How to make an American Girl OC

Posted: 7/27/2025
Categories: toys, writing

Okay, to be fair, this is less of a "how to" and more my own personal thoughts on the subject as I work on remaking Maryellen's collection to match the original "6 core books" style of releases. But really, one of the thing I find lacks in the recent historical girls, even if I technically love them, is that their collections seem to be more random things thrown together that reference the time period but are less connected to the girls themselves. This is something that should happen after their core collection exists and is stable, not be the collection itself.

One thing I really liked about the 6 book collections is that whatever was on the cover was available to buy (well at least, at one point or another). I don't know, the whole "you read about this and saw it, now you can hold it in your hands" aspect was really neat. Now even with things that do technically appear in the books, since there's far less illustrations, I hardly even notice.

Plus, seeing the catalogue spreads "replicate" the covers loosely was just cool to see, even if I would never in a million years have convinced my parents to convince me to buy all that.

Now, I don't think they have to follow this formula exactly (see, Kaya, and then the girls released right before BeForever), however I think they are a very good outline to start off with. Anyway, let's get into the categories:

Meet

The most simple one. The girl's design and basic, daily outfit. Accessories are generally a bag, hairpiece, piece of jewelry or other clothing accessory, and typical things to put in the bag (like coins). If you're coming up with a brand new character, this is your time to research the hell out of the time period and figure out what would the average person of their specific class level, region, cultural group, etc wear. A lot of people get caught up in the history trap of most images and paintings representing the upper class (and adults). You don't want the Rebecca problem of a super poor girl wearing things obviously outside her ability to get, nor the Maryellen issue of her looking more like a 19 year old than 9.

Now, naturally by the means of it being a product line, they're going to have around 6 dresses which is already more than some people would have, but try and keep such things in mind.

The plot of this section is simply introducing the girl, her family, and her situation. What's her time period, class, and struggles? What's she enjoy and dislike? What is relatable to the girls of today, and what is completely different? Use these thought provokers to set up a character exploration for the rest of the collection to jump from.

Learns A Lesson

In this story, the girl not only has to deal with the local school system, but learns a lesson greater than formal education, often used as an allegory (or direct reference to) greater social issues at the time. See: Molly learning spying is tempting, but embarrassing.

Collection staples:

School outfit: often a simple but smart dress
School lunch: a carrier, food, and napkin
School bag and supplies: generally consist of stationary supplies, a text book or equivalent, a report card, and one extra little thing (eg flash cards)
Furniture: A desk with chair or something similar.

Surprise!

A holiday story about how the holidays are celebrated, how difficult winter could be in the past, and how you should really spend a lot of money on dolls to make your child happy this Christmas season.

Collection staples:

Holiday outfit: an excellent excuse to have a fancier dress
Doll: seriously, all the original girls had some sort of doll you could get for them, with an excuse in story about why it's important to them. In my opinion, it's a fun way to see how dolls changed over the years.
Winter fun: these ranged much more than the previous two collections, and there were generally two different types available. Everything from baking supplies to stockings to cultural items to a real gingerbread house you could make. In my opinion, "something that the family engages with as a whole" and "something for the girl personally" is a good balance, but this could be any sort of winter bonus.

Happy Birthday

As the girl hits double digits, she takes time to consider what growing up means for her. See what birthday celebrations looked like and how important they were. Also, every American Girl is born in spring, so we are metaphorically and literally opening up a new year on the girl's life for the second half of the collection.

This is quite possibly the most expensive collection, with a huge furniture centerpiece, and lots of random extra bits to collect. Go wild.

Collection staples:

Birthday dress: a more summery fancy dress
Table and chairs: the piece that no one ever bought. But really, an era accurate seating arrangement that would either be in their kitchen or a restaurant.
Linens and dishes: something to put on top of that furniture set you just spent a Benjamin on. Linen or other table cloth, silverware, plates, bowls, mugs, whatever works.
Party treats: birthday cake or equivalent, and some other little treats, often some sort of decoration or small party game.
Bonus: pets were often thrown into this collection, but other items like the ice cream freezer, gifts, or party game sets show up too. Something special to give your girl!

Saves The Day

A summer story where something dramatic happens, and ideally the girl helps out in some way to solve the issue.

Collection staples:

Summer dress: a lightweight and simple daily dress. Can come with a hat and boots.
Summer activity: something active for the girl to do, like fishing or gardening
Summer amusements: some items for the girl to have or play with

Changes For

Ending off on winter, we get a less holiday-themed variant of the season, and this is often the most tailored to the girl's story. She's growing up and changing along with the world!

Collection staples:

Outdoors outfit: a coat or other outfit fitting of the girl's climate.
Undies: slips, panties, undershirts, stockings, hairpins... such little necessities.
Winter activities: varies wildly, but generally some sort of activity that isn't holiday themed this time. Original trio all had paper dolls. Can be a mix of indoors and outdoors.
Luggage: some sort of larger, fancier trunk or bag to hold their goods.

Pleasant Dreams

A bonus collection just showing off nighttime goodies.

Collection staples:

Bed: with mattress and pillow. Can also have spreads, quilts, or rugs, sold separately or together.
Nightstand: or equivalent
Nighttime necessities: a book, and fun era-accurate stuff, like lights, pitchers, phones, etc.
Nightgown: or other pajamas
Robe and slippers

Treasures:

This is pretty much whatever else you want to include that's not part of the core 6+1 collection. With the original girls, these were often part of the short story collections.

Examples include all the trunks/chests, Kirsten’s Dirndl and Midsummer dresses, Molly’s Route 66 Outfit and Accessories, Samantha’s Bathing Costume and Bike, Kit’s Scooter, etc.

Bonus

References: