Picking the clothes and accessories your dolls wear

1. Make sure all dolls have at least one basic set of clothing.
2. Order any additional clothing in smaller batches.
3. Don't stress yourself out by expecting to be able to make everything you want, work on one or two small basic projects at a time.
4. Give yourself a monthly doll clothes budget to help figure out what you absolutely need right now and what you can wait on getting.
5. Look for stuff in the marketplace here, or from local friends/sellers, that would also work for your plans so you can save on shipping (especially a good idea right now since a lot of overseas shipping is delayed).
6. Throw a bunch of stuff in your cart, save/screenshot it and then leave it for a few days. It might be easier to sort out stuff you don't need once the impulse has worn off and you've had time to think about it.

 

1. Buy bits in intervals, to spread the costs. Especially if everything is deemed 'absolutely necessary'.
2. Buy second-hand, if possible. It might take a while to find acceptable alternatives, or exactly what you want, but keep looking. You might just find a diamond in the rough.
3. If you rack up $100+ of anything on Alice's Collections, you can pay on layaway, to spread the costs. That includes accessories. It doesn't just have to be dolls or resin; it can be clothes. So rack up a $200+ basket and pay it off over 3-6 months.
4. As for 'avoiding black', I don't. Unless it's my vinyl guys, but even they wear the occasional dark stuff (with protective layers of light clothing underneath). I guess some resin takes on more colour than others, but if you wash the clothes to rid excess dye it should minimise the dangers of staining. Plus, resin is also easier to clean than vinyl. A magic eraser should be enough for resin, or a soapy-water bath.
5. Shop around. One store might have a pair of boots that seem 'all that' for a high price, but you could find a 'better' pair (or acceptable) for less somewhere else, by shopping around. There might be a dealer local to you, who has the boots available, for less postage. Don't jump on the first thing you see. Look around. Even on the marketplace/second-hand market.

 

I buy most shoes, wigs and eyes, because that's just things I don't enjoy making. I tend to make most clothes myself as well as mpst furniture, photobackdrops etc. It's ok, even advisable, to specialize in one or a few fields, especcially if you are new to the crafts. The time and materials needed to get past the beginner stage and get a product you are happy with will typically cost more than just buying the thing.
However, if you need many of one thing, that "cost" will be spread between all the things you make.
For example:
If your dolls need matching PJ's, then perhaps learn how to make those? Even if you need to make minor adjustments to fit different dolls, you will allready be familliar with the materials, tools and process for making it and you will be able to make more in the future if you add dolls to your collection and you realize they need a set as well.
If PJ's are too much work, maybe there are other projects that you could start with and build from that?

And staying away from black? Nope!
About half of my dolls wear black most of the time. I only had problem with staining one time and that was from a light grey area of a pair of socks. Problem was solved with a quick wash and they have never stained since. The legs did need a new blush job, though.
I should mention that most of my dolls are blushed and I do it myself, so I can redo it any time. If I had payed a lot of mony for body blushing I would always prewash clothes, I think.
My unsealed doll bodies have never goten a stain from clothes or a wig that could not simply be wiped off with some soap and water.

If you make the doll clothes yourself that will be almost a non issue, since you should pre-wash your fabrics before working with then to get rid of the cemicals added to keep the cloth clean and less likely to catch fire, can't remember what it's called in english right now.

 

I choose stuff based on whether they fit the character of the doll and the quality. If I think I can make it better myself, I don’t buy it. But if I don’t think I’m as skilled and/or the cost of time and materials to make it is higher than the asking price, I’ll buy.

I also spread things out over time. A new doll needs at least one full outfit (top/bottom or dress, underwear, shoes and accessories), a wig and eyes. After the basic outfit, other stuff comes as I have the spare money. I rarely do big orders ($100+) except when I get Christmas or birthday cash or I sell enough stuff to have that much sitting in PayPal.

 

Well, avoiding black is easy - only one fo my lot leans toward black, and she's happy for it to be mixed with purple or red, the rest of them have toehr colours they tend to favour so that often dictates what I look at for them

Also, they mostly dress old-fashioned, vintage and/or Victorian, and most of them are children rather than teens or adults, so a lot of stuff availalble to buy is either the wrong style or has the period details wrong Ir is covered in horrible synthetic lace...{gack!!} so I won't waste my money on it, that narrows the options a lot.

Then there's the fact that I won't have grey in the house so anythign grey is offn the list of potential purchases.

I do end up making a lot of stuff for the girls (somehow making boy clothes doesn't appeal as much, so I have to save up and commission those, though I do find occasional outfits for them on Etsy that work).

As to what they need... Initially each needs an outfit (shoes/boots, stockings/tights, drawers, petticoat(s), and dress), but what I'm aiming for eventually is that each girl needs at least two sets of play clothes, Sunday best, and party clothes (a warm weather and a cold weather vesion of each), plus nightgown and robe, coat(s) - they can't play out in their best coat, bathing costumes, and other special-purpose clothes - drapey dress for dance class (Edith), bicycle suit (Hannah, she doesn't have a bicycle, but she's a tomboy so it gives her a socially acceptable opportunity to wear trousers instead of a dress), hunting outfits (the twins who are half elf and disappear into the Elf-Woods every so often for adventures)... etc.

The boys likewise need summer and winter versions of play clothes, Sunday best, and party suits, Nightshirts or PJs, coats, bathing costumes and special purpose clothing.

So far, I don't think any of them have the entire intended wardrobe, and the boys are definately the "poor relations" when it comes to clothing because I like sewing girl clothes better and I seldom find anyone who makes the right style of clothes or who understands the correct period details to commission (plus there's the money to find for that).

Accessories that look right can be difficult, and I've hit the disappointing setback that most of the Victorian style boots I've paid out for over the years have been ruined by the fake leather degrading and the surface shredding and flaking away. I did luck out and find someone making 1/3 scale working versions so longbows and stone-tipped arrows to go with the twins elven-hunter outfits, but it's mostly a matter of keepingyour eyes open and figuring out what will and won't work for each doll's character.

Teddy

 

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I have very distinct looks for each of my dolls based off the characters I have determined for each of them. That being said, I try to buy a good set of basics (i.e. tailored shirts, singlets, t-shirts, jeans, pants etc). Each basic can function very differently across different dolls/styles through layering/accessorising. Like my girl who can wear almost anything as she tends to steal clothes that were meant for my boys and somehow makes them her own.. It's not as easy the other way around

I do think what annoys me the most is the different doll sizes. I wish there could be a standard size across companies to make clothes sharing easier, but that's never going to happen and the masochist in me enjoys the hunt for the perfect pieces...

Shoes are also another pain point for me because my girl is an IH EID and her shoe size is not common. My boys are all 70cms and have size 8.5cm and larger feet. I wish there were better shoe offerings out there, or perhaps I just have yet to find those in the right size either.

 

All my dolls ever wear is black, because that's all I wear in real life and most my dolls' characters wear black as well, so it's kind of just the way it turned out without thinking too much about it. I sew all my BJD' clothes however, so I never tried to avoid it just because it can potentially stain them (although I do keep them undressed in my closet). I just wash all the clothes' before my dolls wear them, specially because if fabrics don't bleed, a lot of threads will so I just wash the garments after I've made them (or purchase them), to avoid any accidents. I purchase clothes for other types of dolls, but not for my BJD, because I am weird -- I save money in the long run anyway, even if my sewing is atrocious. I did purchase random accessories for a few of my BJD in the past, like in the very early years, but now I don't because I'm not a fan of paying s/h for tiny things and I never purchase BJD items anymore to justify spending $$$ on shipping for a single piece of jewelry or eyes, etc.. I used to purchase shoes as well, because I could never realistically make anything that looks passable, and I'm vegan, so I stopped purchasing shoes as well over the years for that reason. I kind o lost interest in doing all the research just to purchase a pair of shoes for a doll, that may or may not be ever worn -- not a lot of people seem to enjoy being asked if the materials the shoes/clothes are made out of, are animal derived (but I guess I save a lot of money that way as well, so I shouldn't complain). A lot of the sellers kind of don't know anyway, so I just don't bother anymore. Sorry for any horrible grammar and nonsense, I'm an insomniac, so I kind of shouldn't be typing without any sleep at 5AM my time, but here we are. DX

 

I look for unusual, well made designs. My dolls wear mainly fantasy clothing like long gowns, multipiece clothing, old fashion pieces. The boys wear prince or royal guard type of things Very few of my girls' clothes are black but the boys mainly wear black or white outfits. I love color & that spills over into my girls' outfits. They can wear Tonner American Model gowns & those have beautiful colors, very flattering to all resin tones.

 

It totally depends on the doll. Some of them "tell" me what they want to wear (some sculpts and the way they're painted, for example, basically scream "gimme a ton of lace and frills and ribbons!!!!"). Some of them, I go by a basic theme (for example "ok, for these here I want a post-apocalyptic kind of look" or "these here are my pirates, so they need pirate stuff"). Some, I look for specific stuff (or have specific stuff custom-made) because I have a specific character in mind. Sometimes I'll see an outfit and it just HAS to be mine.