Basic questions about clothing and customization!

Alright, I didn't see an FAQ of sorts so I apologize if I missed it by chance.

I'm very overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options there are out there for Dollfie Dreams. When it comes to new wigs and clothing, should I invest in a wig cap and/or body suit?
Are there any materials I should look for or avoid? Any general "do's and don'ts" when it comes to customization? I'm mainly just looking at swapping eyes(already got them), getting a longer length wig and putting together her first outfit so she doesn't have t sit around in her underdress.

Thanks in advance!

Body suits are a good investment.  Especially with outfits with a lot of coverage in dark or bright colored materials.  There are the ones from Volks, but you can also find a lot in different shapes and pieces from places like us.coolcat.com (they're great and ship international).  Wigs made from heat resistant fiber are stain safe, but the wig caps and thread can still cause staining, I don't use wigs that have darker colored caps and my girls wear their wigs 24/7 365 with no silicone or fabric protectors and I've never had staining.  Jadepixel has a great resource on finding wig sellers with links and if they have light or dark colored wig caps.  

For clothes, just keep an eye out for dark materials, or dark thread that contacts the body directly, and I personally avoid anything in the pleather Volks likes to use. It ages like milk in a cupboard and isn't worth it in my opinion.  

3 hours ago, TheVeilsCurse said:

When it comes to new wigs and clothing, should I invest in a wig cap and/or body suit?

A bodysuit is certainly useful to have - even if you're not using it all the time. You won't need one for every doll that you get, but its good to have one around whenever one of your dolls wants to wear an outfit where you're not sure about staining.

With wig caps, its a bit tricky to differentiate the terminology:

• (a) As the part of a wig, it refers to the fabric cap that the wefts of the wig are sewn into.
• (b) As a stand alone item its either a fabric or silicone cap that goes on top of the head. And then the wig, with its own integrated (a) wig cap, goes on top of that.

So if you need a (b) wig cap, depends on the wig that you have.
If your (a) wig cap is a dark color, there is a risk that it could stain the doll head over time. A fabric (b) wig cap worn underneath the wig can slow the staining, as the (b) wig cap gets stained before the pigment bleeds through to the head.
If your wig is a bit too large for your doll head and slides off too easily, a silicone (b) wig cap effectively makes the head larger and provides more friction, so the wig stays in place better. Warning: Silicone (b) wig caps do not prevent stains, as the material tends to conduct pigments quite easily.

 

Edit: If you're swapping out eyes often and most of them are Volks eyes, a Dream Fitter is fairly affordable and makes it easy to switch eyes without having to fiddle around with blu-tack or hot glue. (You can use it with non-Volks eyes too, if you blu-tack the Dream Fitter hemispheres to the back of the doll eyes. - Although that makes the swapping process not as much easier.)

Edited September 3, 2023 by Tierparkzone

I bought a fabric wig cap when I first got into the hobby and ended up never actually using it.

I still keep it around just in case, but a lot of wigs are already tricky to get on, and trying to get both the fabric cap and the wig on without it being visible always seemed like more effort than it was worth.

The dyes from the cap in the wig can still stain through the fabric cap (albeit less than if it was directly touching the head), so my solution was just to not use wigs having a dark cap 🤷‍♀️ 

A bodysuit is like mentioned not a bad investment. Also stain prevention parts will help to. Think about thights, and other stain prevention clothes that covers only certain parts of the doll.
 

I do doubt the wig cap. It makes it harder to get a wig put on. And if it stains the back of the head I am actually not worried about that because I will not see it. I rarely switch wigs but if you do plan on switching regularly with different hairlines visible a wigcap can definitely help. 

With wig caps, I've never really had issues with them, but you do have to periodically remove the wig and check for dye bleeding through the protective cap. If dye has started to bleed, just wash the cap. 

Wig caps protect the one part of the doll, the head, that you can't cheaply replace. I do agree, wigs with an undyed cap are best, but if you have a limited doll with a character wig, you don't get to pick the cap. 

Ponytail wigs do tend to be tight and can be hard to get on with a protective cap. 

My top recommendations would be a cloth cap if your doll has a wig with a dark colored cap, and a doll stand. Stands are super useful for dressing them. 

As far as clothes, yes there are a lot of options, but with Volks the best fits for Dollfie Dreams will be from their Tenshi-no-Koromo line. That line is made for DD, whereas the other clothing lines are made for the resin Super Dollfie and the fits are different around the waist; the SDGr body is a tiny bit larger than a DD too. Some clothing for SD looks great on DD, and some looks a bit frumpy. 

The Lingerie Box & Jewelry Box lines are fine for DD, and the Shoes Boutique SD16/SDGr high heel shoes are great for DD. The MSD sized shoes from the same Shoes Boutique line are perfect for MDD & DDP.

I should have known better, but this outfit is a stain monster...

Towa was wearing a bodysuit, but as you can see in the photo the sleeves aren't fully lined and the end of her wrists got stained (it's starting to be visible on her left wrist in this photo).

I am the destainer king... my current technique is to plaster human acne creme (containing benzoyl peroxide) over the affected area, then wrap the bodypart in white kitchen roll and put the kitchen roll inside a dark coloured sock and place it on a sunny window. Towa's arms took around a week to restore to their unstained state. It's up to 50x quicker in winter when the heater's on (but this needs extreme care).

On 9/17/2023 at 7:11 PM, BeyondTime said:

As far as clothes, yes there are a lot of options, but with Volks the best fits for Dollfie Dreams will be from their Tenshi-no-Koromo line. That line is made for DD, whereas the other clothing lines are made for the resin Super Dollfie and the fits are different around the waist; the SDGr body is a tiny bit larger than a DD too. Some clothing for SD looks great on DD, and some looks a bit frumpy. 

The Lingerie Box & Jewelry Box lines are fine for DD, and the Shoes Boutique SD16/SDGr high heel shoes are great for DD. The MSD sized shoes from the same Shoes Boutique line are perfect for MDD & DDP.

Towa swears by Tenshi-No-Koromo and also adores her Shoes Boutique heels. We've picked up quite a few Tenshi-No-Koromo classics on Yahoo Japan Auctions recently (via Buyee). Most resell for about 75% of their initial purchase price, unless they're minor grails like the Lacrosse sets.