AG Boxer PJ's & Plaid Robe
- Jan 10
- 3 min read
If I could "time travel shop" from any of the catalogs Pleasant Company / American Girl has released in its past 40 years, I would probably choose one from the late '90's. I pored over those so often as a kid, they're basically etched in my memory -- especially the pages with the school outfit sets and the pajamas.
The late '90's pajamas are amazing. They look realistic, incredibly comfortable, and timeless. Take for example, the AG Boxer PJ's from 1998...
Soft, oversized t-shirt? Comfy flannel pants? Yes, please! I would happily lounge in these and spend the day watching movies, reading or playing video games.
I actually stumbled across a pair of these pajamas on eBay last year, about the time I found April. I saw another TLC doll wearing them and fell so instantly in love with the look, I half considered getting the doll just for her outfit. Months later, while looking for another pajama set from the '90's that I've always wanted, I stumbled across part of the mystery pajamas. After a little bit of research, I discovered they were called the "AG Boxer PJ's" and went to work hunting across Mercari, eBay, Etsy, and Poshmark looking for them.
I had to get the shirt off Mercari and the pants off eBay, but they were worth the extra effort! The pants came with the Plaid Robe & Sleep Socks that were released in the same year, so I basically ended up with two complete sleep sets!
Like I do with all my secondhand items, I went to work cleaning and disinfecting everything before putting them on my dolls. My usual process is to test for excessive dye bleed by sticking each piece in a large Pyrex measuring cup filled with water and seeing if there's any immediate change (for example, Josefina's skirt instantly turned the water wine red). If everything checks out, I do a disinfecting soak with Lysol laundry sanitizer, rinse well, then I carefully hand wash everything with Woolite, and rinse well again.
I lay everything out to air dry on paper towels on paper plates (I reuse them over and over), and periodically check to see if anything is bleeding. If anything does bleed, sometimes I try soaking the items in water with vinegar, with color catcher sheets, or I try adding them to a gentle cycle wash with my clothes and a color catcher, to see if any remaining loose dye will come off. Then I let everything air dry again, and if I don't see any spots of dye bleed, I deem the items safe to use on my dolls. I've seen how difficult it can be to remove dye stains from doll limbs and I am not about that life.
You'll notice in these pictures that I'm not using the pink sleep socks. Those seemed to bleed a lot more than everything else and pinks and reds seems to be particularly difficult dyes to remove from vinyl, so I'd rather not take a chance with them. I might try a saltwater soak and see if that stops the bleeding, but I'm not sure. They seem a little stretched out, too, so I'll have to see if it's worth the trouble.
This pajama set is SO freaking adorable! Lizzie looks so comfy -- especially with the added new Pooh plushie I got from a recent trip to Disneyland (it's actually from a keychain) and a stack of Girl of the Year books.
This year is American Girl's 40th anniversary and I would love to see them rerelease more of the A Girl of Today sets from the past. There's so many good ones that are getting harder and harder to find in nice condition (for a reasonable price, too). I know the new year has only just begun, but man am I itching to see what they've got planned (hopefully it's better than the Barbie in the Nutcracker anniversary dolls... yeeesh!).
