I’m actually rereading these books (and they are fabulous!) and while her mother did make many of her dresses, she did not make her meet dress. That dress was given to her by the woman who smuggled Addy and her mom out of the South and to the ship where they escaped to Philadelphia. I love these videos! Great job!
Addy’s striped dress is my favorite! I had Samantha, but I bought Addy’s striped dress when it came out because I loved it so much. I think I have pictures of Samantha wearing it around somewhere. 😊
Because of you, I am getting back into my childhood love of American Girl. I adored Addy as a child, and wanted her doll so bad. I had all the books but never got the doll. Now I’m going to be starting my collection.
Ok..wait! WHY WHY WHY haven’t you make at least ONE of Addy’s outfits?!! I really LOVED that gingham dress until you showed the short story orange striped dress… I want one of those short story dresses for myself! 😊…that was so cute! AND you have got me hooked on this American girl stuff! LOL…I have never been a doll person but oh my gosh I love these American girl videos that you do.
I've honestly been so tempted to make a few of them, but I also don't want to offend anyone. I obviously wouldn't make them as a cosplay, but I've been thinking of making similar dresses as an homage.
@LadyRebeccaFashions I can't speak for anyone else, but to me, there's a big difference between making the outfit and doing a cosplay. That's quite a wardrobe, and more historical than specific to the African American community. If you wanted to cover your bases, though, you could collaborate with someone who could add to the historical context regarding laws, slave catchers, and free communities in the North of that era.
@@LadyRebeccaFashionsas a Huge Addy Walker fan and new fan of your work as a historical costumer, I would be so elated to see you recreate an outfit of hers. You’re so respectful and knowledgeable of historical costumes and the era so I wouldn’t see how anyone could be offended!!
@@LadyRebeccaFashionsrecreating such an important piece of representation for young black girls would be amazing. As long as you don't fall into the horrible stereotypes of doing black face it won't be culturally insensitive
@@raeshanh.1740I agree wholeheartedly. This video has been incredibly respectful. It’s obvious that you are sensitive to the history and it wouldn’t be at all appropriative.
Thank you for showing Addy some love!! As a Philadelphian, it always baffled me why her Christmas dress was short sleeved?! Aggree that her striped dress is *God Teir* and I can't wait to get my Addy in it for fall. Re Cape Island, PixieFaire has a pattern for it!!!! Would make a great video too❤
Love Addy (as an aside, not to be picky, the mert dress was given to her by the woman who helped them get to Philadelphia, I like to think it was Caroline or Felicity, the other dresses were made by mamma) great video
Yay! My sister had Addy, and I just loved her dresses. I think Addy's stories were some of the most important in the series. I love when you show the museum pictures next to the dresses, or pictures with some of the accessories. Seeing that cape cod dress next to the museum one, was just incredible. That AG used to make such detailed historical dresses is incredible.
I have Addy. She was my Mother's doll. I only have her meet dress(pink). Currently she is dressed as Cinderella. I made the outfit and she makes a lovely princess. While I i think the outfits are cute I mainly got the dolls as models so I could use them when making doll clothes for my friend's daughters for their American Girl dolls. My Mom did the same for my friends too only it was for Barbie. So Addy is very special to me because she links me to my Mother and her love of collecting dolls. She even learned to make porcelain dolls and made one for each of her children.
so on the bonnet she gets the dress and bonnet from a women who helps people escape enslavement and has a lot of clothes on hand to give to people as they escape so I think an outdated bonnet would sorta make sense considering it would be a used item this woman would have had on hand just incase !! also obsessed with your videos :)
My mom collected dolls because of addy. My baby sister has a Christmas picture with her addy doll. With my sister in the "matching" dress. Id always buy my mom a new dress or fruinture/accessories for her addy. Thanks for the historical dress information.
I’ve been waiting for this one. I was well out of the age for American Girl dolls. I love Addy so much. I’ve considered starting a collection but haven’t done it yet. There’s a local seller with the doll in her meet dress, washstand, bed and quilt (which I’m sure you know was inspired by the famous Harriet Powers quilt). As a quilter I want it so badly, but just can’t justify spending $500 on a doll collection.
You can probably find those items cheaper than $500 if you buy them separately on eBay. Though I know her furniture is more expensive than most of the other dolls' furniture.
Okay so I rushed over to eBay to check the prices of the dresses. (That’s one of the reasons I was waiting on this video to get an idea of which dresses I would want to buy.) Most are quite reasonably priced $20-60. I was thinking I could comfortably buy a few at a time. That Cape Island dress is insane! It is gorgeous and it being inspired by an extant garment makes it incredibly special. I think I am going to start my own collection. Thirty years is a long time to want something this much.
As a fellow doll collector, I just love these videos! Would you consider recreating the cape island dress for Addy? I would love to see that or any others in doll size and in human size.
Addy’s school outfit is one of my favorite historical AG outfits hands-down. @28:14 SCREAMING!! Amazing. I so so so want to see more outfits based on extant stuff…
I was not in the age group for the American Girl dolls but I enjoy watching your joy over your collection. I first thought you should make the summer dress with the floral pattern, but the light blue gauze dress with tucks would be just so cute to see you recreate. Although both are now getting to be out of season to wear.
When I was about 5 years old my mum made me a dress, resembling the pinafore of the working dress and a skirt to go under it (it looked a lot like the dresses and skirts worn by farmers children in the late 19th century in my region). The fabric was a lot like the fabric and color of the stilting dress and made by Laura Ashley. I was so proud of that dress!
That is quite the collection. Some of them would be great for you to make! The blue tuck dress and the stilt dress would be my top choices. Thanks for the look into your collection
The Stilting Outfit was featured in one of Addy's short stories-Addy Studies Freedom 😊 She did not use stilts (I believe) in the story, but that is where the dress is featured
Spot on about length, the same is true throughout history. I made my children tunics and gowns and the gowns were usually calf length with tucks for growing.
I pick up the short stories at thrift stores. The striped dress is shown in “High Hopes for Addy”. For Addy I only have that one “Addy’s Little Brother” (in which there’s a small picture where you can see a purple skirt underneath a buttoned up coat, and “Addy’s Summer Place” which features the Cape Island dress.
Also if you do a search online there’s a scanned copy of the sewing patterns that were released by Pleasant Company. I have sewn the tartan plaid dress from those (using a different color silk plaid).
Addy's collection is my FAVOURITE collection. There is not one miss in her stuff. Some things might be less historically accurate but still look amazing on our girl. I adore these deep dives that you do! (And congratulations on your Melody, I think you mentioned she's newer!) ETA: Also, your shirt in this video reminds me of Molly's tennis outfit. 🙂
It's true. Even her Sunday best dress is still so much better than a lot of Marie Grace/Cecile stuff. And yeah - Melody is my newest doll, and she's just so freaking cute! I realized when I got the tennis dress that this dress (which is an Eshakti I got last summer) was a pretty close match. 😊
This is so true. Like her Christmas dress is so freaking gorgeous, even if it's one of the less historically accurate. Those bright colors just look amazing on Addy!
@@AngelavengerL And one of the things that is so great about her Christmas dress, in my opinion, is the use of the Black History month colors - red, black, yellow, and green - which have such an important meaning, and are especially important given that Addy was the first Black doll that the company created. So not as historically accurate, but certainly very, very meaningful.
Addy may have my second favorite collection, or maybe second favorite tied with Felicity. (First being Samantha, looking forward to that video!) Congrats on your new Kirsten dress! I love that one, too.
I love this series! It also sets me thinking. Wouldn't an 1860's girl's petticoat be red flanel instead of checks because it was supposed to be healthy, or did that came later? Also surprised that a kinda middle class girl got a bloomer outfit, which was an edgy rich woman's thing? Maybe she saw one on a fashion plate and begged and begged her mother. I mean, stilting was a common children's game and you probably wore your older clothes doing it because of falling, not a special outfit and certainly not a special pants suit wich youre going to ruin the knees of. Also I imagine all your dolls getting excited for another dressup episode and talking about which dress they would love to wear.
great video!! i lucked out on facebook and managed to get some early release addy stuff and a ‘94 addy! i was so excited to get her undies set, the little chemise and hoop skirt is to die for!
Addy's pink meet dress wasn't actually sewed by her mom it was gifted to her by a family that took them in after escaping on the underground railroad in the books but otherwise incredible vid i love Addy's collection so much ❤
I have been waiting forever for this video, and of course I had to wait just a bit longer because you uploaded during my holiday XD I really like how accurate and good-looking they are - sometimes things are just accurate, but do not look good from a modern perspective. Here they seem to have pretty much nailed it. I adore the original school outfit (the new one looks good as well, but is missing something for me), but I already have two dark blue crinoline dresses and I really can't justify another... might make a pinafore instead to go with my many (MANY) Garibaldi blouses. Also, I already planned for a coat in this shape, but I did not know how I wanted to trim it and the narrow plaid band might be a good idea.
I'm surprised at any and all accuracy in their dresses. If you didn't know what you were looking at, you would never know. You really need to make more of these. I need to make a couple from just this video
Addys school outfit was made by her mother and all her other outfits. Her pink meet dress was given to her by miss Caroline a little old lady who helped addy and her mother to go to freedom
I love seeing the other dolls in the rest of Addy's outfits. I just have the blue beforever dress my addy came in so i want her original pink dress. Plus her other outfits
I was waiting for this one. I have the Beforever Addy, but I put her in the Pleasant Company outfits. There are some Mattel dresses that I want to purchase. Addy's sewing outfit is beautiful I have this one in my collection. Addy is my only American Girl doll so she has a lot of clothing.
I'm really excited for Samantha and possibly Rebecca! I love the Turn of the Century and the 1910s! These are some of my favorite eras in Fashion history! I absolutely adore the Teens, especially! If you continue to Kit, Nanea, and Molly, the 1930s/40s are also my favorites! I have a lot of favorite Eras in the 20th Century! Do you think we'll ever see a Bustle/ Natural Form era American Girl doll? The mid/late 1840s is the Death of Fashion IMHO!
I would so love a bustle-era doll, but I kind of doubt we'll see one. AG seems to be really moving away from pre-20th c dolls -- I think the last new ones were Caroline or Marie Grace and Cecile!
@LadyRebeccaFashions I'm not sure. The theme of the special edition outfits was "outdoor activities", so maybe it was a popular outdoor hobby for kids at the time?
I heard that the colors of Addy's Christmas dress are meant to reflect the colors of Kwanzaa (which of course did not exist in the 1860s) but I thought that was a nice little touch for modern audiences if it's true. I know the plaid is supposed to indicate it was made for a wealthier client because with plaid, you use more fabric due to having the pattern match up nicely. But you're right - the sleeves should be long.
Hi love your channel! I like to make the clothes for the AG dolls so your information helps me to sew a more accurate dress for my historical dolls. You can get a pattern for the Cape Island dress from kinder threads. I know some people only want the original AG clothes, but i agree the originals can be so expensive!
I really enjoy these videos. I’ve been looking to make pieces for my historical dolls that are as accurate as possible (especially in regards to the foundation pieces) 😊
I love that purple dress too even though it’s not correct I think you need to make that one with a cute little hat. Oh my gosh that would look very cute on you. OR the last dress!! That one is very beautiful!
I think Mattel released the Sunday best dress and i dont remember the outfit in the original 6 books and i haven't read all the short stories for addy i think I read one but it's been a long time since though
So I've been saving this video to watch when I wasn't busy as I wanted to completely pay attention to everything, because Addy!😁😂 I'm kinda sad that her Sunday best dress isn't quite accurate, as that's actually my favorite dress of hers. I did make her a purple dress inspired by it, but did a plain bodice instead of how they did it. I Still made it with short sleeves though. What would make it more accurate for her era? Making it more like her cape island dress? Or her pink plaid summer dress with the apron? I want to make her the dresses she would have come with, but I also want to tweak any to be more historically accurate that need it. On her cape island dress, I see others have told you that there's a pattern for it by pixiefaire, and you seem to be worried about the trim being difficult. I have the pattern myself and it also has the trim drawn on the pattern, so you can follow along and get it on the dress exactly right. Also that pattern is designed to be used for the kite dress too. I have the materials for both of those dresses and her school outfit and plan to start them as soon as I finish a different dress I'm making for her that I came up with. Also i will be making her a Christmas dress that is more accurate than the one that originally was made for her, inspired by the picture you had on the screen of course. I'm so glad that so much of her collection is more accurate than some of the others! (Poor Cecile and Marie-grace) I will admit that at this point addy has more clothing than any of my other ag dolls. Poor Samantha only has 3 dresses so far🥴 I just get so caught up in Addy and Felicity that everyone else falls behind 😂 looking forward to Samantha's video, as I'd love to figure out what all of her stuff is actually accurate, so I can finally decide what I'm making for her. Edit: also yes Addy has the absolute best book series of any of the American Girls, next to Kaya and felicity of course. Those 3 are my absolute favorites. Books and dolls😁
For the Sunday dress, it would really be about changing the bodice - most accurate would be the fan/gathered front style - and going away from the elasticated puffed sleeves. And I'm tempted to try the Cape Island dress as soutache practice before I do Rose's coat, if I have time.
@@LadyRebeccaFashions ok thank you! 😊 i might use her cape island dress pattern for a new Sunday dress. Since that one is perfectly accurate 😂 and that would be awesome to see! I hope you have time to do that!
I appreciate your videos and preparation you put into them 🥰 I am wondering how you iron all those little parts, what are the tricks and tools you use?
How did girls' fashions differ from adult women's fashions in the periods depicted by the American Girl dolls? It looks like the skirts were shorter than those which adult women would have worn (although that probably wasn't the case in the 18th century), and the dresses would have been cut to accommodate pre-pubescent uncorseted bodies. Were there any other differences?
At what point did girls of the age depicted by the American Girl dolls start wearing corsets? Once they hit puberty, perhaps? (In the 1995 TV miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, all 5 Bennet daughters are wearing stays, including 15-year-old Lydia, who in another family might not have been "out" yet, so it seems that corset/stays wearing would have begun at least a few years before young women started husband-hunting.)
To be honest, I'm not 100% sure for this era. I know in the 18th c, stays were worn basically once children started walking. I'm guessing it would have been a little later here, since I don't feel like I've seen extant children's corsets.
@@LadyRebeccaFashions I think there may have been a reprint edition made of a Montgomery Ward mail-order catalog from the 1870s (the decade after Addy's period). The clothing pages from there would show if children's corsets were being sold in the 1870s. And the Sears Roebuck 1908 catalog was also reprinted, and would certainly provide a resource as to ready-made girls' clothes for Samantha's period.
