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Severe ongoing issues and concerns with Dollshe Dollshe Ban

SD sized CHILD dolls and dressing them as children.

Jul 13, 2012

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    1. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has SD sized dolls who are children (rather than teens or adults) and likes to dress them accordingly.

      My gang do have some more modern clothes but mostly I go for old-fashioned (they mostly look like they've escaped from a nursery in an E. Nesbit book like The Phoenix and the Carpet or The Treasure Seekers).

      Frankly, among the sea of goth and emo dolls that seem to predominate at meets, my little-kiddy style dolls stand out like a sore-thumb.

      Mostly, however, this means I have to make or commission their clothes, especially for the boys, as it seems the majority of SD sized doll owners prefer to give them far more mature characters so that's what the clothes on the market cater for.

      Common problems in finding clothes for the girls are that what would otherwise be reasonable styles have far-too-short skirts. Also what I think of as "manga/anime/lolita" elements such as trumpet shape sleeves, often flaring from from a short puffed sleeve on the upper arm. Anther is the tendency to use (and over-use) synthetic lace - shiney, modern-looking lace, laid flat, added at the edges or gathered in ruffles.... Ugh!.

      For the boys - well there's next to nothing available - all the trousers are low-waisted, most of the waistcoats are too short (trouser waists should be at the actual waist and the waistcoat long enough to completely hide the waistband, not so high that shirt shows between the two!). Appropriate shoe styles are even more of a problem, especaillty for the SD13 boy size feet.

      But even in more modern clothes, it seems the majority of those available are aimed at more mature styles, especially for the girls.

      Anyone else in a similar position?

      Teddy
       
      #1 Teddy, Jul 13, 2012
      Last edited: Jan 28, 2020
    2. Teddy, I wish there were more choices too. In my case, I would like more accurate period clothing for all the dolls I have, especially shoes, especially for male dolls of all ages. On the other hand, the lack of an easy solution for my dilemma is forcing me to learn all sorts of skills I might never have had. I have just had to face the fact that having tastes that run counter to the norm just makes life more interesting.
       
      #2 linakauno, Jul 13, 2012
    3. A problem with this might be that SD sized dolls usually show adult proportions, and so actually LOOK adult even if they do have the childlike face sculpts with the large eyes, small nose etc predominant in anime styled dolls. If I were to see an SD dressed in the clothes you have described I would simply assume it was an adult doll dressed in a more old-fashioned way. The only way I'd actually register that the doll was supposed to be a child is if it had the correct proportions, such as Lusion Dahlia.

      Though I do agree with you about the need for more authentic period clothes. I too have trouble finding a proper waistcoat for my Edwardian boy - they are indeed all too short! However, as linakauno says, this paucity of suitable clothing can effectively force you to become more creative and sew your own clothes in such styles, which can be challenging and rewarding (though I must admit I'm terrible at sewing and would gladly pay for clothes instead!). If the idea of sewing really puts you off, you can commission your own custom clothes from one of the very talented seamstresses on here! It would be really interesting to see a doll modelling authentic period clothing, especially in rarer childish styles.
       
      #3 Harlequin-Elle, Jul 13, 2012
    4. I haven't seen very many SD sized child dolls around, mostly because if you look at proportions and company styles, SDs mainly revolve around what looks like an older teen age. Although I think Dollmore has some child SDs? I might be wrong, I'm not too familiar with dollmore because they have too many choices and it intimidates me X3

      But I get what you mean. Looking at the market for doll clothes, none of them seem to have more of a "childlike" quality. Tinies, there are plenty and here and there for MSD, but can't find any for SD.

      Blame the market. -w- SD's just have those proportions I guess.
       
      #4 HoushiChan, Jul 13, 2012
    5. If I dressed my SDs as children, my MSD would have to be dressed like a baby? (and yoSD like an egg? XD) Really though, I like my dolls to be in proportion with each other and I want to have different ages of children, teens, and adults. Plus with some of the dolls I want to get (Iplehouse Akando and other mature/muscular 65-70cm dolls) it would look really weird to have a doll made up like a 6 year old who is only 5-10cm shorter than a doll that is clearly an adult. If all you collect is SDs though you wouldn't have to worry.
       
      #5 Nefla, Jul 13, 2012
    6. Its a matter of creative individuality & market demand Teddy. Your individual ideas for your dolls, the general trend in doll styles. If there's enough demand for child like larger dolls, the business men & women will be happy to accommodate you, as they have with the much larger scale child dolls!
      In the mean time, this hobby does seem to bring out the creativity in all of us as we look for just what we can imagine which isn't available yet.
       
      #6 cthulhu, Jul 13, 2012
    7. I've chosen the bodies for mine so they give the childlike proportions (the whole child-face-on-mature body thing strikes me as a World Of Wrong)

      My SD13 boy is 13, my SD 10 boys and girls are various ages around the 10 year old mark. They have a 7 year old brother (DollsTown 7 Year body) and younger siblings (MSD and Petite Ai depending on age) so they are all in proportion to each other for their ages.

      My one older girl has an Elfdoll body for a more mature figure but she's a shorty - so not taller in height than most of her younger SD size siblings.

      Adults would need to be the larger end of the SD size-range.

      Teddy
       
      #7 Teddy, Jul 13, 2012
    8. It comes down to proportion to me, as some others have said. If the proportion is right, an SD can look like a child. Though, I don't think I've ever come across one in my opinion (excepting Dollmore's Lusions), I'm sure they exist and it can be done. Usually the face is too childish for the body or the other way around. I'm not a big fan of child-dolls for the most part, and I do love the lacy gothy look on adult and child dolls (but that's probably because that was pre-prego attire). I'd like to see more diversification both directions: more mature MSDs, more immature SDs. I think it adds to the flavor of the dollie world. I personally wouldn't worry about my SD looking weird as a child next to my Yo- unless your collection contains characters from the same universe or consistency is important to you I don't think it's all that big of a deal. There really isn't that much coherency in my collection for me to care whether my SD is a child or not. ^_^
       
      #8 carmarilla, Jul 13, 2012
    9. All of the children in my/our crew are large dolls. Four SD boys, two sd girls and one SD13 boy. SDs are said to be a 10 year old type and that's the age they are at. The SD13 boy is almost 13 years old. I think when you dress them in a child's dress they look like proper children. We have a few adults on SD13 long leg bodies but they dress in completely different ways. Most of the adults have taller or more mature bodies (SDGr, SD16s and 17s, Dollshe, Super Gem, DT15 and 18, Mecha Angel, etc.)

      I have had trouble finding clothing for the 58cm children and yes, in partical the boys. I'm not looking for vintage or period, just a mix of modern/traditional/conservative. When I walk past childen's clothing stores I see things I want for the kids but usually I only see them in doll scale for minis and Yo-types. Sometimes there are school uniforms but nobody in this group goes to a uniform wearing school. :/

      I am thinking if there are paricular sets of childrens clothing I want, I will have to start commissioning them.
       
      #9 idrisfynn, Jul 13, 2012
    10. Some of my youngest characters are portrayed by SDs or I plan to portray them as SDs. By the time someone is 13-14 they are often at their adult height or approaching their adult height (especially girls). I think the smaller SDs (55-60cm) are pefectly suited to have a younger persona especially if like the 'adults' have the taller SD sized (65-70cm) bodies .
       
      #10 Sillypeach, Jul 14, 2012
    11. My Volks Kazuya girl (Kimmie) is the first SD I've had that I wanted to dress in a younger style. Before her arrival, my younger BJDs were MSDs that are around age 8, and two SD13 girls who are now about 16. I want Kimmie to dress in a younger style than my SD13 girls, mainly to show at a glance the contrast in age between them. (Her character is 12 or 13.)

      I have considered commissioning someone to make some more childlike clothing for her, since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot available in her size to buy "off the rack". Most of the things I have seen that size look like they could also be for the older girls, and that's definitely not what I want for her. I've seen some talented people making childlike modern clothing for MSD and smaller, so I am collecting pictures of styles I'd like to commission in a larger size. Or maybe I will make some! I recently started sewing again.

      I really like the SD girl body Kimmie has, and I like to think that she is just a more evolved version of the "original" BJD girl created by Volks. She was always meant to be a child and is proportioned like one, and I want to dress her like one, too.

      I can see how historical child clothing is even more difficult to find, Teddy!

      Linda S.
      galatia9
       
      #11 galatia9, Jul 14, 2012
    12. I've started doing that (I could make them but I don't have the time!) but be very careful - specify EVERYTHING, even thinkg so obvious you don't think you need to specify it.

      As galatia9 already knows, I recently commissioned three-piece suits in a late Victorian/early Edwardian style for some of my boys.

      Three suits, in three different sizes, for three different dolls.

      I sent three different fabrics and (having ordered three-piece-suits) expected one suit in each fabric, so was bitterly disappointed and extremely upset to receive photographs of three "completed" sets of mix-and match clothing using all tree fabrics. Two of them even combine two different fabrics in one jacket and look like some horrible 1970's nightmare. Beautifully made, if the photos are any indication, but not what I was expecting, and certainly not what I ordered.

      Teddy
       
      #12 Teddy, Jul 14, 2012
    13. I'm really fond of child-looking big dolls and was wondering which dolls would make really cute children girls. I don't like Lusion molds, nor their bodies, I'm more into SDs. Volks' Charlotte, Alice and Kurumi make wonderful children, but they are so expensive! What molds do you people suggest? =)
       
      #13 Juu, Jul 24, 2012

    14. A lot of it is how you have them painted. Mine are generally done very natural so there's no hint that they might be wearing make-up, no dark eyeliner etc.

      I have An Alice in Labyrinth Heyley on a flat chested Volks SD13 "Seirei" girl body.
      Several of the AiL sculpts make good children, Alice works well too.
      Several RML heads (R20J twins, boy and girl and three other girls of different sculpts) on Volks SD10 bodies(some long limbed some short limbed for some variation in height... although they're rharder to get hold of now the company doesn't seem to exist any more.

      A friend has a Volks School A girl and a Ninodoll Anna girl that bnoth work well too.

      Teddy
       
      #14 Teddy, Jul 24, 2012
    15. I've made a little research with the companies you mentioned... It seems that the only big children that fall into my taste are Volks'. I'm doomed. D=
       
      #15 Juu, Jul 24, 2012

    16. Sadly, if it's the Volks sculpts that do it for you, yes, you're pretty much doomed to have Volks kids.


      Teddy
       
      #16 Teddy, Jul 24, 2012
    17. Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I find Marchen Waltz' dolls to be child like and they're SDs. When I first saw them I thought they were MSDs.
       
      #17 Carmen, Jul 24, 2012
    18. Thanks for the link - I hadn't seen them before.

      The face sculpts are certainly childlike to my eye (although, sadly too heavy-lidded to appeal to me) but the bodies hit my Ick-buttons by being too mature/shapely for the apparent young age of the face sculpts... although if the faces appeal they could always be hybrided onto less mature bodies.

      I'd be interested in seeing pictures of some of them with less heavy-handed faceups, to see if they look even more child-like when painted with more subtlety.

      Teddy
       
      #18 Teddy, Jul 24, 2012
      Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
    19. Wow, Carmen! They DO look like children, even with the heavy makeup. I would definitely sand the boobs down though. I really like Clair, she's like a full lips Liz. Looks like they match Volks' bodies, it solves the boob problem...

      I'm going to the gallery see if anyone has them.
       
      #19 Juu, Jul 24, 2012
    20. I really don't get the child's face on a mature body thing either. I like my dolls' ages to be ambiguous, so they can be either mature OR child. More of the companies are offering different bust sizes, which is nice.
      If you are looking for more childlike clothing- you might try ebay under vintage or antique dolls. None of the modern child dolls' clothing will work (it's all American Girls now, which are too short and thick to fit SD sized dolls), but if you go back 50 years, none of the dolls had mature bodies (that didn't happen until Madame Alexander's Cissy came on the scene). So you can find clothing for 20-24 inch dolls that are more slender and might fit. Also, you can buy vintage patterns for doll clothes for these dolls (you can get the originals, or even better photocopies- better because they are sturdier). The great thing about these patterns is that most of them were designed for children to sew, so they are not too hard, but make nice dresses, coats, etc.
      As far as mixing sizes- there are no rules. I for one am not bothered by dolls of different sizes or scales next to each other, all of them children or adults. To me it kind of adds to the whole surreal thing that is already there anyway. Obviously if you are into doing realistic photostories, etc. you need things to be in scale, but otherwise- I say do whatever you like.
      If you want to have three children- one of them 58 cm, one of the 44 cm, and one of them 27 cm, fine with me!

      I hope it's okay to post this here. I get a lot of patterns from this woman and use them as bases for some of the things I make. Check for patterns in the 19-23 inch size range; Sweet Sue, Mary Hoyer Saucy Walker. Generally the 20 inch size patterns will fit SD sized dolls, although you may have to add on to the length. This is of course assuming that you sew! But even if you have fairly adequate sewing skills you should be able to use these patterns. Use your imagination to add layers, lace, etc. to them.
      http://vintagedollpatterns.tripod.com/

      One reason cheap lace is used so often is that it is next to impossible to find nice lace anymore, at least in California. It is all cheap, hard, shiny lace made overseas. One way around this is to try to find vintage lace on ebay, thrift stores, etc. I once posted a question asking for a source for small lace and got a lot of responses- sadly I don't think I book marked it.
       
      #20 cirquemom, Jul 24, 2012
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