Buying and sewing for Otohime.
I recently became introduced to the Parabox Otohime 80cm dolls when looking for a bigger anime aesthetic doll that wasn't a full life size doll. I wanted something something that would let beaded embroidery look a bit more in scale, and the Otohime was the perfect size for this. Not so tiny that the beads look out of scale, and not so big that I'd need more furniture to give it a place to sit.
I read often when researching that Otohime can wear real kid's clothes, Great! Kid's clothes are everywhere and Otohime specific clothes wouldn't be necessary. I noticed that the size ranges varied often from post to post. I saw everything from preemie to 4T recommended. Many of these posts were parroting others, and I think some things got mixed up. I hope to clarify how these different sizes actually fit and how hard it is in general to re-size different clothes.
When I decided to get my Otohime, I bought a variety of sizes. The only commonly recommended size I did not purchase was preemie, simply because I didn't see anything I liked. Ironically, it may be the better size option.
To start, none of the sizes fit "perfectly". The main problem you will run into is that Otohime dolls have shoulders like a bowing pin, i.e. almost nonexistent. Every single clothing item I've personally tried for them has issues in the shoulder area. Baby clothes are designed to work with baby chub, and the Otohime has none.
For garments that have wider shoulder straps, this is the easiest to fix. A safety pin at the back will let most garments fit perfectly and still sit well on the doll. Nothing is better than a no sewing fix! Another quick fix I've added to some of my modified pieces is a ribbon on each strap that ties into a bow. I really like this option as it's quick and cute. Sizes and how difficult I personally feel they are to modify: 0-3 months: Easy to intermediate Most clothes In this size range can be modified with just a few tacking stitches, so you don't even really need to know how to sew well to make them fit, some can even be safety pinned to fit better with no sewing at all.
3-6 months: Easy to intermediate I would say this is about as far as you can push the safety pin trick, and it only works well on some styles. Sweaters in this size fit well as a slightly oversized cozy sweater style.
6-12 months: Easy to hard This size range starts to cover some of the cuter stuff. Clothing starts to feel less 'baby" and more fashionable. Sweaters in this size are oversized, but I actually didn't hate it and thought this look was cute. Of my 3 sweaters, 2 were in this size. There are a few styles that can be modified easily, but it starts getting trickier around here.
2T: Intermediate to hard This is where sizing starts to get confusing, because it can refer to two different things, one that fits Otohime and one that doesn't. I saw a lot of posts saying something like "I heard 2T clothes would fit Otohime" but they will not. I think this has been mixed up with the 2T toddler shoe size, which DOES fit the Otohime almost perfectly. 2T clothes are absolutely gigantic on Otohime. This is the size range where heavy modification starts to become mandatory. Cutting the garment will be necessary for most styles of clothing. This is also a trap area when online shopping since a lot of dresses in this size show "tiered" prints that unmodified, line up well and look cute. But once you start taking it apart and cutting it down, these prints may not look right in the end. I will show one of the dresses I bought like this in a different post and how I personally chose to handle this problem. This size range is one of my favorites for re-sizing though as this i where the really cute clothes start to show up.
3T+: Intermediate to hard, mostly hard If you are not confident in your sewing skills, I would say 2T should probably be your cut off. Past that point you are basically buying it for the fabric and not for the style as anything past this might as well be considered a complete deconstruction. Pieces in this size will require a lot of material cutting, trim removal, and re-sewing everything to properly fit. Sometimes this is worth it (Like for pants that may require a 3T to a 4T to get enough length to fit properly), but for cute dresses ehhh, maybe not so much. The largest size I have personally re-sized is a dress made for ages 6-7, but I was fully aware I was just buying it for the print. There are many many MANY cute dresses in smaller sizes that aren't as difficult to modify, and a lot of the more common print styles can be found from several vendors, you just might need to dig a little. It really all boils down to "How badly do you want this outfit?". You are essentially paying money to do work. After awhile I personally started changing my thinking to "Do I want this enough to modify it?" because everything will need some level of adjustment to look like it actually fits, and I found this discouraged me from a lot of impulse buying of cute clothing. I will be posting a follow up on the different styles I personally purchased before receiving my Otohime and showing examples of how to modify them.
