#ZoomInAG OCs

[zoominag]

1850-1899

This is part of a series in which I am posting clips of my larger project by decade as I finish them. For more about this project, or to ask me to include your doll or OC, check out my pinned post.

Previous posts:

17th century

1700-1739

1740-1769

1770-1799

1800-1849

The OCs in this post that are mine are Charlotte and Jane, Rachel and Abigail, and Hannah and Delia (they're in pairs because I did the Best Friends series based on @americangirlstar's suggestions, and in the process created a Best Friend for each of my own characters). Héloise and Aoife belong to @autistickirstenlarson, Violette belongs to @getintothesun, and Charlotte belongs to @gardner-n-pardner.

While putting together previous installations I became aware that I have the birth dates wrong for several of the canon characters. I'm planning a redo for the canon character set, eventually, so please do let me know if I'm wrong about anyone. I might already know, but since I have pretty severe dyscalculia as well as ADHD it's not bad to have the info available in multiple places.

I also feel that I should repeat the statement I made before that I had a hard time finding accurate, non-exoticizing references for Kaya, Speaking Rain, and Singing Bird's wardrobes without embarking on a level of research way beyond the scope of this project. If someone is reading this who has familiarity with and access to visual references for 19th century Nimiipuu, Salish, and Dakota/Lakota clothing, and the time and patience to help me understand them, I would be very interested in learning.

1850s

Héloise Cormier: 96-99 Kaya'aton'my: 95-99 Speaking Rain: 95-99 Felicity Merriman: 85-94 Elizabeth Cole: 85-94 Rachel Gabay: 70-79 Abigail Schorr: 70-79 Lydia Livingston: 51-60 Caroline Abbott: 49-58 Clara Montoya: 38-47 Josefina Montoya: 36-45 Hannah Kane: 26-35 Delia Freedman: 26-35 Violette Metoyer: 26-35 Aoife Callaghan: 14-23 Cecile Rey: 8-17 Marie-Grace Gardner: 8-17 Kirsten Larson: 6-15 Singing Bird: 6-15 Charlotte Devereux: 1-10 Addy Walker: 0-5 Sarah Moore: 0-5

Charlotte is a fun and interesting character: I made small edits to some of the base poses I use to accommodate her cane, and larger edits to others. I looked up some photos and videos of children with juvenile arthritis, which Charlotte has, to help get it right. Some of the outfits in Charlotte's collection were repeats, so I picked out a few more outfits from the same period that seem like they fit Charlotte's frilly, floral aesthetic. Meanwhile, this decade, Addy and Sarah are both born into slavery, Héloise, Kaya, and Speaking Rain say goodbye, Cecile and Marie-Grace begin wearing full-length, grown-up dresses, and Clara Montoya, ever sensible, tries out a Bloomer suit but finds that it doesn't make her work enough easier to offset the teasing and doesn't make any more of them.

1860s

Felicity Merriman: 95-99 Elizabeth Cole: 95-99 Rachel Gabay: 80-89 Abigail Schorr: 80-89 Lydia Livingston: 61-70 Caroline Abbott: 59-68 Clara Montoya: 48-57 Josefina Montoya: 46-55 Hannah Kane: 36-45 Delia Freedman: 36-45 Violette Metoyer: 36-45 Aoife Callaghan: 24-33 Cecile Rey: 18-27 Marie-Grace Gardner: 18-27 Kirsten Larson: 16-25 Singing Bird: 16-25 Charlotte Devereux: 11-20 Addy Walker: 6-15 Sarah Moore: 6-15 He-Mei Hsieh: 0-4 Florence Coburn: 0-4 Lucy Morgan: 0-4

He-Mei is a placeholder name that probably isn't right for her character. It's a Mandarin name, and she should have a name in Cantonese. Unfortunately I just don't know enough to be able to pick one out without help, so if someone seeing this who speaks Cantonese has a great idea, I'd love to hear it. Ironically, although AG has never made either a Chinese or significantly Disabled Historical doll, He-Mei and Florence owe the most to existing AG characters out of all my OCs. Maybe it's their dedication to getting into trouble.

1870s

Rachel Gabay: 90-99 Abigail Schorr: 90-99 Lydia Livingston: 71-80 Caroline Abbott: 69-78 Clara Montoya: 58-67 Josefina Montoya: 56-65 Hannah Kane: 46-55 Delia Freedman: 46-55 Violette Metoyer: 46-55 Aoife Callaghan: 34-43 Cecile Rey: 28-37 Marie-Grace Gardner: 28-37 Kirsten Larson: 26-35 Singing Bird: 26-35 Charlotte Devereux: 21-30 Addy Walker: 16-25 Sarah Moore: 16-25 He-Mei Hsieh: 5-14 Florence Coburn: 5-14 Lucy Morgan: 5-14 Gertrude Levy: 0-4 Mabel Kaplan: 0-4 Medha/Mahtab: 0-2

The First Bustle Era, with its big, poofy, drapey bustles, shrinks down into a tight, structured column shape. Florence's chair is based on historical examples: it has two large wheels that she can push in the front and one small wheel in the back. It's heavy and difficult for her to push as a kid, and when He-Mei pushes it she can't always see where they are going. I feel like Addy's school suit, in particular, translates well into these stiffer and more structured styles, and Caroline's Christmas dress isn't bad either. Another one that worked out well is Cécile's parlor outfit.

1880s

Lydia Livingston: 81-90 Caroline Abbott: 79-88 Clara Montoya: 68-77 Josefina Montoya: 66-75 Hannah Kane: 56-65 Delia Freedman: 56-65 Violette Metoyer: 56-65 Aoife Callaghan: 44-53 Cecile Rey: 38-47 Marie-Grace Gardner: 38-47 Kirsten Larson: 36-45 Singing Bird: 36-45 Charlotte Devereux: 31-40 Addy Walker: 26-35 Sarah Moore: 26-35 He-Mei Hsieh: 15-24 Florence Coburn: 15-24 Lucy Morgan: 15-24 Gertrude Levy: 5-14 Mabel Kaplan: 5-14 Medha/Mahtab: 3-12 Diya/Nasreen: 0-9 Harriet Shapiro: 0-4 Matilda Greene: 0-4

There's a lot still undecided about the sisters I originally called Diya and Medha but then considered renaming to Nasreen and Mahtab, depending on what kind of backstory would work best for them. Unfortunately, I know more about clothing history than I do about historical waves of immigration. I still think these characters have a good dynamic with each other and I love how their outfits turned out, but I probably won't be fleshing them out much unless I happen to learn a lot more about their potential backgrounds. For the time being, I'm leaving them in the project but I'm focusing more on characters I don't need to do a lot of original research to develop.

The Second Bustle Era is far more stiff and structured than the first, with heavier fabrics and narrower lines. Even the older girls are wearing bustles, while the younger girls often have large bows at the backs of their dresses in imitation of the bustled silhouette. This project first saw a bustled style in the 1680s, they were most famous in the 1880s, and even today we see them now and then on bridal or red carpet gowns.

1890s

Lydia Livingston: 91-99 Caroline Abbott: 89-98 Clara Montoya: 78-87 Josefina Montoya: 76-85 Hannah Kane: 66-75 Delia Freedman: 66-75 Violette Metoyer: 66-75 Aoife Callaghan: 54-63 Cecile Rey: 48-57 Marie-Grace Gardner: 48-57 Kirsten Larson: 46-55 Singing Bird: 46-55 Charlotte Devereux: 41-50 Addy Walker: 36-45 Sarah Moore: 36-45 He-Mei Hsieh: 25-34 Florence Coburn: 25-34 Lucy Morgan: 25-34 Gertrude Levy: 15-24 Mabel Kaplan: 15-24 Medha/Mahtab: 13-22 Diya/Nasreen: 10-19 Harriet Shapiro: 5-14 Matilda Greene: 5-14 Samantha Parkington: 0-4 Nellie O'Malley: 0-4

The final decade of the 19th century has us saying goodbye to Caroline and Lydia, and hello to Samantha and Nellie. Although it's less dramatic than the first and second bustle eras or even the period between them, this period is surprisingly fun to draw. And it's nice to be ending the century with their wintery formalwear. Happy new year!

As always, to get your historical doll or OC included in this project, HERE'S THE LINK. Obviously if your doll is from earlier than the 20th century they'll have to wait for the next round of drawings, but you're welcome to put them in the form and I'll include them in the next round, which will otherwise focus on the siblings of canon characters.

[kaileeandag]

Got Your Invite

So, a user named zoominag asked me about entering one of my doll OCs into...I think it’s a drawing? So I submitted Sophie, a personal favorite of mine.

Just a note, I will not be able to respond using that email attached to the form. I never really use Google, but it was fun to submit stuff about Sophie.

[zoominag]

1800-1849

This is part of a series in which I am posting clips of my larger project by decade as I finish them. For more about this project, or to ask me to include your doll or OC, check out my pinned post.

Previous posts:

17th century

1700-1739

1740-1769

1770-1799

The OCs in this post that are mine are Charlotte and Jane, Rachel and Abigail, and Hannah and Delia (they're in pairs because I did the Best Friends series based on @americangirlstar's suggestions, and in the process created a Best Friend for each of my own characters). Héloise and Aoife belong to @autistickirstenlarson, Violette belongs to @getintothesun, and Charlotte belongs to @gardner-n-pardner.

While putting together previous installations I became aware that I have the birth dates wrong for several of the canon characters. I'm planning a redo for the canon character set, eventually, so please do let me know if I'm wrong about anyone. I might already know, but since I have pretty severe dyscalculia as well as ADHD it's not bad to have the info available in multiple places.

1800s

Charlotte Finch: 85-94 Jane Finch: 83-92 Héloise Cormier: 46-55 Kaya'aton'my: 45-54 Speaking Rain: 45-54 Felicity Merriman: 35-44 Elizabeth Cole: 35-44 Rachel Gabay: 20-29 Abigail Schorr: 20-29 Lydia Livingston: 1-10 Caroline Abbott: 0-8

This is it, as narrow as skirts are going to get for about a century. Everyone was really into looking like Greek and Roman statues, so white dresses in drapey fabrics were the rage for young women. Caroline and Lydia are a little young for that style though. Before I decided to add the Best Friends to the project, I put Lydia's dress in Caroline's collection, but then I did make Lydia and made the green dress her meet outfit. Now that I'm thinking about a redo, I want to give Caroline a completely different dress, maybe that also has those sheer sleeves.

1810s

Charlotte Finch: 95-99 Jane Finch: 93-99 Héloise Cormier: 56-65 Kaya'aton'my: 55-64 Speaking Rain: 55-64 Felicity Merriman: 45-54 Elizabeth Cole: 45-54 Rachel Gabay: 30-39 Abigail Schorr: 30-39 Lydia Livingston: 11-20 Caroline Abbott: 9-18 Clara Montoya: 0-7 Josefina Montoya: 0-5

The switch from wearing their skirts calf-length with visible pantalettes to ankle-length might have been an exciting growing-up moment for Caroline and Lydia. At the same time, the silhouettes are getting less flowy with stiffer fabrics and little puffs on the sleeves. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, I gave Clara styles based on illustrations of Ana and Francisca as well as leftovers from Josefina's collection, and then afterward decided to do a siblings series, so...whoops again, I guess.

1820s

Héloise Cormier: 66-75 Kaya'aton'my: 65-74 Speaking Rain: 65-74 Felicity Merriman: 55-64 Elizabeth Cole: 55-64 Rachel Gabay: 40-49 Abigail Schorr: 40-49 Lydia Livingston: 21-30 Caroline Abbott: 19-28 Clara Montoya: 8-17 Josefina Montoya: 6-15 Hannah Kane: 0-5 Delia Freedman: 0-5 Violette Metoyer: 0-5

The early Regency was all about long, narrow lines, but now the width is coming back, along with growing sleeve puffs and lots of horizontal lines. Frills, lace, and bows are starting to show up on skirts, and hairstyles are starting to get tall again. It's coincidence that @getintothesun's Violette is the same age as my Hannah and Delia, but drawing them together is turning out to be a fun exercise: Hannah and Delia are comparatively plainly-dressed kids, appropriate to their hardworking lives on the Erie Canal, while Violette has a richness in her wardrobe that works with her comfortable life in the Louisiana warmth.

1830s

Héloise Cormier: 76-85 Kaya'aton'my: 75-84 Speaking Rain: 75-84 Felicity Merriman: 65-74 Elizabeth Cole: 65-74 Rachel Gabay: 50-59 Abigail Schorr: 50-59 Lydia Livingston: 31-40 Caroline Abbott: 29-38 Clara Montoya: 18-27 Josefina Montoya: 16-25 Hannah Kane: 6-15 Delia Freedman: 6-15 Violette Metoyer: 6-15 Aoife Callaghan: 0-3

This decade for the first time we have two members of the @autistickirstenlarson extended universe in play! Each of her characters has a strong color palette for their collection: not every outfit incorporates the theme colors, but enough do to feel like the character herself has a preference. For Héloise, the go-to colors are blue and brown. For Aoife it's green and cream.

1840s

Héloise Cormier: 86-95 Kaya'aton'my: 85-94 Speaking Rain: 85-94 Felicity Merriman: 75-84 Elizabeth Cole: 75-84 Rachel Gabay: 60-69 Abigail Schorr: 60-69 Lydia Livingston: 41-50 Caroline Abbott: 39-48 Clara Montoya: 28-37 Josefina Montoya: 26-35 Hannah Kane: 16-25 Delia Freedman: 16-25 Violette Metoyer: 16-25 Aoife Callaghan: 4-13 Cecile Rey: 0-7 Marie-Grace Gardner: 0-7 Kirsten Larson: 0-5 Singing Bird: 0-5 Charlotte Devereux: 0

I struggled a lot with finding accurate, non-exoticizing references for Singing Bird, as I did for Kaya and Speaking Rain. As a result, it feels necessary to include a disclaimer to the effect that this project should not be viewed as an accurate source for Nimiipuu, Salish, or Lakota clothing. Please do not cite me as a reference. While it was easy to find examples of modern-day Nimiipuu , Salish, and Lakota regalia, and there are photos of individual garments from the 18th and 19th centuries on display in museums, it was hard to get a feel for what an outfit might accurately have looked like, without entering into a level of research that would have been way beyond the scope of this project. That said, I do intend to eventually go back and redo the canon characters, so if someone seeing this does have access to and familiarity with good 18th and 19th century Nimiipuu, Salish, and Lakota clothing references, and the time and patience to share it with me, I will absolutely use them in the redo. For now, please know that the probable inaccuracies in my drawings of these characters are not intended as disrespect, and as always I am open to knowledgeable correction.

As always, to get your historical doll or OC included in this project, HERE'S THE LINK. Obviously if your doll is from earlier than the 1840s they'll have to wait for the next round of drawings, but you're welcome to put them in the form.

[zoominag]

I'm back to drawing after a hiatus while my life was very busy, and I decided I might have a nice time if I post my progress by decade, and maybe you guys will have fun too. I'm going to put all of the 17th century in one post since it starts in 1654, and after that I'll figure out what feels right for a single post.

Editing with links to the next posts: 1700-1739, 1740-1769, 1770-1799, 1800-1849

1650s Susanna Hanchett: 0-5

Susanna belongs to @desertdollranch. Learn more about Susanna here.

1660s Susanna Hanchett: 6-15

Styles didn't change much around the end of the 17th century, especially for a young Quaker girl like Susanna.

1670s Susanna Hanchett: 16-25 Mazal Cardozo: 0-5 Agnes Jonker: 0-5

When Susanna was a child, she wore styles very much like the adults around her, but by the time Mazal and Agnes are children, there's beginning to be a separate style of dress for children. Mostly, their clothes look very much like the adult versions, but they fasten in the back and are covered by an apron in the front, and although I didn't draw them, they would probably have had attached leading strings for parents to hold on to them by.

Mazal and Agnes are my own OCs.

1680s Susanna Hanchett: 26-35 Mazal Cardozo: 6-15 Agnes Jonker: 6-15

As Mazal and Agnes get older, the mantua comes into style, an open gown over a matching or contrasting petticoat. The mantua was often tied up in a loose bustle in back, but could also be worn hanging down. Mantuas were worn with a tall, lacy cap called a frontage. In the 1680s, the neckline was wide and round, and sleeves were very short, with soft sleeves showing underneath.

1690s Susanna Hanchett: 36-45 Mazal Cardozo: 16-25 Agnes Jonker: 16-25

In the 1690s the shape of the mantua became narrower both in the skirt and the neckline. Frontages got very tall too, for an overall long and narrow silhouette.

[zoominag]

1770-1799

This is part of a series in which I am posting clips of my larger project by decade as I finish them. For more about this project, or to ask me to include your doll or OC, check out my pinned post.

Previous posts:

17th century

1700-1739

1740-1769

Following posts:

1800-1849

The OCs in this post that are mine are Mazal and Agnes, Charlotte and Jane, and Rachel and Abigail (they're in pairs because I did the Best Friends series based on @americangirlstar's suggestions, and in the process created a Best Friend for each of my own characters). Héloise belongs to @autistickirstenlarson.

1770s

Mazal Cardozo: 96-99 Agnes Jonker: 96-99 Charlotte Finch: 55-64 Jane Finch: 53-62 Héloise Cormier: 16-25 Kaya'aton'my: 15-24 Speaking Rain: 15-24 Felicity Merriman: 5-14 Elizabeth Cole: 5-14

I talked in another post about the decision to give Elizabeth Felicity's Beforever meet dress and move her meet dress to go with other party clothes, but the long and short of it is that, like the other Best Friend dolls, Elizabeth's collection is smaller than the number of outfits in the pattern I've been following, so I gave her several of the dresses that I hadn't used for Felicity. I also used photos of costume hobbyists and employees at Colonial Williamsburg to fill out her collection.

1780s

Charlotte Finch: 65-74 Jane Finch: 63-72 Héloise Cormier: 26-35 Kaya'aton'my: 25-34 Speaking Rain: 25-34 Felicity Merriman: 15-24 Elizabeth Cole: 15-24 Rachel Gabay: 0-9 Abigail Schorr: 0-9

There's a significant shift in the silhouette during this decade. Skirts are getting narrower, hairstyles and hats are getting larger, and casual styles like the round gown are starting to come into vogue. Rachel, my OC representing the Jewish community of Rhode Island, and her best friend Abigail, are most often dressed in simple, high-waisted gowns with colorful sashes. Their formal dresses are white with pink or blue sashes, a common style for girls of all ages and for very small boys--both colors were popular for either gender.

When we talk about a company like AG trying to correct for its lack of representation for any marginalized American population, it can be understandable and simultaneously frustrating for the one example to focus on a major turning point in that population's history. Addy and Rebecca are similar in that way: on the one hand, if there's only going to be one period in history to represent this population, the end of the Civil War and the Jewish immigration boom from Russia in the early 20th century are obvious choices, but does there have to only be one? Cecile and Melody--and Claudie, one hopes--show otherwise. So if there were going to be a second Jewish historical, Rhode Island in 1790 is my first pick. George Washington's letter to the Jewish community of Newport still resonates with American Jewish communities today. His promise of a government that gives "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance" is a dream that has never been fully realized, but has never been forgotten.

1790s

Charlotte Finch: 75-84 Jane Finch: 73-82 Héloise Cormier: 36-45 Kaya'aton'my: 35-44 Speaking Rain: 35-44 Felicity Merriman: 25-34 Elizabeth Cole: 25-34 Rachel Gabay: 10-19 Abigail Schorr: 10-19 Lydia Livingston: 0

The period of English political history known as the Regency and the period of fashion history named after it don't perfectly align: although the political period had not yet begun, when we look at the high waists and narrow silhouettes that begin during this period we usually describe them as being Regency fashion.

Part of the problem with doing a project based on dates is that I have severe dyscalculia. Although I drew the canon American Girl dolls and Best Friends more than a year ago, it took me until this week to realize I had Lydia and Caroline one year older than canon. For the time being, I'm going to proceed as I had them, but I'm planning a redraw of the first series I did, and when I do that I'll move them and anyone else I didn't get quite right to the right birth year.

[zoominag]

1740-1769

Continuing my posts of a few decades at a time as I go along.

Previous posts:

17th century

1700-1739

Following posts:

1770-1799

1800-1849

Susanna Hanchett belongs to @desertdollranch and Héloise belongs to @autistickirstenlarson. Mazal and Agnes and Charlotte and Jane are my own. Excited to have some of the canon American Girl characters finally appear!

1740s

Susanna Hanchett: 86-95 Mazal Cardozo: 66-75 Agnes Jonker: 66-75 Charlotte Finch: 25-34 Jane Finch: 23-32

Wide panniers are still in fashion, especially for formalwear. Orientalism and pastoralism have visible influences on fashion, particularly in the colorful fabrics and the sheer linen aprons too fine for actual work. The last vestige of the robe battante can be seen in the pleated "sack back" of the robe a la francaise.

1750s

Susanna Hanchett: 96-99 Mazal Cardozo: 76-85 Agnes Jonker: 76-85 Charlotte Finch: 35-44 Jane Finch: 33-42 Héloise Cormier: 0-5 Kaya'aton'my: 0-4 Speaking Rain: 0-4

Reaching the end of Susanna's story was bittersweet. Thank you so much to @desertdollranch for trusting me with Susanna: I hope you enjoyed seeing her grow up and slowly change decade by decade. At the same time, we get to meet Héloise, the first of @autistickirstenlarson's OCs to appear in this project. Learn more about Héloise here.

Kaya and Singing Bird are finally here as well! Kaya's community, the Nimiipuu, are not unaffected by the arrival of Euorpeans on the continent--Kaya's books mention smallpox, horses, and other echoes of European settlement far to the East--but they haven't made formal contact yet, and won't until Louis and Clark make contact with the nations of the Pacific Northwest in 1805. Kaya will be 50 then. For now, she is dressed in the same style buckskin dresses that she will wear throughout her story and probably throughout her life.

1760s

Mazal Cardozo: 86-95 Agnes Jonker: 86-95 Charlotte Finch: 45-54 Jane Finch: 43-52 Héloise Cormier: 6-15 Kaya'aton'my: 5-14 Speaking Rain: 5-14 Felicity Merriman: 0-4 Elizabeth Cole: 0-4

Felicity and Elizabeth may be an ocean apart for now, but they are dressed in a similar fashion. They both wear "long clothes," plain white gowns that trail below their feet, as infants, and "short clothes," plain white knee-length gowns, as toddlers. After that they are dressed very much like their mothers, with the addition of leading strings, which I have not drawn. We start to see Kaya and Singing Bird's fashions diverge, as Singing Bird begins to spend time with her Salish family as well as her Nimiipuu family of origin.

For the adults, skirt width has reached its most extreme and begun to slim down again. Hairstyles that have been curled tightly around their heads are beginning to get taller, and caraco jackets over petticoats are common casual wear.

[zoominag]

Meet Mazal, 1684.

When I looked at the OCs people had sent me for this project, I laughed: I draw each character from age 0-99, and Susanna was going to be 99 the year before the next character, Héloise, was going to be born! I was looking at 99 years of drawing just Susanna by herself, and while I love Susanna's wardrobe, I could see that getting frustrating as I worked. Clearly this was a job for...more OCs. And so Mazal was created. If I made a doll of her, Mazal would have a Josefina mold and curly, dark brown hair. Her meet dress reflects the popularity of the mantua, which continued to be in fashion long enough that several of Felicity's dresses are also mantua styles, and a lacy frontage-style cap. The colors come from an amalgamation of different examples.

Like most of my OCs, Mazal is Jewish, part of the first community of Jews in America. Mazal's parents would have had to fight to be allowed to settle in Dutch-controlled New Amsterdam, but by the time of Mazal's story New Amsterdam's Jewish residents were an established presence. Her best friend, Agnes, is a well-off Dutch girl whose life is sometimes very different than Mazal's.

[zoominag]

Meet Bernice, 1925

Bernice is another American Girl historical OC that came about because I wanted to draw a certain time period rather than a certain storyline, but she developed a clear personality as I worked on her. If I made a doll of her, she would have dark skin and the Addy mold, with textured black hair. Her meet dress is based on a photo from the time.

Bernice's story focuses on the history of Harlem's Black Jewish community in the 20s, on the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. She's an aspiring poet who sees beauty in the mundane details of New York City life. Her best friend is Lawrence, a quiet and studious boy who seems very self-sufficient to Bernice until she realizes he relies on her just as much as vice versa.

[zoominag]

Meet Rachel, 1790

Rachel Gabay is my earliest AG historical OC, chronologically. She is a Sepharidic Jew, a member of the Newport, Rhode Island Jewish community at the time of President Washington's famous visit. If I made a doll of her, she would have a Josefina mold, light skin but not the lightest, and curly dark brown hair. Her meet dress is based on an actual child's dress of the period.

Rachel's first book would center around Washington's visit, and the mixture of pride in having her community recognized by the president and recognition that his promise of a country that gives "To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance" is not reflected in the reality she sees around her. Her best friend, Abigail, is a poor Ashkenzi Jew, allowing the story to explore the very different Sephardi-Ashkenazi dynamic in America compared to today.

[zoominag]

Meet He-Mei, 1875

He-Mei Hsieh was the first historical OC I made for American Girl, but I've never been satisfied that I'm doing her justice. I picked the name years ago because it had meaning from growing up somewhere with a comparatively large Chinese-American population, but I'm pretty sure it's a Mandarin name and she should speak Cantonese, so I'm open to more appropriate suggestions. I'm also not sure I'm getting the transcription system right for the era, since I learned Pinyin in high school but I know it's relatively modern. If I made a doll of her she would have the Jess mold (or #4 if it were available), medium skin, and straight black hair. Her meet dress is a mashup of an actual child's dress of the period and others I found online.

What I do still like about He-Mei is her story, which centered around a combination of Chinese-American history and disability history through her relationship with her best friend, Florence.

[zoominag]

Meet Hannah, 1835

Hannah Kane is an OC who developed out of my reading about the lives of women and children on the Erie Canal. If I made a doll of her, she would have a classic mold, pale skin, and wavy dark brown hair. Her meet dress is based on an ensemble for an adult, so I shortened the skirt and gave her visible pantalettes underneath.

Hannah's story isn't very fully developed yet, but I'm enjoying thinking it through! I'm not sure how realistic it is for her to be Jewish but I tend to start there as a default because having multiple Jewish characters is delightful, so she probably is. The Erie Canal also formed part of the Underground Railroad, so I'm thinking about a best friend for her who can bring those elements into the story.

[zoominag]

Meet Shazmeen, 2001

I had wanted to do a Muslim historical and had trouble designing her in a way that would speak to the shifts in Muslim women's dress in America, until I saw this post by @arcadialedger and realized that the early 2000s are historical now. If I made a doll of her, she would have medium skin and the Sonali mold, and dark brown curly hair. Her meet outfit and all of her clothes are hijab-friendly adaptations of the original American Girl of Today collection from when I was little.

Her story balances in scale between the great and the small: she's confronting the rise in islamophobia of the period, but she's also concerned about friendship and softball. The two come together when adults try to block her from playing on her team unless she takes off her hijab. Her series also explores the borders between Jewish-Muslim animus and Jewish-Muslim solidarity in America at that time, through her rival on the team, who eventually becomes her best friend, Liora.

[zoominag]

Meet Diya, 1890

Diya developed as an OC mostly because I wanted to draw the clothing of her time period, and no one else in the project was a child at that time. If I made a doll of her, she would have the Sonali mold with medium skin and straight black hair. Her meet dress is taken from images of children's and adults' outfits from the period.

Diya's story isn't that well developed but it centers around her relationship with her older sister, who is outgoing and independent where Diya is hesitant and shy. If I do more with her I'll want to learn more about Indian-Americans' lives at this time.

[zoominag]

1700-1739

Continuing my posts of a few decades at a time as I go along.

Previous post: 17th century.

Following posts: 1740-1769, 1770-1799, 1800-1849.

Susanna Hanchett belongs to @desertdollranch; Mazal and Agnes and Charlotte and Jane are my own. Next post finally gets to include some canon characters!

1700s Susanna Hanchett: 46-55 Mazal Cardozo: 26-35 Agnes Jonker: 26-35

Silhouettes are still long and narrow, but they're starting to soften. The frontage is becoming lower and rounder, and the skirts are getting rounder too, with the invention of the pannier, or hoop-petticoat. Even simply-dressed Susanna is starting to let some fullness into her skirts, though I don't imagine she's buying a brand-new, fashionable style of petticoat when she's always made simple ones herself.

1710s Susanna Hanchett: 56-65 Mazal Cardozo: 36-45 Agnes Jonker: 36-45 Charlotte Finch: 0-4 Jane Finch: 0-2

I don't have intro posts for Charlotte and Jane yet. They're my own creations again, mostly because when there's a long while without any new characters I start wondering what I could put there. I don't have stories for them yet, except that they're sisters. I made them rich and fancy purely because I wanted to riff off some extant garments I found online.

1720s Susanna Hanchett: 66-75 Mazal Cardozo: 46-55 Agnes Jonker: 46-55 Charlotte Finch: 5-14 Jane Finch: 3-12

The mantua has morphed from its origins as a casual garment into the more formal option, and in its place fashionable ladies are wearing the big and billowing robe volante, or robe battante, which is a big, loose gown that reminded its critics of a bathrobe. Children's clothes still look a lot like adults', except for their back closures and the aprons. I occasionally drew Charlotte and Jane without aprons, but it looks like that wouldn't have been realistic until they were in their upper teens.

1730s Susanna Hanchett: 76-85 Mazal Cardozo: 56-65 Agnes Jonker: 56-65 Charlotte Finch: 15-24 Jane Finch: 13-22

The robe volante is continuing to morph: the back stays loose, but the bodice is tightening to become the style that will be known as the sack. Skirts are still very round and wide, even for Susanna. For most of her life, Susanna has been wearing simple jacket and petticoat separates, but now those practical garments are coming into vogue. Matching or contrasting casaquin jackets and petticoats are becoming casual wear for women across all income brackets and religious communities. Mantuas are still present as formalwear, but they have a very different silhouette than they did at the beginning of the century: the looped bustle and train is now flattened and pressed, and the petticoat now always matches the mantua.

[zoominag]

Meet Violette, 1834

Violette Metoyer belongs to @getintothesun. LIke Héloise, she lives in New Orleans, but their lives are very different! Here are the references for VIolette's looks and her meet outfit.

And here's a taste of Violette's story:

Violette is a free person of color growing up in 1830s New Orleans. She loves to read and play piano. She has a highly developed sense of right and wrong, and wants to fight injustice as much as she can. She doesn't understand why some black people are enslaved and some aren't. Or why she lives in a big house and others don't. She goes to a small girls school in the city, where she learns subjects like science, math, and latin. Her parents want the best for her, even if they don't understand why Violette wants to learn "heavy" subjects. She also enjoys dressing well, and going shopping with her mother. She has a pet cat. She has two best friends - Eloise, who she goes to school with, and Celine, who's parents are friends with her parents. Her friends don't get along with each other, as they are very different, and this is hard for Violette. She is Catholic and attends Mass regularly. One of her favorite people, an elderly woman at her church who is always kind to her, dies in a yellow fever pandemic.

[zoominag]

Meet Héloise, 1765

Héloise Cormier belongs to @autistickirstenlarson. Here are the references Alaina sent me for Héloise's looks and her meet outfit. Alaina has a bunch of OCs included in this project, and I love how each of them has a Meet book cover!

And here's a taste of Héloise's story:

Héloise was born in what is now Nova Scotia, just before the expulsion of the French Acadians by the English began. For much of her life, Héloise has never felt truly at home anywhere and lived a life traveling throughout the British Colonies and searching for sanctuary, though the Acadians were often treated poorly by the British colonists. The Cormiers tried to return to Acadia, but eventually heard of plans to settle in the city of New Orleans, then a Spanish colony. Héloise’s family is among the first Acadians to settle there. Tragically, her father, Jacques, died on the voyage from Nova Scotia to Louisiana. When Héloise arrives in New Orleans, she has no friends and doesn’t know English. Fortunately, she is able to make friends with another French girl and a Spanish girl. Héloise loves animals and spends time caring for her neighbors' horses and stray cats and dogs. She is practical and can sew. She can't stand how her rich neighbor is always criticizing her accent and simple dress but learns to stay true to her heritage. She is very protective of her little brother Philippe.