Experiences in buying clothes for your dolls

I have one guy so far, an Impldoll Marcus and he is STILL nekkid because I am STILL trying to find him clothing.
Every time I find a nice outfit I like it is either $$$ or out of stock lol
He is just going to stay without clothing for a while I guess lol

 

I'm still that way. I sew most of my doll clothes as a result. Plus for my boyfriend's DC Queena, it's harder to find clothes that fit her due to the body shape, so I sew for her too.

 

I'm definitely that way. Part of the reason I gravitated towards tinies was because they are cheaper, for the most part. However, if I really like an expensive article of clothing and I can tell it's well-made and will look nice on a doll of mine, I'll bite the bullet and buy it. And sometimes you can get lucky and find a good deal. c:

There are a few places that can be a bit friendlier on the wallet, such as Tata's Paradise. Otherwise, you can always pick up sewing and teach yourself how to create clothing. I've been meaning to do that since some of my dolls are difficult to shop for.

 

I can sew but I hate sewing - I'd rather hunt for the perfect outfit ready made, and shell out for it or save up for it. The thing is dolls don't need more than one outfit really - compared to the entire wardrobe of washable clothes for all seasons which humans need. Dolls don't feel the cold or the heat - they can wear a sweater in summer and just a boob tube in winter, without suffering!

Once you've got one outfit for your doll, if you're bored with it you can just buy a new top for it, or a scarf, some shoes, etc. rather than a whole new outfit. I don't buy my dolls underwear unless it's going to be visible as part of their main outfit - no saggy boobs for dolls who go bra-less! ^_^

Mainly buy a doll which is cheap and easy to dress - a standard sized midi or 1/3 doll can be dressed quite cheaply from Alices Collections, if you combine items creatively. Even an impldoll idol can be dressed fairly cheaply from m3bjd, (who also do DD clothes) But mainly don't bother with all the items of clothing you would need as a human. You can build a wardrobe for your dolls over a number of years, if they're all the same size too - they can share, mix and match basics, and just have an item specially their own style ^_^

Even so I normally spend more on my doll's clothes than on my own LOL - mainly because I have no style myself, and buy all my clothes cheap in the sales! (so I have more to spend on dolls!) ^_^

 

I like to sew, but just don't have a lot of time to devote to it... and I'm picky about the outfits I buy.

That said, even adding just a couple of outfits or a few mix-and-match pieces a year to your stash does add up. After a few years of slow accumulation, you'll end up with a pretty decent wardrobe.

 

The hard part for me is just finding clothes that fit my dolls. My iples are such a weird size and they're almost always too huge for any clothes i find that I like. I'm super lucky that my nYID boy can fit Soom Supergem clothes, as long as they're a bit loose, because that allowed me to buy things from an etsy artist I admire, but ugh. It's so hard to find them clothes. 8(

I also have had 0 luck in finding medieval style clothes for my minifee, even after 3 years of having him. I'm eventually going to commission clothes for him, but he's low priority.

 

I have the opposite problem. I have no problem with buying expensive clothes, despite my general lack of funds. I really need to set a budget.

You could definitely say I belong in camp 'my dolls dress better than I do!'

 

The price of clothing is rather surprising sometimes. Though my main issue is finding stuff that would fit. My doll is a boy and oddly sized, so my options are limited, and I can't sew. Right now I only have one pair of pants for him, and luckily it fit perfectly! But I've had to cut the sleeves for both of the sleeved tops I have. It doesn't really bother me to do that, though I'm sure some people would be screaming "NO", haha.

 

I started this hobby in the "goodness gracious these jeans are more expensive than MINE NO WAY am I spending that much on clothing for a DOLL" and stuck to cheap stuff. Then i started getting a little more interested in scale and fit. Got tires of pinning or tying things back to make something fit juuust right. Now? I'm a total clothes junkie for my dolls but I'm SO picky. It has to be scale, shirts preferably require head removal so no velcro or snaps to hide (though I do sometimes use shirts with such things). Jeans need to be functional. Real pockets preferred. Now, my dolls dress casually but look so good when they're put together. They definitely look and dress better than I do and I spend way more on their clothes than i do on my own. I get lots of compliments on their clothing and people always ask where I get their clothes or advice on how I dress them.

 

I sew, thank goodness. Now I did spring for a Freedom Teller suit for my IH Dexter (totally worth it) & have some other pricey little outfits for them, but mostly what I spend $$$ on is shoes, wigs & eyes (oh, & props LOL) Most of the stuff for sale are things I can make a LOT cheaper & quite frankly BETTER. I do look for sales & for 'dollie thrift shopping' (ie getting used clothing in the MP or at meets) & have gotten a substantial wardrobe for my dolls that way (one that looks very authentic when I do photo shoots in fact!)

 

I mostly sew for my own, particularly since so many of mine are hard to dress "off-the-rack" with most available BJD clothes, or I don't care for the stuff available in their sizes. I will very occasionally spring for a nice outfit or article of clothing, but I prefer to make my own things.

I'd like to have one nice suit for each of my gentleman, but because they're odd sizes, I'll probably have to tailor them myself for the most part.

 

I also have a hard time with how expensive some Bjd clothes are. I'm really frugal most of the time. But then I find the most awesome distressed jean skirt for my upcoming Msd girl and it's like 37 bucks. I would barely spend that much for a skirt for me . But I'm starting to realize that if I really want a doll to look realistic and well dressed I'm going to have to spend the money. I can sew a little and my mom is a great seamstress and has made a few dolly things for me but there are just some things that would be too hard for us to make, or make in the same quality that I could buy. So hopefully the sticker shock will wear off eventually. Although I don't want to get so used to spending money on my dolls that I go too crazy

 

So far I only buy casual clothing for my boy's everyday wear, it's not expencive, but all the fancy pancy fantasy/historic costumes that i'd really want to buy on the doll clothing sites are out of stock for now. I am obsessed with a Cavalry Officer costume by 4D but it's been out of stock for months, I wonder why didn't they remove the pictures, those are so teasing, and that costume is perfect, I want it so much(((

 

My tinies are all mature characters - not toddlers - so I have a hard time finding ready-made stuff in styles I want. I buy basics like leggings and simple tops that can work for any age, but I end up making or commissioning most of their clothes. My MSD is just about a perfect size to sew for, so I make her clothes, too. She's the same size as some of my OT cloth dolls, so they can share tops and skirts.

 

As awesome as it is to find a beautiful outfit with all the lovely little details on it, I'm of a similar mindset. I just don't know about paying more for doll clothes than I do for myself! I've been going with the cheaper (and more personally fulfilling) route of making them myself, but even then I've come to another road block. Pattern drafting is a pain and a half, because even if the pattern looks right, sometimes the properties of the fabric itself will cause it to bunch up or sew oddly. So it's mostly trial and error, but at least then, once you get better at it you'll be saving yourself a lot of money.

 

I started the hobby planning to make everything myself. Seven years later, my dolls have bigger wardrobe than I do. I absolutely LOVE doll clothing! I do make a lot of it myself still, but i have no problem dropping a lot of cash on things I don't make well, attention to detail and very realistic high quality stuff, especially jeans, suits and jackets. The cost of the doll is just a drop in a hat compared to what I'll spend to have him/her looking just right.

 

I start to get use about the price of clothes, but my dolls are hard to dress. I have a passion for non-standard dolls such as Iplehouse. And my nYID as a special style that is very hard to find -___-'

 

I usually buy my dolls their clothes but when I'm not lazy, I'll begins sewing them an outfit. I make clothes for my MSD and a tiny that I own. I buy SD clothing because it takes me forever to sew everything by hand. Once I get my sewing machine, I plan on making more clothes for them.

 

Most of my dolls are fantasy themed, so they're impossible to buy company clothes for. which means artist etsy clothes, and I don't have the money for that. So I've taken up sewing and such, and with that have managed to save up enough money to have a whole shoe wardrobe to match my home-made elf/mage gear