Felicity: Love and Loyalty

Wow! This should spread like wildfire. Gorgeous cover and illustration. Faint!

Limited Edition Z Yang?

Will Z from the Z.Crew stop-motion videos become a limited edition doll?

Z from one of her stop-motion videos

It is all rumors and speculation at this point, but AG has been making recent moves in the trademark arena that make me go hmmm. 

On October 217 2016 AG filed to have  Z's full name of "Z Yang"trademarked. While AG might just be nailing down some details around their stop-motion star, it should be noted she now has a first-and-last name trademarked just like all of AG's other 18" character dolls. In almost every case, once American Girl has gone through the effort to trademark a first-and-last name for a doll she has debuted as an actual doll for purchase.

Also on October 17, 2016 AG filed trademarks of new graphic logos for "Z Yang".

  

Even more curious, on November 23, 2016 AG applied for a trademark for Z's pet Dalmatian puppy Popcorn.

I will be the first to say the extra effort to clarify and trademark Z Yang and Popcorn could be just some housekeeping and dotting the the i's and crossing the t's on their stop-motion video character. But the added activity paired with earlier rumors of a limited edition Z doll seems to be pointing more and more toward this possibility being a reality.

Want to learn more about Z? Check out my growing Feature Page for Z!

GOTY 2017: Gabriela's World of Dance

GOTY 2017 Gabriela's world of dance and movement wear is coming into focus.

A special thank you to Cdaizybug for sharing her photo with Poppets & Posies 

The jazz outfit on the left is perhaps is my favorite outfit for Gabriela so far, if mostly for the strong colors and and use of sequins. I clearly have a sequins problem. My guess is that the simple silver flats worn with the jazz ensemble will be included with the outfit and the darling silver tap shoes with coordinating purple bow will be a separate accessory.

In the middle is Gabriela's meet outfit but without the purple crop top with "Dream" on the front. I do like this outfit as casual separates and the shoes are great. The vanity tag still reads "American Girl" and I will be curious to see if this stands or if the actual release will have a "Gabriela" vanity tag.

Finally on the right is Gabriela's pajamas. This outfit just falls completely flat for me when I think of the cute bows, ruffles, embroidery and other touches often seen in AG pajama sets. I understand perhaps the character of Gabriela is not into frills and extras, but I see nothing but a stripped down rehash of AG's most boring pajamas of the past decade.

At the poppet's feet is Gabriela's kitten, who actually seems not as small as I originally thought. Not sure AG really executed well on the pet's face but a kitten is certainly a welcome accessory.

What do you think? Do you like the strong teal and purple theme in Gabriela's outfits? What other outfits do you think Gabriela needs to round out her debut?

PWP "Grace Thomas Trio"

If you blinked you missed this fun trio of GOTY Grace Thomas inspired PWPs and Rewards outfits.

What all three outfits have in common besides being short lived surprises this month is that they all feature actual pieces or repurposed materials from 2015 GOTY Grace Thomas' collection. 

The Pale Pink & Tweed Outfit appeared during American Girl's Cyber Monday online sale for the price of $12. (If this or any of the other outfits debuted earlier, please let me know.) The outfit did not last long and sold out within a day or two. It was also seen at a few in-store locations as a special Rewards Member outfit between December 7 - 12.

It consists of Grace's silver bow sandals from her Sightseeing Outfit, a simple black tweed made out of the identical fabric from her City Outfit shorts, and a new pink tee with a sweet flower embroidery. 

I would want this outfit for the cute pale pink tee alone!

The Polka Dot Dress was not featured on Cyber Monday but rather has shown up at some stores as an exclusive Rewards offer available FREE to Rewards Members when purchasing $50 or more.

The dress itself is made out of Grace's Baking Outfit apron and the headband is also from the apron trim. Simple black flats with a pink bow are included, though I do not know if these were made from Grace materials and components as well.

The dress is simple but cute! I do not know if it is still available in the stores as a Rewards item.

Finally the Sequin Skirt Outfit was also released on Cyber Monday for $12 and sold out within a short period of time at that price.

The Sequin Skirt Outfit contains black sequin material used in Grace's Sightseeing Outfit, specifically the yoke of her top. The headband appears to be from Grace's City Outfit and the shoes may also be from materials used in the some outfit but I will need to compare in person. 

The embroidered flower is really nice, but the down home rough cotton fabric and folksy top stitched hems is miss-matched with the flashy sequined skirt--it definitely needs to be paired with a different outfit in my opinion.

And finally, thank you to Krystina for her permission to share these images of her Lea wearing the Polka Dot Dress! Many of us would not even know this outfit existed and it is sure to cause some confusion in future years when people try to place a finger on "where did THAT dress come from?"

Did you miss out? Will you be scouring the secondary market for these flash PWPs?

Spring Things! Groovy Pears Dress

Updated! The material in the unreleased dress is from the Bitty Baby Fruity Fun Outfit. Thank you Cdaizybug for your sharp eye!

What on earth? Lets not get weird, okay?

Will this dress be another "Flash PWP" outfit like the recent American Girl PWP outfits that showed up last week made out of retired GOTY Grace Thomas' apron, shorts, and other materials?

This could be a one-of-a-kind franken-poppet dress or it could show up as a PWP this spring.

If this TM dress does show up as a PWP, grab it quick, this is a weird one and oddly enough might not last long.

Love the colors and flounce of tulle under the skirt of this TM dress. But this has got to be the weirdest pattern I've seen AG produce. Pears and flowers in a groovy 60s color palette and pattern. The pears have flowers on their bellies and the steams and leaves looking like antennae--as a whole it looks like a swarm of groovy lady bugs.

Groovy. Weird. Eye squinching colors and pattern. Could be fun. 

Original Bitty Baby Fruity Fun Outfit:

A Peek Into GOTY 2017 Gabriela's World

Just 20 more days until GOTY 2017! More stock images have leaked of Gabriela McBride and her accessories.

Gabriela's Pajamas. Gabriela definitely has a strong color scheme of teal, blues and purples emerging. So far her 3-color color palette is a bit of a "single chord" being played over and over.

I am still looking for any individualistic design touches, like Grace's hearts and bows or Isabelle's flourishes and swoops. The best I can identify from seeing Gabriela's outfits so far is the inspirational texts such as "Dream" on her meet tee and "Imagine, Dream, Create" on her pajamas--though visually this does not satisfy me.

Lunch Box Accessories. Looks like a lunch bag, mini hair kit, and mid-day healthy snack. Bobby pins a must, but nothing else to really see here.

Gabriela's Tap Shoes. These are cute. Very cute. They likely go with the black and purple sequined jazz outfit. Really cute tap shoes. I am so not into tap. Arg.

Gabriela's Kitten. I have seen photos of this kitten next to other AG pets and this grey cat is teensy tiny. Probably around the size of BeForever Rebecca's kittens, so definitely a kitten and not a cat. 

While Gabriela is darling, it is a bit disappointing that so far the only piece of her collection of clothing and accessories I am interested in so far is the kitten. And the little black sequin dress if that ends up being in her collection. The rest of the dance pieces do not stand out to me at this time.

TM Lilac Coat Dress

Look at this wonderfully tailored look for this spring!

So much to like and also to respond to in this coat dress. First is the very light grey-lilac color of the dress. It is so much more muted than I have come to expect in TM clothing, but as we saw in the Monet Spring Flowers dress, perhaps muted and washed out colors are a design theme to keep an eye out for this spring. 

Also, this tailored coat dress seems structurally similar to Grace's baby blue with black trim Travel Coat. Makes sense to me as it is likely economical to retread over patterns that have been designed and successful in the past.

Again, the clear plastic oval vanity tag, so for now I will presume this dress is intended for the Truly 

Me line on not a named character.

The back of the coat dress also has nice detailing.

The shoes are a complete hit for me. I am going to assume they go with the Lilac Coat Dress because of the grey-lavender color scheme even though the tangerine orange bows are a surprise. But I like the whimsy and might pair them up with the dress regardless!