Deerskin Outfit (Adorned Deerskin Dress) (RETIRED)

[C.I.Fairfield]

Kaya's Adorned Deerskin Dress was introduced in 2002. It was later sold as Kaya's Deerskin Outfit, and it retired in 2018. This outfit is worn by Kaya in some of her books.

Kaya saves this deerskin dress for special occasions. It’s trimmed with a row of dyed porcupine quills, plus pretty trade beads and elk’s teeth. The better the hunters in a girl’s family, the more teeth she would have on her dress. Kaya’s dress comes with matching moccasins and a woven belt.


Grade: A

Includes: Dress, moccassins, and belt.



This dress is lovely. The paler brown of the leather suits Kaya
much better than the yellow-brown of her Meet dress. The details are very nice:



The shoulder has three rows of "porcupine quills" in red, white and blue. There are long fringes on the front of the dress that hold pairs of "elk teeth" and trade beads in red and blue. There are also teeth and beads on the skirt of the dress, hung singly instead of in pairs. The belt is a woven design mounted on brown webbing and closing with velcro.

The moccasins are the same as her Meet outfit, maybe a little nicer.

My biggest problem with this dress is the belt. It is very tight, even after I played around with the fringe on the sides of the dress. Poor Kaya is squished. Also, I don't like that it was mounted on webbing; I would have preferred just the wove design. Also, like most AG outfits, the detail on the collar doesn't go all the way around.

However, this dress is a "must" for Kaya!

[American Girl Rescue]

Description from AG for original outfit:

Adorned Deerskin Dress
WSO
$26

Kaya saves this deerskin dress for special occasions. It’s trimmed with a row of dyed porcupine quills, plus pretty trade beads and elk’s teeth. The better the hunters in a girl’s family, the more teeth she would have on her dress. Kaya’s dress comes with matching moccasins and a woven belt.


Yes, her belt is much too tight! But being the only 'historical' outfit for Kaya, it's a must have for her collection! I guess in her time period you basically wore the same thing every day anyway. Love it. Grade A

[Colonial Rose]

This set contains a dress, belt and a pair of moccasins, I got it from American Girl on Monthly Special for $20 in October 2007. The dress is the same material as Kaya's meet, but in a different colour, with fringe cut along the edges, red, white and blue plastic porcupine quills along the front of the yoke, and fringe with red and blue beads and ivory plastic elk teeth across the front of the bodice and skirt. The fringe and beads might be a bit too fragile for a rough child, but they should be fine with normal play. The belt is a woven pattern in beige, red, blue and black with a bit of turquoise it is pretty but it is too small to really fit around Kaya without a great deal of squeezing. I have one older set and one newer and both belts are too short. The moccasins are the same style as the meet ones but match the dress, I haven't put them on Kaya because I am still afraid to take her meet pair off. It is a very pretty dress and necessary to have if you want to keep her historical but don't want to leave her in her meet outfit all the time, I only wish it looked more like the one on the cover of Kaya and Lone Dog. I got the dress on Monthly Special with free shipping and was much happier with it at that price than full retail (especially after the 2012 price increase). Now for the specific reviews of the two versions of the dress that I have.
version I
I think this must have been the original style for the dress since the one I got came in a garment bag and they have stopped using those. The neck and shoulders on this dress are cut straight across, the neckline is hemmed and then everything sewn together in a straight line, as a result the neckline looks like it is strangling poor Kaya and the shoulders stick straight out from side to side making her look like a bird about to take flight. The meet dress was also made in this style and it looked every bit as bad. D
version II
This must be a later version as it came in a box, the older burgundy one but still a box, and my star boxed Kaya's meet dress was the same style. The neck on this dress is cut with a slight scoop and the shoulders are cut in a slope, they aren't hemmed (and they really don't need to be as this isn't a material that will fray), just sewn together so the neckline looks much better and the shoulders follow the curve of her shoulders more instead of sticking out. A

[bijou]

Adorned Deerskin Dress
WSO: $26
Grade: A+

When Purchased: I purchased this outfit directly from AG in 2006.

Description: This outfit is made of soft suede like Kaya's Meet Outfit. It is trimmed in suede fringe and with beautiful beadwork, especially along the collar. It fits Kaya nicely with no problem areas in the shoulders. The belt is velcro and snug but not too tight.

Durability: This outfit is very durable, but with the thin suede ties, these might break easily, especially on the moccasins.

Playability: This is the only other historical outfit for Kaya, therefore it is essential to give Kaya something else to change into.

Value for the money: I feel this is well worth the money.

Overall Grade: A+

[kenzie]

I love this dress! I actually like it better than Kaya's Meet outfit. It is very well made and I love the beadwork at the top. My only complaint is that the belt is too tight. This dress is a must have for Kaya.

Overall Grade : A+

[xmaskat]

Kaya's Adorned Deerskin Dress is very nice in person. The fabric is a suede leather material with red & blue bead adornments. This dress is much lighter in color than her Meet dress. Also comes with a woven belt and matching moccassins.

Grade A!

[JSMT]

This dress has recently been changed over from having real beads (plastic) to represent the porcupine quills, to a strip of fabric that is 3 colors and mimics beads. I vastly prefer the real beaded one and if this matters to you you should open the box to check or ask if you purchase this on the secondary market. Do not assume that it will have beads. Most likely if you buy one new from now on you will get the one with the decorative tape.

[American Girl Rescue]

The description and title have changed as well:

Kaya’s Deerskin Outfit
Item# D8652
$32
Kaya wears a fringed deerskin dress decorated with embroidery, faux elk's teeth, and trade beads for special occasions. The more successful the hunters in her family, the more teeth she could add to her outfit. This special outfit features:

A fringed, faux-deerskin dress that's trimmed with colorful embroidery, trade beads, and pretend elk's teeth
Matching light tan moccasins with self-tie closures
A belt with a woven design

It says that it's embroidery and not 'adorned' anymore.


*mod edit to remove dead image link*

[incagold]

I just got my older version of the adorned dress. Here is a close up of the beads so you can compare.

[JustMagicMaria]

This is a beautiful dress and very detailed. It is a must-have for Kaya's collection.

I am happy that I bought mine before they revised it to use embroidery instead of plastic "porcupine quills". It looks wonderful with Kaya's woven hat.

Grade: A

[cheshie04]

Cute. Love the belt, great quality. The suede tends to pill after a while. And the belt is very tight.

Look at how bunched in poor Kaya is!

Close up of pilling on a moccasin.

[Wickfield]

I bought this as part of a lot from a fellow board member who had several early-edition Kaya items. My adorned dress is the straight-shouldered version, but I didn't find it very difficult to arrange the dress nicely. The beadwork on this outfit is AMAZING. I can't believe AG originally went to the trouble of adding three stitched rows of different colored beads, as well as two different shapes for the red and blue beads. The elk-teeth make this dress so unique and authentic!

I was kind of surprised by the color of the dress material. The books and pamphlets describe it as "almost white" which it clearly is not, but I was expecting a lighter, cooler brown color based on magazine and board member photos - more like the leather of the cradleboard in my pics below. In person, it has more of a silver-green cast. It's interesting, and evidently the correct color since it matches the band on her hat perfectly, but it wasn't the color I was anticipating. The moccasins are the exact color of the dress. Personally, I don't think it matches very well with her winter accessories, which tend to go better with her meet outfit.

As for the belt, it is one of the few official AG items I decided to alter. It was SO TIGHT on my doll I was afraid I would damage the dress, the belt, the doll, or all three! The belt is kind of an odd nylon material like a backpack strap, so it was easy to remove the velcro and reposition it for a looser fit. Now it is snug but wearable, and it won't threaten to split poor Kaya in half!

Overall, I would rate this dress A-.