Traditional Asian wear on your dolls?

*raises hand* Me, me! I'm super picky about the kimono though so I wind up making them, and I'm going to try to dye my own at some point too. I have one character who is supposed to be a maiko and I really want to make good outfits for her. But seriously, if you ever want to talk about kimono, message me. I've been collecting human-sized once since 2007 and I love to study them too. Have you heard of the Immortal Geisha forums? You would probably love reading all the info there.

 

Oooooooh, so would I!

Though actually, I would even make happy noises if Volks, who KNOW better, would just stop putting huge front-tie oiran-style obi with EVERY. EFFING. KIMONO. SET. THEY. SELL. Including the ones for guys.

I have to admit that I've never really tried to get the hairstyles right. I'm hopeless with any kind of hair styling, myself, so it would require a pre-styled wig, and those are seriously not easy to find. I swoon over the high-end marumage wigs I see now and then on Y!J, but I always wind up putting my money somewhere else.

 

My Magic Time doll came with a kimono as a free gift, it's adorable and I have no problem dressing her up in it.

 

Oy, yes, on both counts.

There used to be some beautiful stuff available in BJD scale . . . most of the names won't come to me right now, but I do remember tomoelwes (on Y!J, always ended so high that I couldn't even get close to winning an auction) and kimono-japan (on eBay, much more affordable but, iirc, still quite nice). And what was the name of the kimono maker associated with Satoko Ohno--do you remember, hobbywhelmed? I have some of those, though they're packed away at the moment, bad me.

 

I've always wanted a kimono for my dolls but have never gotten one. I have a hard time finding styles or patterns that I like.
I also have no doubt that all the info is a lot to take in. So much to learn!

 

I need to get Leah a nice kimono, since she's from an aristocratic, Japanese elf family. Once I have them, Hikaru, Emi, Airi, and Reizo will all end up with their own kimono, too.

I love seeing all sorts of traditional Asian clothing on dolls. Some of the Chinese companies make and sell the most beautiful sets (and wigs).

 

I like to dress my guys in yukata and kimono too but I have to be very picky about it because I rarely see any that are accurate. I mean, even the ones that are put together right, have motifs that wouldn't be on a guy's wafuku. Forget finding an accurate kimono. I'm so picky that if the stitching isn't right for a kimono...well...I might buy it but I would never photograph from the back or anything. And forget it if the sleeves aren't right. I try not to be offended when I see dolls in incorrect kitsuke but...I do. Some can be so far off that I feel like it's cultural appropriation.

 

I seeing all the traditional Asian clothing on these dolls. Currently I have a Souldoll Lee Jun Ki on layaway with a fellow Den member. I have waited for "JUST THE RIGHT ASIAN BOY DOLL" to showcase several different traditional Asian outfits. I think this doll would fit most wearing Chinese and Korean clothing (traditional and more modern). Since this doll is based off of the Korean celebrity, I think it just fits.
Since I cannot sew (I really wish I had this talent), I depend on sellers from the Den (ie: STACY'S Pink Ocean) and/or ebay where you can find some really beautiful outfits and maybe get information on the outfits at the same time.

 

I have a few dolls who are going to wear clothing inspired by traditional Asian wear. The reason I won't be going for accurate outfits is that my doll's characters come from a fictional world, so none of them are actually Japanese or Chinese or anything like that. I'll be making it very clear in the design that my outfits aren't attempting to be accurate traditional wear, so hopefully they won't trigger anyone's annoyances from this thread!

I do love seeing very detailed, accurate traditional Asian outfits on other people's dolls, though. Especially when people take into account the difference of scale and substitute in fabrics that will drape correctly on small dolls.

 

I had ONE doll at one point who was supposed to wear traditional Japanese clothing because he was a lucky cat boy, a maneki-neko, but anthropomorphized. Sadly, I only ever bought him one kimono before I parted ways with him last year, and it wasn't even very authentic. It was closer to a woman's kimono too, and he was a boy! Oh well. I think maybe only two other of my dolls will ever wear traditional Japanese clothing, and if they ever do, I need to make sure it's as accurate as possible. One is half Japanese, so she might be part of some cultural thing with her family at some point and it would make sense. The other, I don't have yet, but I plan to take her with me to Japan at some point if I end up getting her... Her character is mostly just a DOLL as opposed to my other dolls who are mostly PEOPLE in doll form, so I plan to dress her up more like a doll, so more semi-lolita stuff, more Japanese clothing if I take her with me when I eventually go... That's about it. If the character has no Japanese in their family and isn't into Japanese culture, then I see no reason for them to wear Japanese clothing. (Same for other Asian cultures too!)

 

I want to dress one of my boys in different Japanese clothing and maybe in the future I will make or find some jikatabi like the pair I own.

 

A fair few of my dolls are in Asian-inspired outfits. Because my crew are all avatars for characters that belong to fictional and not "real world" settings and cultures, however, I'm not particularly fussed about historical accuracy when it comes to those costumes.

A serious student of Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Indian period fashion would probably be absolutely appalled at some of the things my crew wear. With hands firmly to forehead, I'm sure they'd read me the proverbial Riot Act for a whole laundry list of sartorial offenses I'd committed. (Though none of my guys in kimono are wearing front-tied fancy obi or frufru butterfly sleeves. Even I have *some* limits. XD ) Their complaints would fall on deaf ears. What really matters much more to me is how the outfit looks on the doll. I may not give a rat's bum about "historical authenticity", but I'm as picky as they come about the over-all appearance of my guys.

If anyone really wants to make an issue out of it, I just shrug and remind them that Exalted's Creation ISN'T China, Turtle House's Middle Kingdom ISN'T Japan and there's nothing even remotely like Oracle and Mender's Ruined City in India. As much as you may want to, you don't get to hold fantasy to reality's standards.

 

I have some Asian inspired outfits that I've made but they are NOT supposed to be authentic in any way, shape or form as the characters that wear those are from a created world of mine and not historic reality. So, for example, I take the long, flowing sleeves from a woman's article of clothing in this period and put them on a men's tunic from that period, give them an under-tunic from yet another period and pair that all together with a pair of pants from yet another time period and different culture to get the look that I have in my head for them.

I think the authentic, traditional outfits are just gorgeous and while I'd love to be able to dress some of my guys in them, unfortunately none of them wear that style. I admire them from afar though and sigh a little wistfully that I can't put them in that and have it look "right" for them.

 

I love traditional Hanfu, but have yet to have a doll who wants to wear it. I'm hoping the next guy in line will cooperate.

 

I have a couple of sets from Volks (though they're not really accurate as mentioned above), but I don't use them very often. None of my dolls' characters are from real-life historical settings so I'm not looking to have perfect matches to particular styles, but I'd never buy anything that was blatantly inaccurate because it would just annoy me.

 

I do have yukata and kimono sets from various makers (I love them for the colours!), but nowhere near enough to have all of my girls in them. But I do like putting them in them, especially in the winter cause the poor girl looks like she might be cold in a skirt and short socks >.<; This was something I did with Feena back in the day when it was just her because it was the only outfit she had aside from her default and my poor attempts at clothing that wasnt exactly winter-y

 

I'd love to find traditional Korean wear&#8230;I am a tad surprised by the fact that with as many doll companies that are based in Korea, there isn't more Korean inspired traditional clothing as an outfit offering. I've seen some stuff for the smaller dolls, but nothing in the 60+ range, especially males. Probably just me not knowing the right sources.
What I wouldn't give to be able to replicate outfits from Sungkyunkwan Scandal/Moon that Embraces the Sun&#8230;etc.