Festival of Quilts 2010 by namolio on Flickr.

To everyone losing their mind over this picture of the Dior artisans making Natalie Portman’s golden globes dress:

This is basically a visual representation of what couture means. Every one of those heavily detailed/embroidered/beaded couture gowns you see during haute couture fashion week is made this way. In order to be considered couture they have to be, but that’s a separate post.

I feel like the work is more visible here because of the effect of the pattern, but pretty much every couture gown is made with this absolutely insane level of work and detail

Also, Dior did tag the textile house they worked with: Chanakya International and Chanakya School of Craft. They’ve done the textile work for several Dior collections as well as Armani

For those (like me) who hadn't seen the aforementioned dress

Stella Lunardy

A room called ‘The Doll Room’ that’s full of dolls is… mundane.

But a room called ‘The Doll Room’ that only has one doll in it? That’s fresh

If a person shows you their Doll Room and it’s full of dolls, they probably just like dolls, y’know? It’s normal, it’s a hobby

But if they show you their Doll Room and it only has one doll… something’s going on with that one doll!

room called the doll room and theres a mirror and nothing else. the door closes

Can I just take a moment...

We all have our gripes about doll collecting, but there's one request that consistently drives me a little batty in the BJD collector world: resin matching. People will ask, "Can you please take a photo of a doll in this resin color and see if it matches that doll in that resin color?"

Hrrrnnnnnggggghhhh.

BJDs are made of 2-part epoxy resin. You buy two jugs of resin that you have to mix together and pour into a mold. A chemical reaction happens (rapidly), and the resin solidifies in the mold. You let it sit in there for a bit until it hardens, and then you pull it out.

This is what the two jugs of resin look like when you buy them:

They're clear. No color.

Every single ball-jointed resin doll I own was made with clear resin that the artist had to add color to. Now, companies generally have a "recipe" of color that they add to resin, so that resin colors are fairly consistent across a line of dolls. And sure, some 3D printer resins come pre-tinted.

But guys. Folks. People. You're never going to get a perfect, planned resin match. When you do, it's basically an accident. A happy coincidence. It's highly unlikely that resin will match when you buy parts from the same doll company at different times. Resin is a finicky little bastard. It cures differently depending upon the day, the humidity, whether it's in a good mood... Also, resin changes color with time and exposure to stuff like air and sunlight. So a doll you've owned for a year is going to be slightly different from the same doll made by the same company in the same color today.

When I see people painstakingly take photos of different resins from different companies, carefully labeling each head cap, I think, "Dude. Bust out some acrylics and just paint it."

Cuz you're never going to get that perfect match, except totally by accident.

And that's why I don't care if my resin matches. I know I'll either dye or paint the doll to match.

Eventually...

I completely get what you mean, but I don't think the goal is to be a total match for most of us who do hybrids. It's more of an aid to planning. If the company that makes the head I'm interested in generally makes their tan a few shades lighter/less saturated in color than the company that makes the body, I know a faceup can even it out easily. If it's the other way around, there's a more difficult road ahead. Plus, sometimes I just want one part, like hands or feet, from a different company, and I'm just not going to invest in jointed hands, notoriously chip-heavy, if they're TOO different in color. But an 85% color match is probably fine; people in real life have hands that tan differently than the rest of their body. In essence, not everyone is getting the same thing out of the comparison pics. If they were all going for a perfect match, you'd be spot on.

There's something so funny and satisfying about holding firmly strung 70cm doll under your arm like a plank of wood. Outta my way guys I'm bout to build a house out of twinks.

~Anonymous

Technical questions: I’m curious about how much it costs to make all the molds for an MSD size doll, about how much time it takes to make a set of doll molds for all the pieces and about how many times you can expect to cast in a mold before it wears out and you need to make a new one.

~Anonymous

After my third paragraph reply I realized I should just reblog. So, what I previously said:

To continue, mold life is a bit more complicated: certain things degrade silicone faster than others. Switching between types of resin or applying heat can do this, as can using epoxy resin a lot. For BJDs we use polyurethane. Basically to simplify the way that works, there are 2 components that are liquid, when you mix them there’s a chemical reaction and they solidify. That reaction actually generates heat, which can contribute to degrading and warping the mold. In a high-volume process maybe you’d do this reaction in a cold environment, but that’s not very practical for casting dolls. All this to say, what I’ve heard is for PU resin you can use the mold 15-20 times, and the first cast will be junk. I haven’t witnessed this myself, just repeating what I’ve heard, but look at casting services and the cutoff numbers where their rates increase or decrease--that probably has some relation to when molds degrade and the minimum/maximum casting they can handle at one time.

Also keep in mind that casting PU resin involves some very dangerous chemical and you need appropriate PPE and a safe, well-ventilated place to work; in some locales, it might not be legal to work with certain quantities of these chemicals without a ‘booth’ and a location with industrial zoning. In other places it’s perfectly legal. And if you’re casting just one or two parts, it’s usually such a small amount it doesn’t matter legally, which is why you can get 2-part resin in craft stores (just at a much higher price, and not enough to cast a whole doll unless you buy all their stock).

Regardless, always google the product name + “SDS” (safety data sheet) to see what the health warnings are (absolutely essential!!!) and check what your local laws are (less important than safety but still). Here’s the SDS for Model Pro 2-part resin. Part A is an isocyanate and has similar hazards as methyl isocyanate, the chemical involved in the Bhopal Disaster. It’s best to handle these chemicals as recommended by the SDS, and with a healthy respect for what they can do.

Most small artists opt to use a casting service for this reason: all of this is a hassle, and the cost of setup to get high-quality casts includes a lot of equipment that’s a one-time cost, but isn’t cheap.

i love doll

~Anonymous

Mod: gonna be a bit controversial and daring and make this into a poll:

Idk about ya'll, but my dolls are slaying some major C--t. Just the biggest baddies out there, the most heel-stomping Quings out there.

~Anonymous

Hamda Al Fahim “Disco Daydreams” spring 2022 couture

Everyone socialist until it's time to upload sewing patterns online 😒

Me seeing all the ex doll collectors coming back to collect monster high after years of disengagement cuz the industry kept producing flop dolls

Rahul Mishra Fall 2022 Couture