Festival Outfit (retired)

[woodnearathens]

Released in 2016 for $32, retired in 2019.

Josefina celebrates the joys of the harvest festival in this colorful outfit. The harvest was an important part of life in New Mexico and was a time of bounty and gratitude. Her outfit includes: A white blouse with intricate embroidery. A vibrantly patterned skirt with a wide red belt. A satin shawl. Over-the-knee stockings. Pale-pink shoes with bows.


Josefina looks beautiful in bright colors, and this dress is no exception. At $32, I feel like it's a good buy for what you get. The set includes an embroidered camisa, a skirt, a red woven belt, socks, shoes, and shawl.





I especially love the embroidery on the camisa, and it's probably my favorite detail. I also like the use of a woven belt instead of a ribbon (like in Josefina's Feast Outfit).

The shawl is a tad too short to really be used as a rebozo, as it doesn't quite tuck itself under Josefina's arms very well. I'm also not a fan of the shiny material used, though I really like the bright color and how it compliments the colors in the outfit.

The shoes.... Well, they are pink with little ribbons and flat out don't fit on my PC girl's larger feet. I'm not too sad about that, as Josefina has tons of other black shoes she can wear.

Speaking of my Josefina being a PC doll, the skirt is very tight and has to be worn a tad bit high up on the waist. But I fully expected that, as the same has applied to all recent clothes I've purchased for my Josefina.

Overall, I love this outfit! I'm not someone who typically purchases things as soon as they are released, but this one came home with me right away!

Grade: A

[Wickfield]

Jsoefina's Festival Outfit is a very pretty outfit based on the "china poblana" folk costume, and although many people questioned its accuracy at first, like most of Josefina's collection it is a lovely blend of historic and folk styles, right down to the pink shoes. And don't doubt that striking lime green shawl, it is a good match for the Regency color Pomona green - so I was sold right away!



I like all the colors in this outfit, it is a very beautiful costume to look at. At first when I took it out of the package it looked rather skimpy to me, like AG was trying to save on fabric, and when I put it on Josefina the skirt looked distressingly short, but when I compared it to other pieces to Josefina's collection it is not actually all that different. I think the skirt just looked short combined with the white socks and flats instead of moccasins which gave the illusion of more leg. So you don't need to be as worried as I was.

The camisa is probably the prettiest part, the design is actually machine embroidered and is very intricate. I like the unusual square neckline and lace trim, although I suspect AG reused the pattern for Josefina's new nightgown instead of constructing anything new. The sash is a recolor of both her new blue and original brown meet sash, and is the third red sash in Josefina's collection but I can forgive this as the others (school and Harvest outfits) have been retired, and I really can't think what other color they would have used anyway.



I also think it is a little tiring for Josefina to have so many red skirts, but at least this one is nicely done. The skirt is just as intricate as the shirt and I like it because of its detail which is very similar to museum pieces. I do wish the yellow portion at the top had been extended, it seems like it needs to be longer relative to the red portion.

The stockings are a good thickness and go a bit above her knee. They are a lot like Caroline's meet stockings. The shoes are also a lot like Caroline's meet shoes, with the addition of little "leather" bows. They don't really match anything in the outfit, but I added the red ribbon and pink flowers from the BF hairstyling set to tie it all together. (In this photo Josefina is also wearing her new mantilla from her Navidad Outfit.)

The rebozo was the most controversial bit of this outfit, but I actually like it! The shiny satin adds a nice texture so the outfit is not just a wall of solid cotton. I think some fringe or something would have been a nice addition. Like her Weaving Outfit rebozo, it is on the short side, and hard to wrap around her, so I tend to drape it over her shoulders.

Interestingly, I found that all the pieces of this outfit and her original birthday outfit mix-and-match beautifully, so extra points for that!



Overall I would give it A-, but I would still recommend it as it comes with lots of playable, versatile pieces.

[Wickfield]

Here are some more photos. The longer I've had it the more I've come to admire this outfit - I think it's one of my favorites!

[adksarah]

Can someone post a picture of the back of the camisa and skirt?