Doll Clothes of Yore Victorian Walking Dress

I bought this Victorian Dress from Doll Clothes of Yore. I thought I should show it off as it's a very well constructed dress. The designer has a talent for creating intricate folds.


The jacket is a separate.

Purple Victorian Gown

This purple Victorian gown is a bit oversized. So I have had to do some pinning to make it look more like an adult gown for Samantha.

Hmm. This is the closest I can get to an original historical style. If you find something similar to what Samantha is wearing, please comment!












This is what the gown looks like unpinned:

Samantha's Haute Couture Dress by Dollies' Dressmaker

The Dollies' Dressmaker haute couture dress is a one-of-a-kind ensemble that comes with the original cape, frock, and rosette hat. I bought this outfit in December 2008 for a pretty penny from another collector, who had bought it directly from Dollies' Dressmaker. I don't know what the original collector paid, but I have observed Dollies' Dressmaker haute coutures go for $70-$100. This outfit, with its gorgeous detail and wonderful craftsmanship, is very likely the only one ever made.  I have rarely taken it out from its box, so it's in lovely condition.
My full photo album is viewable at Picasa.

Can you benefit from my downsizing?

I solemnly swear that I will downsize my collection, because it has frankly become too overwhelming. I have all these adorable set ups in mind but I never get the time (or the motivation) to put the scene together. I think I will just need to prioritize and figure out what I really want to keep.

Over the course of each new month I will lovingly describe at least 12 items in this blog, with each item having its own entry. Then during the first day of the month, I plan to put all described items up for sale in the AG Playthings market place. They could be anything: customs or official AG, dolls or outfits, and even small accessories or large pieces of furniture.

Otherwise, I just can't get myself motivated enough to take the photos and do the listings. Or find the heart to sell them without giving them one last enticing photo shoot.

So I will start my first entries in September. The first sale will be October 1.

Sigh. It must be done.

Supersizers Go Regency

Supersizers Go Regency is a historically accurate journey into the food and culture of regency England. So it might be inappropriate for kids and those adults who are prudish and squeamish. I just *love* this show though. It's hilarious. My favorite lines:

Sue is flopped on the ground, holding the leg of a military officer as he tries to escape, dragging her along the floor. Desperate Sue: "I *will* accept your proposal!"

Giles: "Fulfilling a lifelong ambition, I am a regency dandy." Hop, skip.

Giles: "I will be foppishly gambling my inheritance at the gaming tables."

To paraphrase the narrator...If you are a patriot, you do not drink claret, made by the fiendish French!

What are your favorite lines or parts?




Here are the other videos:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Pioneer Dresses by Terristouch

I thought I should separate this post from my reflection on buffalo.





(Molly is modeling a blue dress on the left by Terristouch.)

Where the Buffalo Roamed

Kirsten stories were set in Minnesota in the 1840s, and her encounters with Native Americans were always positive and gentle. She even makes friends with a little girl from a local tribe.

I did take a Native American History class in college. There were primary sources we read where white settlers had ambivalent and even positive opinions of indigenous populations. But I just never was able to get into the history of Western expansion. It was just so disturbing, reading about all the violent and tragic confrontations between settlers, the American army, and Native American tribes. But I was struck by the idea that what finally broke tribes like the Sioux, was the federal government encouraging army commanders, railway companies, sportsmen, etc to hunt the buffalo to near extinction. The nomadic Plain Indians followed the buffalo herds and used every piece of the animals to survive. On the other hand, many white Americans hunted the buffalo just for their pelts or for sport, and often left the rest of the carcass to rot, wasting the resource. Army commanders purposely, hoping to drive the Sioux and other tribes off valuable land and deprive them of their key resource, killed thousands upon thousands of buffalo. In just three years, in the early 1870s, 9 million buffalo were killed. The drastic thinning of buffalo herds from millions to a few thousand eventually forced Native Americans into the reservation system, which often led to lost identity and a host of other problematic social issues (e.g. alcoholism, depression).