I recently received an ad for the American Girl Birthstone collection and, as someone who spent years of my childhood flipping through the catalogs (until they mysteriously stopped arriving in our mailbox), couldn’t resist reviewing them. Plus, “American Girl has announced its 2024 Girl of the Year—Lila Monetti” a few days ago, so it seems relevant to shine a little spotlight on them now. I’ll be rating and ranking the outfits below.
We start off…mediocre with January, my own birth month. Overall it’s fine, if a little confused, I just wish it had a little more of something special. Not my fave. 4/10
Moving onto February, I’m conflicted. I love the clear, purple fur-lined coat, but the dress, especially with the rhinestones that unfortunately appear on most of the outfits, looks cheap – and you’d think American Girl could do better when charging $52 an outfit. I’ve seen the vintage collections! I know it’s possible! 4/10
I can’t say I’m a fan of anything going on with the March outfit. Maybe I would like it better if the shoes were skates rather than strappy platforms. There’s certainly an ‘80s prom vibe going on, I just…don’t like it. 3/10
April comes along and immediately blows the already-mentioned outfits out of the water! This look is AMAZING, and frankly, feels like the best bang for your buck, coming with an additional sunglasses accessory. It helps that the clear rhinestones blend in more on the silver base. It’s futuristic, it’s spunky, and I’m obsessed. 10/10
May hits us with all the grooviness, and I love it. This look features an adorable swirly romper and appropriately bedazzled boots. The open-sleeve detail of the romper is so chic, I love love love. 10/10
I don’t know who June offended, but it’s quite a rough decline following the previous two outfits. I don’t like a single thing that’s going on. The tulle skirt has potential but looks horrible over shorts and paired with a baseball cap and sneakers. The rhinestones feel ever out of place and in my face. The color combination is giving me flashbacks to Justice circa 2011, though I admire the effort to use both colors that alexandrite can be. Unfortunately, this whole outfit still gives me major ick. A harsh 0/10
July isn’t a huge improvement. The Western theme combined with an abstract geometric print on the shirt is a choice, and I don’t like it. My eyes are drawn to those unfortunate rhinestones since they highlight the shoulders. Plus, what a missed opportunity to include a cute little cowboy hat. What does a sparkly headband have to do with anything? A tragedy for the horse girls. 3/10
August is back to give me hope! Is it a coincidence that two of the best outfits include sunglasses? I think not. This look is amazing, equal parts Princess Tiana and Tinkerbell. It also includes stick-on earrings (ok, I double-checked and a few others do too, but that’s not enough to redeem them, IMO. In this case it’s a bonus!), which I’ll approve as an acceptable use of rhinestones. I love this look. My only critique is that I wish the shoes were a bit more on theme! 9/10
Ooh la la, I love the September look. The beret and flare pants are hinting at groovy Parisian chic. There’s a little too much ruching going on for my taste, and I think boots would suit the overall look better, but this outfit is still super cute and reminds me of holiday outfits from 2000s American Girl catalogs. 9/10
October, much like June, suffers from a lack of commitment to a theme. I’m not particularly a fan of the sparkly puffer jacket, but it looks cute with the matching lace-up shoes. Neither of those belongs with the adorable plaid pink skirt. It’s a shame, because the sparkly shirt and skirt together are a great base to start off with, and the pom-pom hair ties are great. Looking at this outfit makes me upset, though. 2/10
I honestly initially liked November’s look, but the longer I look at it the more it looks like a bunch of Forever 21 pieces haphazardly thrown together. The checkered motif is cute, but the buttons on the dress take away from the orange belt, which I love. I really like the fuzzy orange jacket as well, but the beanie is throwing me off. I also think a more dramatic and less athletic shoe would complement the look a lot more. 5/10
Finally, we reached December. It has a similar vibe as June going on that I really don’t like. The sneakers don’t go great with anything else, and I have mixed feelings about the puffer coat. The print on the skirt is weird; I think the intention might’ve been a splattered, bleached denim look, but I suspect a cheaper fabric was opted for, and again – 52 dollars. Do better. 3/10
Final ranking:
- April: This look just takes my breath away every time.
- May: I would love to see this look realized IRL.
- August: Cue the *she was a fairy* TikTok sound.
- September: Has a retro essence that I love.
- November: With a few small tweaks this one would be great.
- February: Love the jacket! Do not love the dress.
- January: Boring, and, as a January baby, I think I deserve better.
- July: Has potential! Needs a cowboy hat.
- March: Should’ve leaned into the figure skating vibe.
- December. Not sure what the intention was here.
- October: I simply do not like it.
- June. No comment.