If you’re a Millennial woman (and, if you’re reading this site, statistically you are) then you probably have some kind of feelings about American Girl dolls. Either you had one and you loved one, didn’t have one and wanted one, or just generally didn’t get the hype that seemed to take over everybody else. It’s just one of those touchstones. So imagine our nostalgic delight when American Girl announced a new line of Halloween costumes based on their historical dolls… including four in adult sizes, which marks yet another year of my life when I’m gleefully flinging cash at this brand.
The company shared the news on Instagram yesterday with the simple message, “Dress as favorite AG characters this Halloween with costumes for kids and adults,” along with images of the new collection.
Adults can choose from Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, and Kit while kids can dress up as Courtney, Julie, Maryellen, or Melody (if you don’t know those names that’s because they’ve come out in recent years). There’s even a variety of wigs for those who really want to complete the look. For those getting real literal about dressing up as a doll, there’s even a plush “box” you can put over the ensemble.
But wig or no wig, box or no box: truly what a dream come true this is. Sure, there were some girls among us who had the matching doll dress back in the day, but they were really expensive—in today’s money, they would cost between $185 and $358. (Did I find an old scan of a Pleasant Company catalog and whip out the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator to figure that out? I did. That’s how committed I am to American Girl dolls.) Now, you can be your favorite childhood doll—unless your favorite was Felicity, Josephina, or Addie, who aren’t available— for between $38 and $58. But is there really a price tag for this level of nostalgia?
Manufactured by Rubies, these costumes are available on Amazon, at Target, and Costumes.com… that is if you can get to them before everyone else does. As of press time, less than 24 hours after they were announced, many sizes are currently sold out. The Molly costume is already completely sold out on Costumes.com. So if you and the girls want to do a group costume, you’d better get on this sooner rather than later.
