Felicity's Spring Gown with Pinner Apron

Happy belated birthday, Felicity!

Looking good (and fashionable!) for being 251 years old

I realize that I haven't been posting on here lately and that I haven't been active on AGC either. I've been busy. My husband is getting out of the military this year and so the breadwinner baton has passed to me. He will be going to college (and I am so proud of him, because there were people who thought he'd never get there because of some of his teenage behavior-never give up on kids, because look at him now) and since it has been so long since he's been in school, I don't want him to work all that much if I can help it. I've seen otherwise good students be crushed under the weight of 40+ hours of work on top of their 15 credit hours (I've also seen students rise to the challenge like champions but it does make it harder). 10-20 hours is plenty. But that means I need to find a better paying job-and I think I have! In between that, preparing for the move, working, and traveling to Charlotte for an early anniversary, I just haven't had a lot of time. I intended for this post to go live on her birthday but that didn't happen.


Anyways, enough excuses! On with the post!

Spring has certainly arrived and with it a plethora of AG doll birthdays-originally, it seems that most of the dolls were born in the spring. The birthday stories were, after all, also spring stories. So, on April 21, Felicity celebrated her birthday-hopefully with the help of Elizabeth and a special gift from her grandfather (that guitar-I want it so much!).

Felicity the character is old. And I've realized that my doll is old too and in need of repairs. Felicity is the only AG item I've ever bought second hand where I became enraged at the seller. She was advertised as like new condition, mint. Part of the description included her limbs being very tight. But that was a lie. Felicity could barely stand when I got her a year ago and now needs to be propped up against a hard surface to remain upright-Elizabeth typically helps her friend. If some of the pictures I'm showing seem like she's standing at strange angles, that is why.

As I said before, I went to Charlotte. While there, I dropped her off at the doll hospital.

Anyways, on to the review. I embedded my history review (this time on the history of aprons) into the larger review this time. I didn't have the time to effectively and accurately research a new topic.

Felicity's Spring Pinner Gown and Apron:

This outfit came out in 1992 and was retired in 2009. It was a part of her birthday collection and sold for $24. The outfit included a bright pink dress, a floral pinner apron to go on top of it, stockings, a hair ribbon with a floral pompom, and a pack of pins to pin the apron onto the dress. I have neither the pins nor the ribbon.

Dress:

Felicity wears a pink dress. The fabric is plain and unadorned because the apron is meant to go on top of it-otherwise the two materials would clash. Never overload the eye.

It is made of a lightweight material, which would be appropriate for spring. It can get very hot in Williamsburg.

Her sleeves reach a bit past her elbows and has gathering with white trim. 

The sleeve also has a pink and green floral detail. It's simple and pretty, adding just the right festive touch for her dress.

The neckline has the white gathered trim of the sleeves as well. It is squarely cut, as are most of Felicity and Elizabeth's gowns. That is why the dolls underwent a change from white bodied to flesh colored bodies when Felicity came out. Colonial fashions showed too much of the upper chest for that. I didn't get a picture of the neckline alone but you can see it in the pictures of the entire outfit-the neckline peeks out above the apron.

I like the dress but I probably wouldn't put Felicity in it without the apron. It's very plain. But it should be-otherwise, it would clash with the floral print apron.

Pinner Apron:

Felicity lays her pinner apron on top.

You might think of aprons as work clothing, and that was true for a long time. Aprons were-and still are-often used to protect clothing while doing work, such as cooking. Pilgrim women certainly wore plain aprons that covered their clothing and protected it-after all, it is much easier to clean one piece of fabric than an entire dress. 

When Charles II regained his throne (and I am discussing the history of aprons in America, but for a long time-and still to a large extent today-European fashion had an effect on American trends) decorated aprons became popular. These were covered with embroidery and lace.

Towards Felicity's time, full aprons that were pinned on (hence "pinner" apron) became popular instead of half aprons that simply covered the waist. They aren't quite the same as a pinafore such as what Samanatha wears with her play outfit, which covers more of the dress. Below is a woman from 1776 wearing a pretty pink apron over her clothing. 

Pinterest

Below is an Italian (so not exact, but there was some overlap between European and American fashions, though certainly less than there would have been with British and American fashions) woman from the 1770s wearing a floral print full apron.

https://threadingthroughtime.wordpress.com/tag/period-dress/

Anyways, back to the actual outfit. The apron is white with a pretty blue, pink, and orange floral print with green leaves. 

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It ties at the waist the back.

The apron is very pretty!

Stockings:

Under her dress, she wears mint green stockings.

These stockings have a white floral pattern embroidered on.. Yes, it is real embroidery unlike the print-screening used on Caroline's birthday dress. They're very nice.

Pins:

The set comes with the pack of pins to keep the apron on, but of course you can use any kind of tiny safety pin. No sense in paying extra for something like that. Mine is pinned on with a safety pin and I never remove it because I don't like the pink dress by itself.

Ribbon with Pompom:

Another item I don't have. It's basically a pink ribbon with a floral decoration on top of it for Felicity's head. Unlike the pins, I actually wish I had this. The outfit came in a lot and I'm not tracking down that hair ribbon (not now at least) but if you're buying this yourself, try to get a set with the ribbon. Hair decs add a nice touch to an outfit.

Overall:

I love this outfit-it is perfect for spring! The pink is pretty and surprisingly doesn't clash with Felicity's beautiful red hair (I have red hair and hardly ever wear lots of red or pink). I highly recommend this outfit.

http://www.acmeaprons.com/history-of-aprons.html

https://bellatory.com/fashion-industry/HIstoryofClothingApronsPracticalandDecorativeFashionClassics