ineffective way to store all the stuff......

[auri]

I've used small zip lock bags with a hole poked near the top so the bag can be hung on the same hanger as the outfit.

[Jeanette M.]

Mary, I used to worry about what went with what and kept each of my outfits in its own zipbag. A few things I discovered on this board helped change that. 1) I realized that keeping things in plastic can damage the fibers. I really already knew that, but somehow my brain never connected that to my rather expensive AG clothes. [img]confused.gif[/img] 2) I discovered Meg's super extensive collector's guide and realized that it didn't matter if I kept outfits together or not, with Meg's guide, I could look the outfits up and see what came together any time I wanted to know! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] 3) Several people here started taking pictures of their mix-and-match efforts with the AG outfits, and I thought that putting things together myself would be a very fun thing to do. I tried it and I was hooked. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Now, this is what I have done with my collection of AG outfits: My husband and I turned an old, self-standing storage cupboard into a doll closet, and we also purchased several 5-drawer lingerie chests from K-Mart when they were on sale. Now I hang everything on its own hanger - even breaking up outfits, or fold it in a drawer. My "girls" love that I pull together outfits for them to wear, choosing from anything in the closet and drawers! [img]graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Check out the two albums in my signature to see my storage system, and all of my albums ("All Jeanette_M's Albums" pull-down menu at the bottom of each album page) to see my dolls in their mix-and-match outfits.

[Monika]

Well, I'm dealing with somewhat of the same thing, but one idea I am toying with [img]wink.gif[/img] is the use of those lined wickerbaskets to hold the accessories & my digital camera to take pictures of the 'complete' outfit first. I'm thinking that I could use several small baskets to differentiate between the girls. Ultimately, I'd love to have some extra closet space & add a couple of the wire closet maid shelves to hang the outfits from - the wire system seems small enough for the doll hangers & then putting the baskets on top of the shelves. Of course, these are really items for my dds to play with & I'll have to get used to a bit of chaos [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

[sharlit]

I used to be such a stickler for keeping outfits together. As a child I always dressed my dolls so they looked like the catalog pictures. Now I keep things more mixed up and I've realized it's a lot of fun to design my own outfits. So I say don't keep your outfits together! Store things whichever way is easiest with the trunks, and have fun putting all sorts of outfits together. Use a digital camera or Meg's guide to keep record of how the outfits go together in case you *really* want to put the original outfit together.

[JuliaAM]

I too like to dress the dolls like the catalog, perfect with each accessory. But I also like to mix & match. How I like to dress the dolls doesn't determine how I store the supplies because space is my limiting factor. I've found I can fit all shoes/boots/sandals/etc in two small decorative boxes. All the jewelry items fit in two mini hatboxes. All hats fit in two hatboxes. Most of shirts, pants & sweaters are stored in the 3-in-1 Bed compartments. I painted all the boxes white to match the bed, lined them with pretty paper or fabric and then did decorative painting on each box, such as a border of checks on one, scattered tiny pink roses on another, etc. The boxes look nice stacked neatly on top of the 3-in-1 Bed.

Eventually, I'll get one or two of the historic doll trunks for all historic doll items. To fit things as neatly as possible, all the dresses will go together, all the footwear will be stored together etc.

By keeping all jewelry in two mini hatboxes, I found I no longer lose pieces. [img]smile.gif[/img] Same with the shoes and socks. It's really handy to pull out a box with just shoes. That makes it easier to find what I want.

Julia

[ckropp]

My daughter and I have decided to make a scapbook of the outfits she has. We will cut the pictures of the outfit out of the catologe and paste in the book. This way we know what pieces she should have. It is also a great little craft project for her. As she gets older she can be as creative as she wants.