Midnight Skate Outfit & Book (2010-2011)
Jan 11, 2012 14:58:11 GMT -5
Post by KitandKat on Jan 11, 2012 14:58:11 GMT -5
Liked this outfit, saw it in person and decided I thought it looked cheap, decided to go for it anyway, and ended up liking it again. LOL. It looks better IRL than in the AG display cases, go figure.
Dress: Pretty and I like that it is a bit more mature rather than cutesy. My dolls are all older, so this fits. I like the underskirt with the polka dots, I thought that was clever and would be a fun detail when she is spinning. I was also pleasantly surprised by the keyhole back; it adds more interesting elements to the dress. I was concerned about the velour but it doesn't look cheap (I feel like sometimes velour can). I also think this might be able to work as a regular party dress too; it doesn't scream "costume" to me. Grade: A
Headband: Cute and I think it could work with other outfits as mix-and-match. The fact that it had the flower at the top didn't strike me as very realistic though, because I have heard from skaters that even adding something small like that can throw off your balance/center of gravity (especially in regards to Mia's hair clip with her white skating dress). Still, it looks cute with the dress, so I'm choosing to ignore that, lol. It also didn't have the huge tag like some of the more recent headbands (yay!). I thought it fit the doll well and it didn't seem to make her hair as static-y as I expected it too (since it is also made of velour). Grade: B+
Skates: I am sooooooo disappointed in these skates and very sad that this is probably the direction AG is going in. I have the very first AG skate outfit and those skates also lace up and have the eyelet hooks. While maybe that is a challenge for some of the younger crowd who can't tie a bow, it actually made the skates really easy to get on because you could unlace them as much as you wanted, and then tie them up tight to fit the doll's foot. These have a little fabric loop in the back to get them on, but they were still very difficult. One went on okay and the other honestly took me about ten minutes of struggling. (Luckily, I was able to get them off!) The fact that the laces are elastic did not help at all. I also don't think they look realistic and they fit awkwardly. Honestly, if AG is going to go in this direction, at least put some velcro in the back so we can actually get the skates on the doll's foot. Yes, I would honestly rather have velcro than these skates. Sigh. Grade: D
Guards: The same guards they've been using since at least Mia, but in clear sparkly rubber instead of colored sparkly rubber
They stay on ok if you're not moving the doll around much. Grade: B
Flowers: Cute, typical AG flowers. Grade: B+
Overall Grade: B+ without the skates, C with the skates
I would definitely recommend this outfit but minus the skates!
With Mia's skates from her accessories:
With the skates that came with the outfit (sorry for the whacky lighting, my camera was overwhelmed because the skates were white against a white background/wall, or something like that, and wasn't doing color very well):
Back (you can tuck the strings out of the way easily, but I didn't bother because I was using it in an album and wasn't planning on showing her back):
The underskirt and a close-up of the evil skates that came with it:
Dress: Pretty and I like that it is a bit more mature rather than cutesy. My dolls are all older, so this fits. I like the underskirt with the polka dots, I thought that was clever and would be a fun detail when she is spinning. I was also pleasantly surprised by the keyhole back; it adds more interesting elements to the dress. I was concerned about the velour but it doesn't look cheap (I feel like sometimes velour can). I also think this might be able to work as a regular party dress too; it doesn't scream "costume" to me. Grade: A
Headband: Cute and I think it could work with other outfits as mix-and-match. The fact that it had the flower at the top didn't strike me as very realistic though, because I have heard from skaters that even adding something small like that can throw off your balance/center of gravity (especially in regards to Mia's hair clip with her white skating dress). Still, it looks cute with the dress, so I'm choosing to ignore that, lol. It also didn't have the huge tag like some of the more recent headbands (yay!). I thought it fit the doll well and it didn't seem to make her hair as static-y as I expected it too (since it is also made of velour). Grade: B+
Skates: I am sooooooo disappointed in these skates and very sad that this is probably the direction AG is going in. I have the very first AG skate outfit and those skates also lace up and have the eyelet hooks. While maybe that is a challenge for some of the younger crowd who can't tie a bow, it actually made the skates really easy to get on because you could unlace them as much as you wanted, and then tie them up tight to fit the doll's foot. These have a little fabric loop in the back to get them on, but they were still very difficult. One went on okay and the other honestly took me about ten minutes of struggling. (Luckily, I was able to get them off!) The fact that the laces are elastic did not help at all. I also don't think they look realistic and they fit awkwardly. Honestly, if AG is going to go in this direction, at least put some velcro in the back so we can actually get the skates on the doll's foot. Yes, I would honestly rather have velcro than these skates. Sigh. Grade: D
Guards: The same guards they've been using since at least Mia, but in clear sparkly rubber instead of colored sparkly rubber
They stay on ok if you're not moving the doll around much. Grade: BFlowers: Cute, typical AG flowers. Grade: B+
Overall Grade: B+ without the skates, C with the skates
I would definitely recommend this outfit but minus the skates!
With Mia's skates from her accessories:
With the skates that came with the outfit (sorry for the whacky lighting, my camera was overwhelmed because the skates were white against a white background/wall, or something like that, and wasn't doing color very well):
Back (you can tuck the strings out of the way easily, but I didn't bother because I was using it in an album and wasn't planning on showing her back):
The underskirt and a close-up of the evil skates that came with it:
