Journey Girl's Pink Top and White Jeans

Giovanna Tries Out a New Outfit

One of the new outfits released in September was this beautiful pink top with white jeans, gold sandals, and a floral purse.  Like most of the Japan line, this outfit is very unique.

Of all the pieces, the bright pink top is the most unique.  The gathered neckline is almost an off the shoulder design with a little bit of gathering at the neckline. 

Each sleeve is gathered at the end with a tiny bow on the outside. 

On the bottom of the outfit is a flower lace flair.

It's simple and cute, with great design.

As unique as the top is, the pants are just as plain.  Don't get me wrong, they work really well with top, they just aren't anything special.   The plain white jeans have a cuff on each leg, halfway up the calf.

They are like many jeans as far as design, the white makes them unique and a great edition to the Journey Girls line.

Shoes are interesting with Journey Girls.  Toys R Us has come a long way from the all plastic, small healed shoes that came with almost every outfit.  Still, there isn't a huge amount of variety in the shoes.   These gold shoes are based off of tall sandals that we have seen before. 

As most of the newer shoes have, these ones have the flat plastic bottoms.   A strap across the toes has a green "flower" on it.  At the heal of the shoes are straps that go around the ankles and two that go up the calf with Velcro in the back.

A pretty shoe, that is close in design to some of the other ones already out.

Another piece that is unique is the purse.    It has a gold braided handle that is long enough to slide the purse on Giovanna's shoulder.

Designed like a sack, the white fabric has painted watercolor roses printed on it.   The pinks of the flowers tie in nicely to the top.   It's definitely not fancy, but it is very pretty, and it goes great with this outfit.

All ratings are out of 10

Value 8 – With more pieces to this outfit than the blue dress, but the same quality, this outfit scores a little higher.   I still wish there were some other little accessories, like Our Generation outfits, but the quality of the outfits released this round have been really good!

Fit 8 – The top is a little loose and the jeans can be a little stubborn when trying to pull them on.  Overall thought, everything fits well.

Versatility 9 – All of the pieces of this outfit can be used with other outfits.  The top will look great with a skirt, jeans, or shorts.   The white jeans have a ton of versatility, going with virtually any type of top.  Because of the flower on the shoes, there may be some colors that don't go with them, but most things should.

Cuteness 9 – What a cute outfit! The top has a really unique design with the beautiful lace bottom.  The white jeans go perfectly with the top.  And even though the sandals are just a redesign, they are still cute.  I would have loved a different design for the purse too, but I love the fabric it is made of.

Overall 8 – Another well made, cute outfit from the Japan line.  As with the others, there are just a few little things that could be improved to make it a really good outfit.  Out of the three outfits I have reviewed for this release, this one has the most versatility.  It is worth the $14.99 that Amazon is charging.

Winter Fun

Kelsey and Dana Go Tubing

On a beautiful Minnesota winter day, meaning the temperature is just above freezing, Dana and Kelsey grab their winter outerwear, getting ready to go tubing.  They grab their matching donut snow tubes after putting on their snow-pants, jackets, hats, and boots.

They arrive at the hill, joyfully bounding up to the top.  Kelsey turns to Dana, "I'll give you a push so you go super fast!"

Dana hesitates, but sits down in her donut tube.  "Let's do it!"

Kelsey begins pushing Dana's back, running behind her as she closes in on the lip of the hill.  Once she crests the lip she gives Dana one final shove, then runs to get her own tube.   Dana squeals with glee as she cruises down the hill. 

Kelsey runs to the lip of the hill, jumping on her tube.   She flies down the hill, laughing as she goes.

Dana slows down as she gets to the flat area at the bottom of the hill, allowing Kelsey to catch up to her.  They both race up the hill again. 

This time down each of them run and jump on their tube together.   Neck and neck, they slide down the hill.   Kelsey begins to pull ahead of Dana, then suddenly she hits a bump.

CRASH!

Dana rushes over to Kelsey, "you okay?"

"Oh yeah," Kelsey giggles as she gets up. 

Grabbing their tubes they make their way up the hill again. 

After many more times down the hill, they call it a day.

"Before we leave, let's get a hot chocolate from the lodge." suggests Kelsey.

"Oooo...that sounds wonderful!" agrees Dana.

Sitting on one of the benches the girls drink their hot chocolates, enjoying the beautiful scenery as well as their hot drinks.

"This was a lot of fun!"

Kelsey nods, "absolutely!"

Amazon Exclusive Journey Girls Outfit

Megan Wearing a Blue Dress

As Toys R Us is still figuring out their online presence they have begun distributing items through Amazon.  Besides the Japan line of dolls, they have released four outfits to go along with the dolls.  Over the next month I will review all four of the outfits.

The first of these four is a royal blue, knee length dress, silver sandals, and a silver handbag.  This outfit, along with the other outfits released this round, have some interesting qualities that we will look at.

Although the dress stops around the knees, the sleeves go to Megan's wrist, with open shoulders and a high neckline.  The blue fabric has a slightly lighter blue, lace overlay.

On the back of the dress is Velcro to help get the dress on and off easily.  Thin fabric hems the sleeves, neckline and hemline of the dress.

Made of really good quality materials, this dress feels very high quality.   The strange thing is it does not feel like the dress is made for the Journey Girls dolls.  Megan looks like she is swimming in this outfit.  The waist is much larger than normal for a Journey Girls outfit, as are the sleeves.  In years past the Journey Girls outfits have fit snugly on the dolls, making it a challenge for the clothes to fit American Girl dolls and Our Generation dolls.  This dress is much looser and fits the American Girls much better.

Not sure if that just happened, or if it is purposeful.  As happy as I am for the versatility to now use the outfit with AG dolls, I am a little disappointed that the outfit doesn't really fit the doll it was originally designed for.

Shoes can make or break an outfit, or in some cases just be there.  These shoes are similar to other sandals/shoes released with other outfits.  The silver leather wraps around Megan's toes, goes up to her ankle as a single large strap, wraps around her ankle, and goes down her heal.

There is Velcro on the back to make it easier to get the sandals on and off.  Unfortunately the sandals are a little difficult to get on.  You really have to shove the doll's toes into the sandal to get the Velcro to close.  Personally, I am not fond of the bottoms of the sandals, as they are so smooth the dolls slide on almost all surfaces.   Maybe only a big deal to people like me that pose the dolls, rather than play with them.

Matching the silver sandals, the handbag is made of the same silver "leather" that the shoes are.  On the flap of the purse are three lines formed by the leather being pinched, giving a little design to the purse.

Also on the flap is a small piece of Velcro to keep Megan's valuables safe inside.  The wrist strap made of a rope like material is a perfect size; big enough to get the purse on Megan's wrist easily, but not big enough that it falls off.  It's a simple, cute purse.

All ratings are out of 10

Value 7 – Although the $14.99 price is less than the normal TRU cost of $19.99, there isn't much to this outfit. The value is really in how well the dress is made, as well as the handbag.  It would be nice to get another accessory.  Maybe a necklace, or a headband or even tights.

Fitment 7 – Megan looks as though she is swimming in this dress, which is strange for an outfit specifically designed for the Journey Girls. My guess is that TRU decided to make the dress fit other types of dolls better.   Even the sandals, which will not fit other dolls, are difficult to get on Megan's feet.

Versatility 6 – The dress doesn't have a lot of options for different uses.  The sandals and purse can be used with many different outfits.   Maybe if you add other accessories you can use the dress in different situations.

Cuteness 6 – This was my least favorite of the four outfits that can be found on Amazon right now.   The fabric is really beautiful, but the design just doesn't lend itself to the Journey Girls.  I still like it, but it's lower on the list than any of the other outfits available from the Japan line.

Overall 7 – Such a well made dress should have a higher score, but the design of the dress just isn't great.  Along with the issues with the fit, and the lack of much in the way of accessories, this outfit is just okay.  If you love the design of the dress than it is worth the $15.  If you don't love the design, I think the outfit is worth closer to $10.  I do really like this outfit on dolls with blue eyes (Meredith, Dana, Kara Rose, Mikaella, and Giovanna) as it brings out their eyes.

As Toys R Us (or TRU Kids) starts the process of redefining themselves, it would be wonderful to see them spend some time with the Journey Girls.   I have been very happy to see their social media presence expand (go follow their Instagram account @journeygirlsofficial or check out their web page - www.journeygirls.com) but the product is still the same.  The Journey Girls have always been travelers (maybe that is going to change).  It would be awesome to see accessories that better fit the girl's stories and personalities.  Personally, I would love to have accessories other than purses. One of the things that I love about Our Generation outfits is that many of them come with little accessories like a necklace, a camera, or a drawing pad.   It would be great if there were accessories for the different doll's personalities. Such as a book about animals, or a ticket or map from the local zoo for Dana.  Or some local treats for Mikaella (the baker).  We'll have to see what TRU decides to do.

Journey Girl's Sequin Pop-Star Dress

Chavonne Shows Off her Inner Pop Star with Journey Girl's New Outfit

New outfits for the Journey Girls were released back in September...and I am finally getting around to reviewing the outfits.   One of the most interesting outfits that was released was the Sequin Pop-Star dress.  It includes a one piece top and skirt, knee-high boots, cat ears headband, and a fabric microphone.  A very different outfit from what has been released in the past.  Let's take a look at the outfit.

Since the top and skirt are attached, we will look at that first.  The skirt is a simple black material with tulle over it.  Stopping just above the knees, the skirt flares out at the waist.  It would be nice if the skirt was separate from the top, but it makes sense that it was made this way.  Separating the skirt from the top is a black ribbon. 

Similar to the skirt, the top is made of two layers.  The underneath layer is a white material, similar to the material we see on the inside of many of the Journey Girls outfits to help with color transfer, with a black fishnet material over it.  Attached to the material are gold and rainbow colored sequins.  Arranged in a few different designs, the gold sequins are in vertically lines, flower shapes, and curled lines. 

Between the gold designs are curled designs of multi colored sequins in a rainbow pattern.  Filling the front and back, the sequins go all around the top.  Like most outfits this one has Velcro up but the length is different.the back to make it simple to get on and off.  Even though the skirt and top are not separate, this is still a really nice outfit.

New shoes are always nice.  These boots are similar to some of the boots that have been released in the past, but the length is different.  These are the first that I know of that go to the knees, or just above the knees. 

The normal plastic style of shoe/boot will not work with this style of boot, so Journey Girls made the boot out of fabric.  Like most of the new shoes, these have the slippery plastic soles.  Attached to the soles is a black semi stretchy material that makes up the boot.  To me the material makes the boot feel more like a sock than a boot, but it does make it easier to get on than a stiffer material would.  At the top of the of the boot are strings to tighten the boot and keep it up on Chavonne's legs. 

I think the little bow at the back of the boot is cute.  The best thing about these boots is that they are the perfect match to the top.  They really pull this outfit together!

Often times hair accessories are elastic with something on them...a bow, a flower, some sequins.  Little cat ears have not been done before.  And glitter cat ears at that!  That's right, atop the ribbon and elastic headband, two little fuchsia cat ears stand up at attention. 

The fuchsia matches the color in the top.   A very cute and creative addition to an original style outfit.

Probably the most interesting part of this outfit is the microphone, for many reasons.  First, it is an accessory with a story.  Purses and headbands can be for anything.  A pink sparkly microphone can only be for a pop star.  Okay, maybe not only for a pop star, but it does say confidence and awesomeness if you do anything with a pink microphone.  Second, the microphone is made of fabric.  An interesting choice for an object that is normally made of plastic or metal.   It is kind of like it's supposed to be a fun pillow rather than an actual microphone. 

Third, it's a new and thoughtful accessory, in my mind, made especially for Chavonne.  Why Chavonne?  When the Journey Girls were originally introduced they each had a story and personality. 

The Japan line mentions each girl's interests on their boxes, but not to the degree that the original stories were fleshed out.  Originally, Chavonne was the singer of the group.  It is awesome to see accessories that go along with the girl's personalities.  Two complaints with the microphone (both minor).  One; is that this microphone is huge and does not fit in Chavonne's hand very well.  And two; the tag on it is larger than the microphone.  

You can't even tuck it anywhere.  Spare yourself the frustration, just cut it off. Other than that...I love it!  A plastic one just couldn't get the glitter and look of this fabric one.

All ratings are out of 10

Value 8 – It would be awesome to have the skirt separate from the top, but it also makes sense that it is not.  There are a couple of new accessories in this set, plus new boots, which help the value.  Like most of the Japan line, this outfit is well made.

Fitment 9 – Besides the microphone, everything fits well.   The boots can be a little bit of a challenge getting over the foot, but then they slip on easily.  As with the blue outfit, this one is a baggier than Journey Girls outfits of the past.   It still fits and looks good, it's just loose compared to past outfits.

Versatility 7 – More versatility would have been available if the skirt was separate from the top, but even with them attached there is some versatility to the outfit.   This could be a fancier outfit if paired with the right shoes and maybe a scarf or sweater.  The boots are the most versatile part of the outfit.  Cat ear headbands have some versatility...but can't be used for every outfit.   And although I would love to have a pink glitter microphone to speak into at all times, it's probably not usefully for everyday outfits.

Cuteness 9 – I love the colored sequins on the top.  The skirt is a simple but cute design.  And the boots really help make the outfit.   I can't forget about the cutest part of the outfit...the glitter cat ears.  Just saying "glitter cat ears" is cute.  This is a very fun outfit that fits Chavonne's personality perfectly.

Overall 8 – This is a strong 8.  The outfit is made really well, it is very cute, and it has some great new accessories.  There are no real issues, just small things that can be improved on.  This is definitely an outfit that you should pick up.  It is well worth the $14.99.  Find it on Amazon.