#jly 15

[idledoll]

I love how this outfit represents the last halcyon days of the Nineties and Aughts, before fashion trends took a sharp turn into "Everything must be skin tight and slightly too small and you will constantly be on the verge of being sent home over school dress code violations if we have anything to say about it."

[doll-collecting-aerialist]

Might be all scheming and scamming and buy a JLY 15 lookalike sometime,,,

[idledoll]

As you can see, we got our first bit of real snow this week! So I rushed out and got a bunch of pictures while our yard actually looks photogenic.

[idledoll]

Before dressing Sameen in this outfit, I decided to take off her head so I could get a look at her shoulder tag and figure out when exactly she was manufactured.

Only to find that she didn't have a shoulder tag. This is approximately when I noticed she also didn't have a body tag. I've had her for about five years at this point, but I was so thrown off by her zombie skin (which tends to be more of a Mattel defect) that I never even noticed she was actually a Pleasant Company doll!

Fitting, then, that she's wearing the Blue Jeans Basics II outfit, which was released in the 90's.

[idledoll]

In honor of our first snow (sadly, it didn't stick), it's time for another slumber party!

Everyone's wearing snow or winter themed PJs this time. Nia is wearing the Polar Bear Pajamas from 2013.

Petra is wearing the Snuggly Snow PJ's released in 2008.

And finally, Sameen is wearing the Snowflake Satin PJ's, from 2002. I actually got these as a kid myself in Chicago, so they're original to my collection.

[idledoll]

Sameen is finally in a new outfit (the Warm Up Outfit and Mat from 2003) for the first time in seven months!

Yes, that is a new chest behind her. I have to wait for a dry (both in terms of humidity and rain) and relatively cool day to work on the wicker chest, which ALSO has to coincide with me feeling up to said work, so that might be a ways off. In the meantime, I found this gorgeous wooden trunk for twenty (!) dollars on Craigslist.

I'm autistic enough that washing and sorting and putting away all the clothes was the most fun I've had in weeks, so here are some bonus pictures of the inside of the chest and the doll clothes.

Here it is, the Mountain of Modern Clothes in all its glory.

Instead of using that pashmina shawl to decorate the outside, I decided to line the trunk with it instead to prevent any delicate doll fabric from catching on the wood interior.

It also has this neat tray that I can use to store all the accessories!

Honestly, this trunk is so pretty. I absolutely love it. And hopefully it'll protect the clothes a bit better.

[idledoll]

Sameen standing with the first irises (which have already died since I took these so now we're waiting for the next ones) of the year.

[idledoll]

I went to change Sameen into a new outfit this week since it's her turn in front of the camera, only to open the wicker chest I keep all of my modern AG clothes in and realize the wicker was infested with mold.

SO. I've been quite busy washing all of the clothes in vinegar, and then washing them with regular gentle detergent to get rid of the vinegar smell, and then trying my level best to get the clothes to line dry in this incredible humidity we're having. I am roughly 1/3 of the way through the clothes, but it's significantly less humid today and tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will speed things up.

So far the clothes have come out perfect. The fate of the wicker chest, however, is very much in question. I'm going to try and save it because it is highly load-bearing in re doll clothing storage and also my nana gave it to me. According to the internet, wicker that has mold can be saved, but ehhhh, we'll see.

Anyway, all that to say that I couldn't change Sameen's outfit, so I decided to take her and all the other dolls in 90's clothing out for a group shot.

Sameen is still wearing the 1998 Holiday Bibs Outfit, Leya is in the 1995 Mix and Match Outfit, Emi is wearing the 1998 Hiking Outfit I, and Susanna, as she was last weekend, is in the 1998 Play Outfit.

As an aside, you can really see the greyish cast to Sameen's skin in this photo compared to the other dolls. It's a somewhat common defect in transition AG dolls made in the first years after Mattel bought American Girl. Kit (a first edition) has it rather bad too, as a matter of fact. They -- and Samantha -- also have the extremely dry hair common to those dolls as well.