American Girls Dress Designer

American Girls Dress Designer

If you're a grownup looking for educational and inspiring role models for a girl, look no further. The popular book series has made the jump to software, providing historical background on girls throughout history, from the life story of a freed slave to a bobby-socks wearing daughter of the 1940s who can't imagine any president other than FDR. The software centers around the dress designing shop, where kids can create historically accurate outfits from boots with spats to frontier bonnets, with the option of hearing the stories behind each item. The dresses can be saved, and even printed, to play with after the computer has been shut down (the game includes paper dolls of each of the six characters). The concept behind this project is a knockout, and the importance of sewing and seamstressing as women's work--both in financial and social terms--receives excellent treatment. The only thing holding this program back is the small scale of the graphics and the flatness of the color and movement. The art in the software prevented us from really becoming immersed in the world that the girls described. Instead, we were given few choices, with only face-on views of the dresses designed. In spite of these disappointments, The American Girls Dress Designer offers a great deal for the game's players: the chance to have fun with fashion through the ages as well as the ability to identify with girls from colonial times to the middle of the twentieth century. --Jennifer Buckendorff