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Sock dresses and the anger they seem to generate.

Nov 11, 2010

    1. I use "sock dress" as a phrase for bad sewn clothing.
      It must not be perfect for me- but it shouldn`t fall appart after wearing.
      I dont want a sock dress for one of my boys and I hope, that I wont get one. (even if its proper sewn)
       


    2. I couldn't say it better myself--- leave the sock people alone!!
       
    3. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, can be pulled off.
      Meat dress, sock dress, they're all the same. Clothes to cover a body.

      People who fuss over other peoples dress habits, seem a bit silly to me. I mean, if I were to do a sock dress, then I would try make it look as good as possible, but that's me. When I got into the hobby, Duchess had no clothes but this pink, ugly, looking dress. To me, that was more tacky than a sock dress.
       
    4. This is totally about personal asthetics.

      - Do you have an aversion to sock dresses?
      Sort of, I would use them as a temporary thing. And if the sock was really pretty and not just a plain color, I could sew it into pretty clothing. You know, just use it as normal fabric.
      - Do you think it makes a doll less of a doll when it doesn't have what the avarage owner calls proper clothing?
      It doesnt make it less of a doll but it makes the doll look damn poor if they're wearing a potato sack (sock). Especially if its just a thick sock and looks like pauper clothing, then i draw the line.
      - Do you think less of the owner when they choose to either have a temporary sockdress or a permanent sock dress?
      Temporary: no. I mean, they probably dont have clothes. Id rather have my dolls in a sock than be stark naked. Permanent: sort of. Depends. If the sock is pretty and not some used old moldy sock and they make it so that it looks acceptable, I find it okay. If they use a moldy ugly patternless weird sock, then we got some problems.
      - Let me now how you feel about sock dresses in general.
      Sock dresses should be temporary. Unless its a pretty well patterened sock. Then the sock should be made into a prettier more fanciful dress and not just a plain tube. Like give it straps or something.

      So ends my opinion.
       
    5. Oh for crying out loud.....

      It's just material. In fact, it's in-scale knitted material, which can be pretty darned hard to find. And then it's in-scale knitted material with in-scale patterns.

      It's not the material. It's what you do with the material. In fact, I have seen some pretty cheap material and trims used on uber-expensive clothing from "name shops" that *I* would not want on my doll. And I have seen clothing made from socks that is super cute and funky and well made that I *would* want on my doll, assuming it would suit the doll.
       
    6. I gotta say this is an interesting subject.

      I don't have an aversion to sock dresses in particular or people using socks as material. As a matter of fact I have a few socks sitting around that I bought for the purpose of making doll clothes out of them.
      A beautiful doll will still be a beautiful doll if it's wearing a sock dress. It's all in the aesthetics really.
      I try not to think less of someone for having a sock dress. I don't know their situation. Maybe they saved up just enough to bring their doll home and didn't have any extra. Maybe they're trying to make a statement. I just don't know.
      If it was a really simple three-holes sock dress, I might point them to some tutorials since a lot of them are easy enough for a beginner. Some people can't afford the clothes and so make their own, but that can be really tough if you don't know much about sewing.

      If someone uses a sock as a starting point, then hey, that's cool. For the 5th Anniversary they had a "sock dress" competition - the winners I saw and went "That was socks?!" It was amazing. I've seen people selling shirts made of socks in the MP and they were nicely done. It's the skill that transforms a sock into clothing.
      I think it's the lack of attention that irks people about sock dresses. We spend time picking out the right wig, the eyes, the sculpt that many people think it ludicrous not to put that same attention on clothes. But not everyone can afford to buy or can make the clothes they want - I love BTSSB clothes for my girl but I can't afford them. I'm just really lucky and thankful that I could probably sew something like it myself (and hope to, at some point).

      Gah. sorry for the novel.
      TL;DR summary: I try not to judge. Sock clothes can be cool if you put time and effort into it.
       
    7. People can make really awesome clothes out of socks, but most people don't. It's not that it's a dress made of socks that seems to annoy people - it's that it's not usually a "dress" at all, it's just a sock with the toe cut off. The sock-induced rage mostly stems from what it seems to epitomize - the uglifying of a really pretty hobby. We've all seen the blank doll with aquarium marbles for eyes stuffed into a leg warmer, sprawled artlessly on the unmade bed with some scintillating text underneath.... and I think that most of us have to admit that deep down in our heart of hearts, we cringed.

      I am not a total hater and I can appreciate the expense or difficulty of clothing a new doll. Totally been there; my first doll wore things I sewed and some teddy bear sweaters from Michaels. But that was also 2002, when BJD stuff was hard to get and very expensive. Now you can get very reasonably priced clothes made in BJD sizes, domestically! From people who speak English! :aheartbea

      I do still get a little squishy seeing the love and enthusiasm of a first doll in a box opening thread. I think sock dresses are cool for the short term, but by the time a doll is being posted in the main galleries I want to see a faceup and some clothes that are shaped vaguely like the doll underneath. I'm not going to tell anyone what they should be doing with their doll (it's none of my business!), but I'm also not going to make insincere compliments.
       
    8. I love sock dresses. I've made several and considered them pretty. I guess that pretty much answers all the other parts of the question.


      Socks ROCK! Once I'm over this cold I'm fighting....I'm going to whip up a cardigan out of socks.
       
    9. Dude, I get so angry I could punch a bunny!

      (Not really. I have no position on sock dresses. I just loved the original title of your post.)
       
    10. I have no issue with socks used as material, or the starting base, for doll clothes. I LOVE cheap socks with interesting patterns in the knit itself for sweaters. Whenever I'm at the dollar store I browse the socks to see if there are any with a good scale pattern to turn into sweaters for my dolls. Why? Because those socks are a GREAT source of in scale, knitted material that can be cut apart, re-sewn, and turned into sweaters. It's easier and cheaper to hunt up socks with good patterns for sweaters than it is to hunt up 'regular' fabric with the right patterns in the right scale.

      Sock Dresses, as in a sock with the toe cut off, and slits cut out for arm holes? Yeah...NOT a fan of that, at all. Do I have an issue with other people choosing to do so? Nope. Their doll, their choice. But I wouldn't do so myself. Even the one dress I've been working on for one girl, done out of socks...is a separate sweater and skirt...the sweater is cute...the skirt...looks like a cut up sock. Heh. So...I put it aside until I find a different fabric to make a matching skirt out of. The sock skirt? Well...it might become leg warmers or something eventually. Or I might figure out what to change to make it work. We'll see.
       
    11. Do you have an aversion to sock dresses?
      Yeah; I'll admit it, I do. They just look so cheap to me. I get that it's a simple thing to make - a no-sew outfit - but I don't like them.

      Do you think it makes a doll less of a doll when it doesn't have what the average owner calls proper clothing?

      No; sock dresses just look cheap. It doesn't affect the doll at all.

      Do you think less of the owner when they choose to either have a temporary sock dress or a permanent sock dress?
      Not really, because there are a lot of reasons why a person puts their doll in a sock dress. Maybe they can't sew a decent outfit for a while, but don't want the doll staying naked. Or maybe they can't sew - period. I wouldn't cut up a perfectly good sock - I tend to lose my socks in my apartment. As long as it's not the only thing they have to cover their doll, I don't care either way. But if you can make it look like a decent piece of clothing (and not just the ankle part of the sock around a doll) then more power to you!

      Let me now how you feel about sock dresses in general?

      They're just cheap, and I don't like them much.
       
    12. First, I want to make this clear: When people are talking badly about 'sock dresses', they are NOT talking about when someone actually uses a pattern, takes apart a sock, and MAKES something. They're talking about when someone cuts the edge off a sock, shoves their doll in it, and calls it done.

      Also, I think they're "okay" in the box opening galleries. Not great, but I understand it there. I do NOT understand it in actual gallery posts.

      To me, it's lazy and on the same level as washed-out flash photograhy and horribly blurry shots. To me, part of the incredible beauty of this hobby is that the dolls can look so real, so in scale, and like people in their own way. My favorite photographers are the ones who have in scale props, and use the camera angles to hide the size of the dolls. A lazy sock dress is forever in my mind linked with a messy wig, a cluttered background, and people complaining about how nobody comments on their gallery posts when they make no EFFORT. That's what it's all about to me, in the end-the effort to make the dolls show their beauty, even the gore mods. Not the "Hay guyz look at me I bought a doll but couldn't even try to make a rectangle skirt, I just cut the toe of a sock but LOOKATMEEEE~" because that's the exact feel that it puts out to me. I know that there are surely people who can put their doll in a tube sock with the ends cut off and photograph it lovingly and in great light and I can forget about the sock-but honestly, I don't think I've ever seen that.
       
    13. You know this thread really amuses me, because the other day I went to Target in hunt of very thin socks to turn into a Ravenclaw sweater vest for my girl's Luna cosplay. I spent so much time finding the perfectly striped socks that my friend was whining that I was being worse than I usually am at the fabric store nearby. I actually cut socks up completely a tailor a vest or dress though, I just like the knit material. It's really hard to find that kind of material in a regular fabric store sometimes.

      SO it boils down to, using socks as material for an outfit is a great, money-savy idea to me. Cutting two holes for arms and slicing the toe off with out even hemming seams or edges... NO. That's a little tacky, just let the doll be naked. Hell, drape a napkin on it or something if you are that offended by your doll's nudity. It's about the effort you put into something. Why do something, if you aren't going to try to do it well?
       
    14. I'd rather my doll stay naked until I find actual well made clothes for it that meet my standards than put it in a sock dress. There is no time in my doll owning life that I have ever pondered putting one of my dolls in a sock dress.

      They are in the same realm as poorly done faceups of the sharpie, nail polish, crayon, and poorly done acrylic paint variety or blurry up the nose flash photography. They are a nod to poor taste and are things I do not want to look at. If I see something like that, I generally twitch, make a snarky comment to friends, and then move on. I really don't care how much love went into the making of the poorly made sock dress, it still looks bad to me. I am sure people who write awful fanfiction love it and it still makes me cringe to come across it. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding threads or areas where I know I am not going to find the pretty I am looking for though. Makes everyone's lives so much easier in the end to just avoid and best ignore the things we don't like seeing.

      However, well made clothes that are made from patterns and use socks as a source of small knit fabric are a different thing altogether, and show a lot of skill and effort. Sadly, that is rarely the case and more often than not, it's going to be the up the nose shot of a some poor doll with walleyes in a sock with the toe cut off and the poster going "Ain't she/he gorgeous?!"
       
    15. Funny, all I can think of doing now is making a nice sweater dress for my Meryl. Sock dresses are great!
       
    16. I'm going to assume the OP is referring to the classic 'tube-top' sock dress, not about using the fabric to sew much more elaborate or well-tailored garments, so that is what I shall answer for.

      - Do you have an aversion to sock dresses?
      Yes, very much so. If one has the money to spend on a couple pairs of socks then one has the money to buy a quarter of fabric from the craft store and use that instead to sew a basic rectangle skit (which can be hoisted up and cinched with a ribbon to create a quick and cute dress) which will undoubtedly look ten times better. Or if one is being extra thrifty and using old socks which I also find very unappealing, then what's the difference in using an old, worn out shirt to also instead create said rectangle skirt? Point being, I see no reason to use socks when there are alternatives out there to use that are just as cheap, easy (the skirt only requires straight lines), and quick that look overall like a bit of actual care went into it.

      - Do you think it makes a doll less of a doll when it doesn't have what the avarage owner calls proper clothing?
      It doesn't make it any less of a doll no-but it does almost instantly detract from its beauty and instead place it in the more cheap/ugly category.

      - Do you think less of the owner when they choose to either have a temporary sockdress or a permanent sock dress?
      I know for some people and for whatever personal reasons they cannot have a naked doll around so a sock dress as a temporary fix doesn't bother me. However, it's when these sock dresses weasel their way into the gallery and such ( a permanent sock dress? ), then yeah, I'll raise a eyebrow. And it doesn't have so much to do with "looking down" on someone for not being able to afford something more expensive, as it does with getting a gist of their personality from how their doll is presented. A doll with a permanent sock dress shows very little care or effort from the owner and comes off as lazy and sloppy. It doesn't even have to do with so much the construction of the garment as it does the effort put into it. I'd rather see a poorly sewn sundress on a doll than a sock dress as the sundress at least shows some iniative to learn the skill of sewing, making a pattern for the doll and overall actually trying. A sockdress takes 2 seconds. It's lazy.

      I also don't understand the need to show off the doll if it's not complete yet. If one can save for a $200-$600 doll, even if it takes a few more weeks, I doubt it'd be impossible to save an extra $20-30 to buy a dress from the marketplace or Dollmore, and even save on shipping by joining a GO. All it takes is a little patience and not spamming your doll in the galleries for just a little longer.

      - Let me know how you feel about sock dresses in general.
      I would never put my doll in one. Ever. I would personally rather let my dolls sit naked (and have done so) until their proper clothes arrive than put them in a sock dress. I have no problem with that. I'm not going to be taking them out, posting pictures in the gallery and in all honesty I'd be just as embarassed taking one of them to a meet-up in a sock dress as I would if they were wearing nothing at all. No one sees them but me so they can wait in the nude if they must as I'd probably be quite put off of them if I saw them in a sock dress.
       
    17. As a "sock-dressmaker" myself, I can't help but feel compelled to comment here.

      - Do you have an aversion to sock dresses?
      I am terrible as a seamstress and lazy as heck, I don't know how to knit either,
      though I would love to learn how to tat. I love (LOVE with a passion!) knitted shirts,
      especially on male-dolls. So I specifically buy a ton of human-sized knitted-stockings
      (which I hate wearing myself) and "socks" precisely for making shirts/tops for my larger males.
      I have never seen any type of knits used in BJD-clothing that I like anyway so I don't see why I should
      buy readymade bjd-sized-knits (or any clothes for that matter) if I don't like them.
      Also, I don't like to make my dolls wear the same things more than once (unless I'm being
      obnoxiously lazy), so it would be a huge waste of money for me to pay $$$ on an outfit
      that I don't even like, for just one crummy shot, I don’t see the sense in that – making
      a shirt out of some of those knits is a royal pain in the gut for me, but I like the results,
      so I don’t have aversion to sock dresses at all. ^____^

      - Do you think it makes a doll less of a doll when it doesn't have what the average owner calls proper clothing?
      As an artist I think the art/doll is only as good as the artist/customizer/doll-owner skills are, regardless of how much
      the doll or clothing is worth. That is why I never invest a lot on props or eyes, because I suck at photographing.
      So even if I pay an arm and a leg for those things, they'll look like crap, because that is the quality of my photographic-skills.
      On the other hand, if a very talented artist buys a really inexpensive doll or outfit, due to their unrivaled skills,
      they’ll make that doll or outfit seem like it’s worth $1-million bucks – even if it is just a sock-dress! ^.~

      - Do you think less of the owner when they choose to either have a temporary sock-dress or a permanent sock dress?
      No, I don't think less of anyone because of the material possessions they are able or willing to pay for.
      As a vegan, I tend to "see" people differently anyway, but I am an anomaly among the abnormal so...

      - Let me know how you feel about sock dresses in general.
      I think as long as the person making the clothing feels good about the garment they just made, then nothing else matters.


      - Enzyme ^ ^
       
    18. - Do you have an aversion to sock dresses?
      The way most people do it - honestly yes. If they bought new socks and used the material and made something with proper shape (with proper scale print if any at all) then I of course don't mind.

      - Do you think it makes a doll less of a doll when it doesn't have what the average owner calls proper clothing?
      The doll isn't less of a doll to me, but it does very often look very horrid. It's not flattering to the doll and quite often looks trashy to me. I don't enjoy seeing dolls done up like that at all and I will hit the back button when I see it because I just find it unappealing to look at.

      - Do you think less of the owner when they choose to either have a temporary sockdress or a permanent sock dress?
      I can understand a temporary sock dress but a permanent one (Assuming we mean the "i cut the top and bottom off the sock and was done") just seems weird to me. I wouldn't think less of the person but I certainly will not appreciate their taste at all. I personally feel that when you invest so much in the doll itself it seems silly to cheap out on things for it that make the differences between it looking like crap and looking gorgeous. Especially when there is plenty of inexpensive clothes available for those of us who utterly suck at sewing.

      - Let me now how you feel about sock dresses in general.
      As others have said - they're very rarely done in a tasteful manner to me. I honestly won't pull a total judgement call on the owner and I wont consider it "less of a doll" but I will cringe and most likely avoid these situations like the plague. They have the right to enjoy their doll the way they want but... if I have nothing nice to say then I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. Silently agree to disagree.
       
    19. socks can be the source of some really nice, to scale fabric, that can be made into unique quality garments. (it can be really hard to find small scale knits at a fabric store) or they can be something slapped together or somewhere in between. but is that not true for clothing regardless of the fabric source? it seems like the real issue is carelessly made clothing, rather then what it's made from. or at least that's how it seems to me...
       
    20. Haven't seen any and didn't even know people have been using them until this thread. I sew my doll's costumes. I certainly wouldn't call spending $35 on a doll dress "cheap" Heck, I don't spend that much on a dress for myself, or even shoes. I certainly wouldn't spend $35 on something using less than a yard of fabric, when I know it only takes a couple of hours to hand sew some basic pants and a top, minutes on a sewing machine.

      In practice I'm less adverse to people using sock dresses than buying grossly overpriced doll outfits. At least the sock dress people actually took a few minutes to make something for their doll themselves. To me people who buy the overpriced outfits are the lazy ones. A sock dress creator might eventually progress to making some basic outfits, a person who buys all their doll clothes never will.

      It's not that difficult to learn to hand sew a pair of basic pants and top, or a simple dress. I use a very basic pants pattern as my base. There are free basic patterns online. I see sock dress types as people who'd like to sew but feel intimidated. It's nothing to be afraid of, especially hand sewing, learn three basic stitches and you can make almost any outfit. My great grandmother taught me those three stitches when I asked her back when I was nine years old. It only took me a few minutes to master all three. A sewing machine is more challenging, but the clothes for these dolls are small enough that a machine isn't really necessary.