Meredith's Swimsuit

Our Generation At the Beach With Meredith

As summer peaks out from winter’s storm clouds, Our Generation begins releasing some of its summer clothes, including this outfit, “Day at the Beach”.  Included in this set is a purple halter neck, ruffled bottom swimsuit, a swimsuit coverup, sandals, a camp cap, a fishing net, and a bucket of minnows.  This deluxe outfit retails for $17.99.

I love Our Generation swimsuits!  They are made well with material similar to real swimsuits.  They are cute.  They cover up the dolls midsection….which I like because personally the cloth tummy always looks strange to me in photos.  This suit is a full covering suit with a high halter neckline.  The light violet suit has purple popsicles patterned all over it, with a ruffled skirt at the waist.

On Meredith, I think I ended up tieing the straps a little tight, which pulled the suit up too high.

The fit is a little loose at the bottom on Meredith, no matter how tight the neck straps are.

Made of a light white cotton material, the cover-up is super simple.  The large v-neckline allows a hint of the swimsuit to peek through.

Big, loose sleeves are accented with teal piping around the cuff.  This stitching continues down the sides of the cover-up and then around the bottom of the skirt.   Slight tapering at the waist helps the cover-up look more like a dress than a potato sack.

A button on the back of the cover-up allows it to easily be put on and off.  Although it’s simple it’s great to have the cover-up to help make this set more of an outfit than just a simple swimsuit.  Meredith can now walk along the beach or play in the sand, and try to find fish in the water.

This is the second time that we have seen the “OG Summer” hat.  This one has a bright neon orange brim and a neon pink mesh back, with the “OG Summer” printed on the solid white front of  the cap. There is a small piece of Velcro at the back to adjust the cap for just about any dolls head.

I also love that it has the little opening in the back for Meredith’s ponytail to stick out.  I’m so glad that Our Generation gave us this cap rather than another pair of sunglasses.

The heart shaped fishing net is actually a repurposed butterfly net from some other sets.  How do I know this?

Well there is a butterfly stamped in the plastic where the handle meets the net.  Still cute.  The purple plastic handle does not stay in Meredith’s hands without some tape or a binder.

I love the small holed net material, perfect for catching minnows.

Speaking of minnows…Meredith’s bright neon orange sandpail is full of “water” and little tiny minnow.

The clear plastic is almost up to the rim with little silver fish swimming around in the water.  Very cute!

The yellow handle of the bucket can go around Meredith’s wrist, but she needs some tape or a binder to hold it in her hands normally.

Little teal jelly sandals complete this set.  Like other jelly sandals before, these have small openings in them to give them a woven look. They have a strap across the top that latches with a post on the ankle of the shoe.

It can be a bit challenging to get the strap onto the post, but it’s not impossible.  The shoe is wide on Meredith’s feet, but not so much that her feet slide around.

Rating
All ratings are out of 10

Value 8 – Since this is a Deluxe set it cost a little more at $17.99.  I think the set is worth the price, but it isn’t quite as exciting as the boogie board set.  Most of the set is recycled; we’ve seen the separate pieces in other sets before.  The suit is very cute, but it isn’t completely new.  It is great to have the hat rather than sunglasses, but again, if you have the camping outfit that came out earlier this year…you have a very similar hat.  The shoes, bucket, and fishing net (or butterfly net) have all been used in other sets before.  Really the only new thing is the cover-up.  But just because none of the things are new doesn’t mean this is a bad set.  On the contrary, this set is fun and has a lot of playability.

Fitment 8 – Although there is some loose fabric on the swimsuit, it still fits Meredith well, especially if the tie is tight.   The cover-up is loose and looks big, but that is probably by design.  The little jelly shoes fit like all OG shoes do; a little wide, but just the right length.  And it is awesome that the hat has some adjustability to help it fit on every dolls head.

Versatility 5 – This outfit gets an extra point for versatility due to the fact that it comes with the cover-up, compared to the boogie board outfit.  Plus the fact that the swimsuit is an actual swimsuit rather than a wetsuit helps in this rating.  All of the accessories can be used for other outfits…well outdoor, beach outfits.  The fishing net can be used with a different outfit for catching butterflies.

Cuteness 8 – While the wetsuit was more practical, this swimsuit is all cuteness.  The purple color, the little popsicle print, and the ruffled tutu skirt, make this swimsuit super adorable.  The hat, with it’s opening in the back for ponytails….cute!  Jelly shoes…always cute (well maybe not always, but in this case they are).  Even the cover-up is cute.

Overall 8 – Both the boogie board outfit and this outfit get the same score, but for different reasons.  The boogie board is awesome as an accessory set and it’s good to have the wet suit.  This set, the accessories are good, but the swimsuit is really cute!  And I love the hat!  It is definitely going to find it’s way into different summer outfits.  Although I really like this outfit and the accessories that come with it, I would wait for it to go on sale.  I think this set is a great $15 set.  Especially if you don’t have the accessories or if you need another swimsuit for your pool party!

AG Note

Even though the Journey Girls and American Girl dolls are the same height, some outfits fit one or the other better than the other.

This swimsuit fits better on Lea than on Meredith, maybe just because of the way that I tied it, but it still fits better.  Although I really don't like the cloth body showing around the neckline.

But that doesn't change the fact that the swimsuit and the cover-up fit perfectly on Lea.

The shoes are tight and are a little difficult to clasp shut.  However the shoes are difficult to clasp on Meredith too, so it is probably the clasp, not the actual size of the shoe.

All of the accessories need to be kept in Lea's hands with tape or rubber bands, but that is no different than with Meredith.

The hat is smaller on Lea's head since American Girl's heads are a little larger, but it still fits really well.  This is another set that fits both Journey Girls and American girl really well.  And it is such a fun set...you should definitely pick it up!