The Blaire Wilson Tea at American Girl Place

A special event to celebrate 2019's Girl of the Year!

One of the projects I picked up in grad school was doing a deep dive into the history of American Girl programming and marketing to see how the brand has changed over time in hopes of publishing my results in a journal or as an actual monograph. Whether or not that's ever going to happen is still up in the air, but a fun benefit of tackling this has meant I've had a perfect excuse to attend a lot of neat American Girl themed or sponsored events as "research". 

Being close to an American Girl Place has made that even easier, and so when I saw the announcement that AG Place DC was going to be hosting a series of Blaire themed teas, I jumped at the chance to go! Read on to see our pictures of the event and our review - is it worth attending?

The Blaire Tea at American Girl Place is being held every few weeks in the summer, going through August, and is one of a few Blaire themed events hosted at the stores during her launch year. There was also a family dinner series, where parents and kids were encouraged to set aside their phones and share farm-to-table style recipes along with family style desserts, and cookie decorating events which look like they're continuing into the end of the year. We decided not to do the family dining experience because - although I'm usually pretty shameless about being an adult fan doing research who therefore can have just as much fun at these events as a kid - the marketing was so heavily emphasizing family that we thought it would be weird if we turned up without a kid. The tea sounded like a Blaire themed twist on their usual afternoon tea, so we decided to give it a shot without worrying about appearances. 

I've had pretty mixed experiences with in-store events since starting my research project. On the whole, I'd say the events at AG Place DC (and at American Girl Place locations in general) are poorly advertised, and thus poorly attended. Almost every event I've attended I've gone to because I've checked the website, not because I've gotten an advert for it online, in the catalog, or via email. I also very rarely see other people posting about these events on social media, be it Instagram, the American Girl Facebook page, or any of the fan groups I'm a member of. 

The DC store also often doesn't do much at all for big character releases, while others had sock hop parties and hula demonstrations to welcome Maryellen and Nanea. AG Place DC hosted a book signing event for Erin Teagan, the author of Luciana's books, in 2018, but again the event was poorly advertised, and not too many people appeared to even know who she was, let alone that she was there because she wrote one of the characters' books!

When we arrived for our 4:00 seating on a Thursday, it looked like we were the only people here for the Blaire tea, and there was no signage indicating there was an event going on. After we were seated, a mom with two little girls (plus dolls) were seated at the table next to us, meaning there were five people total there for tea. 

We were given a selection of black, herbal, and green teas to pick from, although the waitress said we could also order a soft drink or hot chocolate if we wanted. Both Jess and I are tea fiends, and I thoroughly enjoyed my pot of Earl Grey. The pots are very small, so we had to ask for more hot water a couple times, which was fine, but I wanted to point out in case you're someone who feels uncomfortable asking for seconds or thirds.

Here's where things got a little... I'm not even really sure how to describe it. 

Basically, I feel like the idea behind this event is really sweet and fun. It's perfectly on brand for Blaire as a character, it uses an existing template the cafe already uses to sell product, and it fits the brand's theme of creating special, character driven experiences aimed at families who want to spend quality time together. 

However, as with many official American Girl experiences of the last five or so years... it just felt a little slapdash. 

It took a good 30 to 45 minutes of waiting for our first round of tea treats to arrive, which meant we got to have a really long look at the menu. The treats it offered were adorably themed and honestly sounded pretty good, the perfect combination of traditional tea fair and child friendly snacks like a caprese kabob, a chocolate chip scone with Devonshire cream, vanilla cupcakes, turkey sandwiches, and a mini hamburger...

But as anyone who's read Blaire's books knows, Blaire actually can't eat almost anything on this menu, something that causes her huge embarrassment and frustration in her stories because she doesn't like feeling different from everyone else and being unable to eat foods she used to love. Blaire's intolerance is bad enough that she can't even eat low lactose cheeses like cheddar without feeling ill effects. Nothing is made dairy free or with dairy substitutes, meaning she can't have the kebabs, the burger, the cucumber sandwich, the scone if she has it with cream or the chips if they're not non dairy chocolate, the tart, the mousse, or even possibly the cupcake depending on what the frosting's made out of. 

This was also reflected in the Blaire themed desserts offered in the cafe in January through May: things like strawberry shortcake with ice cream and a berry tart swimming in custard. Super cute and very tasty, but not at all appropriate for someone with lactose intolerance. 

Making all of this with dairy free substitutes would definitely have made it more expensive, so I do understand from a business perspective why they couldn't do that, but it just felt sort of silly, and it's absolutely something that would have bothered me as a kid. I was a stickler for following the books/films/shows my toys were based on, and I feel like even a kid who isn't similarly strict would find it a little strange after reading Blaire's books, learning about food intolerances, and realizing hey, she couldn't actually eat any of this at her own party. 

The other odd part during our long wait was the manager came out to apologize to us because they were out of pigs in a blanket, so they'd need to substitute with something else. I pulled the menu out and showed him there weren't supposed to be pigs in a blanket anyway, so they were fine, and he seemed confused to hear we were here for the Blaire event vs. the regular afternoon tea. This came as a surprise to me because we were attending a seating that was sort of in the middle of the event's run: Blaire Teas were held before and will be held after the day we visited, so you'd think they'd have had some time to work out the kinks. 

The menu for the Blaire tea was also confusing: the Blaire tea isn't offered daily, but the menu says it is. This is another thing I've noticed in my years observing how the brand runs these boutique experiences: the staff often seems like they aren't talking to each other about what event is going on when, how long it's running, or which character it's meant to spotlight. 

Finally, we were brought out savory treats, plus the scone.

Portions at tea at American Girl are very small, which is perfect for younger kids but not ideal for adults. Still, at $13.50 a person, it's a pretty good deal for the amount of food you're getting, especially in the DC area, so I'm definitely not complaining about that. Just providing a head's up if you're debating doing tea or lunch at the store and are planning on coming hungry. 

The food was all nice. Jess especially liked the confetti quiche, whose name is a reference to Blaire's confetti pasta sauce, which becomes known as Awesomesauce in her second book. That was a really fun nod to the books! 

I liked the scone the best, although we discovered it was actually a raspberry scone served with jam instead of chocolate chip with cream. This was fine by me, as I am a scone fiend and was just happy to have one. Funnily enough, the manager again apologized that they didn't have Devonshire cream for the scones, even though providing the jam would actually have been preferable for poor Blaire. Again, kind of showing that the cafe staff hasn't really been briefed on the storefront product.

There was another fairly long wait for dessert to come out. When Jess and I went to the normal afternoon tea during her first trip to the US, I feel like we were really rushed out of there, with both savory and sweet trays coming out almost immediately. The cafe was pretty deserted while we were there, so it's probable that they only had one chef on duty, which slowed things down. This was fine with us, but the table next to us seemed to be getting a little antsy with food taking so long to arrive and is definitely something you should keep in mind if you're planning on attending with younger kids. 

Dessert is my favorite part of any meal, and the treats they presented us with were definitely cute, if not Blaire friendly.

Jess hated the cupcake's frosting, but I honestly liked it even if it was kind of artificial. There was something pretty nostalgic about it for me for some reason.

More nostalgic was the chocolate mousse! When AG Place Chicago first opened in 1998, my parents planned a trip specifically to visit it, and the rest of the Windy City. My sister, mom, grandma and I (along with Kirsten, Felicity, Samantha and Molly) all got to enjoy tea and watch The American Girl Review stage show in what was a really special day. At the time, the tea ended with Molly's victory garden chocolate mousse, served very similarly to the ones you get today. It's one of the only things that's stayed consistent in my time being a fan of American Girl.

Tea is a pre-paid event, so after tipping, we were free to go back to exploring the store and hoping the doll Jess is interested in buying had finally been restocked. (Unfortunately, she wasn't.) 

Overall, I have extremely mixed feelings about this event. I want to like it with no qualifications, but I honestly just... didn't. It wasn't even disappointing in some ways, because I went in with very low expectations and came out with a "well, that was just okay" reaction, which probably isn't what American Girl is hoping for. 

Now, I know that probably sounds silly. I, a childless 28 year old historian, am not American Girl's target audience, so why would my opinion matter? 

Well, I might not have kids right now, but at 28, I definitely could. And as someone who was once obsessed with my American Girl books, I think I can speak to the kid experience as well at least a little bit. 

This event was cheap, so I definitely think as a parent, I'd ultimately be fine with the small portion sizes. The confusion about the menu and long wait times might cause more frustration depending on how well behaved and patient my hypothetical child was. 

But would it be worth a three hour drive to attend it? No. Honestly, save yourself the trip and find a cute tea house closer to home if you want a nice afternoon tea with your daughter, or throw your own Blaire themed affair. 

And therein lies the problem: AG Place is meant to be a destination experience, and I just don't think this was really a destination experience. 

From the kid perspective, no one recognized Blaire, nothing on the menu was something the character could actually eat, and there was no meaningful connection to her story. As a kid, before arriving, I definitely would have built this up in my head as something bigger than it actually was, and probably would have been annoyed that they went so far off her books, not to mention bummed out that I wouldn't be able to meet other Blaire fans due to poor attendance. Yes, that's just me, the stickler for accuracy in my imaginative play, but I'm not the only person in the universe who plays with their toys or follows their favorite books that way. And it's not like the inaccuracy was something really pedantic and small: Blaire's lactose intolerance is a huge part of her story! 

Again, if you want to say you provide character driven experiences... make them character driven. In the past, American Girl did offer really nicely run, character driven events that reinforced the lessons in their books while also encouraging people to buy more product. I don't think this event managed to do either of those things. 

So, am I being a whiner for saying this event wasn't really what I had hoped it would be? 

In my opinion, no. American Girl Place likes to promote itself as a character driven, boutique, destination experience where kids can come in, enjoy a tasty meal, get their doll's hair done, and buy a ton of product, but these character experiences feel a little lackluster and soulless. If you're going to make events themed around your characters, why not connect them more strongly to the themes of their stories? Why not promote them more? Why not present a cohesive understanding of the brand's characters and products so your staff will recognize the character the event is meant to be themed around? 

Now, I want to be very clear that I in no way am blaming the staff for our less than stellar review. The staff at AG Place DC across the board has always been extremely friendly and helpful to me and my friends. A few folks have even recognized us over the years, as mall trips usually mean at least a stop in at the store and probably lunch at the restaurant. I think if the brand wants its stores to be considered the Disneyland of doll stuff, it's a failure on the part of corporate or management to not make sure everyone working there is at least passingly familiar with the current product and their stories. As a kid, I felt so excited and special when the staff at AG Place Chicago or New York recognized my dolls and asked me how they were doing, and I definitely would have been disappointed if they didn't know which characters they were if we were at a Felicity or Kirsten event. 

Don't get me wrong, I had a nice time. Visiting the store is always a good chance for the wife and I to indulge our inner child and splurge a little, but I feel like our experience at the Blaire Tea is very much in keeping with the current state of American Girl public programming: it either doesn't exist, or it's very surface level and not special enough to be worth a long drive to attend, and that's a real shame. 

American Girl still creates good products and stories. However, the way those products and stories have been and are currently being marketed could really use some retooling. What's the point of hosting a special event if it's going to feel thrown together last minute, or otherwise not thought out? Sometimes, it's really better for a company to offer nothing rather than rolling out something poorly. 

If you're interested in attending yourself, there are other seatings for Blaire Teas in July and August. Let us know what you think if you go!

And make sure you bring some Lactaid for Blaire!