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How to find clothes, outfits and shoes for your dolls ?
It's time for a tour of the wardrobe, and of course, because there's always a pair missing: shoes!
- Is there any doll-specific clothing?
- Best practices to keep it looking its best
- Prevent color transfer and avoid stains
Clothes for mini dolls
With the exception of mini dolls, there are no specific garments. The materials used are the same as those used for classic garments, only the sizes change.
Finding 3-year-old clothes for your doll is, well, li-mi-ted.
That's why the Kospley has brought out a whole range of outfits and shoes for mini and nano dolls, which you can find here.
Use common sense
How do you get dressed?
Answer, you know your size, go to a clothing store or online and choose what you like.
Incredible, isn't it? Well, it's the same with dolls.
Sometimes size matters
To help you with your shopping, log on to Ava Love Doll, open the product page for your doll's body and view - or download - the second image of the product sheet containing her measurements.
Prefer downloading the measurements of your dolls for reduce your carbon footprint by not wasting resources* have them on hand.
Special mention: bras
Silicone dolls or TPEs don't really like bras even if, paradoxically, heavier breasts need it.
The reason? Bigger ones deform over time on silicone dolls.
Don't worry, you can easily restore their youthful appearance with our gel injection kit.
TPE versions can tear under gravity, particularly due to a lack ofmaintenance or very long periods in the same position.
To avoid marking their breasts, make sure to remove the whales bra that can leave marks on the skin under the breasts when worn for too long. If you're not familiar with this animal, it's the metal underwires that enable the bra to retain its shape.
Using a pair of very fine nail-cutting scissors, cut out a few stitches and carefully remove the underwires.
Beware of ramps
As always, for the big guys, watch out for the bra straps which, under pressure can mark the shoulders in addition to transferring their color if they are dark.
Back circumference
When you're a doll, you've got to fight for weight, but not for tits! (Quote "from Avafuscius").
While it's easy to find the right cup, it's very difficult to find the right cup and back size.
The reason is that the ratio of cup size to back size simply doesn't exist in nature. Large cup + small bust = increased sewing skills, simple as 1, 2, 3.
One solution may be to support the enormous breasts with a scarf. Alternatively, you can consider bikinis, they're easy to adjust and seamless. But beware: bikini strings can leave a lasting mark on her neck under the weight of her obese breasts.
His first clothes
After months of weeding out the many damsels and finally making your decision, a new evil awaits you: clothing bulimia. During this long wait, the temptation is to buy far, far too much.
Prefer to acquire a few at the outset to find the perfect size, otherwise you run the risk of storing tons of clothes in the wrong size, or worse, staining your doll.
Once you've found the right sizes of knickers, pants, tops and so on, you'll be able to duplicate without risk.
"I'll transfer your call to an advisor"
Too many of us have heard this phrase, but have you seen it?
Without taking too many risks, we can say that 100 % fabrics transfer color pigments and other products of all kinds from the textile industry. Yes, even on humans, but dolls don't change clothes every 24 hours, don't shower every day and don't have a liver to filter it all out.
So, to avoid turning your love doll into a zebra, rule #1:
"You will test any material that touches her or she will pay the price."
Well, you'll have to pay, but we understand each other.
Set a high budget to avoid surprises
If this technique worked, we'd know about it. So save your money and your breath, because there's nothing scientific about it. Skeptical?
No problem, do your own tests or buy white silk to validate this aberration.
A major brand is a sign of long-term reliability, and possibly a level of finish and service, but the production methods remain earthbound.
An original designer bag is not made from "elonian" materials (this is a joke). It can be perfectly reproduced to the millimetre for 20 times less. The same production techniques for the same economic reality and the same pigment transfer. To put it another way, spending a lot of money on a garment that can't transfer colors is a myth. Is this why you bought a silicone doll? Sorry, but someone's been lying to you.
Second-hand clothes
Having tested many grandmotherly recipes, I'm not aware of any miraculous techniques for preventing the transfer of color from clothing to your doll's skin. Your best allies: cotton, nylon and luck.
Successive washings are the only way to ensure long-lasting results, but be careful! This is not a guarantee. The good news is that with second-hand clothes found at thrift stores, on Vinted or elsewhere, someone has already done the work for you.
Bonus: the price is better, you give a new life to a garment in a shorter circuit, and it suits another person. It's a win-win situation!
Take the test
As mentioned above, all garments will transfer except white and very light colors. On the latter, transfer won't be noticeable and, as previously mentioned, your doll doesn't have a liver to care for, so we'll skip the chlorine commonly used to whiten garments.
For everything else, it's time to test, fail and start again, just like in real life.
How do you test if a garment is bleeding?
By simulating the conditions your doll will endure. Her body is fat, she's sitting down and her buttocks are bearing 20 kg of pressure on a pair of red lace panties.
Reproduce simply this scenario on a sample of TPE or silicone, supplied with every doll purchased on Ava Love Doll.
Here's an example of the technique I use systematically for all clothes, shoes, cushions, bed linen and so on.
Phase 1 to find out where you're going
- after a few machine washes, soak the garment in 40° water in a basin or sink. In practice, I prefer 60°, but it's up to you.
- add a lick of paraffin oil to help the pigments lift off and increase the difficulty of the test
- add a little detergent and leave to soak until you can dip your hands in without burning yourself
If at this stage the water hasn't changed color, it's already a first achievement.
- roll up your sleeves and rub delicately laundry as in the "good old days". Don't hesitate to use a toothbrush to scrub suspenders and other laces with precision.
- rinse thoroughly with clear water
Phase 2 (it's getting serious)
At this stage, if the water has remained clear and you still have some skin on your hands, let the garment dry and proceed with the pressure test.
The clamp is very effective, but doesn't allow you to do multiple tests at the same time unless you have a collection.
Anything heavy will do, and don't skimp on the mass you send. If your doll is taking 25 kg of pressure on her bottom, there's no point in sending five unfortunate kilos.
Leave the test to work for 24 hours, or even longer if, like me, you leave your clothes on for several weeks at a time.
See, note meticulously, start again on every part of the garment.
Hot spots
All pressure areas (shoulders, hips, thighs, instep for shoes, etc.) are at risk.
This is where you need to focus your attention.
Stained doll when the damage is done
Rest assured, it's happened to all of us. Ignorance, overconfidence, acute flemmingitis, the penalty can fall in the next 120 seconds or in several days, it's a lottery.
In case of color transfer, you need to act fast or wait a very long time.
Paraffin or sweet almond oil can be used to strip the stained surface before the pigments seep into the skin.
Using a cloth or paper towel, sweep the surface to remove the color.
If you purchased your doll from Ava Love Doll and the stain is still present, please apply stain remover immediately after. Application instructions are available here.
Color transfer taken too late, what's going to happen?
The pigments will inexorably sink into the silicone or TPE. The color will dilute until it almost disappears, but be careful!
Too much pigment accumulation in one area will eventually dull the skin, giving a grayish effect, especially on lighter tones.
Note that the less material there is, the faster this phenomenon will become apparent. This is particularly true of silicone, which represents only a few millimeters of skin thickness, compared with several centimeters on a TPE doll.
The silicone doll myth
Silicone can also be stained. Of course, there will always be someone who will tell you that silicone can't be stained, because it's waterproof, you understand. I'd advise you not to get hung up on this (completely idiotic?) idea. Your doll is not an O-ring! Pigments will eventually come out over time and rise to the surface. Depending on thickness and density, it will take several years for this process to be fully completed. But how is such a miracle possible? Anyone who touches a doll, even a silicone one, without greasy hands, please come forward!
Carried by the oil, the pigments enter and end up coming out like the fat on your hands.
