Spring into Ruffles

Mikaella is Pretty as Can be in a New Our Generation Outfit

Looking for a cute spring/summer outfit for your doll?  Our Generation has released a deluxe outfit, named “Spring into Ruffles”, that is a beautiful option.  The outfit arrives with a white ruffled dress, a lavender top with small printed flowers on it, a coral cardigan, a fabric headband, and multi-colored sandals.   While the outfit is beautiful in the package, it is a bit strange on Mikaella.

Starting with the good; the skirt is wonderful.  It’s full and fluffy and wonderfully made.  It has an elastic waist, which means it fits perfectly on Mikaella.  There are two layers of tulle ruffles with a ribboned edge.  The underlying skirt is a very simple cotton.  Simple, but very pretty.

The cardigan is a lighter, spring fabric.  It is big on Mikaella.  Which is more obvious than with most Our Generation outfits because of the purple top (more about that in a minute).  Like many of the new “knit” outfits, this cardigan has a layer of fabric so that Mikaella doesn’t snag her fingers in the cardigan.

When looking at the purple top as it is in its packaging it looks as though the top is a tank top.  However it is closer to a halter top, with the v-neckline straps going over Mikaella’s shoulders and then fastening at the back of her neck with Velcro.  The bottom part of the top also Velcro’s in the back, leaving an open area on Mikaella’s back.  The strange part is that the top is open in the front also.  

In this photo you can see the front straps of the top.  This creates an open shoulder and triangular area near Mikaella's chest.  Good thing she has the cardigan to cover up.

Instead of being solid from the neckline down, the neckline is formed by ¼ inch straps.  The straps go around the back of the neck and attach to the top at the bow in the front.  This leaves these strange triangular areas open in the front on each side.  The top is very loose and long, which makes the top sit goofy on Mikaella.  Even on an American Girl doll the top is big.  It sits better, but still not perfect.  If the space was a little shorter between the halter and the rest of the top, this might fit better, even with the strange openings in the front.

The back of the outfit is just strange.  And as you can see it is HUGE on Mikaella.

The sandals with this outfit are wonderful!  The bottom is a dark tan plastic, with a light tan plastic foot pad.  At the front of the sandal there are three leather straps, each a different color; lime green, florescent pink, and florescent orange.  A leather strap goes around the back of Mikaella’s heals and fastens with a strap around her ankle that has a pull through buckle.  The sandal has a little bit of a heal, which make Mikaella have to lean back a little, but nothing bad.

Lastly, the headband that comes with the outfit is a braided fabric.  It has some elastic in it, which makes it fit better than some of the Velcro headbands.  It’s cute.  The braiding is a nice change from the normal flat ribbon or fabric.

Ratings

All ratings are out of 10

Value 6 – The skirt is awesome.  As is the cardigan.  And the sandals are super cute and fun.  The goofy top is not so awesome.  Unfortunately the other great pieces can't make up for the weirdness of the top.

Fitment 4 – Again, the top is the reason for this low score.  The skirt fits great, as do the sandals.  Because of the elastic in the skirt it is a perfect fit for Mikaella or any of the other Journey Girls. The cardigan is big, but would be fine with another outfit. The top is a horrible mess when it come to fitting.  It's too long, too big, and too many pieces.  Bummer.

Versatility 7 – The skirt can be used with so many other outfits.  This is a must have in your dolls wardrobe.  The sandals are also amazing.  They can be very casual, or a little dressy.  The cardigan is a statement piece.  It's such a bright color that it will need to go with whites or a toned down outfit to work well.  The headband is cute and can work with many things.  Don't bother with the top.

Cuteness 7 – This out fit is really cute.  It just doesn't fit real well.  With some Velcro it looks great, but without it, the top is a mess.  It is still very cute.

Overall 6 – Buy this outfit for the skirt and shoes.  The top is just too darn weird.  Which is too bad, because it is really cute.  The ruffles around the neckline are adorable, the pattern is cute, the cut and design just don't work well.  If you can find this for 40% off or more…buy it.  Or if you are handy with a sewing machine. 

Song Bird

Chavonne in an Our Generation Outfit

Chavonne is modeling a Deluxe Outfit from Our Generation called “Song Bird”.  The outfit comes with a knee length dress with a muted flower print skirt, and a white top, a light pink knitted cardigan, a bright blue “leather” flower purse, a song bird necklace, and a pair of glittery fabric shoes.

The dress is one piece, but has a distinct top and bottom.  The bottom is made of a shear printed material with a white fabric slip.  The top is sleeveless and is made of a silk like material.  The whole dress is very light and airy compared to the “Out of the Blue” dress that was released at the same time.  There is a coral colored, sparkly bow on the left side of the waist.  The dress doesn’t need the bow, but it is cute. 

The cardigan is a nice soft pink color that matches some of the flowers on the dress.  The cardigan is knit, has puffy sleeves and a fabric liner.  The liner is really helpful when putting the sweater on your doll.  Chavonne’s little fingers didn’t get stuck in the knit holes because of this liner.  Awesome addition to the cardigan! 

The blue purse is definitely a fashion piece.  Not only is it bright blue, but the whole front of the purse is a cloth flower.  Many of the purses from Our Generation have a cloth shoulder strap.  This purse has a chain as a strap.  The purse zips open and closed smoothly.  This purse is definitely not just for holding your dolls things.  It is a clear fashion piece!  Very pretty.

The shoes on the other hand are…blaah!  Fabric shoes are nicer than the plastic ones (although some of the new Our Generation shoes have been great).  These fabric shoes are made okay.  They look more like slippers than shoes and there is not much to them.  And for some reason glitter shoes just seems strange with this outfit.  If the shoes were designed better, maybe the glitter would be okay, but the combination of everything makes these shoes a dud. 

A neat addition is the necklace.  There is a bird (kind of looks like the Twitter bird) on a thin silver chain.  The necklace is good quality.  The bird charm is cute and just the right size.  The clasp can be a little hard to get fastened though.  It's a circle and post clasp.  So you have to put the t-post through the ring, which is a bit hard.  Probably easier then a ring clasp though.

Rating

All ratings are out of 10

Value 8 – The dress is made well, even though it is very light.  The cardigan is cute and the addition of the liner is awesome.  A bright blue flower purse is always fun.  This purse is very nice quality.  The shoes are okay, but could have been much better. 

Fitment 8 – Like the blue dress (and most other Our Generation dresses) the waist is big on Chavonne.  Since the top fits, you won’t notice that the dress is big.  The cardigan fits great.

Versatility 7 – The dress is not super dressy and can be used for different events, but Chavonne is not going to go out and play in this outfit.  The cardigan has a lot of potential to be used with other outfits.  Its’ color will compliment many different colors. The purse goes with everything…well maybe not everything, but it is fun and can be used with a lot.  The shoes can be used for glitter bombing.  No, they will go with other outfits.

Cuteness 9 – A very cute airy dress.  This dress feels very spring or summery.  The colors are nice.  As a whole the outfit works really well.


Overall 8 – There are some really great things about this outfit; the cardigan with its’ liner, the dresses design and colors, the purse.  Then there are two things that are not so great; the shoes.  With the beautiful new shoe designs that Our Generation has just released with some of the other outfits it is perplexing why this out fit received these weird shoes.  Most of you probably have a pair of shoes that can be substituted for these…so grab this outfit when you see it and switch out the shoes.

Out of the Blue

Meredith's Blue Our Generation Dress

Busy, busy.  Our Generation has a few Deluxe Outfits that were released in April.  The Deluxe line usually has a few more accessories and is often times a little fancier.  Such is the case with the outfit that is getting reviewed today; “Out of the Blue”.  The outfit comes with a tricolored blue cotton dress, a small coral colored cardigan, cloth shoes, a beaded bracelet, a blue purse with a blue striped bow, and a matching striped hair bow.

The dress is a heavy cotton fabric with a white lining underneath it.  It has clovers in two different shades patterned all over the dress.  There is a white “school girl” collar around the neckline.  It doesn’t stay flat around the whole neck…it might need a little ironing.  The sleeves are short, just covering the shoulders. Meredith swims in this outfit.  It fits, but is big around the chest and waist.  The dress makes her look much bigger than she is.  Since it is made for American Girl sized dolls it makes sense that it would be bigger on Meredith.  Because of the design of the dress it kind of flairs out around the waist, which also makes it look bigger than it is.

The little cardigan is a pretty coral color.  It has short sleeves, above the elbow.  The cardigan is small enough that it can not close in the front.  It goes just to above Meredith’s waist.  It is a cute cardigan, but there is really no need for it with this dress.  Still it is nice to have it included with this outfit.

The shoes are a shimmery coral color that kind of matches the cardigan.  These shoes are better than a lot of the other Our Generation shoes.  They are thinner, which makes them fit better, and are made out of a material more like a real shoe.  There is a strap across the top that Velcro’s on the other side.  It would be wonderful if they had a solid sole, made out of plastic, rubber, or something like that.

All of the accessories that come with this outfit are nice.  The purse is cute, with little ruffles along the front, and a blue and white striped bow.  The inside of the purse has the same striped fabric around the top.  It’s a wrist purse, rather than one that can go on the shoulder.  The hair bow, which matches the bow on the purse, is on a bobby pin.  The bracelet is made with three colored round beads; blue, white, and orange.  The clasp is a metal circle that you push a T-bar through to keep it together.  It is a little bit of a challenge to get this to work.

Rating

All ratings are out of 10

Value 9 – This is a high quality dress.  The fabric is very nice and well made.  The only thing that isn’t awesome about this outfit is the shoes.  Even the cardigan has a lining like the dress. 

Fitment 9 – The dress is big on Meredith, but it looks bigger because of the way that it is designed.  The sweater fits well as do the shoes.

Versatility 7 – Because the outfit is a dress, there is a limit to its versatility.  The sweater and shoes can go with many other outfits.  The purse can go with most any outfit.  And the bracelet is a great accessory for any outfit.

Cuteness 9 – A beautiful dress.  With or without the sweater this is a beautiful outfit.  With the accessories it make a very cute outfit.  It looks amazing on a blue-eyed doll like Meredith.


Overall 9 – A wonderful outfit from Our Generation!  The craftsmanship is on par with The Queen’s Treasures or even American Girl.  The shoes are the weak link in the outfit, but you can always steal shoes from another outfit.  Deluxe outfits like this one run about $17.99.  This outfit is a great deal at that cost, when it goes on sale it’s even a better deal.