New York Meredith

Meredith's New York Outfit

It has been about 6 months since the New York line of the Journey Girls came out, and I am finally reviewing a few more of the girls.  Meredith is the only Journey Girl to have an outfit on that actually has something to do with New York!  There are no changes to the doll itself; she still has the newer (not so awesome) joints in her shoulders, hips, and head, as well as the new (now two generations old) face mold.  

Still does the splits when she sits.  Yikes!

She is made out of the same vinyl as in years past.  She still has a half breast plate, half cloth body.  So the doll is no different than in the last two iterations, but the outfit, is brand new.  It comes with tennis shoes, socks, a jersey cotton skirt, a “New York City” t-shirt, a jacket, a backpack, and two barrettes.

Meredith’s jacket has a maroon red nylon puffy vest, with flower patterned cotton sleeves, and cuffs that match the vest.  Although the jacket looks wonderful, there are a few things that would help improve it.  First off, let’s make it a jacket!  The thing has a zipper up the front, but it is missing the actual slider that zips it up.  

Meaning this will always be an open jacket.  Also, the puffy jacket isn’t so puffy since it only has the ouside layer of nylon.  

The patterned sleeves are a great look, for what could be a very boring jacket.  The white sleeves have blue and maroon flowers patterned on them.   The jacket fits well, although I had some difficulty getting Meredith's hands back in the sleeves (the cuffs are tight).  Love the look of this jacket!

The skirt is a super simple jersey cotton navy colored skirt.   Although it looks like the skirt is held up with a pull-string there is actually a lighter blue fabric with an elastic band inside to hold the skirt up. 

Elastic is better than the draw string waist in my opinion, but then why put the draw string on the front.  The skirt would look fine without it...maybe even better!

Following in the theme of simple, the t-shirt is a nice white cotton short sleeve tee with the words "New York City" embolden across the chest.  

The shirt velcros part of the way down Meredith's back.  For some reason the last inch of the shirt is sewn together.  Why...I don't know.  

This makes it so that the thirst has to be put on and taken off over Meredith's head, or pulled up from her feet.  The cotton the shirt is made out of is not as nice as in years past (or maybe it is just my shirt - which could be the case).  There are small frays and ragged edges on parts of it.  This is a cheap street vendor t-shirt, perfectly New York!

Similar to shoes that are already out from Journey Girls, Meredith get some ankle tennis shoes...made of plastic.  I've had this argument before.  It would be nice to see some cloth shoes with rubber soles, but these plastic ones are well designed and are cute, so...okay. 

Better then getting the small heels that come with every other outfit!  Meredith also gets some tube socks.  Yep, stripped tube socks!  For some of us moms and dads, this may bring back some nostalgia. 

Meredith's socks are white with three navy blue stripes around the top.  Super cute!

At our house there are two drawers full of purses that don't get taken out very much, so I was glad to see Journey Girls gave Meredith a backpack instead.  Well kind of a backpack.  It looks like this backpack started it's life as a purse and was modified.  

The pouch style backpack is made of denim, with two accent pieces of silver ribbon from the bottom of the pack to the sides.  The straps come out of the middle top, and out the bottom corners.  Long enough to easily get around Meredith's arms, the straps remain a little loose once the backpack is on.  With a jacket, it fits well, but it will be loose with just a shirt.  The top is a small pice of denim that folds over and velcros shut.  

The strange part about it (and one of the reasons I think this was a purse before it was a backpack) is that the tab is only in the middle.  The edges of the pack are open on top.  Different design, still super cute and well made.

The last thing to talk about are the barrettes.  Flower shaped blue metal, the barrettes match Meredith's eyes more than her outfit (which is fine).  To use them, press down on the middle edges and pull up on the outside edges.  The barrette will bend upwards and come out of Meredith's hair.  Cute accessory!

Ratings
All ratings are out of 10

Value 7 - Although this outfit has a lot to it, some of the pieces are not amazing.  I feel like the skirt and tee could have been nicer.  And where is the zipper on the jacket?  The outfit does have some really nice pieces though.

Fitment 9 - Everything fits well...except the jacket.  The cuffs are just too small and are difficult to get Meredith's fingers through all the time.  The backpack is loose, due to the design, but it won't fall off...so we'll let that slide.   The rest of the outfit is a perfect fit, exactly as expected.

Versatility 10 - A lot of great pieces that can be used with other outfits.  Actually every single piece can be used with other outfits.  That has got to be the best part about this outfit...it is very versatile.  Take away the jacket and it is a summer outfit.  Keep it on and it is a spring and fall outfit.  Different shoes and tee and it can be dressy.  It's got a lot of neat potential!

Cuteness 9 - The jacket makes this outfit for me.  I love the jacket (even without the zipper).  And those tube socks!  How fun!

Overall 8 - Some good numbers...so why an eight?  Because there are just some goofy things I'd really like to see changed.  Put a zipper on the jacket.  Make the shirt velcro all the way down.  Make the tee better quality.  And as always...get some nice shoes for the girls.   Still love this outfit, just want to see it be a little better.

AG Note

If you also own an American Girl and want to share clothes...this may not be the best outfit to share. 

The best parts of the outfit do not fit American Girl dolls.  The jacket barely fits on Meredith's hands, and will not come close to fitting over one of Julie's hands.  

Again, with Journey Girl outfits there could be some difference from outfit to outfit.  So if you buy this outfit, yours may fit.  The socks fit...but are very tight and can not be pulled up all the way.  

The t-shirt fits, but is now a fitted tee rather than loose (as it was one Meredith).  

The skirt and the backpack fit great!  

And obviously the shoes don't fit (JG dolls have much thinner feet than AG dolls).  

So great outfit for Journey Girls dolls....maybe not the best outfit for American Girl dolls.