As you know I collect dolls, and not one type of doll as I may admit. My first ever dolls were the Barbies my mother got me. She gave me an off-brand dark skinned to balance out the all white line of Barbies produced in the 80s. She always expressed the pity there wasn’t an South-East Asian on at the time to come closer to a girl’s role model. Well, Barbie’s looks are only a man’s ideal in the end that’s while I like Licca-chan better.
Then I grew older and discovered Pullips, visited Japan and discovered Blythe (to my shame did not buy one) and went down the Asian ball-jointed dolls rabbit hole in which I still reside.
The thing I like the most about the hobby is photography. Taking my dolls to beautiful gardens or places to eat and take cute photos. But that also means they need to be dressed well. Pullips, Blythe, Momokos en Liccas come dressed but their factory outfits aren’t always that pretty. While the Pullips and Blythes have higher end stock clothes, the Liccas are marketed towards young girls and they have not a big spending budget. Here is were handmade clothes come in.
While I wished to be better on the sewing machine, you do need to practice in order to get better, I do not have the time yet to do so. Then you can turn to other people who make fitting clothes for your favourite dolls. These seamstresses have quite a few years of skills under their belt and in collectors circles a big fan base. I remember M for Monkey being at a convention in Barcelona and when the doors opened people sprinting to her table to get their hands on one of her outfits. The recent years the sprinting and overbidding in the hobby world has settled down as people moved to different interests or have less disposable income. Because being collector is a luxury.
For Licca and Momoko I have found that the best seamstresses are located in Japan, Korea and various parts of China but ordering from them is a different ballgame. I am not proficient in the languages of each respective country nor do I have a domestic address that they only ship too. That is when proxy services come in. Someone located in, for example, Japan will order the item for you, do all the communication and will forward it to you for an additional fee. Very handy to get much wanted items that you cannot find in Europe.
I have been using Doorzo for 2 years now and they have been brilliant. Their app has a marketplace connected to mayor brands, stores and second hand shops. My favourite is Minne, a handmade online marketplace where creators sell crocheted toys, wooden toys, clothes, doll items and miniature food stuff. Last time I was in Japan, I was amazed at the huge craft stores they had there. Multiple levels of paper clay, fabrics, ribbons, buttons, tools, etc. While in the Netherlands crafting shops have become smaller and fewer, this was an absolute treat. I could spend hours browsing the shelves and deciding what to bring. Looking forward to my next trip and feeling sorry for my poor wallet.
This weeks Minne arrival, facilitated by Doorzo, had a mix of things. Two outfits, a crocheted bear, a pencil case and a miniature food prop.
The pattern on the pencil case is Showa era design, especially the dolls that existed during that time. I love the Showa era: was a period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989.
A lot of things went down, WWII and radical changes happened to Japan during that period, like their remarkable economic growth in the decades following 1950.
The creator had two colours of bears up on the sales post and I chose for the beige one because you could see the blush she had painted on. I thin its very cute and will be joining the family of crocheted animals I have in my home office.
Sometimes I have trouble to see the details of the fabric on my little phone screen, I’ve since installed the Doorzo app on my tablet for a better view, so I bought this Atelier Shizuca outfit on a guess. It’s nice in person so I am really happy with this outfit designed for Licca-chan.
The second outfit was created by Pirandechoco whom I follow on Instagram. The style is leaning towards Mori, which I love so much. Mori-kei (森系), or “forest style,” is a Japanese fashion aesthetic originating in the late 2000s that emphasizes a natural, rustic, and fairy-tale appearance, designed to look as though one is living in a forest. It features loose-fitting, layered clothing made from natural materials like cotton, linen, and wool in earthy tones. A perfect outfit to get my Hazel the Hedgehog out of her stock clothing.
Last up is a Nyanko-don miniature food prop for upcoming photo shoots. This bowl is only 3cm with a loose lid which means I need to find a container to safely store them together. The topping so so detailed on this small piece: you have aburaage (fried tofu slice), cat paw dumplings, a teeny-tiny egg and negi (a leek like onion). Very well made prop, so happy!
It was a good haul handmade haul this time round. Very happy with this delivery. After this one shipped I came to the conclusing that one of my Momokos needed a traveling outfit suitable for my Japan trip this coming fall. And what better outfit than a furisode. So I ordered the outfit together with some Pokemon picture cards and a few items from the Pokemon Center to make the shipping worthwhile. Those items have already arrived at the Doorzo warehouse and are waiting for shipment. 🙂 Two orders in one month is uncommon for me but I needed this outfit.