The American Girls Dress Designer

My daughter is an avid American Girls fan. We have the original American Girls software, but none of it was very popular with her. We found it a bit cumbersome to use, and too hard for a child struggling with reading and writing at the time. The new Dress Designer program has kept her busy for days! I can highly recommend it to American Girls fans, who have perhaps not been thrilled with the drama based programs in the past. Girls who just like to create clothing designs will enjoy this program as well.

Each of the six American Girls are featured in this program. The box contains sturdy paperdolls with stands for each character. You can choose any of the girls, or switch between them. My daughter wished you could switch between the girls quicker, but it wasn't too bad.

Once you have selected a girl, you can visit two scenes. In each, you will learn a bit more about her, her history, and the world around her. Each of the girls is from a different time period. Your girls will learn a fair amount of history without feeling 'preached to.'

The best part of this program is, of course, the clothes designing. You can select hats, accessories, dresses, shoes and more for your doll. While there is not a limitless supply of patterns, the colors and material selections extend the play value. Aside from the pre-made fabrics, you can visit the design studio and make a new fabric on your own.

There are bolts of lace and ribbon which can be added to each dress. You will also learn a bit about the clothing history of each girl as you are designing. Our only complaint here was that, while you can delete your last action, it is hard to go back and remove something you did earlier in a dress design. Other than that, things worked pretty smoothly.

Once complete, your creation can be printed, cut out and put on your paperdoll. The dresses came out of our printer looking very nice, and were not too hard to cut out. In other words, not tons of intricate twists and turns that mom will have to cut out.

If you don't feel like paperdolls, your creations can also be printed out in book form, creating a small portfolio of your dress designs.

If you have an American Girl fan in your house, she will certainly have fun with this new program.

Buy American Girls Dress Designer from Amazon