Swapping Clothes Among 1/4 Scale Dolls

Originally Written on June 23, 2008

Okay, I'll admit that there were three reasons why I purchased the Bobobie Sprite doll: 1) the relatively low price--I paid a little extra for the faceup and the green resin but she was still cheaper than a regular edition Volks Mini Super Dollfie of the same size, 2) the opportunity to add a green skinned doll with elf ears and several articulated joints to my collection, and 3) I had an idea of selling 1/4 scale doll clothes through my Etsy shop. I figured that since I owned other 1/4 scale dolls, I could make one outfit that would fit a variety of different dolls and it would be of interest to not only the Asian ball-jointed doll fandom but also fans of other types of dolls as well. Compared to the 18-inch American Girl dolls, they have pretty thin torsos. Sounds like a piece of cake, right?

Well, not exactly. After spending over an hour trying on different outfits on different dolls, I realized that making one outfit suitable for all the dolls that I own will be a bigger challenge than I thought. First, here are the 1/4 scale dolls that I currently own.

From left to right: vintage 1970's Velvet doll, vintage 1970's Crissy doll, Bobobie Sprite, Ellowyne Wilde, and Mattel Teen Trends Kianna doll. Their sizes range from 15 inches to 18 inches.

As I was pulling clothes on and off the dolls, I encountered all sorts of problems ranging from too small outfits to outfits that were so large that they literally hanged on the doll. Here's a rundown of what each doll I own can or can not wear.

Bobobie Sprite

Here is the Bobobie Sprite doll wearing some outfits that were originally made for a Friends 2B Made doll. I've bought a few Friends 2B Made outfits from the local mall and every one of them fits her perfectly, despite the fact that she has a more mature body (mainly larger breasts and thinner hips) than a typical Friends 2B Made doll. The clothes are nice looking and, with prices between $8-$12, a very affordable way to clothe a newly arrived Mini Super Dollfie-sized Asian ball-jointed doll in need of something to wear very quickly. (The only Friends 2B Made items that don't fit my Sprite doll are shoes and headbands. But that's okay since I really don't need a headband and I've already purchased a cute pair of black cat shoes from Bobobie for $12.)

Sprite is modeling Ellowyne Wilde's "Nevermore" outfit. The main problem with fitting into Ellowyne's clothes is that Sprite has a bigger bustline. In these photos, I was able to get the dress on her but I couldn't close the snaps in the back. Luckily the cape can hide that problem. But I wouldn't purchase an Ellowyne Wilde outfit for Sprite unless it was made out of very stretchy material around the top.

Sprite models an outfit that was made especially for Mattel's Teen Trends Kianna doll. This outfit fits her really well despite the fact that her breasts are larger than Kianna's. I think it's because the outfit was made for Kianna's thicker torso and it's wide enough to accomodate Sprite's breasts.

Sprite is wearing Velvet's dress. It fits her really well despite the fact that Sprite is an inch taller than Velvet (Sprite stands at 16 inches tall while Velvet is 15 inches) and she has full breasts, which Velvet doesn't have. I think it's because Velvet has a thicker torso than Sprite so everything evens out when it comes to sharing clothes. Velvet's clothes would be ideal for Sprite if I ever wanted a Lolita look that's merged with early 1970's fashion.

Sprite is wearing Crissy's dress. She is literally swimming in it because Crissy is 18 inches tall with a thicker torso while Sprite is 16 inches tall with a thinner torso.

Mattel Teen Trends Kianna

Kianna is modeling Ellowyne Wilde's "Nevermore" outfit. Kianna has the same problem fitting into the dress as Sprite did for different reasons. While Sprite has larger breasts than Ellowyne, Kianna has a thicker torso overall than Ellowyne. As a result, while I could get the dress on Kianna, I couldn't close the snaps in the back. Even though the cape hid the problem, I still wouldn't purchase an Ellowyne Wilde outfit for Kianna unless it was made out of very stretchy material.

Kianna is wearing Velvet's dress. While the dress fits her in the back, it's way too short for her. That's not a surprise since Kianna is 17 inches tall while Velvet is 15 inches. I wouldn't put Velvet's clothes on this doll unless it has a longer than usual hemline.

Kianna models a Friends 2B Made doll outfit, which fits her perfectly.

Kianna models Crissy's orange lace dress, which also fits her perfectly.

Ellowyne Wilde

Ellowyne is modeling an outfit that was made for Mattel's Teen Trends Kianna doll. This outfit fits her quite well despite the fact that Kianna is an inch taller and has a thicker torso than Ellowyne.

Ellowyne Wilde is modeling Velvet's dress. It fits her perfectly despite the fact that she's an inch taller. The fact that Velvet has a thicker torso probably evens things out when it comes to Ellowyne wearing that dress. She looks like a 1960's era mod go-go girl in that dress.

Ellowyne models a Friends 2B Made doll outfit, which fits her perfectly. That's a good thing to know since Wilde Imaginations sells additional Ellowyne Wilde outfits for around $99 or more while Friends 2B Made charges between $8-$12 for an outfit.

Ellowyne Wilde wears Crissy orange lace dress. It not only hangs on her like a tent but her breasts are showing through the top of the dress.

Crissy

Crissy was the hardest doll to try clothes on. Most of the other doll outfits wouldn't fit her at all.

Crissy is wearing the dress of her cousin, Velvet. Ironically Velvet's dress was one of the few doll outfits I could get on Crissy despite the fact that Crissy is 18 inches tall while Velvet is 15 inches. The dress is a bit on the short side on Crissy but I was able to get it on her body and close the snaps in the back.

Velvet

Velvet was another doll that was difficult to try clothes on because her torso is thicker than the others.

Velvet wears her cousin Crissy's dress. Even though it fits her in the torso, it hangs on her body like a tent. That's not a surprise since Crissy is 18 inches tall while Velvet is 15 inches.

After trying on different clothes on different dolls, I've learned a few things. First of all, I think it would be futile to include Crissy among the dolls to make clothes for. She is taller than the others and her torso is thicker. She can't fit into the newer doll clothes while her clothes fit only the Teen Trends doll. Besides, since the original manufacturer (Ideal) doesn't exist anymore and she has long since passed her popular heyday in the 1970's, the market for this doll would be relatively small compared to the ever-expanding Asian ball-jointed doll market.

While Velvet has the same circumstances as Crissy (1970's heyday and now-defunct manufacturer), at least her clothes fit the newer dolls. It might be possible to make an outfit based on Velvet's measurements and have it fit the newer dolls as well as long as I make the hemlines long enough to fit the Teen Trends doll. (Velvet's dress came up short on Kianna even though it fitted her perfectly in the torso.) Such an outfit would have potential crossover appeal between younger owners of the newer dolls (such as Asian ball-jointed dolls) and older owners who own Velvet dolls out of a sense for nostalgia for their childhoods back in the late 1960's-early 1970's.

Bobobie Sprite and Kianna can easily swap clothes. Sprite has the mature body while Kianna has a wide torso. I could make an outfit that would combine the dimensions of Sprite and Kianna with Velvet and it would be flexible enough to fit multiple dolls.

Designing an outfit based strictly on Ellowyne Wilde's dimensions would limit my market to Ellowyne Wilde only since her clothes don't fit the other dolls. But she can fit into clothes made for slightly larger dolls (Friends 2B Made, Velvet, Sprite, and Kianna) with no problem at all. The only outfits she would not be able to wear at all would be Crissy's.

Now that I have the results of trying on so many doll outfits on different dolls, I'll figure out what to do next regarding designing, making, and selling a doll outfit on Etsy.

September 14, 2009 Update

Since I wrote the previous paragraph, I obtained the another 1/4 scale Asian ball-jointed doll, a male Bobobie lilac-skinned Jun elf doll. In early 2009 Build-A-Bear Workshop, the parent company of the Friends 2B Made dolls, announced that it was discontinuing its Friends 2B Made line as of the following fall. Just as one affordable clothing alternative for Ellowyne Wilde dolls and Mini-Super Dollfie-sized ball-jointed dolls goes away, a new affordable alternative springs up. MGA Entertainment, the company responsible for the Bratz dolls, have come out with a line of 1/4 scale vinyl dolls known as BFC Ink. (which stands for "Best Friends Club, Ink."). These dolls have clothes sold separately that cost around $15 each. I purchased one of the outfits and found that it fits some of my own dolls. Here are a few photos.

My Bobobie Jun doll wears the outfit pretty well.

My Bobobie Sprite doll also wears the outfit pretty well.

The outfit fits Ellowyne Wilde.

The outfit also fits Teen Trends Kianna.

I attempted to try the outfit on my Crissy doll. I couldn't get the pants to cover her butt at all. (The pants had to be kept open in the back in order to fit Crissy.) I gave up on putting the rest of the outfit on Crissy after not being able to put her pants on. I didn't even try the outfit on Velvet.

Thanks to MGA Entertainment, there's at least another cheap clothing alternative for most 1/4 scale dolls.