Lee & Pearl love the '80s — and American Girl® Courtney Moore!
Earlier this year, our designer "Pearl" celebrated her post-vaccination return to normal life with a visit to the Dallas American Girl store, and the promise of a new doll!
With over a year between visits to the store, there were lots of new releases and a few old favorites to consider for the next member of the Lee & Pearl model crew.
2021 Girl of the Year® Kira was an early contender to follow Pearl back to the workroom. She's a beautiful doll with a sun-drenched, travel-and-animal-themed collection. She seemed to be exactly what we needed after a year stuck at home.
But then on the other side of the store, Pearl spent time looking through the Truly Me 77 boxes in search of the perfect boy model to join the crew.
Truly Me 77 is a longtime favorite who will definitely be joining our crew at some point. He's just so adorable!
But in between the Girl of the Year area and the Truly Me modern collection displays, Pearl had to take some time to look at the latest American Girl historical doll — Courtney Moore, 1986.
What can we say? It was love at first sight.
We'll be honest — we did not expect Courtney to be the doll to follow Pearl home on this visit.
It's true: she looks a lot like fellow historical Maryellen Larkin, 1954, shown here in one of the highlights of her collection, the Pretty Pink Dress.
It's also true: the maintenance on Courtney's crazy curls is going to be a challenge. But then, our own '80s hair was a challenge.
Can you believe that's our Pearl, in an early acting career headshot?
Hey, Courtney — what were we thinking of with all that hair?
Both Lee and Pearl were in high school and college during the '80s. Maybe it's because of our own fond memories of those good times that we found this doll so compelling.
Or maybe it's because the American Girl designers have done such a wonderful job recreating the styles and accessories from the era — with lots of love and good humor.
We suspect a few of those designers may have fond memories of the era as well.
Just look at that wonderful jean jacket — and the cassette deck and mix tapes in the Sleepover Set, which were so perfect that they had to follow us back to the workroom as well.
We immediately used those tapes in a photo shoot for our new 1980s themed pattern!
So let's all give a warm welcome to Courtney Moore, the latest member of our workroom model crew!
Of course, we needed to design a new Lee & Pearl pattern for Courtney and her friends right away!
Read more about Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac: Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch, 16 Inch and 14 ½ Inch Dolls in our last newsletter HERE, or click on the links below to find this pattern in the Lee & Pearl Etsy store.
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch, 16 Inch and 14 ½ Inch Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch American Girl® Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 16 Inch A Girl for All Time® Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 14 ½ Inch WellieWishers™ and similar dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
Get more '80s fashion fun for your dolls with our FREE exclusive subscriber Pattern 1984: Retro '80s Romper for 18 Inch Dolls — as well as pattern announcements, tutorials and behind-the-scenes news from Lee & Pearl delivered directly to your inbox.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the Lee & Pearl mailing list
See you next time!
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