Dressing your dolls - realism or ease of access?

It depends. If it's as easy as popping off the head or hands, I prefer the realism. I really don't care for t-shirts that snap up the back. But for something that laces up...corsets, boots, shirts, etc....give me a cheater way PLEASE because all those laces coming undone every time then struggling to get them twisted right is such a hassle that I've actually sold things off because I'm too frustrated with it.

But under no circumstances should velcro ever touch doll clothes. I hate it with a passion. I hate that it sticks to wigs, pantyhose, lingerie and other delicate fabrics, I hate that hair gets caught in it, I hate when it gets all fuzzy and doesn't work well, I hate how bulky and stiff it looks....I feel like velcro can make even the most detailed high quality outfit ever look cheap.

 

Caveat here - I'm not particularly interested in recreating specific human fashions.

I think Volks has found the perfect balance between realism and ease of access (look at me, turning into a Volks cheerleader). However, for me, it's not so much realism as it is detail. I love tiny details. I love the craftsmanship, thought, and care that goes into tiny details on tiny clothes. A tiny zipper just fills me with delight - cuz it's so TINY.

But at the end of the day, these are dolls, not people. People are covered in skin with a subcutaneous layer of fat underneath. People are squishy. You can move little parts of your body to fit into certain clothes (sucking in your tummy to zip up a zipper, e.g.). Dolls are hard, solid, and unyielding. Stuff that would be realistic for people becomes a real problem for dolls - and tend to drives me a little batty: like sewing doll clothes with no "give." I'm not saying everything should be made of knit or contain spandex, but at least sew stuff on the bias so there's a little give to the fabric. Otherwise, the outfit fits only one doll ever, or it fits no doll because it doesn't give enough to slide over parts of the doll.

So I bought this poofy white dress from Volks used off Mandarake, cuz I thought it was pretty. Didn't realize until I got it that it was a wedding dress, but ce la vie. The dress has hook and eye closures in the back - BUT, Volks also added small, almost invisible thread "hooks" that make the bodice adjustable. This is the kind of detail that I LOVE in doll clothing. It creates a natural look and drape, AND it's adjustable for different body types.

Corsets with tiny grommets are amazing, but for the love of dog use elastic cord, and seal the ends. You don't have to cinch in a doll's waist. You CAN'T cinch in a doll's waist, cuz hard, unyielding plastic. No squish. When the polyester ribbon starts to fray, which it tends to do almost immediately, now I have a realistic corset and a mess of frayed ribbon. I am unhappy. Same with shoe laces - use elastic cord. Dolls can't flex and point their feet like people. They can't lift their toes.

Since I'm starting to learn to sew for dolls, I've been thinking about this a lot (sorry for the novella). I think that lots of techniques that apply to people clothes, when shrunk down to doll size, just don't make sense.

 

Case by case, for me.

The bulk of my collection are mature minis, with a few mature tinies as a separate group. I make most of my dolls clothes myself, for adjustability for fit isn't an issue. When I do have to sew something for a doll I don't have access to I usually just design around it and make garments that are less sensitive to exact fit.

Most of my dolls have long hair, so I mind less if there is a discrete opening in the back of a t-shirt or dress. I usually prefer that over having to remove the head, but it's not the biggest deal either way.

I do mind if the closures are out of scale or bulky. I've seen dolls shirts with full size human scale shirt buttons. I get why it makes sense for mass production as I suspects those are the smallest button hole machines easily availabe, but I always wonder who in their right mind would buy them? Maybe it could work for a heavily stylized dolly looking doll, flirting with the look of home made doll clothes made for children to play with, but for otherwise in scale garments and human looking dolls? Big no, for me.

I hate "hidden" snaps in the front on blouses and shirts with a passion, because, let's face it, they always show and they make it impossible to wear the garment open, so they really limit the use of the garment. I know small buttons can be fiddly to close, but there are tricks and tools for that (try tweezers and button hooks). Snapps "hidden" by buttons always makes me think of those toddler clothes made so that a very small child can dress itself. Putting that on an adult doll looks so wierd and I often find myself wonder if the dolls character is ment to have some imparement to their motor skills.
If button holes are simply not an option, I prefer a false opening with buttons sewn closed in the front and a discrete opening in the back. That way at least the opening can be hidden by the dolls hair or by other garments worn on top (cardigan, jacket, waistcoat or similar) and it tends to look a lot more realistic when worn.

I'm split on zippers on doll boots. Much of the time I'm ok with it, but there are some types of boots that really shouldn't have them. I would love it of there were more options without. I have some doll boots without and the lacing has never bothered me.
But then, I wear lace up boots myself every day, so I am probably biased.

I've yet to find a zipper thin enough to work for a fly for a 1/4 pair of pants, so for them I am 50/50 on either a button fly or a fake soloution with a large modesty flap and sometimes a hidden button or snap on the inside to keep it from gapping. For the waistband I prefer I real button every time.
I have two pairs of ready made jeans that I bought despite them having not so hidden snaps at the waisband. Everything else is beautifully detailed and in scale with functional pockets and the tiniest top stitching, but I can only ever photograph them from certain angles, or the snap will show. It's a minor annoyance, but one that could so easily have been avoided.

For the really tiny dolls, I still use real buttons and button holes or thread loops, but I avoid snaps as they are far too bulky.
One of my favourite back openings is a simple slit with tie strings at the top. When the strings are tied the slit lies more or less edge to edge and you can tuck the ties into the slit to hide them. As long as everything is thin and neat it adds very little bulk so layereing clothes is not a problem and when done right it's very discrete. It's not a how I would do it in human scale, but at least there is no obvious out of scale elements to ruin the illusion.

 

Honestly, it can depend on the doll in question. I collect primarily 1/6 scale dolls and for that scale, I much prefer ease of access. I think for bigger scales, realism would win out but then... Well, I sometimes have joint issues in my fingers so ease of access becomes easy to deal with.

 

I make it easy to dress them when I am sewing their clothes. Most of what I make them shirt wise has an opening in the back so that I can slide it onto the dolls easily. I don't really like to even take off their wigs when changing them.

If it's something that I am buying I expect the realism. It makes it feel like a higher quality garment to me. Although it is usually fancy dress shirts and suits for my guys. So, except for those tiny little buttons it's still fairly easy to dress them.

 

depends. I would prefer something that looks real enough to take a picture and also doesn't require from me a lot of time to undress/change head etc. My big girl has hooves which is stupidly difficult to change, so in order to dress her in shorts or panties, adjustments should be made to the clothes. Yes, it makes outfit less realistic, but without it it would be nearly impossible to dress her in something different that skirts or dresses.

None of my crew has magnets, they are all big and I don't have enough strength to re-string them all the time.
Plus not all realistic outfits really have to follow rules for the human clothes. For example I once ordered a jacket from a seamstress, when it arrived, inside I noticed specific cuts on the shoulder seams. Yes, such things usually done for people since human arms has more range for movement, but this is useless for dolls in general, plus it affected the seams itself. After several tries I just had to cut off the sleeves, since seam didn't held up because to this cuts.

Same goes for functional pockets, if it makes pants bigger where it shouldn't be, I'll choose non-functional pocket, since it will look more realistic on the photo.

 

I think it depends... For buttons, I'd definitely prefer fake buttons with snaps underneath - I struggle sometimes with normal buttons so I can't imagine buttoning something so small! Velcro is fine if it's in a less visible spot, but I think realism can be fun. In the end though, ease of access is a bit more important to me!

 

I don’t mind removing body parts to have a realistic look but I also don’t mind if fasteners show because I can photoshop them out in pictures.

 

I agree with @MaleficentMrsofEvil – Volks clothes are the perfect compromise for me in terms of detail and easy fit.

I redress my dolls too often, so I don't want to remove heads or fiddle with very tiny buttonholes. I'm still learning to sew, especially at 1/3 scale, but I make use of hidden snaps and decorative faux buttons in my own sewing.

 

I like realism but I know damned well I wont ever use clothing that means taking the dolls head off to get it on, and am very unlikely to use any that invovles removing hands or feet. It's too much hassle.

Human clothes have openings/fastenins at the cuffs so I'll happily add them to clothes that don't open at the wrist. Doll proportions aren't human proprtions, so adding openings/fastenings to make the neck big enough for a head to get throguh is a necessary evil. I try to make them realistic, but on occasion have added an opeing that looks like a seam when closed edge to edge and fastens with super-thin velcro on a hidden underlap that doesn't show once the doll is dressed.

Teddy

 

For me personally, I believe in using whatever works. I do a lot of sewing for my dolls…in fact my exploration of fashion styles was one of my main reasons for getting involved in this hobby in the first place. In exploring so many different styles in doll scale, it only makes sense to use all sorts of different methods to achieve the look I’m going for and be able to get it to fit properly on the doll. Snaps are a big favorite of mine (and my usual go-to.) But by comparison, I’ve had to use thin strips of velcro up the back of a boy’s fancy lace shirt in order to get that smooth, sleek silhouette. And I just finished making 3 Lolita blouses where cute buttons and buttonholes were the only proper option for the realistic look I was going for. And when it comes to removing heads and hands…yeah, I do it all the time. My dolls are quite used to being my fashion guinea pigs so they wouldn’t dare complain.

 

I think a mix of both realism and functionality is best. Especially if there's pokey fingers, sleeves aren't fun.