Spring Dress

[Islanders Girl]

This outfit was worn by Nellie in the book Samantha’s Valentine Crafts.

Nellie's Spring Party Dress
$22
Rating: A

I love this dress! I am a HUGE pink fanatic, so I love the how the dress is pink, but it is such a soft pink that is really nice and goes well with the white detailing on the dress. Her shoes are cute and pretty easy to get on, but she can't stand very well in them because they are heeled.

One of my favorite parts is the little heart necklace. It's painted white with a delicate portrait of flowers, and the chain falls in a way that outlines the "V" part of her dress.

I also love her bow and how it is on a barrette, it makes it so much easier then the tie-yourself ribbons that Sam has. I don't know if the rhinestones are historically accurate, but they are cute and make a nice touch.

Here are some pics (not that good, but they're the only ones of her in the dress that I have);

[agcollector293110]

I had been hesitant to purchase this but I am so glad I did. It looks great on both Nellie and Sam and it really brings out the coloring in both of them (especially Nellie). The necklace and shoes are a nice added touch that get thrown in with the set. Overall I definitely give it an A.

[sgcwarren]

We just got this dress for my dd's new Samantha. I absolutely love it. I felt like I was getting an outfit and an accessory set all for $22! I don't have any pics right now, because she will be opening it tonight at her meme's.

[Bean Bunny]

Don't buy it unless you've got some sewing knowledge. I didn't have to sew anything, but knowing how to fix stuff that is sewn wrong is going to be an advantage.

Whyzat? Look, it comes out of the box looking like this:





Why yes, those sleeves ARE over her hands. I think AG decided to make the sleeves 'bigger' to make a mutton leg sleeve, which is way hardcore historical accurate. But, instead of "longer", you're supposed to go "wider". Longer gives you less floof and more ... well, more fail.

For some reason, AG uses a screwball skirt making method where they make the skirt in three pieces instead of one and put two huge seams at the sides. They do it in every historical dress I've seen, and I don't know why, because it would almost have to be cheaper and easier to use one long piece of cloth. On this dress, someone forgot to press the seams flat, so when put on Nellie, they stick STRAIGHT OUT AT AN ANGLE. Never mind that the skirt behaves like someone put way too much cloth at the back and then again in the middle of the front.

Also, the bottom seam of the waist band wasn't sewn right or something, so the skirt tried to stick straight out. I had to put the dress on Nellie, reach up under her, tuck the seam where it needed to go, then pull her bloomers down a little bit to make the ensemble look half okay. Poor baby.

Nellie got taken into my sewing room and I ironed the two offending seams of the dress. I could have done more, I guess, but I didn't want to screw with it too much.

Maybe ten minutes of effort got me this:



I velcro'd the sleeves as tight as they would go. They still look hokey, but the skirt is not the most offensive thing on the planet any more. It still ranks in the top ten. This dress might fit a Karito Kid pretty well, actually.



Close up of the failure sleeves, and the bodice. Bodice looks weird and I don't know why. Also note the necklace, which comes with a weird, lo-res picture of some flowers. No idea how historically accurate jpeg artifacts are, but there you go.



At least the lace detail is nice. The shoes are heels, and I have no clue how Nellie is standing in them. It's really easy to stand her up in them, too.

Also, the bow is hideous. This upsets Nellie: it's a bow, so it's supposed to be good, right? But how can THIS:



be considered a pretty bow? I'm not sure I appreciate the fact that it's a clip, either.



Probably what I'll do is leave the dress on the doll for a week, just to see if I like it any better. (Sometimes that happens. It's almost like the clothes and the doll get used to each other.) But, I do wonder if maybe I got a bum dress and there's another out there that would at least fit okay.

[hartlovesdolls]

I love this dress! I like that the dress isn't to fancy but not to plain either. Like Bean was saying the sleeves on my dress are so long! I always just push the sleeves up, I like how it looks when its like that. In my opinion the dress looks so much better on Samantha then Nellie because Sam's dark hair and eyes go better with pink (IMO.) =)

Grade: A

[Buckingham Alice]

I love this dress. At first, seeing AG's pics of it, I didn't like it, but seeing pictures on here and other sites like this sorta changed my mind. Then at AGPLA over the weekend I saw it in person and that definitely changed my mind! It looks really sweet on Nellie... I thought the pastel color would wash out her complexion, but I think it actually brings it out. And the shoes are really cute IMO. I have the same gripe with the sleeves, although I just push them up and it actually looks sorta cute that way.

[Danielle]

This dress is easily one of my favorite outfits made by AG. But the sleeves get all poofish, and sometimes they un-velcro. But it doesn't usually happen a lot. The hair bow is fail. My clip even snapped on mine. So I use a perty pink ribbon instead. :] The shoes are ok, but, heels? And I don't know how acurate these shoes would be for a ten year-old in 1904, but I'm not an expert. So I'm not sure. My grade is a solid: A

[PrincessMeg]

This dress is really nice! It looks good on Nellie but my Marisol steals it alot to wear to parties and it looks good on her! I like that it comes with alot of accessories. The necklace is just adorable and the shoes and hair bow are cute too. I haven't haven't had any problems with the dress either.

[LissieAB]

I like this dress. I used to dislike it, but it's been growing on me these past 3 years. The clip isn't great,but I'm neutral on it. The shoes are too cute, only the heals make it very hard to stand Nellie up on her own. Also, the necklace broke and because it was so ugly, I didn't really care.

[emchhardy]

I won this dress on EBAY new in box. I'm so glad that I bought it. I give it a solid A. You get a lot of pieces with this outfit - barrette, necklace, tights, dress, shoes - so it's worth it. It looks fantastic on my Anna (JLY21, she's early 1900's) too. I don't have any complaints about this outfit other than maybe the sleeves of the dress being a little long. The shoes are adorable and one of the easier pairs of AG shoes to put on actually. I love the fit and light pink color of the dress and the nice detailing with the hairbow and the necklace, etc. It's just a very classic, timeless outfit.

[Aja Lee]

I have to say, I am also a fan of this dress. I bought it for Rebecca since I prefer it over her Lace Dress and I have to say-much prettier in person! It's a light, pastel pink, not a hue over-powering or blinding to the eyes.
The dress is made of a soft cotton; the material is not to thick nor thin-appropriate for a spring dress. I like the eyelet trim right above the hem of the dress, the sleeves, and the collar. Nice, delicate, feminine touch. The collar takes up most of the bodice. I like the collar, personally. It's what gives the whole outfit character. The eyelet lace even reaches her neck a bit.
The shoes were not easy for me. They did not fit over the tights, but without tights, they fit with a bit of a pull. The heel makes it a bit hard to adjust her to stand, but once done so, she stays up perfectly fine. I like the flower ribbon on the toe of the shoes. They would be rather plain without them.
The necklace is also one of my favorite parts. The chain is just the right length, centering in the collar of the dress perfectly. It can be used with many different outfits.
The bow is a clip. While it is not historically accurate, most likely, it is much more functional and easy to use, in my opinion. But the rhinestones? I have a very, very strong aversion to them. They ruin the whole clip. They are NOT historically accurate, nor even attractive or pleasing in any way. Ugh...
The tights are standard AG snagging tights.

Overall, A minus the clip. The clip deserves an A for functionality, but an F for actual design.

[princessjoy]

This was one of the first outfits that I ever got for Nellie and it has always been one of my favorites.

The Dress:


I love this dress! I have always loved the color pink and this is such a nice soft pink that compliments Nellie, but doesn't overwhelm her. It has nice lace detailing on the skirt and the collar is so nice and elegant. The sleeves are long but I have had no trouble with them.

The Necklace:


The necklace has a silver chain and it closes with a standard AG clasp. It has a picture of some flowers on it and I like how it falls in the v of the collar.

The Bow:


The bow is actually a clip which makes it very easy to put in and take out her hair. The bow is sewn on to the clip three places in the back, so it doesn't show when on.

The Shoes:


The shoes are white and are very soft and fuzzy on the inside. They have a pink ribbon detail on the toe of each shoe. The shoes have a small heel but Nellie has no trouble standing in them.

Overall I give this outfit a solid A. I would recommend it if you have any doll from Nellie's time or if your doll loves pink.