#agiger

[supercoolag]

[thestuffinginside]

Customized a Speaking Rain doll this week ♡ she is Kaya's adopted sister (cousin) from the books, and she is visually impaired

I re-beaded one of Kaya's meet dresses to better match Speaking Rain's (few) illustrations and overall personality, and I gave her Séliš-style braided loops since she splits her time between the two tribes. I've ordered her a new wig so that she looks a bit more different from Kaya, and I'll post her again after the swap!

[5hensandacockatiel]

I feel like we all can agree that Kaya is one of the most underrated American Girls.

[futuristicsaladparadise]

Ivy and Kavi are ready for Halloween

I made Kavi’s clown costume. Ivy’s Pooh onesie is Disney ILY.

[meltycatdolls]

happy halloween, doll friends! this month, i’ve been working on costumes for my AG doll collection. here’s what everyone dressed up as!

i did this in 2022 too! :)

[stluciabuns]

The Historical Accuracy of Kirsten's Dirndl

Despite its adorableness, I have seen many people complain about Kirsten's Swedish Dirndl outfit.

I would kill a man to have bought this for $22.

She wears this outfit for most of Meet Kirsten, being that she is an impoverished immigrant child who does not own any other clothes, and also for continuity reasons.

Frequently, I have seen it claimed that this outfit is not historically accurate and should not have been included as part of her collection. Conversely, I have also seen many German folk costumes marketed as being made for Kirsten. Both of these pain me a great deal (actually they just annoy me).

Nonetheless, I have decided to further procrastinate doing actual, meaningful work and instead set out on a new mission: figure out what the fuck is up with Kirsten's Dirndl.

In this post, I will lay out the research I have done, the evidence supporting the historical accuracy of this outfit, the challenges to its existence, and ultimately aim to answer the question of whether this outfit is one Kirsten plausibly could have worn on her journey from Sweden to America in 1854.

Let's begin.

First, the name. Pleasant Company/American Girl referred to this outfit as "Kirsten's Swedish Dirndl and Kerchief."

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a Swedish dirndl. "Dirndl" is a German term, and refers to folk costumes worn by people in German-speaking areas of Europe (the Alps, Bavaria, Austria, and so on).

Kirsten is Swedish, and before Meet Kirsten has never left Sweden before. It is very unlikely she would have acquired, and regularly worn, a German dirndl. See this gorgeous example of a dirndl c. 1840:

Outfit, c. 1840. Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Münchner Stadtmuseum.

This ensemble is beautiful, but tragically, it is not what Kirsten is wearing.

What, then, is Kirsten wearing? What kind of traditional dress does Swedish culture have?

As it turns out, the proper term for what she is wearing is a folkdräkt. This is a Swedish term meaning "folk costume." Here is an illustration depicting multiple examples of Swedish folk costumes. In proper terms, these would be called "Svenska folkdräkter."

Nordisk familjebok (1908), vol. 8, Folkdräkt. Retrieved from runeberg.org.

These outfits are not quite identical to anything we see in Kirsten's collection, but you can observe various elements that have carried over -- the vertical stripes, black woolen skirts with ornate trim, and white dresses and red sashes (hello St. Lucia)!

Let us dive deeper. What do extant Svenska folkdräkter, specially those made c. 1850, look like? Is there anything like Kirsten's outfit among surviving examples?

Johan Sodermark, "Kvinna i dräkt."

In my few hours of research, this example image is the closest thing I have found to Kirsten's dirndl.

This lovely portrait is a watercolor from 1850 painted by Johan Sodermark. It is very creatively titled "Kvinna i dräkt" -- literally, "Woman in costume." The pattern of this woman's apron is incredibly similar to that of the skirt of the Kirsten doll's outfit -- a dark red base with blue and yellow stripes woven throughout.

Here is a closeup from the American Swedish Institute.

Although it is not shown in the doll-sized version of the outfit, the illustrations in Meet Kirsten by Renée Graef show us she also wears a light-colored, striped apron, which is almost surely the one that comes with her meet outfit.

Illustrations from Meet Kirsten, drawn by Renée Graef.

Notice the fabric of the bodice in the third illustration, though: Kirsten's top is made of red plaid fabric, while Sodermark's girl has an outfit full of stripes. Kirsten, bless her heart, spends an entire book outfit-repeating a potential pattern-mixing fail: plaid and two kinds of stripes and a floral scarf. Did Pleasant Rowland just hate her? Is Kirsten on another, elevated fashion plane far beyond my comprehension? Is there a historical basis for this combination of patterns?

I have no answer to the first two questions, but thankfully can speak on the third.

Komplett Vilskedräkt, Västergötlands museum. Some pieces c. 1865.

The top is plaid and laces up, which is not necessarily the most common way of fastening (in most examples, the bodice pins up), but it is a sensible choice considering both Kirsten's age (9) and the fact that Pleasant Company was making toys for little hands.

The model for the outer shell (the lace up top) belonged to Karl Edberg from Hällestad; it is not dated, but at least one piece of this set (the bag, which is not shown) is c. 1865. Additionally, the blouse here is very similar to the one that comes with Kirsten's winter outfit -- look at that keyhole neckline!

So, Kirsten's Dirndl outfit is actually very accurate as far as the clothing itself goes...the name remains the trouble.

I have no idea why they called it a dirndl. Folkdräkt is definitely challenging to pronounce, but why wouldn't PC just translate it as "folk dress" or "Swedish outfit" and call it a day? Why the insistence on referencing a culture that isn't relevant to the doll or her dress at all?

Perhaps this is a mystery to tackle for another day...

[agfanforever]

A little WIP of my two favorite girls. I am quite lazy when it comes to finishing my art but I really like this piece and have an idea I hope to execute and have finished by Valentine’s Day!

… but just in case I don’t… take this for now

[midsummerdolls]

Hello everyone! Happy summer! I’ve been super busy with life stuff, but today I made time to change all of my dolls out of their winter clothing into their summer clothing! I am hopeful that I will get to take photos of them before the summer is over. I hope you have a great day!

[alittlebitbethany]

Hi everybody as it is Ivy‘s birthday today I took a photo to celebrate. happy birthday Ivy! I hope that you like my photo. Image Description: a photo of an American Girl doll wearing pink clothing standing behind a table with a Hello Kitty cake . soda bottle , and goody bag on it. The doll is holding the soda bottle.

[dorkydollco]

as of lately🫶🏻

[supercoolag]

My little recreation

Like if you were also going thru a vampire weekend and dan and phil phase at this time.

[thestuffinginside]

First round of doll collection portraits! From left to right:

Row one — Josefina, Meredydd (Journey Girls), Lanie

Row two — Felicity, Elizabeth

Row three — Karsen (Truly Me 21), Cécile, Ivy

Row four — Samantha, Kaya'aton'my'

[5hensandacockatiel]

Kirsten and I had a fun time celebrating her birthday last night 💕

[futuristicsaladparadise]

Halloween is coming up, so I wanted to show off my girls in their costumes. First is Mia as Strawberry Shortcake and Shamsa as Mirabel Madrigal.

Nellie is Cinderella.

Ivy is dressed as Winnie the Pooh and Kavi is a clown. (My Ivy is perpetually barefoot. I don't know why. She's the only one like that.)

Lilias is playing Rapunzel, Dovie is a cowgirl, and Apolline is a ray of sunshine. (I had to remove the shoes because she fell off my desk at least half a dozen times. Heeled shoes on dolls with flat feet are awful.)

[meltycatdolls]

doll customization Q:

can you put an our generation doll's head on an american girl doll body?

answer:

yes!

how it works:

OG doll heads are held on with a ziptie and a couple of stitches at the base of the neck!! i forgot to take photos of quinn (OG aubrie)’s head while i was removing it from the OG body, but the ziptie fits into the little groove at the bottom of the neck (pictured in the first photo). i cut the stitch at the back of the OG body's neck, then had to cut into the fabric around it to expose the ziptie. you could probably repair this if you wanted to reuse the body for another project. it's a little difficult, but once you expose the ziptie, you can carefully work a pair of scissors under the it in the groove, then snip and remove it!

AG doll heads have a larger base that helps the heads stay on with string! so when you attach the OG head, you'll want to pull the string tighter than you would for an AG doll, since OG heads rely on the groove to keep heads in place.

why do this?

OG dolls IMO have some very pretty sculpts and hair, and they’re cheaper! i really fell in love with quinn when i saw her at target. but i’m not crazy about OG bodies- they’re lighter weight and not as posable, and i had an extra AG doll body hanging around from an old project! plus, i couldn’t find online where anyone had done this, and i was curious if it would work.

i think the doll body i used was from a rebecca doll, which was a good skintone match for quinn! the head is a little looser than an AG head, which i kind of dig because it opens up possibilities for more realistic posing, like a slight head tilt. added a slight faceup of extra lashes, thicker brows, and additional freckles, and she's really a beautiful doll that i’m excited to display alongside my AG girls!