Before and after of Maryellen wearing a crinoline. It really does wonders for her skirts, making them big and beautiful! A very authentic 1950s silhouette.

In her books, Maryellen borrows a crinoline from her older sister, so it's canon that she wears one. I happened to have some of this sheer fabric lying around, and of course American Girl retired the crinoline from her collection because they don't care anymore about these kinds of historical details, so I fixed that problem myself! It was really easy to make. Doesn't look much like the original, but it does the job perfectly.

I try my best to have all my historical characters in period-accurate undergarments. Obviously this is to give their clothes the right silhouette, but it also reminds me of how many excessive undergarments girls and women were once expected to wear. Through much of history, part of the purpose of those restrictive underclothes was to keep girls closely bound to home, preparing for a future no larger than the domestic sphere, not out having carefree adventures and exploring every corner of the world.

I feel very fortunate that I grew up in a time when I didn't have to be buckled and laced and buttoned and bound into layers and layers of heavy petticoats and stays and stockings and garters like girls in the past. Even Maryellen and real girls in the 1950s were required to wear skirts or dresses to school, never pants; my own mother even remembers skirts being required at her public school only a decade later! To me now, living in a part of the US where life is pretty laid-back and casual clothes are standard, wearing skirts five days a week at any age sounds absolutely exhausting. I would have been especially miserable had I been subject to that rule in school.

In fact, I don't think I ever wore a skirt to school more than once or twice. So I was able to grow up running, climbing, exploring, and getting dirty and disheveled without worrying about accidentally letting all of Williamsburg get a glimpse of my knees and be scandalized I'm while perched atop the roof picking the best apples from the top of the tree on apple butter day. For example.

I fully believe giving girls freedom from burdensome clothing in the past half century has done so very much in shaping the confident, curious, and liberated adults they later became, who fully participated in the world and didn't feel held back by restrictive clothing or oppressive expectations of traditional gendered behavior. And our world needs as many people like that as we can raise up.

Since being adopted by Gard and Cornelia, Nellie has been enjoying learning new things alongside her sisters. One of the activities she has especially liked is embroidery! She learned how to sew years ago at the settlement house by the East River, but she only ever did it as a practical skill to help with household chores. Embroidery is just a means to make something pretty or decorative, and that is giving Nellie some ideas about how to make her abilities useful.

She may have had a little help from me finishing this sampler. I'm putting up some decorations on the walls of the doll room and am getting inspiration from the historical character books.

❤️who was your first american girl doll?

📚what was the first american girl book you read? (@queer-nanea-mitchell)

🌹have you been to an american girl store before? if so, which one(s)?

🎈who’s your favorite best friend? (doll or book only character) (@daensalemons)

🎁 do you feel like the american girl books or the dolls have played a bigger role in your life? has that changed during different periods?

🥀did any of the character storylines disappoint you?

🍓which retired historical character would you bring back? which goty?

💄girls of many lands or history mysteries and why?

🍎 are there any best friend characters who you think we should’ve gotten a book for or that should’ve been the main character instead of the girl we got?

🐞 which american girl book do you think is the best written? (@missyling)

📌favorite historical character outfit?

☎️which american girl character’s parents or parental figures are your favorites?

🧣bitty baby or wellie wishers (or any of the other lines for those ages) and why?

🍄what’s your hot take about american girl?

📕which books do you tend to like the best: main series, beforever main series, short stories or mysteries?

🖍️what is one thing you would change about the brand if you had any control over it right now?

🎒what is your favorite american girl movie?

🧶what american girl item (doll, furniture, accessory, clothing) is your holy grail?

🍁what is the rarest american girl item you own?

⏰american girl help books or american girl magazine? why?

i’ll send a random ask to anyone who reblogs this post. likewise, if you reblog or like this post, please send one of these asks to the person you’re reblogging or liking it from!

Just a fun little fan art series purely for the nostalgia! Do you have a favorite?

Molly and Kit

Addy and Samantha

Kirsten and Kaya