My sister and I each got a uniform, and I was fortunate enough to know two people on a doll forum who wanted to split the cost and take the Clara outfits. I did have a peak at them before sending them off, though. They were cotton fabric with a sewn-in slip lining. Personally, I thought they felt very similar in make and quality to Nellie's meet dress --- which doesn't really help anyone who hasn't seen her meet dress. But if you have, the Clara dress was very similar. The shoes looked adorable.
The Nutcracker uniform is great! It is much better quality than I'd expected. To be honest, I've been wanting a Coldstream Guards uniform for Eliot for so long that, had these appeared in the AG store, I'd have happily paid the $75.00 just for his set. Crazy, but hey! It beats my sister and me spending the Winter making one up ourselves, right?!
- The jacket is a plush velvet type of fabric. Not lined, but that would probably have made it bulky. Eliot changes pretty often, so I'm not too worried about staining. I actually have my Eliot (Logan head) on an old Jess body, because I wanted the taller body with the normal hands (he uses a fishing pole and scooter --- neither of which works with the Logan hands). That means he's not as petite as the newer dolls, but this outfit fit him fabulously. The gold designs are embroidered. The black collar, cuffs and belt are a high-quality vinyl made to feel like bi-cast leather. Much more supple and soft than I thought. It's not the cheap stuff that feels like it will crack in a few months. The belt buckl is metal. Very easy to put on, and it fits well.
- The boots have nice molded plastic soles (like the shoes in Luciana's Flight Suit) that I really like. The dolls can stand in them very easily. The boots went on super well, and the velcro up the back closes over the pants with no problem.
- The pants are a THICK heavy-weight fabric. Wow! I expected thin little leggings from the photos, so I figured I could always use the white pants from the old Equestrian outfit. But these are just as nice and fit really well! No velcro, just elastic waist, which I really like.
- The included helmet was also cute. Made of the same red velvet as the jacket and with matching gold embroidery. The chin strap is a piece of gold elastic. As Eliot already has his Coldstream helmet, he hasn't actually worn the Nutcracker one -- but it's very cute.
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And here are some pictures of his Bearskin helmet. Elizabeth made the pattern for this up herself. It's faux black fur, all hand sewn. There is a padded wire frame around the bottom half of the hat to keep the shape nice. This is covered over by a wide band of unbleached muslin which protects the doll's head from either shine marks or staining (faux fur can be a really bad stainer). The chin band is a thick gold-coloured cord, and the red plume is hand-made on a think wire to stand straight under all conditions!
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