Australian Skirt Outfit

Chavonne Models a Wonderful Outfit

This little outfit from the Australian collection of the Journey Girls outfits, has to be one of my favorites.  It’s cute and fun, and is kind of touristy, which I think is neat.  The outfit comes with a pink skirt, a white long-sleeved t-shirt with a colorful image of the continent of Australia on it, tennis shoes, and a purse.  It isn’t anything unusual, as far as what is included, but the quality and design of this set is awesome.

I’m a little bit of a sucker when it comes to fun t-shirts for my dolls.  Especially ones that are from the areas they travel to.  So it’s no surprise that I like this t-shirt so much.  Like so many other Journey Girl t-shirts, this one is long sleeve, but doesn’t go all the way to Chavonne’s wrists. 

It stops about halfway down her forearm.  The back has Velcro on it, but not all the way down the back.  There is that pesky little spot at the bottom that is sewn, making it necessary to pull the shirt up over your doll’s legs. 

Ironed on to the front of the shirt is a depiction of the continent of Australia, done in multiple pastel tones.  Fading from a pink to purple, blue, then orange.  Australia is written across the continent in white cursive.  Nothing fancy at all, but a great shirt none the less.

Part of what makes this outfit so great is the feel of the outfit as a whole.  It doesn’t feel thrown together.  It feels purposely picked out.  The skirt looks like it is the only one that can go with the shirt.  It just goes perfectly.  When you first look at the skirt it looks solid and simple, but upon closer inspection you’ll find a very interesting piece. 

There are two layers to the skirt; the top layer is pleated and flowy, while the bottom layer is a straight skirt.  The bottom layer reminds me of a business skirt, straight on the sides, plain pink color.  The top is a different story, with three types of horizontal stripes, all pink. 

There are solid stripes, braided stripes, and see through tulle stripes, giving the skirt a really unique look.  From the sides you can actually see through the skirt.  The elastic waist keeps the skirt exactly where you want it.  A perfect, pretty skirt!

What is up with the shoes in these new Journey Girls sets?  They have been markedly better!  When I saw the shoes in this set, I was ready to buy the set just for the shoes!  Tennis shoes are not a new item to the Journey Girls line, but most of the time they are the molded plastic type.  This time, we get real canvas and rubber, tennis shoes. 

The soles of the shoes have white rubber wrapped around them, with a thin red stripe in the middle of the rubber, starting at the toes and wrapping around the back of the heel.  The canvas upper portion of the shoe has a tongue and little eyelets for the laces.  The laces are a ribbon rather than a shoelace, but that’s okay. 

The laces are long enough to tie in knots easily.  It would be nice to have a little piece of canvas on the heel to help pull the shoe onto Chavonne’s feet (like Dana’s shoe), but this is a minor complaint on an awesome shoe!

The final piece of this outfit is a purse.  Although this purse is a simple blue cotton purse, it is unique and goes well in style with the outfit.  More of a bag, the purse has short straps (just big enough to get onto Chavonne’s shoulders) and is open at the top with no way to clasp it shut. 

There is a thin black line down the middle of the purse and blue leather tassel's hanging from one end of the strap.  A simple, but fun accessory.

Rating
All ratings are out of 10

Value 10 – Are there lots of accessories with this outfit? No. It is made well though, and it has a great design.  And it has NEW SHOES!!!!!!!  Made of cloth even!  Yes, it's that exciting.  As mentioned above, the outfit goes together really well.  Each piece is made well.  My only concern is with the wear of the iron on Australia.  Not sure that it will look that good after lots of play.

Fitment 10 – Everything fits perfectly.  I'd love if the shoes had the little strap on the heal like Dana's shoes, but the shoes fit well without them.

Versatility 9 – There is so much flexability in the way that each piece of this outfit can be used.  I just love it!  I love that the shirt is long sleeve, but not heavy, so it could be used with summer outfits.  The skirt is awesome.  As are the shoes.  And I want to use these shoes with every outfit from now on...even formal outfits.

Cuteness 9 – As I mentioned before, I have a soft spot for touristy outfits like this one.  But even if the t-shirt had something else on it, the outfit as a whole is super cute.  I especially like the skirt.

Overall 9 – This outfit is close to a 10.  One more accessory or just a little better fit on the shoes and it would definetly be there.  Still, this is an awesome outfit!   The design of the skirt is unique and very cute.  I love the t-shirt.  And the shoes are such a huge step forward for the Joureny Girls.  It is so sad that they are not going to be around in the US anymore.  If you get lucky and find this outfit at your Toys R Us, grab it!  It is well worth it, even at full price.

AG Note

Another reason to love this outfit is that it fits American Girl dolls.  Granted the shirt is tight, but it fits.   Marie Grace has a hard time raising her arms because of how tight the shirt is on her.  

I was surprised that I got it to stay velcroed, but it does stay shut.  

The skirt fits great, thanks to the elastic waistband.  

Unfortunately those wonderful shoes do not fit.  The AG dolls' feet are way to wide for the shoes.  Overall, this is a great outfit though, especially since you can use it with both Journey Girls and American Girls.  Get it before it's on eBay for $50!