Somewhere, in a galaxy very close and yet so far from the one I inhabit, there are people spending $60 on doll shoes. Teeny, tiny doll shoes, which don’t have to be comfortable or stand up to a single step of walking. In that world, you can purchase a bra, which never has to support a breast, and underwear, which never has to withstand a wash, for $32. As a comparison, I bought Camellia a bra, panties, and a matching slip for $1.05 and it’s stood up well to sweltering camera lights and lots of sand.
The price seems to have little to nothing to do with the material needed, or the quality of the garment. Instead, it appears to be determined entirely by whether the doll is a ball joint doll, or some other sort of doll. Even the ever-cheap Aliexpress is no longer cheap if you specify that you’re looking for BJD clothing. I could buy three or four dresses on Aliexpress for an actual child for the same price that a single BJD dress would cost.
As a cheap doll adventurer, I find the whole thing off-putting. I’m not going to photograph my dolls in the buff, but I’m also not going to spend more on their clothing than I would spend on my own.
You’d think I could just throw some Barbie clothes on the bigger doll, Jinjur, since at 26cm she’s a mere 4 cms shorter than a Barbie. But their body shape is entirely different.
Jinjur and Lily – a size comparison
Although Jinjur can fit into a loose Barbie dress, like this one I picked up on Etsy,
she needs wide openings for her enormous hands,
Jinjur’s enormous hands
her huge head,
huge head
and her gargantuan feet,
Although Blythe appears to have a totally different kind of body, the difference is mainly in the head.
Jinjur size comparison with Lily and Blythe
and Jinjur fits well into most Blythe outfits. In fact, she’s wearing one here:
Jinjur turns her head to the side on two axes
She can’t borrow long pants or long sleeved shirts, but most other things will fit.
It turns out that she has a very similar body to Curvy Barbie
Jinjur and curvy Barbie
That’s one of Curvy Barbie’s outfits she’s wearing for housecleaning:
Jinjur removes dog hairs from the couch
I totally lucked out with my smaller doll, the 19cm Buu. It turns out she is *exactly* the same size as my Lottie dolls
Buu and Lottie size comparison
and although her feet are too big to share their leggings
Buu’s big feet
she can fit them into the adorable pajamas she borrowed from them. While Lottie doll clothes aren’t as cheap as Barbie clothes, I can buy an outfit with pants, a shirt, a nicely lined jacket
Lottie’s cheap lined jacket and raincoat
along with a Lottie doll, and still spend less than I’d spend on a bra and panties made especially for a BJD.
The one thing I can’t find is shoes. But, that’s OK. My dolls are fending for themselves on the streets, so maybe they just don’t have any shoes 🙂
On my doll adventure. I’ve delayed Camellia’s episode for as long as I can. This week I’m going to brave my frigid workspace and see if I can’t at least roughly sketch out the plot line. Camellia reminds me that I promised her a dog. Next week, through the magic of photography, I have to figure out how to deliver one to her.