Summer Dress & Straw Hat (RETIRED)

[cami713]

This outfit is worn by Kirsten in the book Kirsten Saves the Day and the short story “Kirsten and the New Girl”. Released in 1988.

After the heavy woolens Kirsten wore all winter, this cool summer dress with pale blue stripes, short sleeves, and tiny oval buttons felt so light and airy. Top it off with the straw hat that Kirsten longed for. It’s tied with a black ribbon and trimmed with a bunch of bright cherries.


I bought this one for Kirsten, when I bought her a few weeks ago.

The Good: I've loved this outfit since I got my first AG catalogue in 95. Not sure why I never got it, even though I didn't have Kirsten (I've got about 4 Molly outfits, and don't have her, lol). It's very nice, in person, and the colors are pretty. The little oval buttons are very sweet.

The Bad: Didn't exactly live up to my expectations (but having loved it for 10 years, that's ok ). Also, the hat is pretty much useless. It's too big, and just slowly rises off of her head until it falls off. Pity, because it's really cute.

Rating: ****, B+

[tngirl03]

I got this dress when I got my Kirsten in '93. I love it, and my only problem with the straw hat is making sure it doesn't get crushed while I'm storing it.

[QNPoohBear]

I adore this dress. It is one of my favorites. I especially like the tiny (faux) ivory buttons on the bodice and the piping on the sleeves. The sky blue and antique white stripes are a different look from Kirsten's mainly calico/pioneerish dresses.

The hat is nice but a bit big for Kirsten's head. The ribbon and cherries are exactly as they are described in the book and the hat feels like the real straw hat I used to have. The hat gets kind of worn over time, but I guess that makes it more authentic. A+ for both

[SailAwayAK~]

I have this set as well and I think that the hat is a pain. It sure doesn't fit on her head. I love the breeziness of the dress. It is just the weight a girl should be wearing in 100 degree weather.

[cami713]

Mine's definitely too big. I put Kirsten's hair into 2 inside out french braids. Anyone who knows what they look like will know they have the braid on top, I thought it might add a bit off extra....size to her head so the hat would stay on. Didn't really help . It will lay on her head fine, now with those braids, enough for displaying her, though.

[Wickfield]

The dress - we recently got this dress from a board member, and were surprised at how beautiful it looks on Kirsten! The cream stripes bring out her blond hair and the blue stripes bring out her eyes. It is a pretty combination and seems very summery. The dress fabric is really thin, and I'm not sure this is a quality problem or if the dress is just supposed to be lightweight for the season. The detail is nice with the grow stripes and oval, "carved" buttons. I was suspicious our dress was a "second", as it is sewn up the front but that's apparently correct. I am also glad this dress looks nice without the hat, and with her cream hair ribbons and red or two-tone boots. A+

The hat - the hat is, unfortunately, not the greatest piece - though it is decorated with ribbon and cherries, the material has changed recently and feels more like raffia than actual straw. It is very thin and papery-feeling and feels really fragile. Also, it is too shallow to stay on Kirsten's head and wants to tilt off backward from the weight of the cherries; an elastic strap would have been nice. B-

[LissieAB]

This is one of my favorite dresses for Kirsten! So simple, sweet, and summery! Love the color combination. My only problem is with the hat - it is too shallow and wide for Kirsten's head and never stays on for more than a second. I never use it, but the dress looks great without it! The dress also looks great on my Nellie and pretty good on my Samantha...

[zeemeems]

The dress looks great with outside lighting. I love the hat!

[nonameleft]

The dress is well-made. The only complaint I have about it is the color - it washes the doll out. This doll looks much better in bright colors - reds, darker blues, even the black skating outfit and the pure white St Lucia gown. This doll is light (blonde and blue) and so looks best in more vibrant colors.

A+ for quality. C for color choice.

[EofA]

I think this dress is strikingly unimpressive until you actually put it on a doll. Then the crispness and comfort shines through. It is another of the iconic Kirsten dresses that sets her collection apart and is closely connected with her stories. I adore the hat and its significance to Kirsten's stories, but like others I wish it sat more securely on the doll's head. The hat is pretty much relegated to being a display piece. I like the ivory and light blue coloring of the dress and squee over the tiny buttons. I do not put shoes or socks on Kirsten when she wears this, as I think she'd have enjoyed going barefoot on a hot summer's day.

Some additional photos of Mia, who is my other pioneer era doll, modeling this outfit:

[skukla]

I love this dress. Addy wore it for a vacation on Lake Michigan this past summer. It lent itself to kicking off shoes, stockings, braids, and just playing in the summer sunshine on the dunes.

[rosieangel]

I love love LOVE this dress! The fabric is light and summery, and it looks gorgeous on Kirsten! And, as other posters have pointed out with their pictures, it features the sweetest little pearly oval buttons ever! All of Kirsten's dresses except her super-fancy birthday dress have growth strips, but they look especially cute with the vertical stripes! It's easy to get my chubby PM Kirsten in and out of.

The hat is adorable; however, it is an infernal pain in the rear to keep on her head. I have the same problem as all of you! One of my friends who also has Kirsten said that she modded the hat by sewing a clear hair elastic into the... umm... I'm not to familiar with hat terminology, but shall we call it the cap? of the hat with clear fishing wire. This mostly holds it in place.

Anyways, I really don't want to mod official items and the little cherries on the hat are just too precious to leave out of play.

[SwedishRed]

This is one of my favorite dresses for Kirsten. It is just so pretty and summery. I bought mine off eBay and what I thought were supposed to be white stripes are more of a yellowish cream. I have never seen another version so I have nothing to compare it to besides photos and the knock-off dress I have (the stripes are very white on that one). I have a picture of mine next to the apron from her birthday dress. I like the color of it and it looks great on my Kirsten (see my sig photo), but I'm just wondering if it is supposed to be this cream color or not. Thanks

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[Danibananni]

The summer dress is suppose to be cream or an off-white. I didn't realize it either until I bought it. I have a mattel version of the dress.

[QNPoohBear]

The stripes on the girl-sized dress were described as "sky-blue and antique white." The girl-sized dress is an identical version of Kirsten's dress. The stripes are more of a blue-green and ivory than sky blue and white.

[Trapicia]

Kirsten looks lovely in her blue and cream summer dress. The colors are soft and soothing, and the dress looks very comfortable for summer. The style is simple, but the lovely details (like the oval buttons, grow stripes, and using the fabric horizontally at the waist) make it special.

My Kirsten's hat sits on her head for posing, but will not stay if I move her around. It stays on better for me if her braids are down, not looped. I think I am going to try to find a hat pin to secure it. The one word that comes to mind whenever I see Kirsten in this hat is jaunty.

I highly recommend this outfit for Kirsten.

[sailormolly]

This is another favorite of mine from Kirsten's collection! It was already retired by the time I started collecting for Kirsten. I bought mine form another board member here. I do not have her original straw hat.

This is the perfect summertime dress for a girl like Kirsten.

I have found a couple off brand hats that are good replacements.

Kirsten summer dress 4 by Elizabeth, on Flickr

But I also like pairing it with her Meet bonnet and apron.

Kirsten tulips 1 by Elizabeth, on Flickr

SailorMolly

[5hensandacockatiel]

Oh wow, I LOVE this outfit! It is ADORABLE!!!! And the hat is amazing. It is one of the cutest things AG has EVER made!

[cymbre]

Want a straight up picture of the dress itself? Hey, I have one right here:



This was from a girl (now woman, I suppose!) who had Kirsten growing up. The hat apparently did not survive.

For those trying to reproduce this dress, note that there is teeny-tiny piping between the bodice and sleeve, and at the edge of the sleeve. (The sleeves are not lined in white, that's just the other part of the piping you see inside).

[lorilee71688]

I love, love, love the hat! It makes this outfit work. It is one of my all time favorite accessories for my dolls. As mentioned by Rosieangel, the cherries and bow are perfect.

I have both hats, the rougher straw first version and the smoother rafia one. I actually prefer the newer one as it stays on her head. The smoother weave somehow fits the scale of the hat better. I remember taking it out of the box after purchasing it on ebay and loving it! I wonder if it will hold up as well as the rougher straw one?

What about the boots? I have two pair and believe both to be PC or AG. One has eyelets and more cottony laces with black soles. The other, has no eyelets, thiner laces and tan soles. Does anyone know?

[starwenn]

This outfit was a surprise find at a yard sale for a dollar! It didn't come with the hat, but considering this is retired, I was happy to pick up the dress itself. My favorite part is the oval buttons - they're a truly unique touch. It's a nice, simple summer dress that looks lovely on a wide variety of dolls and in many different time periods. You can't go wrong picking this one up as a summer outfit for Kirsten, Addy, or even modern dolls.

[keeperofthepast]

This is a sweet dress. It's perfect for summer and I love the little oval buttons. The hat is darling with the charries.