Rewigging American Girl Elizabeth

I have always collected American Girl dolls, and while my interest is particularly geared towards the Pleasant Company dolls and accessories (pre-Mattel), I did happen upon this Elizabeth doll at the flea market. As you can see, someone gave her a wicked-short haircut. But the rest of her was in very good shape. So, for $25, she was mine.

Elizabeth, with shorn locks

 

After a lot of internet research, I came up short (haha) with where to buy a nice wig that looked like Elizabeth's. I had searched on eBay for awhile, also not finding anything that I liked. Finally, I decided to buy a wig from Engel-Puppen in Germany. I pretty much bought this wig on blind faith, knowing that the Germans are revered for their high quality dolls (which is what makes the Pleasant Company brand dolls so sought after in the first place). The wig was $18, and the shipping was around $11 (but I bought a few other things from the company too, including a wig that would match a Kirsten doll in case I ever happen upon one of those that needs rewigging). I could not have been more happy when I received the wig. It looked great, and the difference in color between the two wigs was almost indeterminable with the naked eye.

In the meantime, I had also ordered Elizabeth's Meet Dress ($20), shoes and stockings ($15), and replacement ear studs ($3) from American Girl.

When I received the wig, the rest was easy. I used a spoon and pryed off the old wig, and then I scraped around and removed some of the glue. I'm a little impatient though, so I did not do as good of a job as I could have in removing the glue. I used tacky glue to glue the new wig down. The new wig does not reach all the way down in back as far as the old wig, so I can see on my doll where the old wig was. I do not think this affects her appearance at all, though.

Here is an up-close picture, so you can see how truly pretty this wig is.

And the back. Look at those adorable, soft curls!

My girl, all finished and dressed, looking like new :)

After it was all said and done, I ended up with a doll that only cost me about $60, as opposed to $90. Plus, I got to rewig her! The most fun and rewarding part of doll collecting to me is to be able to fix poor, abused girls.