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American Girl Doll Hairstyles Biography

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Europe’s first American Girl outlet has just opened in England, and though My London Girl is apparently responding to massive demand from its target market, Daily Mail writer Shona Sibary frankly finds the dolls “creepy,” “narcissistic,” and a “jaw-droppingly expensive” gimmick.
She kinda has a point there. Though my own daughter, Violet, has her own American Girl doll (bought by her indulgent grandparents, and also named Violet), the thing is pretty creepy. Its skin tone is bluish, not pink. Her eyes stare blankly. And my daughter delights in the doll’s eyes, brown like hers, and the dirty-blonde hair the two share. We picked out dolly Violet to match my daughter. The two dress alike and have similar hairstyles whenever possible, and Sibary’s right: It’s darned creepy.
American Girl is an interesting phenomenon, because when the company launched in the 1980s, it got under parents’ skin by emphasizing the heritage and historical aspect of the dolls. There was Kit, a plucky girl growing up during the Great Depression, and Molly, a bespectacled fifth-grader whose father was serving in World War II. These weren’t just playthings, the thinking went. They were historical lessons that got young girls interested in the times their parents and grandparents remembered. You could buy various outfits for the dolls, sure, but most of the focus was on accessories that taught girls something about the way people lived in a historical time period.
But all of that went out the window with the My American Girl line, which ditched the history tack to sell dolls selected to resemble their owners. No longer are girls learning about San Francisco flower child Julie. Now they’re creating little mini-mes, complete with unbelievably expensive matching outfits and every kind of accessory under the sun for sale, from shoes to bikes to AG furniture. “Every time you buy an outfit for the doll, there’s pressure to buy a matching one for your daughter,” writes Sibary.
Yeah. I thank my lucky stars that I don’t happen to live in a city with an AG store. I’ve heard from friends in Atlanta and New York that you walk in thinking you’re going to buy a $20 pair of shoes, and you leave $400 poorer, a new hairstyle on your daughter and her doll and both of them clad in ermine coats.
If anything’s creepy, in fact, it’s how good the AG people are at separating us from our money.
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Joyce Slaton
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Joyce Slaton writes, sews, cooks and lives in San Francisco with a husband, an enormous orange cat and one fiery grade...
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40 Responses to Europeans find American Girl dolls “creepy”
    LK says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:22 am
    Funny!
    My oldest daughter just talked me into an American Girl doll, but one of the conditions WAS that it had to be one of the historical dolls, so we actually ended up with Kit. She enjoys the doll, and enjoys reading the book(s), so I think it is a decent idea. I love history so anything that gets children thinking about the past is super in my book. I read all of the books as they came out, even though I was beyond the age frame to actually get the dolls and accessories, etc. My younger sister actually bought three different ones as a child–Molly, Kirsten, and then one that looks just like her.
    The clothes DO drive me crazy though. I am NOT going to spend that kind of money for clothes for a doll, especially since I don’t even spend those prices for clothing for my children! :) I have been going to different craft fairs and bought some “American Girl” clothing for Kit, but even those clothing are really expensive. What a racket!
    New Parent says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:32 am
    Great post! Yes, AG dolls are pretty pricey. Better when the kids were getting history lessons, as you put it. Now it’s more of a fad. Still popular though, let’s give them that! :)
    HappyHippie says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:35 am
    I live and work next the mall in Atlanta where the American Girl store is. When they moved into the mall, they became the new anchor store – that’s how much money they command! They even dictated things like moving Spencer’s up a floor and all the way at the other end of the mall, lest their young shoppers walk past and get an eyeful of fake booby t-shirts and beer bongs. I avoid the mall on weekends, when the halls are swamped with throngs of little girls and their creepy identical sidekicks on their way to the cafe, the hairstylist, or a birthday party. The wide, staring eyes! The feral teeth! Agh. I really do find them creepy – and outrageously expensive! Sooo glad I have boys!
    SarahBeth says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:45 am
    Joyce, I’m a little surprised at your lack of fact checking here. American Girl launched in 1986, by Pleasant Rowland and was only historical dolls (and through mail order). When I got my own American Girl Doll (Samantha, now discontinued) when I was 9 (1990) there were only three dolls and focused on teaching girls history through stories of girls their own ages. The books really were the focus for my friends and me at that point.
    Mattel acquired the company in 1998, is that what you meant? Because I agree that the company has gone down hill from that point with so much focus on “Girl of Today” dolls (what ever it is they’re called now) and Kit is one of the newest historical girls.
    Mary says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:49 am
    I got in on the AG crazy at the age of 9 when it was Pleasant Company (I think Im remembering that correctly) and there were 3 historical dolls: Kirsten, Samantha and Molly. I delighted in their historically accurate accessories and stories! Still have 3 of them :) I’m a little saddened by the current face of the company but I still have a giant sweet spot for the historical dolls!
    Kiersten says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:50 am
    I don’t think they’re creepy at all – and this, coming from someone who has never been into dolls. The company has definitely been around longer than 1998; I had a few of these when I was a kid (Kirsten, Samantha and I think one more). I agree the price tag is crazy – the dolls were always gifts from grandpa. But creepy? No. The make-them-look-just-like-me-plus-matching-outfits-plus-hair-dos is, like someone said, heavy on the narcissism, but I think they are good dolls. I don’t have any daughters, and my son is still very young so I’m not privvy to the world of dolls, but I think someone could do a lot worse than Americal Girl. Dolls who wear thongs and look like trannys… I’ll spend $100 on a wholesome, historical character doll any day over that crap.
    Fifi says:
    July 17, 2012 at 8:07 am
    Ditto to everything SarahBeth said. Someone didn’t do a very good job researching the facts for this article.
    Janette says:
    July 17, 2012 at 8:12 am
    I’ve followed the AG dolls and books since the Pleasant Company days, and I think they are wonderful. I started reading the books to my daughter when she was three– Molly was her favorite, because she too had a daddy who was overseas with the army.
    AG dolls USED to be outrageously expensive– but you can easily spend that much and more on a upscale toy store doll. As for clothes, any reasonably intelligent young lady can make clothes for her doll, or you can go to any doll hospital or craft fair and find tons at a fraction of the AG cost.
    When DD was about 7 we planned a whole vacation around a AG store trip (Chicago). DD had the time of her life. Now DD is a teenager and we have an AG store at our closest mall. DD and her friends always stop by to see the dolls.
    Dani says:
    July 17, 2012 at 8:18 am
    I agree Joyce… totally creepy. And totally over-rated. Thankfully, my kiddo (same age as Violet) had never even asked for or shown an interest in them, even though most of her friends have one, and an AG store recently opened near us. However, she really does dig the AG books.
    Crystal says:
    July 17, 2012 at 8:27 am
    I was so excited to get my Molly doll for Christmas when I was 10. The American Girl books were the ones I checked out from the school library. My grandma had tried pushing me towards Samanatha, but I wouldn’t be swayed because Molly was closest to when my Grandma had grown up. Now they have Kit, and my grandma has a Kit doll and PJs that are similar to ones she had when she was a girl because I bought them for Christmas for her.
    The “Girl of Today” dolls aren’t any worse than the MyTwinn dolls, and they are certainly cheaper. The AG dolls have become the standard of 18″ dolls, but they are certainly not the only option. Yes, Mattel has done what they do best and gone out of their way to make money, but I appreciate that they aren’t scantily clad like the Bratz dolls.
    Kayla says:
    July 17, 2012 at 8:51 am
    I remember poring over the AG catalogs we would get in the mail, planning which one I would get if I could choose. I finally saved up enough to get an Addy doll (slave girl who escapes and starts a new life) when I was 13ish from babysitting $ I’d saved for about a year and a half! Well, I got the doll, 2 or 3 outfits and…something else… Anyway, I have that doll packed away now, but I’m going to give it to one of my 3 daughters when they’re 6ish. I do think the company is completely different- they used to have really neat (and expensive, of course) furniture that was pretty historically accurate, but that’s pretty much gone