Work Dress

[Catlin]

I am very pleased they made Caroline's work dress. It's nice to have something a little more practical for her wardrobe. The dress is well-made with the design going all the way around. The cap is cute, and fits well enough that I don't think the ribbon to tie it on the doll is necessary. The boots are very well made and a neutral color, so they'd probably work well with other outfits. Caroline looks adorable, A+

[Lucy Skylar]

[Clover]

Caroline's Work Dress
Item# F2718
Price: $32

Caroline chooses this outfit when she helps Uncle Aaron on the farm:

• A stylish-yet-practical cotton dress printed with chains of flowers and featuring puffed sleeves, lace on the bodice, and pink trim peeking out at the hem


• A cap tied at the chin with white ribbon and trimmed at the top with pink ribbon


• Tan boots that are just right for lending a hand in the vegetable garden

As I am collecting for Caroline, this was a new addition, and a lower priced item to easily add to my collection. Prior to this, I was mostly neutral on many of Caroline's outfits. I always felt that there was not one outfit that stood out to me as being "Caroline". With AG's release of this outfit, I was thrilled.

Dress
Dress is all one piece, sewn together to look like it is layered. Material is your standard thin sturdy cotton. No difficulty in putting it on, even with an extra slip underneath. The pattern is pretty, and complements Caroline's eye color/hair color combo well.
Grade: A-

Cap
Cap features a pink ribbon adornment and side white ribbons to tie underneath Caroline's chin. The cap, as Catlin mentioned, fits well enough to not warrant the additional bow to keep the cap on. I almost find my cap too tight, and there is no way it is going anyway even if I swing Caroline around. Made again of the standard sturdier cotton that Felicity and Elizabeth's caps were made from.
Grade: A-

Shoes
The shoes are a nice sturdy material, and a nice shade of grey-brown that I can see blending well with the mud Caroline would accumulate on her boots when working on the farm. They were easy to get on. My one complaint, which may just be with my pair of boots, is that the lace is too short to tie a bow. I will recheck it again tonight and try tightening the laces, but this is a disappointment.
Grade: B

Overall, I like the look of this outfit, and feel it fits Caroline's character the best of all of her outfits. It would have been nice if the pieces were actually separates to layer on, but I am guessing it would have bumped up the price of the outfit to more than people would be comfortable paying. I would recommend this outfit if you are collecting for Caroline or have a regency girl.

[sharayahlynn]

I am beyond pleased with this dress. It it well-made and absolutely beautiful. The cap is lovely and doesn't put up much of a fight if you need to adjust it after you tie it. The boots were a bit of a pain to get on, but I think they will be easier to slip on and off now I've wrestled with them and stretched them out a bit. Grade: A+

[Wickfield]

I am so glad they decided to make Caroline's work dress! She wears it a lot in her books and it suits the doll's coloration very well. It is just darling!

Even though the outfit is one piece, it is executed to look like two pieces and it does a good job of that. If you just look around the sleeves, for instance, the white sleeves aren't just attached to the patterned bodice, there is additional fabric to make it look like she is really wearing an undershirt. I don't mind that it's one piece even though realistically it should be two, because I really probably wouldn't be mixing and matching these two pieces with anything else anyway.

The fabric and detailing is very beautiful. I love the fabric pattern's design and it looks historically accurate and I like the incorporation of the pink inset, the lace, and the kind of gold/earth tone ribbon. The pink and green dress portion does seem a little dressy for work, but I'm wondering if it might be made to look like Caroline had outgrown the dress and couldn't wear it on nice occasions? The extra pink fabric at the base seems to look like it was added to let the dress down to a proper length, which may explain the otherwise slightly fancy dress being used for work. That's my headcanon, anyway.

The cap is also very cute and looks really sweet on, I actually like the additional ribbon ties because they differentiate the caps from some in Lissie's collection (this is also historically accurate). It doesn't smush her hair. As far as the boots go, they are kind of awkwardly shaped in the front - like they don't indent enough toward her ankle, if that makes sense. They are the same cut as her winter boots but were easier to get on, and they were shown in the book vignettes, which is another plus from me.

She reminds me of one of those old-fashioned china shepherdesses when she is wearing this gown and I think it is the sweetest thing. A+ for matching her coloration and for being featured in the books!

ETA: I finally got around to trying this on over the undergarments I made for my Caroline. The dress fits fine over pantalettes, a shift, and a petticoat all at once, so I wouldn't say AG skimped on fabric. Just fwiw.