Dana's Australian Hoodie Outfit

A Different Hoodie Outfit 

With the release of the Australian outfits this past year we saw a wide range of different style outfits. The neat thing about most of them is that they're very new, unlike years in the past, where we've seen recycled pieces and then a few little new pieces.  The outfit that we're looking at today is a jogging suit.   It comes with leggings, a windbreaker with a hood, a tank top and shoes. Unlike many of the journey girl outfits, this outfit does not come with a purse it only has the outfit.

The jacket is a very lightweight material, exactly what you'd expect it to be made out of for a windbreaker.  With pink sleeves, a dark gray chest area, and a light gray hood the jacket is fun and looks very realistic as far as a windbreaker goes. It has little white pockets sewn into the jacket on the front.   

They're really only as deep as the little pieces of fabric, but you can put the doll's fingers in them if her arms bent,  which they don't, so they are just for decoration…again. 

This jacket comes with a zipper.   Woo Hoo!!!!   It's wonderful to have the jacket actually be able to be zipped up with a real zipper. The zipper is easy to get up and down.   

A great feature especially for this jacket since it makes so much sense that a windbreaker would have a zipper. The hood is also very neat in that it is big enough to hold the doll’s hair. Oftentimes the hoods are a little bit small and so you have to tuck the doll’s hair down their back.  

With the hood on this jacket, you could actually wind it up and get it to stay in the back of the hood without the hood looking like it's in a goofy spot on the doll’s head.   Two drawstrings make it possible to tighten the hood so that it really stays in place.

Similar to every other tank top the Journey Girls has released, this bright orange one is made out of a nice thin stretchy material.  

It has Velcro all the way up the back.  Why all of the tops aren’t this way I am not sure.  It’s such a great thing!  You don't have to slip the tank top up over Dana’s feet just put it on her arms and Velcro it in the back! That's really it for the tank top there's nothing really special about it or different, it's made well, the material is great and makes a lot of sense for this outfit, but, it's just kind of a tank top.

On the other hand, the pants are a very fun wild pattern made out of a similar material to the tank top.  The stretchy material is a little bit thicker, similar to some of the stretch pants that we've seen from Journey Girls before. 

These ones are mostly black with white markings on them that go back-and-forth. The design really makes me think of birch bark or almost like a camouflage but without the rounded pattern.  Elastic around the waist holds the leggings up.  They fit very well; they are not too tight to make it hard to put on and off, but they're not so loose that they look goofy with this outfit. 

Now, the shoes are the standard familiar plastic tennis shoes that we've seen in sets since the Journey Girls came out. However, they're okay to have in this set.  

The bright orange color goes well with the tank top and lends themselves to the overall outfit.  It would be great to have shoes that are made of fabric or a material closer to real tennis shoes, however, I think this style of tennis shoe is difficult to make in a fabric. Our Generation is the only one that I've really seen that has nice tennis shoes that look like running shoes.

Rating
All ratings are out of 10

Value 8 – Overall this is a great outfit.  Everything is made well.  I wish the shoes were not just the normal plastic tennis shoes we have seen before, but they are okay.  Although I am not a huge fan of purses accessories, I would have liked to see some sort of accessory with this set.  Maybe an iPod? As a whole, it's a great set.

Fitment 10 – Perfect fit for the clothes.  Like many of the plastic tennis shoes, these ones are tight, making for a game of wiggle and push trying to get them on Dana's feet.  Better this way than too loose in my opinion.

Versatility 9 – The entire outfit can be used for completely different outfits.  The pants and tank top are the easiest to use with other outfits, but the jacket will work with certain clothes.  Even the tennis shoes can be used with outfits...as an accent piece!

Cuteness 8 – If I hadn't found the purple jogging outfit near the same time I found this one, scores would maybe be different.  This is a cute outfit, but not quite as cute as the purple jogging outfit.  This set is more practical an updated than the purple one.  The bright colors give it a much different feel than the older purple outfit.  

Overall 8 – Solid outfit.  Wish it had an accessory, like a water bottle, an iPod, or a pedometer watch.  That would be awesome!  As it is, it is made well, has great color, and has a real zipper!!!  Although the shoes aren't my favorite, they look great with this outfit and there aren't as many of the JG plastic tennis shoes out there as there are the flats!  Great outfit.  If you find it on eBay, it should be less than $20.  

AG Note

Say no to the shoes...because (as always) they don't fit.  Too skinny for the AG feet.  The rest of the outfit squeezes on to an American Girl doll.  The pants are tight around the waist and at certain points along the leg, but they actually aren't horrible.  

I was expecting them to be extremely tight.  However, sitting is an issue.  The pants pull down off the dolls bottom most of the time.   As you can see from the photo of the tank top, it is tight.  

It just Velcros in the back, but because it doesn't go around the shoulders there is no restriction in movement.   

This looks tight, whereas the pants do not.  If the jacket was a normal Journey Girls jacket it would fit perfectly on AG dolls.  Since most JG jackets are meant to be worn open they usually fit well on an AG doll.  This one fits, although the arms are very tight, but can not be zipped up  Because the arms are tight around the biceps, moving the dolls arms up and down is not really an option.

If this outfit was still available from the store (lucky you Canadians...it is!!!) I would suggest getting it to share with your JG and AG dolls.  Since the only place to find in the U.S. is on eBay...skip it unless you love it for your Journey Girls.