Hi guys! I don’t usually do reviews on this blog, but today I really felt the need to do a review on this American Girl brand doll dress.

This is called the Simply Spring dress, and it was released in 2019 and retired in 2020. Original retail price was $28USD which here in Canada is roughly $35CAD.

This dress originally came with a pair of shoes, a bracelet and a barrette. However, I bought this dress secondhand for $9CAD

The first thing I noticed upon receiving this dress was how wrinkled it was. Omg, you guys this arrived, and it was crumpled up like an old kleenex. I could barely even recognize it for what it was.

Okay, fine, I told myself it was only $9 a hot steam with the iron should fix that, no problem.

Then I noticed how incredibly thin the material of the dress was. Anyone thinking this dress is constructed using good quality woven cotton, be aware.

This is the thinnest, flimsiest jersey material I’ve ever seen. Yes, it is thin stretchy material, and if you stretch it a little, it is see through.

So ironing was out for the moment as I didn’t want to completely ruin the dress. Instead, I spritzed it heavily with water and hung to dry hoping that would coax the wrinkles out. It wasn’t perfect, but at least it looked like a dress again.

Next, I want to address that pretty royal blue ribbon at the waist.

Seriously AG, what is going on? As a seamstress myself this is NOT the way to sew a ribbon on! This is a travesty to be honest.

Because it is sewn this way, it will not lay straight or flat no matter how you adjust the dress on the doll.

Everyone who sews knows the basic rules about sewing on ribbons! This is as cheap an effort as the MyLife dresses from Walmart. So much so that the dress would have been better off with no ribbon at all. SMH

Last, as if this dress could have even more issues, but it does, let’s take a look at the neckline and the hem.

Here’s the thing, this item is meant for kids to play with. Do you know how long this dress would last in the hands of a child? Even a rather careful 8 year old which is who these dolls are marketed for? Not long let me tell you.

To me it looks as though the dress was in a bin with the velcro of other dresses and has snagged considerably all along the edge of the neckline as well as the hem.

Now, I get it, this is what happens with velcro. I understand that. But kids are not going to hang all their doll clothes back up neatly, nor are they going to be sure to avoid the velcro at all costs.

That said, this dress would be torn to shreds by velcro by the end of the week. I’m absolutely certain of it.

So there is my review of the Simply Spring dress. Do I suggest you buy this dress at full price from sites like eBay since that is the only place to purchase it as it is retired? No, I do not. I highly do not recommend this dress.

However, do I suggest you find it for $5-$10 secondhand? Maybe. And that’s a big maybe because with that terrible ribbon, I don’t even know if I can bring this dress to a point of acceptable wearability.

So now I ask myself, what is going on with American Girl? I recently acquired Evette’s orange meet dress secondhand too, and I was equally disappointed in the quality.

That said, the fuzzy leopard items I got from the Pawsitively Purrfect line are amazing quality.

So what gives? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I will leave it there, but I do wonder, do you guys want me to do more reviews? Like I said, I don’t often do them as I don’t want to become repetitive or boring here, but I also want people to know before they buy.

Also, do you like our secondhand but new to us Tenney doll?

I am not 💯 about her yet. She needed some TLC when she arrived and she still needs her hair recurled. I also had to repaint her lips. In so doing, I now realize that her lips are crooked. Not because I painted them that way either as I was just following exactly along the lip lines that were already there.

This just seems so off to me and I can’t stand it in her photos. I may have to wipe her entire mouth including teeth and repaint everything properly.

Her freckles also kind of drive me crazy. I might have to do a complete faceup for her, to be honest.

What do you guys think?

Leave a comment below!!

❤️❤️❤️

UPDATE: I wiped and repainted Tenney’s lips . It’s not perfect but it’s a lot better.