Elizabeth's Riding Outfit

One of my dad's favorite things to do was hunt on eBay for rare pieces to add to his train collection or for other things that he could use to "kit bash" pieces he had been dreaming up. As you might imagine, we often gave him eBay gift cards that he could use to fuel his hunt. I don't think I completely understood the thrill he must've felt as he searched or awaited his finds -- until now.

Over the past few years, there haven't been as many things I've wanted from the American Girl website. Instead, I've been looking at more clothes or items that were retired from American Girl before I started collecting (in 2014). Where I live, any retired American Girl items are quickly snatched up from thrift stores (Goodwill doesn't even let them hit the shelf; they go directly to their online store) or I'll find them in "antiques" stores for way over what they're worth (everyone's '90's Kirsten is "extremely rare" and apparently worth well over $100). So instead, I have fun hunting around on eBay, just like my dad used to.

Now that I have Lizzie and Elizabeth, I've been wanting to get more of Elizabeth and Felicity's outfits and accessories for them. For items that are easy to clean, like jewelry, plastic pieces and some types of clothing, I don't mind buying used pieces that I know I can clean fully. But others are beyond my cleaning knowledge -- Elizabeth's Riding Outfit in particular.

My first preloved Elizabeth (now Ariel) actually came with the jacket, hat, and white underskirt (no overskirt/bodice). The jacket had seemed okay, but the underskirt felt weirdly rough and extra stiff. It didn't help that this Elizabeth had come wearing a dress with two pretty gross stains, so I had a hard time trusting that these pieces were fully clean even though they looked and smelled fine. I'm overly cautious when it comes to my dolls. To ease my mind, I could've washed the skirt myself, and I toyed with the idea of taking the jacket to the dry cleaners (I still wonder what they would've thought lol), but in the end, I decided to put the pieces together with a few other AG clothing items I didn't need anymore and sell them as a lot.

After receiving gift cards for Christmas, I decided to hunt around on eBay and see if I could snag any deals leftover from peak present-buying time. I quickly noticed that I was not alone in my thinking! Lots of other people were buying up the same items I had been watching.

Then, I stumbled across an amazing find. Someone was selling Elizabeth's Riding Outfit, mint in sealed box. They said they'd forgotten about it all this time, and had bought it back when they'd bought their Elizabeth. I told my mom about it and she agreed that I should quickly grab it before someone else did!

It arrived today and I wasted no time in putting Lizzie in it!

Ready to ride!

I cannot describe what a THRILL it was opening the box. The box itself has absolutely no wear (I'm actually hesitating in throwing it away lol...), everything was folded and sealed just as it had been back in... maybe 2010? At least 14 years ago! Every single piece is pristine! This jacket is even nicer than the first, the underskirt is thick, but the material is soft and almost slightly silky, and the overskirt/bodice is beautiful! The hat is perfect and the feather is still full and fluffy. It is such a gorgeous piece! I feel like my money was definitely well spent!

I also managed to find Elizabeth's accessories, which will go to Elizabeth since she's display-only, and Felicity's summer dress, which I'll probably clean a little first and then Lizzie can be the first to try it on.

I hope American Girl brings out more of their older, retired pieces like they did with some of the birthday outfits last year. It's so much fun finally holding the things you missed out on in the past! If little girls would rather have Stanley cups and skincare, there's always the older generations who will gladly buy up all of our nostalgic favorites! As long as they're well made, anyway. But, until American Girl realizes this, eBay it is!

#ElizabethCole