Which Size Has The Most Clothing Options?

Right now, I'd say it was a toss-up between "slim mini" dolls (Like Fairyland's MiniFees-) and the larger-scale 65cm+ "Uncle"-sized big guys.

 

The slimmer 60 cm girls seem to have a lot right now. Off topic brand (smart doll) has been really popular lately and so a lot of clothes are made to fit them. Some BJDs, like Feeple60, fit in the same size.

Minifee still has a ton, but it feels like it’s going down. I’m trying to get some clothes for my girls and it’s like a needle in a haystack to find what I want in their size. There’s a lot, but I’m picky.

 

Some resin gals can wear Smart outfits (and the ones sized for those jointed ABS dolls that are all over the place-), but boy do you have to hope the measurements are accurate. I've found that out the hard way with things I've ordered for a couple of my girls. Some makers don't measure quite as diligently as others.

 

I think it depends on which website you're buying from. Outside of reseller shops, on etsy you are much more likely to find slim msd clothes bc most independent sellers on there are from the west, where minifee are more popular, but on taobao you're going to find more standard msd and mdd sizing.

I'd say standard SD sizing from Volks is still overall more common as the default, but 68+ cm boys are becoming way more popular and market trend is starting to get bigger when it comes to boys. Girls are also starting to become larger, but SD13 is still the most popular from what I can see. Dolls that can fit in Smart Doll clothes are also able to find clothes pretty easily, too. As for MSD it's overall more standard MSD and MDD from what I can see. Slim MSD stuff is really only easy for me to find on etsy.

 

I'd agree with SD girls having more options than (slim) MSD. Seems like everytime I go looking for clothes online, the cute stuff is only for 1/3! You see it even with the brands that advertise on DoA...

 

I think it's a very "grass is greener on the other side" type of thing - I have minis, but it feels like there is more stuff for 1/3 dolls, but it probably feels like minis have more options if collecting smaller dolls. Having said that, I think Volks SD sizes have the most options and 1/3 girls certainly have the biggest variety of shoes available.

 

For girls: 1/4 (especially slim mini), and below
For guys: 70cm and up

However, I'd argue the ones that are always the easiest to dress are the ones that are most popular with the Chinese community (which atm heavily leans towards 75cm guys). Since a lot of clothes are made by them and sold through Taobao, Weibo and local agents (the latter sells them to us).
Second are the ones that are supported directly by their company, like Volks. I'd argue the bigger Volks girls and guys got it pretty good overall, because for a long time they've been a standard size.

The worst ones to shop for in my opinion are YoSD and MSD boys. The smaller the dolls, the more they lean towards being female and with that most clothes in their size are feminine as well. I have a YoSD boy and shopping for him is no fun vs all the cute, frilly dresses I could get

 

MSD and standard SD - They seem to wear stuff right off the racks with no problems, and there is a lot of stuff available for those two sizes.

I actually have trouble finding stuff for my uncles 70-75 cm dolls, because it seems every single one of them wears a different size! There isn't that much variety on the market either. You get 'Ancient Clothing' or 'Suit' for the most part, or some elaborate costumes that cost $$$. Regular interchangeable streetwear is really difficult to find. I bought a handful of button up shirts for them once, and it only fit a couple of them. I have to make adjustments on almost everything I buy for them. Mostly I just sew for them because it's too frustrating to shop for them. I love my big boys but darn they are so hard to shop for.

 

I can really only put my two cents in about girl dolls as I pretty much solely collect girls, but I've found that slim MSD's (Minifee) and 60 cm girls (Feeple60/Smartdoll size) are pretty easy to find clothes for on Etsy and Instagram. I personally make a lot of my dolls' clothes or find playline doll clothes that fit them, and I find that is easiest for my YoSD and SD girls.

For my YoSD girl, I can get her into some Barbie clothes (tops, skirts, dresses). My Feeple60 girl can wear American Girl/18 inch doll clothes, although sometimes I have to take in the skirts/shorts a bit but otherwise they fit pretty well. Slim MSD's are hardest to find playline clothes for, pretty much only Glitter Girls (14 inch dolls) clothing fits them, albeit loosely, although some Barbie shirts are large enough to work as crop tops for them. Plus, since I sew a lot, I have been able to use 18 inch doll patterns for my SD girl and slightly upsized Barbie patterns for my Minifees.

So to answer your question, generally 1/3 and slim MSD seem to have the most options, whether you're buying clothes specifically made for BJD's, buying playline clothing, or sewing using commercial doll patterns intended for playline dolls.

 

A lot of it will depend on what styles you are looking for.

For example, my SD sized dolls are nearly all children rather than teens or adults, and very few of them are modern kids either, so most of the clothing available in their sizes is either too modern, or too mature, or both. Even with the period style clothing options that are available, I'm "picky" about details and don't like the "anime incaccuracies" that are prevalent in a lot of what is available (wrong style of sleeves for the period the clothes represent, wrong skirt length, trousers with modern low-slung waistbands instead of period-correct natural waists, waistcoats too short to cover the trouser waistbands... etc.)... and dont even get me started on shoes and wigs in yhe right styles

If you aren't making the clothing yourself, then it's mostly a case of shopping around until you find the sort of thing that you have in mind in the right size for the doll you are dressing.

Tedy

 

My experience trying to find clothes for my Uncle mirrors @RabbidBunnies. There's a huge variety of sizes, and unless you have one of the shorter very slim uncle boys your only options are, like, a suit, flowing asian robes...or fetish gear. And even when I can find something, everything I've bought for my Impldoll body has been the wrong size in some way, with "way too huge" being the most common problem. If you just want "normal clothes" it's nearly impossible unless you're willing to have something custom made - or make sure before you buy that the doll fits the size guidelines on, like, Alice's Collections for "uncle".

 

I don't have an uncle-size doll, but it does always amaze me how despite being in the same size category, none of their stuff seems to fit each other, at least by the size listings on clothes for them!

I mostly have slim MSDs with a handful in the SD category. Only one so far is more in that Feeple60/SD10/Smartdoll size; the other two are MSD in height but SD in width. Makes clothes shopping fun! When I shop around on Etsy, it's no problem finding clothes that fit them, or sewing patterns designed for them. (The two MSD/SD oddballs excluded, but I usually just try to sew their own stuff anyhow.) Whether the clothes are what I want is a different deal, but that's always the risk.

Buying from Asian companies/artists, especially if they don't have a slim MSD model, is a bit more of a roll of the dice. There's this one Thai (IIRC) sewist on Etsy who makes some adorable slim MSD stuff that fits great. I haven't bought a lot from Alice's Collections but what I did get also leaned on the slim MSD side. But what I get from Dollmore or Rrabit tends to feel a bit too big, especially tops. Not that it stops me from getting Rrabit's blind bags come November! Interestingly enough, I've got my SD wearing some of the MSD stuff I got from them, so hey, at least someone fits it.

The one thing I will say slim MSDs feel shafted on is shoes. I've got maybe two pairs of shoes that actually fit on their feet without being wobbly and acting like they're gonna slide off, and those were a bit extra pricy and much more limited in style options than the other MSD shoes available. At least one set is also specifically for Minifee, so it works on my Black Cherry Dolls gals but it's too tight on my others! The size problem isn't too bad for boots, or when I'm putting everyone in handknit socks, but yeah. Unless you're willing to deal with bulky shoes, slim MSD footwear is pretty limited.

 

I definitely agree that it depends where you're shopping. For the longest time I was so confused when I saw people claim that slim mini clothes are overabundant since I could barely find any, but it turns out I've been looking in entirely different places. On taobao chubby 1/4 (Kumako) clothes are WAY more common than slim mini.

I have the easiest time finding MSD/MDD and YOSD clothes personally, but I don't know if they technically have more or if I'm just ignoring the SD+ stuff because it's ugly and/or expensive.