Meet Dress Prototype

[Firinel]

The "prototype" of Addy's meet dress is pictured on the main site's prototype page

It's a very nice dress, I actually like it slightly better than her more common meet dress. How they compare/differ:

- Most obviously, they have a different pattern to the fabric; the prototype is floral, the common one is a kind of stripe,

- The prototype is more mauve, where as the common dress is a brighter pink - side by side the common one appears almost coral in comparison,

- the pattern on the common one I'd describe as being off-white, where as the floral on this is decidedly more cream,

- They are exactly the same style/cut,

- The prototype is every so slightly of a thinner/refined a material.

[PleasantMemories]

I believe they debuted at the 1994 MCM sale and were around for several years (maybe 3 or 4). They were also at the Pleasant Company employee sale. From the price lists I glanced at, the dresses were $3-10 at the MCM sale. However, they could have even been less at one point, as prices were sometimes lowered later in day on Sunday. There were a lot of them, so the dress isn’t particularly rare.

[Dollhouse Designs]

I was going thru some of my old photos a couple days ago & found some scene photos I had done. One of them had Addy's prototype dress. Gosh I am kicking myself for selling it, as it was really nice. Here's a photo.



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[skukla]

[Ermentrude]

I adore the prototype meet dress. The subtle color seems so much more authentic to the time and is more flattering on my girls. A+

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[mamared]

I like both the prototype meet dress and the official meet dress. I agree with what other reviewers have said about having the same cut but slightly different color and fabric.

Here is a photo with a side-by-side color comparison. Both dresses are tagged Pleasant Company, and the prototype is the floral dress on top.



Here is a close-up photo of the fabric:



Unlike the official meet dress, the prototype fabric is only printed on one side. It’s noticeable in this picture of the neckline (where you can also see the inside the dress), but it’s not really noticeable when Addy is wearing the dress.



It has ten decorative buttons on a faux placket up the front, Velcro closures along the back and wrists, and a fitted waist. The floral print on the prototype fabric makes it harder to notice the fitted waist (on the official meet dress this feature really stands out because the stripes change direction), so here’s a close-up:



Overall, this isn’t my favorite dress, but I do think it’s cute and it’s a nice, relatively simple dress option for Addy to have.

[mamared]

I wrote the above review back before Addy had joined my collection, and since then, this dress has become one of my favorites! I think the coloring suits Addy especially well, and the dress is versatile for different occasions. My Addy often wears it alone, and I also like pairing it with the apron from her Needlework Kit.



The top of the dress fits my BeForever Addy nicely, and I like the drape from the inverted pleats.



The inverted pleats extend all the way around the dress to the Velcro closure at the back. You can see that in this photo, even though she has the apron on. She’s also wearing her red petticoat in this picture, which makes it flair out a bit more.



Here’s one more picture, with Cécile in the standard meet dress for comparison.



Overall, I think this is a really sweet dress on Addy. I don’t know that it’s worth the high prices it’s sometimes advertised for on the secondary market, and I no longer remember what I paid for it, but I’m happy to have it in Addy’s collection.